P4 Reopening a Hearing (rule 66)

When a timely request is made for a hearing to be reopened, hear the party making the request, look at any video, etc., and decide whether there is any material new evidence which might lead you to change your decision. Decide whether your interpretation of the rules may have been wrong; be open-minded as to whether you have made a mistake. If none of these applies refuse to reopen; otherwise schedule a hearing.

P5 Gross Misconduct (rule 69)

  P 5.1 An action under this rule is not a protest, but the protest committee gives its allegations in writing to the competitor before the hearing. The hearing is conducted under the same rules as other hearings but must have at least three members (rule 69.1(b)). Use the greatest care to protect the competitor's rights.
  P 5.2 A competitor cannot protest under rule 69, but the protest form of a competitor who tries to do so may be accepted as a report to the protest committee which can then decide whether to call a hearing or not.
  P 5.3 When it is desirable to call a hearing under rule 69 as a result of a Part 2 incident, it is important to hear any board-vs-board protest in the normal way, deciding which board, if any, broke which rule, before proceeding against the competitor under this rule.
  P 5.4 The protest committee may warn the competitor when it believes this to be sufficient penalty, in which case no report need be made to the national authority. When the penalty is more severe and a report is made to the national authority, it is helpful to recommend to the national authority whether or not further action should be taken.
 
P6 Appeals (rule 70 and RRS Appendix F)

When decisions can be appealed, leave the papers so that the information can easily be used for an appeal. Is there an adequate diagram? Are the facts found sufficient?

(Example: were the words used obsene? YES/NO. - Perhaps' is not a fact found.

Are the names of the protest committee members on the form, etc.?

Comments on any appeal should enable the appeals committee to picture the whole incident clearly; the appeals committee knows nothing about the situation.

P7 Photographic Evidence

Photographs and videos can sometimes provide useful evidence but protest committees should recognize their limitations and note the following points.

The party producing the photographic evidence is responsible for arranging the viewing. View the tape several times to extract all the information from it.

The depth perception of any single-lens camera is very poor; with a telephoto lens it is non-existent. When the camera views two overlapped boards at right angles to their course, it is impossible to assess the distance between them. When the camera views them head on, it is impossible to see whether an overlap exists unless it is substantial.

Ask the following questions:

* Where was the camera in relation to the boards?
* Was the camera's platform moving? If so in what direction and how fast?
* Is the angle changing as the boards approach the critical point? Fast panning causes radical change.
* Did the camera have an unrestricted view throughout?