Page 81 - Judge Manual 2017

most cases, the protest committee will dismiss the protest when the protestor
and the protestee(s) do not attend the hearing. However, it may act upon the
evidence provided on the protest form. When this occurs, the protest committee
should be ready to reopen the hearing on request, if good grounds are provided
for the non-attendance. A good reason for missing a hearing might be getting
medical treatment for an injury received during the incident.
Note that rule 63.3(a) is changed for protest hearings involving classification of
a competitor. See Regulation 22.5.3.
K.4 Right to Withdraw a Protest

Withdrawing a protest requires the approval of the protest committee. A
competitor may not automatically withdraw a protest simply upon request. The
protest committee should determine the reason why it is being withdrawn. If foul
play, damage or injury is suspected, permission should not be given.

K.5 Hearing More Than One Protest Concurrently

When there is a protest and a counter-protest, or when several protests appear
to relate to the same incident, they should be heard together in a single hearing.
If the protest committee has doubts about whether two protests are about the
same incident, it is preferable to assume that they are and start the hearing with
all the parties from both protests.

Multiple requests for redress about a single complaint are best addressed at a
single hearing. When considering the validity of protests concerning one
incident, each should be addressed in the order in which they were delivered.
The protest committee should decide whether each is valid and give the
reasons for refusing those that are not valid. Provided that at least one is valid,
the hearing must proceed.
When there are multiple counter protests, the competitor who delivered the first
valid protest would be the protestor, if his protest is valid. The protestor gives
evidence first and the protestee gives evidence, and summing up, last.
K.6 Penalizing a Boat Other Than the Protested or Protesting Boat

A party to a protest has the right to hear all the evidence. If it becomes apparent
that a third boat might have broken a rule, then the protest committee should
stop the hearing and protest that boat under rule 60.3(a)(2). Rule 61.1(c)
requires that the boat be informed as soon as possible, the current hearing
should be closed, and the hearing begins again, including the reconsideration
of validity, with all the parties present.
K.7 Observers

At the initial jury meeting, discuss whether hearings should be open to
observers. World Sailing's policy is to open hearings to observers, but often a
large enough room is not available.

The advantage of open hearings is that they can greatly enhance the respect
for the hearing system. However, a hearing should not be made open to
observers if any protest committee is uncomfortable with spectators. It is more
important to give a good service to the parties than to educate, impress or
entertain those not involved. Similarly, a party might ask for a hearing to be