5. Action.
In the event of a suspected breach of disciplinary rules the following action will occur:
a. An Internal Club Inquiry will be set up in order to establish the facts and to determine whether there is a case to be answered.
b. The accused person or persons shall be informed of the charge and be made aware of the evidence in support of the charge. They shall also be advised of the Disciplinary Procedure to be followed.
c. A date shall be set for the Disciplinary Hearing and the alleged shall be given a minimum of seven days notice of the hearing, in writing. The date and location of the hearing must give the alleged offender an opportunity to attend and any decision to proceed with the hearing in their absence must be justifiable.
d. The alleged offender may call a maximum of two witnesses and be represented by a friend or team mate, who shall not be a professional legal person, and shall have a fair opportunity to answer the case against him and to present his own case
e. Members of the Disciplinary Panel must be totally free from bias and must have no pecuniary or proprietary interest in the outcome of the proceedings. Where insufficient persons who fulfil these requirements are available, the club committee may co-opt external persons to the Disciplinary Panel.
6. Penalties
If the misconduct is proved, the Disciplinary Panel may impose one or more of the following penalties:
Where a member has received any penalty there shall be a right of appeal and the penalty shall not come into force until the Appeal is heard. Any Appeal Hearing will be 14 days after the original Disciplinary Hearing and shall be heard by an entirely neutral panel consisiting of a minimum of three persons. If necessary the panel will consist of persons from outside the club.
The Appeals Panel shall have the power to increase, decrease or confirm the original findings. The findings of the Appeals Panel (or Disciplinary Panel if no appeal is lodged) shall be FINAL and binding on all parties.
8. The Club Committee shall be empowered to take appropriate action in the event of any issue not covered by these rules.
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