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Breaching the Rules

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Kypros Kotzikas

Appeal Rights

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Edmund Burke

“The functions of a Judicial Committee shall be to consider and determine .... all matters submitted to it for Judicial determination or for a ruling under these Rules.” This is Rule 1102(b)(viii).

Another Rule is 1102(1): “The Judicial Committee shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine all proceedings commenced pursuant to these Rules which are not expressly stated by any of these Rules to be within the jurisdiction of any other person or body.”

The Rules don’t say anywhere that the Judicial Committee is to confine its activities to matters arising on a raceday.

On 12 January 2004, I appealed a Judicial Committee decision not to grant leave for me to file an information with them.

The Appeals Tribunal ruled that: “the Rules contained in Part XI define the powers of a Judicial Committee as being limited to matters arising on or from a particular day of racing.”

The Tribunal justified its decision by saying that Rule 1102(2) states that the functions of a Judicial Committee shall be, “from one hour prior to the advertised starting time of the first race of any day of a racemeeting until after the last proceeding which it commences to deal with on the day, or 30 minutes after the last race on that day.... ”

The Rules detail the work the Judicial Committee is required to do and fixes their hours of work. The Tribunal decided their duties are to be found in their hours of work: not where their functions and jurisdiction are set out.

If a Judicial Committee are assembled on raceday, surely they should be able to be called upon to do work in their area of expertise.

That’s actually how the Rules read isn’t it? But it is not the way the Appeals Tribunal ruled.

The functions of a Judicial Committee shall be to consider .... all matters submitted to it for Judicial determination under these Rules