Discipline privacy statement

The controller of your personal data is the following legal entity:

Order of Flemish Bars ("OVB")

Staatsbladsstraat 8, 1000 Brussels

Ondernemingsnummer: 0267.393.267

OVB also stores its bodies, i.e. chairman, members of the board of directors and committees and working groups.

In case you have any questions about the processing of your personal data, you can always contact us

• via e-mail: info@advocaat.be
• by phone: +32 3 337 54 70
• by post to the above address, stating "Privacy"

The OVB has appointed a Data Protection Officer or Data Protection Officer pursuant to the GDPR. The Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dpo@ordevanvlaamsebalies.be.

We process your personal data for one or more of the following purposes:

• Disciplinary proceedings concerning your (former) lawyer
• Dispute management

Below you can find for each of these purposes what personal data we process, why we process it, how we obtain it, how long we keep it and with whom we share it.

Disciplinary proceedings

In the context of disciplinary proceedings concerning your (former) lawyer, we may process your personal identification data (name, address, e-mail address, telephone number), financial data (the outstanding amount in the third-party account owed by your (former) lawyer) or any other data communicated to us (e.g. information in the context of the file in which your (former) lawyer acts or acted).

The processing of these personal data is in the context of a disciplinary procedure in respect of your (former) lawyer, including procedures such as in disciplinary matters. These data allow us, among other things, to keep disciplinary files and take initiatives under Article 495 of the Judicial Code, as well as with a view to creating a central disciplinary register. This is necessary to enforce disciplinary rules and deontology.

The legal basis for processing your personal data is based on our public interest task (art. 6, §1, (e) GDPR) arising from the Judicial Code (art. 461 and 495).

We obtain your personal data either directly from you (or your lawyer representative) or indirectly from your (former) lawyer (or his lawyer representative).

For purposes of enforcement of disciplinary rules and deontology, we will keep the file on your (former) lawyer, including your personal data collected in the context of the disciplinary proceedings, for up to 30 years from the date of conclusion of the judicial year in which your (former) lawyer was struck off the register or the list of trainees. Minor sanctions are erased 6 years counting from the judgment (art. 472 §3 Ger.W.).

The Bar Associations, the Disciplinary Board and/or the Disciplinary Board of Appeal are co-responsible for the processing of your personal data within the framework of the disciplinary proceedings. If you have any questions about this mutual division of tasks, you can always contact us via the contact details listed under IDENTITY AND CONTACT DETAILS.

We only share your personal data with third parties involved in the handling of disciplinary proceedings (Disciplinary Councils and Disciplinary Board of Appeal, Court of Cassation, possibly the Stafhouders van Ordes van Advocaten). In addition, third parties with whom we cooperate for the storage and management of our data also have access to this personal data (Diplad and (other) IT/cloud providers).

Dispute management

For the purpose of managing possible disputes with complainants, we may process your personal identification data (name, address, e-mail address, telephone number) and any other data relevant to the management of a (possible) dispute.

The processing of this personal data allows us to defend our legitimate interests in all forms of dispute resolution and the administration thereof.

The legal basis for processing your personal data is based on our legitimate interest to safeguard our (contractual and extra-contractual, legal and other) rights (Art. 6, §1, (f) GDPR).

We obtain this personal data either directly from you or indirectly from third parties.

For dispute management purposes, we keep your personal data for up to 5 years after the expiry of the last deadline to appeal (longer if necessary, e.g. to comply with legal obligations).

We only share this personal data with third parties with whom we cooperate in the context of dispute management (external legal advisers) and with other parties if necessary (public authorities, court and police services, bailiffs, debt collection agencies, banking and insurance institutions and our accounting firm). In addition, third parties with whom we cooperate for the storage and management of our data also have access to this personal data (IT/cloud providers).

We have implemented appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure the confidentiality of your personal data and to protect your data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or access.

We have entered into the necessary contractual arrangements with the third parties we work with and do not transfer your personal data outside the European Economic Area without ensuring that your data also enjoys an equivalent level of protection there.

You can always contact us to exercise the following rights:

• a request to access or rectify your personal data;
• a request for erasure of your personal data;
• a request to restrict the processing of your personal data;
• an objection to the processing of your personal data;
• a complaint if you believe that we are not acting in accordance with applicable data protection legislation. You can also file a complaint with the Belgian Data Protection Authority.

You can always contact us for this:

• by e-mail: info@advocaat.be
• by phone: +32 3 337 54 70
• by post to the address above, stating "Privacy".

We respect all rights relating to your personal data to which you are entitled under applicable law.

You may at any time exercise your right to object to the processing of your personal data in the context of disciplinary proceedings concerning your (former) lawyer, a fee dispute with your (former) lawyer and/or a dispute between your lawyer and another lawyer, stating the reasons relating to your specific situation (for more information, see Purposes). OVB will stop processing your personal data unless it considers that there are compelling legitimate grounds which outweigh the interests, rights and freedoms you claim.

For identification purposes, we may ask you for a copy of the front of your identity card.

This privacy statement may be amended from time to time, within the limits of applicable data protection regulations. You can always access the most up-to-date version via the advocaat.be website.