| (1) | Where a matter has been referred to the disciplinary committee as contemplated in section 49(1)(b), the enforcement committee must— |
| (a) | furnish a charge sheet to the registered auditor concerned; |
| (b) | appoint a person to present the charge to the disciplinary hearing panel. |
| (2) | A person presenting the charge to the disciplinary hearing panel may at any time prior to the conclusion of a disciplinary hearing apply to the panel to amend the charge on the grounds that an error exists in its formulation or that a charge is not properly articulated in the original charge sheet. |
| (3) | A hearing before the disciplinary hearing panel is open to the public except where, in the opinion of the chairperson of the panel, any part of the hearing must be held in camera. |
| (4) | A disciplinary hearing panel may, for the purposes of a disciplinary hearing, subpoena any person with relevant knowledge to appear before the panel at the time and place specified in the subpoena, to be questioned or to produce any object or information, including but not limited to any working papers, statements, correspondence, books or other documents in his or her possession or control which relate to the charge. |
| (5) | A subpoena issued in terms of subsection (4) must— |
| (a) | be in the prescribed form; |
| (b) | be signed by an authorised official of the Regulatory Board; and |
| (c) | be served on the person concerned. |
| (6) | For purposes of this section, service contemplated in subsection (5)(c)— |
| (a) | at the last known address appearing from the Regulatory Board’s records; or |
| (b) | effected in any manner agreed upon between the Regulatory Board or a disciplinary hearing panel and the person being subpoenaed, constitutes proper service. |
| (7) | A disciplinary hearing panel may retain any object or information, including but not limited to any working papers, statements, correspondence, books or other documents produced in terms of subsection (4), for the duration of the hearing. |
| (8) | The chairperson of a disciplinary hearing panel must call upon and administer an oath to, or take an affirmation from, any witness at the hearing. |
| (9) | At a disciplinary hearing the registered auditor charged— |
| (a) | may be assisted or represented by another person in the proceedings; |
| (b) | has the right to be heard; |
| (d) | may cross-examine any person called as a witness in support of the charge; and |
| (e) | may have access to documents produced in evidence. |
| (10) | A registered auditor charged may— |
| (a) | at any time before the conclusion of the disciplinary hearing, admit that he or she is guilty of the charge, despite the fact that he or she denied the charge or failed to react in terms of section 49(3)(b); or |
| (b) | in the case where the registered auditor makes an admission in terms of paragraph (a), be regarded as guilty of improper conduct as charged. |
| (11) | The person referred to in subsection (1) may during a disciplinary hearing— |
| (a) | lead evidence and advance arguments in support of the charge and cross-examine witnesses; |
| (b) | question any person who was subpoenaed in terms of subsection (4); and |
| (c) | call anyone to give evidence or to produce any object or information, including but not limited to any working papers, statements, correspondence, books or other documents in his or her possession or custody or under his or her control, which such person suspects or believes to have a bearing on the subject of the disciplinary hearing. |
(12)
| (a) | A witness who has been subpoenaed may not— |
| (i) | without just cause, fail to attend the disciplinary hearing at the time and place specified in the subpoena; |
| (ii) | refuse to be sworn in or to be affirmed as a witness; |
| (iii) | without just cause, fail to answer fully and satisfactorily to the best of his or her knowledge all questions lawfully put to him or her; or |
| (iv) | fail to produce any object or information, including but not limited to any working papers, statements, correspondence, books or other documents in his or her possession or custody or under his or her control, which he or she has been required to produce. |
| (b) | A witness must remain in attendance until excused by the chairperson of the disciplinary hearing panel from further attendance. |
| (c) | The law relating to privilege, as applicable to a witness subpoenaed to give evidence or to produce a book, document or object in a civil trial before a court of law, with the necessary changes, applies in relation to the examination of any object or information, including but not limited to any working papers, statements, correspondence, books or other documents, or to the production of such information to the disciplinary hearing panel by any person called in terms of this section as a witness. |
| (d) | A witness may not, after having been sworn in or having been affirmed as a witness, give a false statement on any matter, knowing that answer or statement to be false. |
| (e) | A person may not prevent another person from complying with a subpoena or from giving evidence or producing any object or information, including but not limited to any working papers, statements, correspondence, books or other documents, which he or she is in terms of this section required to give or produce. |
| (f) | A person subpoenaed in terms of this section must be reimbursed for incidental costs for providing information and attending the disciplinary hearing by the person who requested the subpoena. |
| (13) | If the improper conduct with which the registered auditor is charged amounts to an offence of which he or she has been convicted by a court of law, a certified copy of the record of his or her trial and conviction by that court is, on the identification of the registered auditor as the person referred to in the record, sufficient proof of the commission by him or her of that offence, unless the conviction has been set aside by a superior court. |
| (14) | If, for any reason, a member of the disciplinary hearing panel is unable to complete proceedings of the disciplinary hearing, the chairperson of the disciplinary committee may— |
| (a) | direct that the proceedings continue before the remaining disciplinary hearing panel members, two of whom must be members referred to in section 24A(2)(a) and (b); or |
| (b) | if there are less than two remaining disciplinary hearing panel members, constitute a new panel and direct that the proceedings start anew. |
[Section 50 substituted by section 17 of the Auditing Profession Amendment Act, 2021 (Act No. 5 of 2021), Notice No. 228 of GG44493, dated 26 April 2021]
