Today the Executive of the Board of Deputies reached conclusions in relation to complaints issued against a number of its Deputies, following a letter published in the Financial Times on 16th April.
The letter, regarding the conflict in the Middle East, was signed by 36 Deputies. It was neither authorised by the Board nor did the signatories share it with the organisation before sending to the Financial Times.
The letter attracted significant attention. Many media outlets, individuals and other community stakeholders initially understood it to be a statement of the Board. The Board’s team spent considerable time contacting stakeholders and media outlets to correct headlines and coverage.
Following its publication, various complaints were received by the Board. These alleged that, through the letter and actions around it, the signatories had broken the Code of Conduct by which all Deputies are bound.
The Code of Conduct, set out in the Board’s Constitution, is intended to record the standard of conduct expected and behaviour which is not acceptable, and to provide a framework to address any departure from these standards. This includes ensuring that Deputies do not misrepresent the position of the Board or any of its members, do not bring the institution into disrepute, and treat one another and the institution with respect.
In line with the Board’s constitution, an independent panel of the Board’s Constitution Committee was convened to investigate the complaints and make recommendations to the Executive.
The Panel has now completed its investigation and unanimously found them to be in breach of the Code of Conduct.
The breaches primarily arose from the public presentation and promotion of the letter, which created the misleading impression that this was an official document of the Board as a whole. The Constitution Committee emphasised the exacerbating effect of the accompanying press release and subsequent public appearances by some signatories.
In particular, the breaches pertained to sections 2.2.2 (“not to represent their own views as the views of the Board to third parties”) and 2.1.7 (“to not bring the Board into disrepute”). In addition, the accompanying press release was found to be a breach of the obligation in section 2.1.1 “to act ethically and with integrity and probity”.
The Board is a democratic and representative organisation, of which all Deputies are members, and are entitled to express their opinions freely. Thus, the Panel was clear in its findings that the breaches do not refer to content of the letter but to the behaviour of the signatories, to a greater or lesser extent, in using their positions as Deputies to promote it.
Following these findings, the Panel referred its decision to the Executive to consider appropriate sanctions.
The Executive has now met and concluded that: In the case of 31 Deputies who signed the letter but did nothing more to promote it, a notice of criticism will be sent to them and their constituencies, with a reminder of appropriate conduct, including the likelihood of suspension if there is any further similar breach in future.
In the cases of 5 Deputies, additional sanctions should be applied due to other activities undertaken in relation to the letter. These included: Deputies who contributed to the misleading press release; Deputies who made public appearances in breach of guidance from the Board to identify themselves as representatives of their constituencies; a Deputy whose social media posts were disrespectful to other Deputies, and a Deputy who sent inappropriate communications to the Panel.
In light of the seriousness of these breaches and in line with the Code, the Executive has agreed to suspend these five Deputies from the Board’s activities for two years and remove them where applicable from elected positions they hold within the Board. In three of these five cases, the Deputies have been given the opportunity to reduce the suspension to six months by way of an apology to affected parties.
The report of the Panel findings has been provided to the 36 Deputies together with the Executive’s decisions. These individuals have a right to appeal by reason of fresh material evidence or procedural irregularity within fourteen days.
A separate panel investigated the case of another Deputy who, following the publication of the letter, shared information about the signatories with a third party. In this case, the panel found a breach of several clauses of the Code of Conduct including 2.1.3 “treat fellow Deputies, Board employees and others with respect, courtesy, honesty and fairness;” and 2.1.4 “not harass, bully or unreasonably discriminate against fellow Deputies, Board employees and others”. The Executive decided that a notice of criticism should be sent to them and their constituency, with a reminder of appropriate conduct, including the likelihood of suspension if there is any further similar breach in future.
The Executive wishes to thank the members of the Constitution Committee for the considered, diligent and impartial way they have handled this process.
Commenting on the process, the Board’s Chief Executive, Michael Wegier, said:
“I would like to thank the Chair and members of the Constitution Committee for investigating this matter fully and fairly.
“We are a democratic organisation that welcomes debate, diversity and free speech. Managing diversity of opinion within our organisation depends on our Code of Conduct. That code ensures Deputies do not create misunderstandings about the position of the Board or its members, do not bring the institution into disrepute, and treat one another and the institution with respect.
“By implementing these sanctions, we have acted to uphold the integrity of the Board and its diverse stakeholders.”
You can find links to the relevant documents here:
