ARTICLE 7: OFFICIAL PROTEST
1. No one may protest about a judgement to the members of the Judging Panel.
2. If a Judging procedure appears to contravene the rules, the Competitor’s Coach or its official representative are the only ones allowed to make a protest.
3. The protest will take the form of a written report submitted immediately after the bout in which the protest was generated. (The sole exception is when the protest concerns an administrative malfunction. The Tatami Manager should be notified immediately the administrative malfunction is detected).
4. The protest must be submitted to a representative of the Appeals Jury. In due course the Jury will review the circumstances leading to the protested decision. Having considered all the facts available, they will produce a report, and shall be empowered to take such action as may be called for.
5. Any protest concerning application of the rules must be announced by the Coach no later than one minute after the end of the performance. The Coach will request the official protest form from the Tatami Manager and will have four minutes to have it completed, signed and submitted to Tatami Manager with the corresponding fee. The Tatami Manager will immediately hand the completed protest form to a representative of the Appeals Jury that will have five minutes to render a decision.
6. The complainant must deposit a Protest Fee as agreed by the WKF EC, and this, together with the protest must be lodged with a representative of the Appeals Jury.
7. Composition of the Appeals Jury
The Appeals Jury is comprised of three Senior WKF Referee representatives appointed by the Referee Commission (RC). No two members may be appointed from the same National Federation. The RC should also appoint three additional members with designated numbering from 1 to 3 that automatically will replace any of the originally appointed Appeals Jury members in a conflict of interest situation where the jury member is of the same nationality or have a family relationship by blood or as an In-Law with any of the parties involved in the protested incident, including all members of the Judging panel involved in the protested incident.
8. Appeals Evaluation Process
It is the responsibility of the party receiving the protest to convene the Appeals Jury and deposit the protest sum with the Treasurer.Once convened, the Appeals Jury will immediately make such inquiries and investigations, as they deem necessary to substantiate the merit of the protest. Each of the three members is obliged to give his/her verdict as to the validity of the protest. Abstentions are not acceptable.
9. Declined Protests
If a protest is found invalid, the Appeals Jury will appoint one of its members to verbally notify the protester that the protest has been declined, mark the original document with the word “DECLINED”, and have it signed by each of the members of the Appeals Jury, before depositing the protest with the Treasurer, who in turn will forward it to the Secretary General.
10. Accepted Protests
If a protest is accepted, the appeals Jury will liaise with the Organizing Commission (OC) and Referee Commission to take such measures as can be practically carried out to remedy the situation including the possibilities of:
• Reversing previous judgments that contravene the rules
• Issuing a recommendation to the RC that involved Judges are evaluated for sanction
The responsibility rests with the Appeals Jury to exercise restraint and sound judgment in taking actions that will disturb the program of the event in any significant manner. Reversing the process of the eliminations is a last option to secure a fair outcome. The Appeals Jury will appoint one of its members who will verbally notify the protester that the protest has been accepted, mark the original document with the word “ACCEPTED”, and have it signed by each of the members of the Appeals Jury, before depositing the protest with the Treasurer, who will return the protest fee to the protestor, and in turn forward the protest document to the Chief Referee.
11. Incident Report
Subsequent to handling the incident in the above prescribed manner, the Jury Panel will reconvene and elaborate a simple protest incident report, describing their findings and state their reason(s) for accepting or rejecting the protest. The report should be signed by all three members of the Appeals Jury and submitted to the Chief Referee.
12. Power and Constraints
The decision of the Appeals Jury is final and can only be overruled by a decision of the Executive Committee.
13. The Appeals Jury may not impose sanctions or penalties. Their function is to pass judgment on the merit of the protest and instigate required actions from the RC and OC to take remedial action to rectify any Refereeing procedure found to contravene the rules.
EXPLANATION:
I) The protest must give the names of the Competitors, the Judges officiating, and the precise details of what is being protested. No general claims about overall standards will be accepted as a legitimate protest. The burden of proving the validity of the protest lies with the complainant.
II) The protest will be reviewed by the Appeals Jury and as part of this review, the Jury will study the evidence submitted in support of the protest. The Jury may also study videos and question Officials, in an effort to objectively examine the protest's validity.
III) If the protest is held by the Appeals Jury to be valid, the appropriate action will be taken. In addition, all such measures will be taken to avoid a recurrence in future competitions. The protest fee deposited will be refunded by the Treasury.
IV) If the protest is held by the Appeals Jury to be invalid, it will be rejected, and the deposit forfeited to WKF.
V) Ensuing that rounds will not be delayed, even if an official protest is being prepared. It is the responsibility of the Chief Judge to ensure that the round has been conducted in accordance with the Rules of Competition.
VI) In case of an administrative malfunction during a round in progress, the Coach can notify the Tatami Manager directly. In turn, the Tatami Manager will notify the Chief Judge.