Veterinary and Para-Veterinary Practitioners Act

This section gives the Act its short title: the Veterinary and Para-Veterinary Practitioners Act.

This section defines key terms used in the Act.

The Board of Veterinary Surgery is established as a body corporate.

The Board must include specified ex officio members, appointed veterinary members, and appointed para-veterinary members, and it must elect a Chairman from among its members.

Most members serve three years, may be re-appointed for another three-year term, and their office becomes vacant on listed events such as resignation, death, absence, bankruptcy, incapacity, or contravening the Act.

Board members must be paid an allowance, and the Minister sets the amount from time to time.

The Board is the sole authority for registering people who must be registered under the Act, and it has several functions related to veterinary surgery and training.

The Board may, when necessary, seek the Minister’s general direction on how to carry out its duties under this Part.

This provision sets how the Board meets, who may call meetings, how quorum and voting work, and who presides.

The Board may set up committees, appoint their members, delegate functions to them, and committees may regulate their own procedure subject to the Board’s directions.

The Board must ensure minutes are kept for every Board meeting and every committee meeting.

Members with a conflict of interest must disclose it promptly at the meeting and normally must not join the discussion or vote unless the Board or committee allows it.

A member cannot be personally sued or otherwise proceeded against for acts done in good faith while carrying out this Act.

The Board may co-opt a person to attend Board or committee meetings and join the deliberations, but that person or officer may not vote.

Certain Board-related personnel must take an oath of secrecy when they assume office.

A person must not publish or disclose protected information learned through duties under the Act unless written consent is given by or for the Board.

The Board must appoint a Registrar. It may appoint assistant registrars and other employees, and the Registrar may appoint temporary employees subject to consultation and minimum pay limits.

The Board’s funds come from appropriations, levy proceeds, grants or donations, receipts under subsection (2), sales of reports, and other amounts that vest or accrue to it. The Board may accept grants or donations, borrow with ministerial approval, charge fees, and invest unused funds.

The Board may impose a levy, by Gazette Order, on gross or net income of persons or classes of persons registered under the Act.

The Board’s financial year is normally the 12 months ending on 30 June, unless the Minister sets another date by Gazette order.

The Board must keep proper accounting books and records, and its accounts must be audited annually and examined by the Auditor General before being presented to the Minister.

The Board must send an annual report to the Minister within six months after each financial year ends, in the form the Minister approves, with specified attachments. The Minister must then place it before the National Assembly and it must be published.

The Board must produce a progress report on its activities at the end of every financial year and publish it.

People seeking registration as veterinary surgeons or para-veterinary surgeons must apply in writing to the Board.

Unregistered people may not practise veterinary surgery or present themselves as veterinary surgeons, unless they are on the Register.

The Board must keep a register of veterinary surgeons and para-veterinary surgeons, update it as needed, and publish registration details in the Gazette soon after registration.

A person may be eligible to register as a veterinary surgeon or para-veterinary surgeon if they have a Board-recognized qualification and satisfy the Board about their veterinary knowledge, English language ability, and fitness to be registered.

A person may be registered as a veterinary surgeon or para-veterinary surgeon only if the Minister, acting on the advice of the Board, considers the person’s qualifications sufficient.

The Board must register an applicant as a veterinary surgeon or para-veterinary surgeon if the application and qualifications requirements are met, unless the subsection (2) disqualification applies.

Each January, the Board must publish in the Gazette a list of all persons on the Register at the end of the previous year, with their addresses and registration dates.

The Board must remove or strike off certain veterinary surgeons’ names from the Register, and must reinstate a name if the High Court directs it.

Registered persons may use the titles veterinary surgeon or para-veterinary surgeon, but may not use any additional title or description except as shown in the Register.

Registered persons may practise veterinary surgery and recover reasonable charges; unregistered persons cannot recover those charges unless duty registered at the relevant time.

A certificate or document that must be signed by a qualified veterinary surgeon or para-veterinary surgeon is only valid if signed by a person registered under this Act.

A person removed from the Register by Board direction may apply in writing to the Board to be reinstated, and the Board may grant or refuse the request.

The Board may grant, refuse, suspend, or cancel licences for private veterinary practice, and unlicensed private practice is an offence.

The issue, cancellation, and withdrawal of any licence under section 36 must be notified in the Gazette.

A person in private practice may not recover fees for veterinary services or medicines unless licensed for private practice under section 36.

This section sets out how the Disciplinary Committee is made up and how it works.

The Disciplinary Committee must inquire into referred allegations about a registered person’s improper or disgraceful conduct or gross incompetence, and it must first give notice and a reasonable chance to be heard.

The Disciplinary Committee may collect evidence for an inquiry and can summon witnesses, require documents, administer oaths, and examine items. Summonses must be signed by the Chairperson or Registrar, and the Committee must record proceedings, evidence, decisions, and reasons.

A registered person convicted of an offence may face disciplinary inquiry, and the Disciplinary Committee may act on the conviction. The convicted person must be given a chance to explain in writing, in person, or through a legal representative.

The Board may investigate allegations, refer them to the Disciplinary Committee, dismiss them, take other action, or postpone referral in criminal cases.

The Disciplinary Committee reports its findings and recommendations to the Board, and the Board can impose disciplinary measures on a registered person depending on the findings.

An aggrieved person may appeal to the High Court within three months. The High Court can decide the appeal, send it back to the Board, make costs orders, and use assessors, but it cannot overturn a finding or penalty only for a harmless procedural irregularity.

The Registrar must publish in the Gazette the name of anyone whose registration has been cancelled or who has been suspended from practice.

The Board and Disciplinary Committee are protected from certain legal proceedings and the Board is not responsible for loss of earnings caused by action taken under the Act.

The Board may make regulations about improper or disgraceful conduct, complaints, and related inquiries, and the Board or Disciplinary Committee may still investigate and penalize conduct not covered by those regulations.

This section makes certain conduct offences and sets a penalty of a K10,000 fine and six months’ imprisonment.

The Minister may make regulations for this Act, with the Board’s advice.

This section repeals the Veterinary Surgeons Act, saves certain existing subsidiary legislation and agreements, and lists animal-related acts that unregistered persons may perform in the Schedule.