{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/general-optical-council-registration-appeals-rules-order-of-council-2005/schedule/paragraph-17",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/general-optical-council-registration-appeals-rules-order-of-council-2005/schedule/paragraph-17.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/2005/1477",
  "legislation_title": "The General Optical Council (Registration Appeals Rules) Order of Council 2005",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/general-optical-council-registration-appeals-rules-order-of-council-2005",
  "path": "schedule/paragraph/17",
  "kind": "paragraph",
  "number": "17",
  "heading": "Hearings in public",
  "text": "(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) to (5) below, hearings before the Registration Appeals Committee shall be held in public.\n(2) The Registration Appeals Committee may determine that the public shall be excluded from the proceedings, or any part of the proceedings, where the Committee consider that such exclusion would be appropriate, having regard to—\n(a) the interests of any patient or witness concerned;\n(b) the interests of the appellant or the applicant; and\n(c) all the circumstances, including the public interest.\n(3) Subject to paragraph (4), the Registration Appeals Committee shall sit in private where they are considering the physical or mental health of the appellant or applicant.\n(4) Where Registration Appeals Committee are considering matters referred to in paragraph (3), they may meet in public if they consider that it would be appropriate to do so having regard to the matters set out in paragraph (2)(a) to (c).\n(5) The Registration Appeals Committee may at any time deliberate in the absence of the parties, their representatives and the public.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1477/schedule/paragraph/17",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T04:58:12.778907+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}