Page 24 - World Sailing Misconduct Guidance

DECISION-MAKING

38 General
38.1 The Racing Rules of Sailing do not offer any guidance on how to reach a decision on whether or
not misconduct occurred.

38.2 The protest committee should follow the standard process used for judging – determine the facts
found, then the conclusions in order to reach a decision. It is important to determine what
actually happened before turning to the question of whether that constituted misconduct.

39 Standard of proof
39.1 The ‘standard of proof’ means the test the protest committee must apply to evidence in order to
determine what happened. In normal protest hearings the standard of proof applied by
convention is the ‘balance of probabilities’ i.e. a protest committee has to decide whether it is
more likely than not that a boat took avoiding action.

39.2 In rule 69 hearings, the rules specify a different standard of proof. This is the “comfortable
satisfaction of the protest committee, bearing in mind the seriousness of the alleged misconduct”
(rule 69.2(g)).

39.3 In applying this test, World Sailing has the following guidance:

39.3.1 The words “comfortable satisfaction” must be given their ordinary and natural meaning.
If a protest committee member is personally uncomfortable with a conclusion that
misconduct occurred, then they are not ‘comfortably satisfied’.

39.3.2 The test is not the same as “beyond a reasonable doubt” – the standard is less than
this.

39.3.3 The test requires the protest committee to consider the seriousness of the alleged
misconduct. The more serious the misconduct alleged, the more unlikely it will
generally be that a competitor will have committed it and therefore the greater the
evidence needed to prove that it was committed. This reflects the starting position that
competitors are assumed to comply with the rules and the Basic Principle.

40 Problem Issues

40.1 There are a number of factors that will affect the ability of the protest committee to make a
decision on misconduct:

40.1.1 The protest committee feels it did not receive enough evidence on a particular point

If the point is central to the issue, the committee is not entitled to find the competitor
guilty. It must obtain the evidence needed before proceeding.

23 World Sailing Misconduct Guidance