Anything you tell our ethics officers or consultants will be kept confidential unless:
- you agree to its disclosure
- we consider disclosure to an appropriate authority, like the police, is in the public interest and in line with our privacy notice
Our ethics officers and consultants will not normally share any information with our professional conduct team. The only exception is where we consider public interest outweighs a member’s right to confidentiality, for example where there is evidence of serious crime, or a risk of death or serious harm to you or someone else.
Examples of serious crime are:
- drug trafficking
- slavery
- people trafficking (amended by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2010, Schedule 9, paragraph 142)
- firearms offences
- prostitution and child sex
- armed robbery
- money laundering
- fraud
- offences in relation to public revenue (amended by Taxation (International and Other Provisions) Act 2010, Schedule 7, paragraph 101(2))
- bribery (amended by the Bribery Act 2010, Schedule 1, paragraph 14)
- counterfeiting
- blackmail
- computer misuse
- environment (as amended by Schedule 22 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, part 5, B)
- organised crime
Examples of how a member might cause serious harm are:
- ill treatment, including sexual abuse, neglect, emotional abuse and psychological abuse
- impairment physical or mental health
- impairment of physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development