Disciplinary law : the jurisdiction of a discplinary committee to hear a disciplinary complaint based on a penal infraction, having no connection with the accused's profession, is questioned

Disciplinary law, penal infraction, disciplinary comittees' juridiction : In a decision rendered in May 2013, the Professional Tribunal granted an application for leave to appeal presented by six engineers, all of whom were accused of having made political donations in violation of the Elections Act and thus, for having acted in a manner derogatory to the honour or dignity of their profession. The Professional Tribunal describes the questions asking whether disciplinary committees have the necessary juridiction to hear penal complaints and whether a professional can be accused of having engaged in ethical misconduct having no connection whatsoever with his profession, as serious questions of public interest. The Tribunal suspends all pending proceedings before the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec and accepts to decide on these questions at a later time (Lussier et al. v. Ingénieurs (Ordre professionnel des), 2013 QCTP 48).