3.2. Appealability of decisions in disciplinary matters

In D 15/95 (OJ 1998, 297) the board ruled that a Disciplinary Committee decision dismissing a complaint was a decision in the legal sense only as regards the persons referred to in Art. 8(2) RDR, and only they could appeal against it. Thus the person who made the complaint had no right of appeal. Review on appeal was limited to safeguarding the rights of the "accused", i.e. the "professional representative concerned" within the meaning of the RDR (see also D 1/98). In D 28/97 and D 24/99 the DBA added that the purpose of disciplinary proceedings was not for individuals to pursue their interests vis-à-vis others (although these might be affected in individual cases) but rather to serve the public interest in orderly and proper exercise of professional representation before the EPO. Any claims by individuals arising from a representative's infringement of the rules of professional conduct were exclusively a matter for the competent (civil) courts (see also D 25/05 and D 3/13).