Appeals Policy

VILLAGE CARD CLUB (VCC) APPEALS POLICY

Director and Committee Instructions

1. GENERAL

a. Player's Right

Any player may appeal any Director ruling as to fact or law made at his table by requesting that the ruling be reviewed by an Appeals Committee. However, a Director's assessment of disciplinary penalties -- in points or by expulsion -- may not be appealed under this policy.

b. Time of Appeal

The appeal may be filed at the time the ruling is made or subsequently, but no later than 30 minutes after the final-round game scores have been posted.

c. How to Appeal

An appeal shall be made as a request to the Director and may not be denied.

d. Concurrence of Players

An appeal shall not be heard unless both members of a pair, or the captain of a team, concur in appealing.

2. VCC RESPONSIBILITIES

The VCC shall maintain and update these procedures as required.

The VCC shall maintain an Appeals Committee Standing List of certified directors and experienced players who agree to serve on Appeals Committees. The President, with input from the Club Manager and Game Manager, shall compile the list and present it to the Board of Directors for approval. It shall be reviewed yearly and updated as required.

3. DIRECTOR RESPONSIBILITIES

a. Select the Committee

When an appeal is filed, the Director shall appoint, from the standing list, a committee of three members to sit immediately after the game. Normally, the Chair should be from the list of certified directors and the two committee members from the list of experienced players.

If three players from the standing list are not available, the committee may be formed by selecting two such members and one additional player. If that is not possible, the committee shall be formed and sit as quickly as possible but no later than 24 hours after the incident.

No member may be a regular partner, close friend or spouse of any party involved in the appeal (including the Director). Likewise, no member may be a person known to be unfriendly to any party involved in the appeal. The Director should be judicious in selecting the committee since those selected are not subject to challenge by any of the parties.

If possible, the Director should form the Appeals Committee before posting the final-round scores, and note on the print-outs that they are subject to change.

b. Initiate Appeals Committee Ruling Form

The Director shall complete and sign the top portion of the Appeals Committee Ruling form, entering:

• Who called for the Director
• What the Director learned at the table (i.e., what was the issue)
• Which laws, regulations, procedures or practices are relevant
• How the Director ruled on the issue

If the Director feels that the appeal was frivolous, that should be indicated on the form with the reasons for such a judgment.

The Appeals Committee Ruling form and a copy of these procedures are then given to the Ap peals Committee Chair.

c. Advise appellant and witnesses of procedures

The Director shall advise the appellant and witnesses of the time and place of the committee meeting, the names of the members of the committee and give each (as appropriate) a copy of the summary version of this policy.

4. APPEALS COMMITTEE RESPONSIBILITIES

a. Form the Committee

The Chair shall gather the committee members at a table in an open portion of the room and clear the area of uninvolved players. The Chair will then call together the Director and all parties involved in the appeal and ask that the duplicate board in question be brought to the meeting.

b. Announce the Ground Rules

The Chair will inform all present of the following ground rules:

• All parties will be given sufficient time to present their respective arguments.

• The Chair will call on parties to speak at the appropriate time.

• There will be no conversations between the disputing parties.

• All testimony will be directed to the Chair and no interruptions will be tolerated.

• For team events, the committee will not be told what occurred at the other table. (Note: if the committee decides to award an artificial adjusted score pursuant to Law 12C1, they will then be told of the score at the other table.)

• When each party concludes presentation of his/her case, committee members will be given the opportunity to ask questions of that party.

• Each party will have the opportunity to present rebuttal testimony and make an appropriate final statement.

• The standard of proof that will be used to accept one version of the facts over another will be a preponderance of the evidence presented and the committee's judgment of that evidence.

• The committee will deliberate without any others present. The committee will recall all participants to hear the its ruling. Once the committee announces its decision there shall be no further argument or discussion.

c. Initiate Appeals Testimony

With all parties present, the Chair should first call the Director to testify. This should be a sum mary of what was entered on the Appeals Committee Ruling form. Specifically, the Director should state the alleged infraction or dispute then summarize the relevant facts and the pertinent law(s) or regulation(s). Next, the Director should present a list of available rulings and penalties, and then the ruling that was made. At this point the committee members (but not the other parties) may ask any questions they may have of the Director.

The Chair then calls on the player who filed the appeal to state his/her case. The committee members may then ask any questions they may have for the appellant.

The witnesses (normally others at the table) are then asked to state their views (one at a time). The committee members may ask for clarification after each witness has testified.

After all parties have been heard, each party shall be offered the opportunity to make a rebuttal statement. After that, committee members may ask any final questions.

d. Deliberate the Appeal

The Chair shall excuse all of the parties from the immediate area prior to deliberations.

The committee's task is to apply its collective judgment, based on the testimony presented, in determining whether the ruling made by the Director was correct and appropriate. Committee members should avoid endless and futile deliberations.

The committee must decide to take one of the following courses of action:

(1) Uphold the Director’s ruling, or

(2) Cancel the Director's ruling and make an adjustment that the committee believes to be an equitable solution. The adjustment may be:

• Assign an Adjusted Point Score - the committee may determine what the final contract would have been had not the infraction in question occurred and determine the probable result that would have been achieved. The committee may order that the board be scored as though that result was actually attained.

• Award an Adjusted Score - The committee may adjust the matchpoint score received by either or both sides.

• Cancel the Results - The committee may cancel the result on the board and award an ave rage, average plus, or average minus to either or both sides.

• Award Overall Percentage Scores - The committee may award one or both sides their respective overall percentage scores for the session on the board in question (in effect not permitting the board to affect the disputants' scores one way or the other).

• Assess Matchpoint Penalties - the committee may assess a matchpoint penalty to one side without granting compensation to the other side.

If the committee judges that an appeal has been made frivolously (i.e., that the appeal is so without merit that a reasonable person would not have presented it) it may rule that the Director impose a penalty of up to ½ board on the initiator of the appeal. This penalty shall be in addition to any other penalty imposed by the Director and upheld by the committee.

Once a decision has been reached, the Chair completes the Appeals Committee Ruling form and all committee members sign it (indicating non-concurrence with the majority, if appropriate).

e. Recall All Parties

The Chair shall recall all parties to hear the committee's ruling. In announcing the decision the Chair should seek to ensure that all parties understand why the decision was reached. Once the decision is announced, no further discussion of the issue will be allowed.

f. Execute the Decision

The Chair shall deliver the completed Appeals Committee Ruling form to the Director. The Director makes any adjusted scoring required by the committee and completes official score sheets. The Director shall file the Appeals Committee Ruling form in the Game Directors Handbook and notify the Club Manager of the incident. If the committee determined that an appeal was frivolous, the Club Manager shall forward a copy of the Appeals Committee Ruling form to the Unit Recorder.

February 17, 2006

VCC APPEALS POLICY

Summary for Appellant and Witnesses

1. General

An appeal is filed as a request to the Director and may not be denied. It may be filed at the time the ruling is made or subsequently, but no later than 30 minutes after the game. An appeal shall not be heard unless both members of the pair concur in appealing.

2. Appeals Committee Appointment

When an appeal is filed, the Director appoints, from the Appeals Committee Standing List, a committee of three members to sit immediately after the game. Normally, the Chair should be from the list of certified directors and the two committee members from the list of experienced players. If three players from the standing list are not available, the committee may be formed by selecting two such members and one additional player. If that is not possible, the committee shall be formed and sit as quickly as possible but no later than 24 hours after the incident.

No member may be a regular partner, close friend or spouse of any party involved in the appeal (including the Director). Likewise, no member may be a person known to be unfriendly to any of the parties. The Director must be judicious in selecting the committee since those selected are not subject to challenge by any of the parties.

3. Ground Rules

• All parties will be given sufficient time to present their respective arguments.

• The Chair will call on parties to speak at the appropriate time.

• There will be no conversations between the disputing parties.

• All testimony will be directed to the Chair and no interruptions will be tolerated.

• When each party concludes presentation of his/her case, committee members (but not the other parties) may ask questions of that party.

• Each party will have the opportunity to present rebuttal testimony and make an appropriate final statement.

• The standard of proof that will be used to accept one version of the facts over another will be a preponderance of the evidence presented and the committee's judgment of that evidence.

(This is a summary of the VCC policy. The detailed instructions, to be used by the Director and Appeals Committee, are posted on the VCC web site and available from the Director.)

April 2004, February 17, 2006

Click here to download a pdf of the Appeals Committee Ruling form.

APPEALS COMMITTEE RULING

Date and time: ___________________________________

1. I was called to the table by _______________________

2. The following facts were related to me: ___________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

3. The following laws, regulations or practices pertain in this situation: _____________

______________________________________________________________________

4. I ruled as follows: _____________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

________________________________
Game Director

We served on the Appeals Committee and ruled to: (a) Uphold the Director’s ruling __

(b) Cancel the Director’s ruling __

And make the following adjustment: ________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________ ______________________ ______________________
Committee Chair Member Member

February 12, 2006