28ZTAssessment of serious councillor misconduct

28ZT Assessment of serious councillor misconduct

(1)  If the Director receives a code of conduct referral from an initial assessor or an investigating Panel in respect of the conduct of a councillor, the Director must carry out an assessment of that conduct to determine whether to conduct an investigation.

(2)  After carrying out an assessment, the Director may –

(a) if the Director determines that the conduct of the councillor is capable of amounting to serious councillor misconduct, determine that the Director will conduct an investigation into that conduct; or

(b) if the Director determines that the conduct is not capable of amounting to serious councillor misconduct, refuse to conduct an investigation into the conduct; or

(c) refer the complaint to another person or authority if the Director considers that the complaint would be more appropriately dealt with by that other person or authority.

(3)  If the Director makes a determination under subsection (2)(a) –

(a) the complaint is taken to be a complaint made to the Director under section 339E and ceases to be a code of conduct complaint; and

(b) the Director is to proceed under that section and section 339EA in relation to the complaint.

(4)  If the Director refuses under subsection (2)(b) to commence an investigation into a councillor’s conduct, the Director must refer the matter back to the initial assessor or the investigating Panel for the code of conduct complaint.

(5)  If the Director does not make a decision under subsection (2) within 28 days of receiving a code of conduct referral, the Director is to notify the initial assessor or the investigating Panel and the complainant that the matter is still under consideration.