THE CAPITAL CHAMBERS COMPLAINTS POLICY
1. Our aim is to give you a good service at all times. However, if you have a complaint you are invited to let us know as soon as possible. It should be noted that it may not always be possible to investigate a complaint brought by a non-client. This is because the ability of chambers to satisfactorily investigate and resolve such matters is limited and complaints of this nature are often better suited to the disciplinary processes maintained by the Bar Council. Therefore, chambers will make an initial assessment of the complaint and if they feel that the issues raised cannot be satisfactorily resolved through the chambers complaints process they will refer you to the Bar Council.
2. You may wish to make a complaint in writing and, if so, please follow the procedure below. However, if you would rather speak on the telephone about your complaint, then please telephone the Senior Practice Manager or if the complaint is about the Senior Practice Manager then contact the Managing Partner. The person you contact will make a note of the details of your complaint and what you would like to have done about it. They will discuss your concerns with you and aim to resolve them. If the matter is resolved they will record the outcome, check that you are satisfied with the outcome and record that you are satisfied. You may also wish to record the outcome of the telephone discussion in writing.
3. If your complaint is not resolved on the telephone you will be invited to write to us about it, so it can be investigated formally.
Complaints Made in Writing
Please give the following details:
• Your name and address;
• Which member(s) of chambers you are complaining about;
• The detail of the complaint; and
• What you would like done about it.
4. Please address your letter to the Senior Practice Manager, The Capital Chambers 117 Sher Shah Suri Road, District Courts, Rawalpindi, Pakistan OR thecapitalchambers@gmail.com. We will, where possible, acknowledge receipt of your complaint within two days and provide you with details of how your complaint will be dealt with.
5. Our chambers has a panel headed by the Managing Partner and made up of experienced members of chambers and the Senior Practice Manager, which considers any written complaint. Within 14 days of your letter being received the head of the panel (or their deputy in their absence) will appoint a member of the panel to investigate it. If your complaint is against the head of the panel, the next most senior member of the panel will investigate it. In any case, the person appointed will be someone other than the person you are complaining about.
6. The person appointed to investigate will write to you as soon as possible to let you know they have been appointed and that they will reply to your complaint within 14 days. If they find later that they are not going to be able to reply within 14 days they will set a new date for their reply and inform you. Their reply will set out:
• The nature and scope of their investigation;
• Their conclusion on each complaint and the basis for their conclusion; and
• If they find that you are justified in your complaint, their proposals for resolving the complaint.
Confidentiality
7. All conversations and documents relating to the complaint will be treated as confidential and will be disclosed only to the extent that is necessary. Disclosure will be to the Managing Partner, members of our management committee and to anyone involved in the complaint and its investigation. Such people will include the barrister member or staff who you have complained about, the head or relevant senior member of the panel and the person who investigates the complaint. The Bar Council is entitled to inspect the documents and seek information about the complaint when discharging its monitoring functions.
Our policy
8. As part of our commitment to client care we make a written record of any complaint and retain all documents and correspondence generated by the complaint for a period of six years. Our management committee inspects an anonymised record regularly with a view to improving services.