Page 26 - Judge Manual 2017

knowledge, many national authorities have a national judges program, and
certify individuals as national judges. Some national authorities require that at
national events, the membership of a protest committee includes a majority of
national judges.
E.4 No Appeals Jury and International Jury

If the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions so state, the right of appeal may
be denied (RRS 70.5) if any one of these three condition applies:
(a) it is essential to determine promptly the result of a race that will qualify a
boat to compete in a later stage of an event or a subsequent event (a
national authority may prescribe that its approval is required for such a
procedure);
(b) a national authority so approves for a particular event open only to
entrants under its own jurisdiction; or;
(c) a national authority after consultation with World Sailing so approves for a
particular event, provided the protest committee is constituted as required
by Appendix N, except that only two members of the protest committee
need be International Judges.

The two key persons to the success of an International Jury are the chairman
and vice-chairman. In order that the protest committee be seen as independent,
it is best that the chairman is well known and respected by the competitors, and
preferably not of the same nationality as the country in which the event is taking
place. When this is the case, the “local” vice-chairman is given the responsibility
and authority for pre-regatta administrative and organizational duties.

Since the regatta organizers usually know the “local” judge, he is often the first
asked to help organize the protest committee. At this point the “local” judge
should explain how the protest committee will be more easily seen as
independent if a non-national is the chairman and he is the vice chairman. He
should also offer to help recruit a qualified judge from a different National
Authority to act as chairman, and with the chairman, recruit the remaining
members of the protest committee.

Appendix N states the requirements for an International Jury to be properly
constituted. The National Authority Groups are shown in Schedule A (Article
40) of the World Sailing Constitution. A protest committee member’s nationality
does not create a conflict of interest.

Since a protest committee constituted as an International Jury is independent
of the race committee, no member of the protest committee may also be a
member of the race committee.

When a full International Jury or panel is reduced to three or four members
because of illness or emergency, the organizing authority should make a
diligent attempt to find a qualified replacement.