In accordance with Article 23 (7) of the Statutes and Article 6 (c) of the Code of Professional Ethics, any member of the Association may refer to the Council any professional difficulty or dispute with any other member or members of the Association where an amicable settlement has not proven possible.

1. Any member of the Association who would like the Council to adjudicate in a dispute between herself/himself and one or several other members of the Association shall send a written request to the President. This request shall contain a brief summary of the arguments the plaintiff intends to use. It shall be accompanied by any documentary evidence that she or he wishes to be taken into consideration.

2. If the complaint is evidently groundless, the President shall write to the plaintiff, informing her or him of the refusal to examine the matter in depth. The plaintiff may appeal against this decision to the Council, in which case, all of the information and documents submitted by the plaintiff shall be transmitted to the Council.

3. The Council shall elect from amongst its own members a Disputes and Conciliation Committee to serve for the duration of its period of office. The said committee shall have at least three members, one of whom shall be its rapporteur, plus one substitute member. Any member(s) from the same region as the parties to the dispute or who, in the opinion of the President of the Association, might be facing a conflict of interests, shall be replaced for the examination of the case concerned.

The Committee shall examine the file on any given dispute. It shall inform the defendant or defendants of the complaints made against them as quickly as possible by registered letter. It may call on the parties to supply any additional clarification, explanation or documentation that it deems necessary. Before referring the case to the Council, the Committee shall endeavour to settle the dispute by conciliation. If the conciliation process is successful, the matter shall be deemed closed and will not be referred to the Council. If the process fails, however, the matter will be referred to the Council.

4. The refusal by one of the parties to provide any information requested by the Committee may be held against him/her.

5. The Council shall hear oral submissions from the parties if any one of them so requests within ninety days of notification. Any parties wishing to be heard must meet their own costs. Hearings are usually held in parallel with Council meetings.

Whenever it is able to give sound reasons, the Council may decide to dispense with this hearing.

6. The Disputes and Conciliation Committee shall submit its conclusions to the Council for decision. Its decision shall be final.

7. Each case shall be conducted in either French or English. All written matter shall be drafted in one of these two languages. All correspondence shall be by registered mail.

8. The Disputes and Conciliation Committee is not bound by any procedure other than that laid down in this Regulation.

9. The Secretariat shall keep the file on any dispute which has been the subject of the procedure defined in this Regulation. The Council shall establish the conditions under which such archives may be consulted.

10. If the Council concludes that the rules of the Association may have been infringed, it shall, in accordance with the applicable regulation, initiate disciplinary proceedings against the member(s) concerned.

11. Notwithstanding the above provisions, the President may, on his/her initiative or on request from the Council, set up a special conciliation committee composed of former presidents of the Association, in order to dissipate tensions or to resolve disputes between members or bodies of the Association which are likely to affect the smooth running of the Association. This Committee reports to the President or to the Council if the request originated from the Council.

12. This Regulation may be modified by a decision of the Council taken with a two-thirds majority of votes cast and, if appropriate, after having sought a legal opinion on the proposals.