Page 112 - Judge Manual 2017

decide to reopen the hearing. If any new evidence is to be considered, the
parties have a right to be present under rule 63.3 (Right to be Present). In
addition, the parties have the right under rule 63.6 to question any new
witnesses.
If a party requests a reopening, the protest committee must decide if the request
to reopen is valid. There is a time limit for requests to reopen a hearing. Under
rule 66, a party has up to 24 hours after being informed of the protest hearing
decision to ask for a reopening. On the last scheduled day of racing, the time
limit is shorter.

If the request is timely, the protest committee must decide, from the reasons
given by the requesting party, if it has or may have made a significant error or
if there is significant new evidence. The initial presentation by the requesting
party should be limited to the reasons for reopening, not to any new evidence.
The rules are silent on the subject, but if the other parties are available it is a
good idea to have them present during this initial fact-finding.

If the protest committee decides there is sufficient reason to reopen, it must
notify the parties of its decision. When the hearing will be reopened, the protest
committee must provide the same notification that is required for a protest
hearing. In addition, a majority of the members of the original protest committee
should, if possible, be members of the original protest committee.
At a reopened hearing, the procedural rules of Part 5 apply, particularly, rule
63.6. The protest committee shall take the evidence of the parties present at
the hearing and of their witnesses and other evidence it considers necessary.
Parties may also ask questions. The protest committee proceeds as it would in
any other hearing.

If the protest committee decides on its own that it may have made a significant
error, it may, without taking any new evidence, revise its decision without the
parties present. There is no time limit for the protest committee to reconsider
its decision. When the protest committee changes its decision, it shall inform
the parties in accordance with rule 65.1. This can be done by posting the
revised decision or by delivering copies of the decision to the parties to the
hearing.

It is always up to the protest committee to decide whether a request to open is
granted. The examples above of situations where a protest committee may
grant a reopening, are only a guide, and should only be used as such.

The protest committee may also reopen a hearing under rule 63.3(b) when it
had decided a protest without a party present, but later found that the party was
unavoidably absent. That hearing would begin anew, rehearing all evidence
previously presented.
If the national authority’s decision in an appeal is to reopen the hearing using
rule 71.2 or R5, the reopening proceeds with the evidence and witnesses that
the parties bring, and with any other evidence the protest committee considers
necessary.
When a hearing is reopened, rule 66 advises that a majority of the members of
the protest committee shall, if possible, be members of the original protest
committee.