Page 78 - Judge Manual 2017

K.1 Jurisdiction, General Principles, Preparation

The protest committee’s jurisdiction is limited by the rules as defined in the
current version of the Racing Rules of Sailing. A boat’s breach of a government,
harbor or maritime agency regulation is outside the jurisdiction of the protest
committee, unless the requirement for a boat to comply with such a law is
included in the notice of race or sailing instructions.
There are four different types of defined hearings within the rules - protest
hearing, redress hearing, a hearing to consider whether a support person has
broken a rule, and a misconduct hearing. Misconduct under rules 2 and 69 is
covered in Section N of this manual.

The rules for the initiation of the other three types of hearings are shown in
the following table:

Hearing Initiated By Rule
Protest Boat 60.1(a)

Protest Race Committee 60.2(a)
Protest Protest Committee 60.3(a)
Protest Technical Committee 60.4(a)

Redress Boat 60.1(b)
Redress Race Committee 60.2(b)

Redress Protest Committee 60.3(b)
Redress Technical Committee 60.4(b)

Support Person Protest Committee 60.3(d)

The rules and procedures for initiating, conducting and deciding these hearings
are formally presented in Part 5 of the rulebook. However, there are other types
of hearings that are not so specifically defined. For example, a formal hearing
may be appropriate when the organizing authority asks the protest committee
to decide a question on eligibility or measurement that is not as a result of a
protest or request for redress. Under RRS N2, an international jury may be
asked to decide a matter that directly affects the fairness of the competition.
Such a request may require obtaining evidence from competitors, officials or
other participants. In such a case, a formal hearing may be warranted.
Any hearing should be conducted in a formal but friendly way so the parties feel
they had their evidence seriously considered. In a hearing, the protest
committee should be polite but always in control.
Dress by members of the protest committee should be appropriate for the event
and its venue. The organizing authority may provide the protest committee with
event clothing. If so, it may be appropriate to wear that in hearings to give the
impression that the protest committee operates as part of the team.

Many different room configurations work well. Some chairmen like a round table
with the participants alternating with the members of the protest committee.