RYA 2008/5 gives comprehensive advice on reopening. Question 1
Rule 66 begins: ‘The protest committee may reopen a hearing...’ Does the use of the word ‘may’ mean that a protest committee is entitled not to reopen in the circumstances stated in the rule?
Answer 1
Normally, as suggested in Recommendation M4 of Appendix M, a protest committee should reopen when it decides that it may have made a significant error, or when significant new evidence becomes available within reasonable time. However, it need not reopen if its error, if corrected, would not result in a changed decision, or if there are genuine time pressures to finalise the results for an event, and a change of decision would either not change the event results, or would have an effect only on minor placings.
Question 2
Is it necessary for there to be a request to reopen before the protest committee can consider reopening? Answer 2
No. The rule does not require this. The protest committee may become aware of the need to consider reopening even if a party has not asked for it.
Question 3
In asking for a reopening, does a party to the hearing have to give a reason? Answer 3
Yes. The party must identify a possible mistake, or describe the source and nature of the new evidence, and the protest committee may then question the requester in the absence of any other party to decide whether it may have been a mistake, or whether the evidence, if presented, will be ‘new’ as described in Answer 5.
Question 4
If the protest committee decides to reopen to hear further evidence, and a party to the original hearing believes that it should not do so, does a party have to raise an objection to the reopening at the start of the reopened hearing?
Answer 4
Yes, if it is wished to reserve the right to appeal against the fact of the reopening as well as against any subsequent change in the decision. It is possible that when evidence that is not ‘new’ as described in Answer 5 is heard, an appeal against the improper reopening may be upheld, regardless of the merits of the further evidence, but only when the party objected to the hearing of the further evidence at the beginning of the reopened hearing. The protest committee must consider an objection to its reopening before deciding whether to proceed with the reopened hearing. If the protest committee is an international jury, no appeal is possible.
Q&As 5 and 6 are omitted as their contents concerning what is ‘new’ evidence is now stated both in M4.2 and in WS 115.
Evidence is ‘new’
• if it was not reasonably possible for the party asking for the reopening to have discovered the evidence before the original hearing,
• if the protest committee is satisfied that before the original hearing the evidence was diligently but unsuccessfully sought by the party asking for the reopening, or
• if the protest committee learns from any source that the evidence was not available to the parties at the time of the original hearing.
Question 7
When a hearing is reopened because one party is able to offer significant new evidence, is it open to other parties to call new witnesses or offer other evidence not heard at the original hearing? Is it relevant that the other parties’ ‘new’ evidence may have been available at the time of the original hearing but not offered at the time?
Answer 7
There is no limitation on evidence that may be presented once the decision to reopen the hearing has been made. This may include witnesses not originally called.
220 RYA The Racing Rules Explained
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