The Office of the Independent Adjudicator of the Law Society of Ireland (the “Law Society”) of 26 Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin 2, Ireland (the “Adjudicator”) is an independent forum to which you may apply if you are dissatisfied with the manner in which the Law Society has dealt with your complaint against your solicitor or your complaint against any decision concerning an application for a grant from the Law Society’s Compensation Fund.
The Adjudicator takes her responsibilities under applicable data protection law, including the General Data Protection Regulation and implementing legislation such as the Data Protection Act 2018 very seriously. The purpose of this notice is to inform you of the data relating to you that the Adjudicator may collect and use in connection with your complaint against your solicitor or your complaint against any decision concerning an application for a grant from the Law Society’s Compensation Fund and the uses (including disclosures to third parties) the Adjudicator may make of such data.
The Adjudicator is the controller of this personal data. If you have any questions about the use of your personal data, please contact the Adjudicator at adjudicator@independentadjudicator.ie.
Personal Data that the Adjudicator collects from you
The Adjudicator will collect and process personal data relating to you in connection with your complaint against your solicitor or your complaint against any decision concerning an application for a grant from the Law Society’s Compensation Fund. This personal data may include:
- your name and contact details, including your address, phone number, email address and post code;
- any previous correspondence with the Law Society in relation to your complaint against your solicitor or your complaint against any decision concerning an application for a grant from the Law Society’s Compensation Fund, including the reference used by the Law Society in such correspondence;
- the date on which the Law Society made its decision in relation to your complaint against your solicitor or your complaint against any decision concerning an application for a grant from the Law Society’s Compensation Fund;
- where relevant, details of the legal services which are the subject of your complaint against your solicitor;
- where relevant, details of your complaint against any decision concerning an application for a grant from the Law Society’s Compensation Fund;
- a confirmation that you have not made any application to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal regarding the subject matter of your complaint against your solicitor or your complaint against any decision concerning an application for a grant from the Law Society’s Compensation Fund; and
- any other personal data which you provide to the Adjudicator directly.
Personal Data that the Adjudicator collects from other sources
The Adjudicator will collect and process personal data relating to you in connection with your complaint from the Law Society, including details of your complaint against your solicitor and/or details of your complaint against any decision concerning an application for a grant from the Law Society’s Compensation Fund.
Purposes of Processing and Legal Basis
The Adjudicator will use personal data relating to you for the purposes of:
- receiving and examining your complaint against your solicitor or in relation to your complaint against any decision concerning an application for a grant from the Law Society’s Compensation Fund;
- contacting you in order to provide you with updates in relation to your complaint against your solicitor or your complaint against any decision concerning an application for a grant from the Law Society’s Compensation Fund where applicable and to notify you of the outcome of your complaint;
- requiring the production of documents in the possession of the Law Society in connection with the examination and investigation of your complaint;
- notifying your solicitor that your files have been requisitioned from the Law Society;
- notifying your solicitor of the outcome of your complaint;
- producing an annual report on the activities of the Adjudicator (wherever possible, personal data will be anonymised before being used for this purpose); and
- complying with the Adjudicator’s legal and regulatory obligations.
The legal bases on which the Adjudicator collects, processes and transfers your information in the manner described above are:
- that this is necessary for compliance with a legal or regulatory obligation that applies to the Adjudicator; and
- that this is necessary for the performance of tasks that the Adjudicator carries out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the Adjudicator by law.
Recipients of Data
The Adjudicator may disclose your personal data to other organisations in connection with the above purposes, including:
- to the Law Society;
- to the solicitor who is the subject of your complaint;
- to the Office of the Ombudsmen, where you decide to refer your complaint against your Solicitor or your complaint against any decision concerning an application for a grant from the Law Society’s Compensation Fund Claim for their examination;
- to the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal, where your complaint against your Solicitor or your complaint in relation to any decision concerning an application for a grant from the Law Society’s Compensation Fund Claim concerns an allegation of misconduct by your solicitor;
- to third parties who the Adjudicator engages to provide services or benefits to her or to you, such as professional advisers; and
- to competent regulatory authorities and other bodies where requested or required by law.
Requirement to Provide Data
You are not under a statutory or contractual duty to provide the Adjudicator with any personal data. However, there are some pieces of information that you must provide to the Adjudicator so that she can examine your complaint or Compensation Fund Claim. If you do not provide the Adjudicator with this information, she may not be able to examine your complaint against your solicitor or your complaint against any decision concerning an application for a grant from the Law Society’s Compensation Fund Claim.
Retention
The Adjudicator will not hold your data for longer than is necessary. The Adjudicator may retain your personal data for as long as she needs it for the purposes described in this Notice, or to comply with her obligations under applicable law and, if relevant, to deal with any claim or dispute that might arise between you and the Adjudicator.
Transfers Abroad
In connection with the above the Adjudicator might transfer your personal data outside the European Economic Area, including to a jurisdiction which is not recognised by the European Commission as providing for an equivalent level of protection for personal data as is provided for in the European Union. If and to the extent that the Adjudicator does so, she will ensure that appropriate measures are in place to comply with her obligations under applicable law governing such transfers. These may include entering into a contract governing the transfer that contains the ‘standard contractual clauses’ approved for this purpose by the European Commission. If you would like to receive further details of the measures that the Adjudicator has taken in this regard, please contact the Adjudicator at adjudicator@independentadjudicator.ie.
Your rights
You have the following rights, in certain circumstances and subject to certain restrictions, in relation to your personal data:
- Right to access the data – You have the right to request a copy of the personal data that the Adjudicator holds about you, together with other information about the processing of that personal data.
- Right to rectification – You have the right to request that any inaccurate data that is held about you is corrected, or if the Adjudicator has incomplete information you may request that she update the information such that it is complete.
- Right to erasure – You have the right to request the Adjudicator to delete personal data that she holds about you. This is sometimes referred to as the right to be forgotten.
- Right to restriction of processing or to object to processing – You have the right to request that the Adjudicator no longer processes your personal data for particular purposes, or to object to the processing of your personal data for particular purposes.
If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact the Adjudicator at adjudicator@independentadjudicator.ie.
Complaints
If you have any queries or complaints in connection with the processing of your personal data, you can contact the Adjudicator adjudicator@independentadjudicator.ie.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission if you are not happy with the way the Adjudicator has used your information or addressed your rights. Details of how to lodge a complaint can be found at (https://www.dataprotection.ie/docs/Contact-us/11.htm) or you can call the Data Protection Commission at 353 (0)761 104 800.
Independent Adjudicator of the Law Society
20 June 2018