Administrative law
Disciplinary proceedings for healthcare professionals
Defence of healthcare professionals before the professional-body tribunals, from conciliation to the decision on appeal.
Healthcare professionals registered with a professional body (ordre) – doctors, dental surgeons, midwives, pharmacists, physiotherapists, nurses, chiropodists – are subject to professional discipline enforced by the professional-body tribunals. Complaints from patients, colleagues, facility directors, health-insurance funds or the health authorities can lead to proceedings that may result in sanctions ranging from a warning to being struck off the register.
Disciplinary proceedings follow their own rules, distinct from criminal and civil trials: prior conciliation, investigation by the first-instance disciplinary chamber, limited oral argument, and specific professional-body case law. Their technical nature calls for a fully tailored defence at every stage of the procedure.
How I can help
- Assistance and defence before the first-instance disciplinary chambers of the regional or inter-regional councils of the professional body.
- Representation on appeal before the national disciplinary chambers.
- Advice and support at the professional-body conciliation stage.
- Defence in emergency suspension proceedings on grounds of professional inadequacy or ill health.
- Advice on relations with the professional body: registration on the roll, applications for removal, and challenges to the body’s administrative decisions.
A field at the crossroads of several disciplines
Disciplinary proceedings for healthcare professionals draw on several fields at once: administrative law (procedure before the professional-body tribunals), criminal law (where the facts are also the subject of parallel proceedings), civil law (liability, professional secrecy), and knowledge of the codes of conduct specific to each profession.
What is at stake in such proceedings goes beyond the sanction imposed: it can affect the continuity of professional practice, reputation, and sometimes the very possibility of continuing a career. A proper defence therefore calls for procedural rigour, technical command of professional-body law, and a case-by-case approach.
To go further: these proceedings fall within administrative law and are ultimately decided by the Conseil d’État. Contact the firm to set out your situation.