Disciplinary Panel

There are two areas that the Panels deal with:

1. Misconduct and Bringing BUCS into Disrepute
These relate to the conduct of representatives of BUCS institutions, whether that be during a fixture/event, or otherwise. To learn more see REG 5.

These charges are raised either by an institution, or by BUCS. The institution being charged has the opportunity to respond and then an independent Disciplinary Panel is convened to hear the case and come to a decision on the outcome and any possible sanctions to be imposed.

The Panel will review the submissions from all parties involved and will have the opportunity to ask questions of the institution(s) and/or BUCS to help them reach a decision.

2. Match Appeals
These relate to individual BUCS fixtures. To learn more see REG 15.

There are three levels of appeal:

• Initial Appeals
• Full Appeals
• Final Appeals.

Initial Appeals are dealt with by the BUCS Executive to ensure a timely turnaround for the majority of fixture disputes. Should an institution wish to query an Initial Appeal decision formally, then they can request a Full Appeal hearing, and the same after a Full Appeal for a Final Appeal.

When a Full or Final Appeal hearing is required, this is when an independent Disciplinary Panel is convened. They will hear the case and come to a decision on the outcome and any possible sanctions to be imposed.

The Panel will review the submissions from all parties involved and will have the opportunity to ask questions of either institution and/or BUCS to help them reach a decision.

Due to the nature of the disciplinary procedures, hearings can be called at any time during the year as required and there is no limit to how many may need to be held.

Hearings will usually be held in offices in Central London. In some cases they may be held via Conference Call/Video Conferencing, particularly if a Panel needs to be convened at short notice.

As well as the members of the Panel, members of the BUCS Executive will be in attendance to help facilitate and if required to represent BUCS. Institutions involved have the opportunity to have individuals attend to represent them.

Each Panel is comprised of a Chair and two students or sabbatical officers of BUCS member institutions.

The BUCS Chair of Disciplinary is an elected position at BUCS Conference and they serve a term of office of two years, with no limit on the number of terms which can be served.

The current BUCS Chair of Disciplinary is Roger Finbow, a retired lawyer, who has held the position for a number of years. However, for Final Appeals against the decision of a previous Disciplinary Panel, the Chair of Disciplinary is replaced by the Chair of BUCS (or their nominated alternative).

The Chair is supported by two student or sabbatical officer panel members. These two panel members will be from institutions/Playing Entities who are not in the same playing conference as any institution/Playing Entity involved in the hearing.

We are looking for students and sabbatical officers to join the pool to be a member on the Disciplinary Panel.

This is an excellent opportunity for anyone with an interest in sports compliance and for individuals to see how our disciplinary cases work and experience a different part of BUCS activity.

We would look to this pool to recruit the two panel members required to join each of our Disciplinary Panels for the hearing of any Full Appeals, Final Appeals or Misconduct/Bringing BUCS into Disrepute charges for the 2023-24 season.

About being a member of the panel:

• It is a voluntary position, but any agreed travel expenses (where applicable) will be covered by BUCS
• The two panel members for a case cannot be from institutions/Playing Entities in the same playing conference as any institution/Playing Entity involved in a hearing. This means some hearings will have a wider group of eligible panel members from the Pool than others
• Sometimes a Panel may be required for just one hearing, other times there can be a few held back-to-back, so the hours required each time will vary.
• There is no limit on how many hearings an individual may sit on a Panel for, so every time a hearing comes up we will offer it to all those who are from eligible playing conferences in the Pool.