Jury Of Appeal

This article was prepared by Paul Jenkins and published in the May 1999 edition of "Off the Blocks".

In the past few years, Juries of Appeal have, thank goodness, become very infrequent. However the Meet Manager should be aware of how they work and be prepared to Chair a jury if required. The following have been combined from both the SNC Rule Book and the SNC Officials Clinic Guide.

The Meet Manager will chair a Jury of Appeal and each day of the meet, should have in mind three or five individuals that can be called upon on short notice to serve.

If a protest has been verbally submitted to the Referee who is unable to support the protest, the Coach must then submit the protest in writing to the Referee within thirty minutes of the conclusion of the respective event. If the Referee rejects the protest the rationale for the rejection must be stated on the written protest. The coach may then submit the rejected protest to the Jury of Appeal. The decision of the Jury shall be final. If a written protest has been received, the publication and distribution of the applicable event results must not be posted.

The Meet Manager shall appoint members to the Jury. The Jury shall be chaired by the Meet Manger or he/she may appoint a designate. The chair shall have no vote. The voting members shall be odd in number either three or five, and should be the most experienced SNC officials or officers available who were not involved in the disputed decision or disqualification. i.e. they should not be involved in the protest.

The Jury shall convene and reach a decision by majority vote as soon as practical after the session in question. The decision must be reached on the day the written protest was received. It is important that the jury deal only with the matter being protested. The Jury shall hear evidence as it sees fit, however, the protestor, referee and officials who decisions are being disputed, shall have a right to present their case. The Jury shall conduct it business in private.

They should interview all involved officials and/or coaches in order to reach an objective decision. The Jury shall reach a decision by majority vote When the decision is reached, the protestor and referee shall be informed immediately and after the decision is handed down, the results shall be determined and posted and the results shall be final.

The Jury Chair as mentioned, does not have a vote, nor does the chair express an opinion. The Chair should only direct the jurors to consider all pertinent fact and then make a decision. The Chair shall make a formal written report of the proceedings, including a description of the incident, the initial decision of the referee and the protest. In addition, the report shall include the names of the Jury members, the witnesses called, the final decision rendered and it's rationale. All members of the Jury shall sign the report.

One copy of the report shall be provided to the protester and one copy along with the original protest and other pertinent data should be sent to Swim BC along with the meet results.

A Jury of Appeal decision on disputes covering the conduct of the meet or the decision of a meet official shall be final and shall not be appealed. However, the protester or anyone affected by the Jury of Appeal's decision who is dissatisfied with the decision of a specific individual's qualification and eligibility has the right to appeal and so inform the meet manager within seven days. The appeal shall be made in writing to Swim BC within thirty days. Such an appeal or grievance shall be one of principle and its pursuit must not delay the meet or effect the final results.