DISCIPLINARY & APPEALS PROCEDURE

Ice Hockey UK

Ice Hockey UK (IHUK) is the overall Governing Body for British Ice Hockey recognised by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), UK Sport, British Olympic Association (BOA), United Kingdom Anti-Drugs Agency (UKAD), United Kingdom Borders Agency (UKBA), Sports + Recreational Alliance and other National Sporting Bodies. IHUK is responsible to the IIHF for the good order of the sport in the United Kingdom and is charged with ensuring that all overseas players are properly cleared to play and that the Rules and By-Laws of the IIHF are upheld.

Elite League

Elite League (EIHL) is the recognised body for the Elite Professional League.

English Ice Hockey Association

English Ice Hockey Association (EIHA) is a regional governing body for Ice Hockey in England.

Scottish Ice Hockey-UK

Scottish Ice Hockey-UK (SIH-UK) is a regional governing body for Ice Hockey in Scotland.

Northern Ireland Ice Hockey Association

Northern Ireland Ice Hockey Association (NIIHA) is currently run by a Committee that comes directly under the auspices of IHUK.

League

A “League” (Professional, Senior, Junior, Recreational – men and women) and all other Leagues coming under the control of EIHL, EIHA, SIH-UK, NIIHA and IHUK.

Club

A “Club” means an affiliate member of EIHL, EIHA, SIH-UK, NIIHA or IHUK.

Coach

A “Coach” means a properly qualified person who is dually registered with EIHL, EIHA, SIH-UK, NIIHA or IHUK.

Player

A “Player” means a person who plays the game of Ice Hockey for a Team or Club and is properly registered to do so either with EIHL, EIHA, SIH-UK, NIIHA or IHUK.

Player/Coach

A “Player/Coach” means a properly qualified person who is dually registered with EIHL, EIHA, SIH-UK, NIIHA or IHUK as a Player and a Coach.

Game Official

A “Game Official” means a person/s that presides over a game of Ice Hockey and has full authority to enforce the Laws of the game of Ice Hockey in connection with the game/s to which they have been appointed.

Person

A “Person” means a player, member, director, official, bench official, officer, team owner, employee, worker, fan/supporter, parent, agent or representative of a Team or Club and any other person connected to the Game of Ice Hockey in any way on behalf of a Club, Team or otherwise.

Appellant

An “Appellant” means a player, club, team or person who has made an appeal.

Disciplinary Panel

The “Disciplinary Panel” in the first instance will be IHUK Chairperson, IHUK General Secretary and one other independent person not belonging to or holding office with the organisation that the Club or person/s are registered or affiliated with, where a disciplinary complaint has been levelled against that person/s.

Where it is necessary to gather information from other IIHF recognised Federations the IHUK Chairperson and IHUK General Secretary at their discretion may call on 3 independent persons to form a Disciplinary Panel not belonging to or holding office with the organisation that the Club or person/s are registered or affiliated with, where a disciplinary complaint has been levelled against that person/s. IHUK Chairperson or IHUK General Secretary will chair this panel and will not have a vote.

The disciplinary panel Chairperson shall have the power to regulate and establish its own procedure in any case but subject to the power to establish shall observe the procedures/rules contained within this document. Where it is impractical to call a disciplinary panel to meet, the disciplinary panel will use the best forms of communicating available e.g. Email, telephone conference etc.

The disciplinary panel may determine that a Player, Person, Club/Team shall be disciplined for an offence which is different from the offence for which the Player, Person, Club/Team was originally sanctioned, providing such an offence arises out of the same incident/s as referred to in the Game Sheet/Officials Report or other Report and that the Player, Person, Club/Team shall not, in the opinion of the disciplinary panel, be unfairly prejudiced by the same.

No disciplinary matter that has been submitted to the disciplinary panel shall be quashed or held invalid by reason only of any defect, irregularity, omission or other technicality provided there has been no miscarriage of justice.

Appeals Panel

The “Appeals Panel” will be chaired by IHUK Chairperson or IHUK General Secretary who will chair the meeting where a personal hearing has been granted, the chair will not take part in the deliberations or have a vote on the Appeals Panel, and they will be there to conduct the meeting and to observe good order throughout.

Where a personal hearing has been granted the appeals panel Chairperson shall have the power to regulate and establish its own procedure in any case but subject to the power to establish shall observe the procedure/rules contained within this document.
Where a personal hearing has not been granted and it is impractical to call an appeals panel to meet, the appeals panel will use the best forms of communicating available e.g. Email, telephone conference etc.

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(1)

(2) (3) (4)

(5)

A penalty is called by a game Official based on offences described in the current IIHF official rule book, IIHF case book and bye-laws and for the avoidance of doubt shall include the following called by a game Official:
Any offence in which a game misconduct or match penalty is assessed to a coach. Any offence in which a game misconduct or match penalty is assessed to a player. An incident/match report is received by IHUK and or similar from the IIHF or an IIHF recognised foreign Federation no matter the timescale of receipt of documentation. IHUK Chairperson or IHUK General Secretary shall as soon as practically possible on receiving an incident/match report convene a hearing of a disciplinary panel.

Disciplinary Matters Rules & Procedures

  1. The Disciplinary Panel is a sub-committee of IHUK, delegated the task of dealing with ice hockey and related disciplinary matters. It will consist of IHUK Chairperson or IHUK General Secretary who will act as chair, and between two and four other independent persons.
  2. The Appeals Panel is a panel established to consider appeals from decisions of the Disciplinary Panel and shall consist of IHUK Chairperson or IHUK General Secretary who will act as chair and not take part in deliberations or have a vote and between two and four other independent persons.
  3. TheDisciplinaryPanelandAppealsPanelwillactingoodfaithandinaccordancewith natural justice.
  4. A disciplinary hearing is a hearing of a sports governing body and not of a court.
  5. Alldisciplinarypanelandappealspanelhearingsandrelatedmattersshallbedealtwithas soon as is practically possible.
  6. Alldisciplinarypanelandappealspanelhearingsmaynotbepublishedintothepublic domain which includes any form of social media without the written permission of IHUK Board of Directors.
  7. Circumstances of Appeal
  1. (1)  Given the nature of the sport of Ice Hockey, it is not feasible, proper or proportionate use of resource to extend a right of Appeal to all levels of sanctions. Appeals are therefore only permitted in the following circumstances:
  2. (2)  Where a suspension in relation to an offence has been ordered by the Disciplinary Panel and the suspension is for more than three (3) games;
  3. (3)  Where an exclusion order has been made in relation to an Ice Hockey arena/venue;
  4. (4)  Where the sanction amounts to an expulsion from the membership of/affiliation toIHUK, EIHL, EIHA, SIH-UK or NIIHA.
  5. (5)  Where the sanction amounts to the removal of a person’s/team’s licence/registration.

8. A hearing of the Disciplinary Panel shall be conducted where;

9. Notifications to Clubs

IHUK Chairperson or IHUK General Secretary shall advise either the Club direct or through the organisation that the Club is affiliated or the person is registered in writing of the disciplinary panel’s decision. The disciplinary panel shall have the Power to impose any penalties as it deems necessary.

10.Application of penalties

  1. (1)  Any suspension imposed on a club can apply to any games associated with the player or coach in domestic leagues, conference, England and GB Teams either at home or abroad.
  2. (2)  Suspensions and penalties imposed shall be served during the period commencing as indicated by the disciplinary panel or the appeals panel. Any suspension or penalty period not completed by the end of a season shall be carried forward until served in full.
  3. (3)  Any suspended player or coach is prohibited from approaching the players’ bench of that player’s team, opposing teams bench, the scorers bench or penalty box during games in which they would have been playing but for the suspension.

11.Appeals Panel Procedures – Notice of Appeal

  1. (1)  Any club or person wishing to appeal against a decision of the disciplinary panel shallfile notice of appeal in writing within 7 working days after the date on which the decision of the disciplinary panel is notified to the club/person, to IHUK General Secretary by email general.secretary@icehockeyuk.co.uk
  2. (2)  An appeal against a suspension does not necessarily mean a personal hearing will be given. Appeals are only permitted where the suspension is more than 3 games for each offence (not a total of 3 games).
  3. (3)  A request for a personal hearing must be made in writing to IHUK General Secretary by email general.secretary@icehockeyuk.co.uk
  4. (4)  Prior to notice of appeal £300 must be deposited in IHUK’s bank account as a deposit against costs of the hearing (which may be more than £300). The appellant will be required to pay the reasonable travel expenses of the appeals panel convened to hear the appeal. These costs are non-returnable.
  5. (5)  Such notice of appeal shall state the grounds of the appeal in sufficient detail to inform the appeals panel of the issues the club or person intends to raise at the appeal and shall indicate new documented evidence to justify the appeal which may not have been available to the disciplinary panel.
  6. (6)  In certain circumstances video evidence will be considered (£50 admin fee required).
  7. (7)  Video evidence may be considered where the visiting team has agreed for the gameto be videoed and given signed permission for the game to be videoed. Permission to be given prior. Where signed permission has been given by the visiting team, the visiting team must have received an unedited copy 24 hours of the game being played.
  8. (8)  Video evidence may be considered where the complainant is a Tournament Organiser or an IIHF recognised foreign Federation as long as they have given permission for games to be videoed.
  9. (9)  If the appeal for a personal hearing is granted, IHUK General Secretary will advise in writing of the date, time and venue of the hearing.
  10. (10)  If an appeal is refused, the IHUK General Secretary will advise in writing the reason why the appeal has been refused.
  1. (11)  As this is an Appeal to a sport’s governing body, appellants are not as a general rule permitted to have a legal representative present. Any request to be represented by a legal representative is at the discretion of the Appeals Chairperson.
  2. (12)  Any costs incurred by the appellant are not recoverable. If a legal representative is permitted by the Chairperson of the Appeal Panel, all costs will be borne by the Appellant in this matter, whatever the outcome of the hearing.
  3. (13)  Where the Appellant accepts the Game Report/Referees Report or any other relevant report and the Appeal is against sentence only, the Appellant may invite the Appeals Panel to review sentence without a hearing, after considering any written representations that the Appellant has submitted to the Appeals Panel for its consideration.
  4. (14)  The Appeals panel shall have full discretionary powers to call for and consider such evidence as it thinks appropriate and may, at its discretion, decline to hear any or all of the evidence sought to be led.
  5. (15)  Where evidence is given before the Appeals Panel, there shall be no cross- questioning of witnesses except through, or with the permission of the Chairperson of the Appeals Panel.
  6. (16)  Appeals Panel hearings shall be conducted in private.
  7. (17)  Deliberations of the Appeals Panel shall be conducted in private.
  8. (18)  Having heard such evidence considered appropriate by the Appeals Panel and anysubmissions made by or on behalf of the Appellant, the Appeals Panel may decide to:
  9. (19)  Allow the Appeal, in which case all sanctions against the Appellant shall be removed;or
  10. (20)  Dismiss an Appeal, in which case all sanctions against the Appellant shall remain ineffect; or
  11. (21)  Determine that a different sanction is appropriate and impose such a sanction; or
  12. (22)  Take any step which in the exercise of its discretion, the Appeals Panel considers itwould be appropriate to take in order to deal justly with the Appeal.

12.The decision of the Appeals Panel shall be advised to the Appellant as soon as reasonably practicable after the conclusion of the hearing. Where it considers it appropriate, the Appeals Panel may deliver an oral decision at the conclusion of the hearing.

13.Hearings of the Appeals Panel shall be recorded by minutes taken by any means as is considered appropriate by the Appeals Panel and will be stored in compliance of the data protection act.

14.The decision of the Appeals Panel shall be final and binding on all parties, subject to clause 15 below.

15. Sports Resolutions Final Arbitration

  1. (1)  Any decision of the Appeals Panel that relates to the decision to suspend for 30 games or more, or relates to an exclusion order, expulsion, license or registration removal can be challenged and any challenge shall be referred to the Sports Resolutions for final and binding arbitration.
  2. (2)  The challenge shall be limited to review of the legality of the procedure used and the decisions made by the Disciplinary Panel and Appeals Panel
  1. (3)  No Team, Club or person under the jurisdiction of IIHF, IHUK, EIHL, EIHA, SIH-UK or NIIHA and the rules, regulations and by-laws of the aforementioned organisations may issue Court proceedings in relation to clause 15 (1) challenge in any Court, in any jurisdiction.
  2. (4)  For the avoidance of doubt, any suspension for less than 30 games falls outside of this arbitration clause and the decision of the Appeals Panel is final and binding in that respect.
  3. (5)  The costs of the Final Appeal to Sports Resolution shall be borne by the Appellant.
  4. (6)  For more details on Sports Resolutions, please refer to www.sportsresolution.com

16.Sports Resolutions Mediation / Arbitration

  1. (1)  Members, affiliates, associates, participants, Clubs, Teams, Persons and IHUK agree that any other disputes between them that are not covered by the Rules, Regulations and By-Laws shall be referred to Sports Resolutions for resolution by mediation in accordance with Sports Resolutions (UK’s) Meditation Procedure, which procedure is deemed to be incorporated by reference to this clause.
  2. (2)  If the dispute referred to at 16 (1) is not settled within 21 days of the mediation being instituted, or within such other period as the parties to the dispute/s shall be referred to and finally resolved by arbitration under the Arbitration Act 1966 and Sports Resolutions (UK’s) Arbitration Rules, which rules are deemed to be incorporated by reference to this clause.
  3. (3)  The costs of the Sports Resolutions Mediation and Arbitration shall be borne by the Appellant.
  4. (4)  For more details on Sports Resolutions, please refer to www.sportsresolution.com

17.General principles applicable to all disciplinary matters.

  1. (1)  IHUK, Board of Directors, Disciplinary Panel and appeals Panel will act in good faith and in accordance with the principles of natural justice and within the rules set out in this document, in accordance with the rules of the current IIHF Rule Book, IIHF Case Book, Bye-Laws the Coach Manager Code of Conduct and any current IHUK rules.
  2. (2)  Procedures or proceedings under the Rules or any decision of the Disciplinary Panel, Appeals Panel shall not be quashed or held invalid by reason only of any defect, irregularity, omission or technicality unless such results in material doubt as to the reliability of the findings or Decisions of the Disciplinary Panel or the Appeals Panel, or results in a miscarriage of justice.
  3. (3)  Subject to clause 19, any Disciplinary Proceedings or Appeal Proceedings shall not be adjourned by reason only that the Person or Player involved is, or is likely to be, subject to civil or criminal proceedings arising from the same circumstances which are the subject of the proceedings. Any decision as to whether to adjourn is at the discretion of the Disciplinary Panel or the Appeals Panel.
  4. (4)  In respect of any matter not proved in the Rules, the decision of the Disciplinary Panel or the Appeals Panel shall be taken in accordance with the principles of fairness and Justice.
  5. (5)  The Disciplinary and Appeal proceedings, and hearings referred to in the Rules are proceedings of a sport’s governing body and not of a court and are designed to deal with sporting matters and specific to the sport of Ice Hockey.

18.Proof

The Disciplinary Panel and the Appeals Panel shall make decisions based on the balance of probabilities, meaning that the incident(s) in question were more likely than not to have occurred.

19.Young People (Less than 18 years of age)

  1. (1)  Any Person or Player, less than 18 years of age shall be accompanied by his/her guardian or parent at any hearing that may be convened.
  2. (2)  Any Person or Player under 18 years of age who is subject to disciplinary or appeals proceedings is obliged to be present at any hearing, unless at the discretion of the Disciplinary Panel or Appeals Panel it is determined to be unnecessary.
  3. (3)  Any Person or Player under 18 years of age who is present at any hearing as party or witness to the proceedings shall be obliged to give evidence (either in writing or at the hearing, depending upon the circumstances), unless at the discretion of the Disciplinary Panel or Appeals Panel it is determined unnecessary.

20.Criminal Charges / Investigations

  1. (1)  The Disciplinary Panel reserves the right to suspend a Person or Player where that Person or Player is subject to criminal charge.
  2. (2)  Once the matter has been dealt with by the statutory authorities, IHUK and the Disciplinary Panel reserves the right to take further action in accordance with the Rules.
  3. (3)  In the event of criminal charges being initiated in relation to the alleged Misconduct of a Player or Person then the Player or Person maybe suspended pending the outcome of the said charges, which will be referred to the statutory authorities. Once the statutory authorities have dealt with the matter, IHUK reserves the right and power to review all circumstances in accordance with the Rules and decide to continue the suspension or expel the Player or Person if it deems it so necessary in the interests of IHUK or the sport of Ice Hockey as a whole.

21.Suspension Pending Hearing

The Disciplinary Panel shall be empowered to impose an immediate suspension on a
Player, Person and Team/Club pending the determination of a disciplinary matter where the gravity of the Misconduct allegation shall warrant immediate suspension.

22.Notification

The Board of IHUK must be notified if a Player or Person is suspended, stepped down from a position or expelled from a Club/ Team at any stage. Notification should be received in writing from the person or committee within the Club/Team imposing the sanction stating the sanction imposed, the outcome and their authority in the process.

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23.Mission Statements

  1. (1)  IHUK has long recognised the necessity of having a procedure by which parties who receive a certain level of sanction under the Rules shall have the right of appeal against such decision of the Disciplinary Committee as part of the overriding objective to secure justice.
  2. (2)  The Appeals Panel shall be entitled to adopt such procedure as it thinks fit in each particular case but subject to this power to regulate its own procedure shall generally observe the procedures stated in the Rules and shall ensure that a party appealing against a decision of a Disciplinary Panel.
  3. (3)  Receives a proper notification of the hearing of the Appeal.
  4. (4)  Has the opportunity to be heard in support of the Appeal.
  5. (5)  Has the right to have the Appeal determined by a fair and impartial panel.