APPEALS JURY

Revision of paragraph 11 of the WKF Competition Rules and the establishment of a Complaints Procedure referred to under same paragraph

Background

The reasons for this revision is that under the current wording of ARTICLE 11 of the WKF rules, there seems to be no logical rationale for the design of the Appeals Jury and the absence of a Complaints Procedure called for by the same paragraph.

An obviously important task for the jury is to determine if the protest is valid. According to the rules the basis of a protest is “If a refereeing procedure appears to contravene the rules…”.

The area of expertise is clearly the rules and their application. The only member of the jury that reasonably can be expected to have expertise in this field would be the RC member. Most likely the TC member will also have insight in the rules, but I see no reason why one would automatically assume that the MC member could be qualified to overrule rulings of presumably qualified referees.

[There could be incidents when the jury may wish to consult a MC or TC person, but there is no logical reason why they would be the best qualified persons to evaluate a situation as seen under the rules.]

The present composition of the Appeals Jury is inconsistent with the objectives of their work. Article 11 of the WKF Rules should be revised.
 

Part 1: Modification of WKF Rules Article 11:

Present wording of ARTICLE 11.7 reads:
 
“The Appeals Jury is comprised of one representative each from the Referee Council, Technical Committee, and Medical Committee.”
New wording:
“The Appeals Jury is comprised of three senior referee representatives appointed by the Referee Council”

 
 

Part 2: Complaints procedure under revised WKF Rules:

1. Submission of Protest

According to WKF rules the person presenting the protest can deliver this protest to any member of the Appeals Panel.

The Referee Council should make the appointed members known to the Organizing Committee and the Official Table in order that a protester can be directed to the appropriate persons.

2. Composition of the Appeals Panel

The Appeals Jury is comprised of three senior referee representatives appointed by the Referee Council (RC). No two members may be appointed from the same national federation. The RC should also appoint three additional members with designated numbering from 1 to 3 that automatically will replace any of the originally appointed Appeals Jury members in a conflict of interest situation where the jury member is of the same nationality or have a family relationship by blood or as an In-Law with any of the parties involved in the protested incident, including all members of the refereeing panel involved in the protested incident. 

3. Appeals Evaluation Process

It is the responsibility of the party receiving the protest to convene the Appeals Jury and deposit the protest sum with the Treasurer.

Once convened, the Appeals Jury will immediately make such inquiries and investigations as they deem necessary to substantiate the merit of the protest. Each of the three members is obliged to give his/her verdict as to the validity of the protest. Abstentions are not acceptable.

4. Declined Protests

If a protest is found invalid, the Appeals Jury will appoint one of its members to verbally notify the protester that the protest has been declined, mark the original document with the word “DECLINED”, and have it signed by each of the members of the Appeals Jury, before depositing the protest with the Treasurer, who in turn will forward it to the Secretary General.

5. Accepted Protests

If a protest is accepted, the appeals Jury will liaison with the Organizing Committee (OC) and Referee Council to take such measures as can be practically carried out to remedy the situation including the possibilities of:

 * Reversing previous judgments that contravene the rules
 * Voiding results of the affected matches in the pool from the point previous to the incident
 * Redoing such matches that have been affected by the incident
 * Issuing a recommendation to the RC that involved referees are evaluated for correction or sanction

The responsibility rests with the Appeals Jury to exercise restraint and sound judgment in taking actions that will disturb the program of the event in any significant manner. Reversing the process of the eliminations is a last option to secure a fair outcome.

The Appeals Jury will appoint one of its members who will verbally notify the protester that the protest has been accepted, mark the original document with the word “ACCEPTED”, and have it signed by each of the members of the Appeals Jury, before depositing the protest with the Treasurer, who will return the deposited amount to the protestor, and in turn forward the protest document to the Secretary General.

7. Incident Report

Subsequent to handling the incident in the above prescribed manner, the Jury Panel will reconvene and elaborate a simple protest incident report, describing their findings and state their reason(s) for accepting or rejecting the protest. The report should be signed by all three members of the Appeals Jury and submitted to the Secretary General.

8. Power and Constraints

The decision of the Appeals Jury is final, and can only be overruled by a decision of the Directing Committee.
 
The Appeals Jury may not impose sanctions or penalties. Their function is to pass judgment on the merit of the protest and instigate required actions from the RC and OC to take remedial action to rectify any refereeing procedure found to contravene the rules.
 

1st September 2003