MIDLAND COUNTIES

ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

Code Of Discipline

 

Preamble

 

The Midland Counties Athletic Association (MCAA) is a territorial association recognised by UK Athletics Limited and subject to the jurisdiction of the Amateur Athletic Association of England Limited (AAA of E)

 

The MCAA performs the duties and responsibilities set out in its constitution and those delegated to it by the AAA of E, which include (but are not limited to) the administration and control of athletes within the territory.  (The MCAA Constitution Clauses 2.1 (iii) & (iv) and the AAA of E Code of Discipline Clause 4(a)).  The exercise of these functions creates the need for a Disciplinary Code, which is consistent with the AAA of E Code of Discipline.  In addition to hearing disciplinary cases in the first instance this code provides for the AAA of E to pass disciplinary matters to the MCAA, where it feels that it is appropriate, and to deal with appeals from decisions of the MCAA, which have been determined by the procedures laid down in this document.  In addition, the MCAA has power to refer cases of major significance to the AAA of E for hearing in the first instance.

 

Similarly, the MCAA will hear any appeals from decisions by hearings or appeals of its County Associations and may refer cases that it receives to the relevant County Association for hearing in the first instance where this is deemed to be appropriate.

 

1. Scope of the Code of Discipline

 

This Code is applicable to:

 

(i)                    matters arising from the UK Athletics Rules for Competition within the jurisdiction of the MCAA;

 

(ii)                  cases of alleged misconduct or unfair practice whether by individuals, clubs, associations or any other body within the jurisdiction of the MCAA;

 

(iii)                 matters of concern raised with the MCAA or decisions taken contrary to the Constitution of the MCAA or the policies and interests of the MCAA, its members, clubs and associates, or athletics in the Midlands generally;

 

(iv)                matters referred to the MCAA by the AAA of E or by a County Association;

 

(v)                  appeals from decisions (by hearing or appeal) of the County Associations within the MCAA’s jurisdiction.  Where an appeal is referred to the MCAA by a County Association, the matter shall be investigated and if the MCAA decides the matter should be heard, it shall be dealt with as if it was an appeal hearing under this Code.  Once a decision has been made by the MCAA, the appellant shall have no further course of action.

There are two exceptions to this:-

 

(a)  Employees           The code is not applicable to paid employees of the MCAA whilst carrying out their duties for the MCAA under the terms of their employment: in these cases the terms and conditions of their employment will apply.

(b)  Doping                  By virtue of its Memorandum of Association (Clause 3 (v) b) UK Athletics is solely responsible for anti-doping policy and its enforcement.  Any offence, or alleged offence, which involves doping, shall be referred immediately to UK Athletics and the AAA of E informed.

 

Where the Board of UK Athletics decides to act as the final arbiter in relation to any dispute which might be referred to it by the AAA of E (UK Athletics Memorandum of Association, Clause 3 (xiii)), this Code shall not apply even if the matter is a MCAA matter.  It should also be noted that UK Athletics does not recognise clubs and organisations unless they are affiliated to, or associate members of, a National or Territorial Association.

 

2.  Procedure

 

(a)    Principles 

 

Disciplinary action taken by the MCAA shall take place in three distinct phases:

 

(i)                  initial investigation to decide whether or not there is a case to answer;

(ii)                a hearing

 

and, if submitted,

 

(iii)               an appeal

 

(b)   Responsibility of the Officers and Members of the Management Committee of the MCAA

 

The Management Committee of the MCAA shall have responsibility for the management of disciplinary investigations and hearings in accordance with the procedures set down in this Code.  This responsibility shall extend to making every reasonable effort, both individually and collectively, to select investigators and Disciplinary Panel members who at all times may be expected to operate this Code in a fair and impartial manner solely on the basis of the evidence submitted.  In the interests of dealing with these matters with the minimum of delay and with a view to minimising the cost for all concerned, the MCAA may, in its absolute discretion;

 

(i)         delegate an investigation or hearing to the appropriate County Association.  This course of action will be particularly suitable if the case is of a domestic nature within that County; or

 

(ii)                refer an investigation or hearing to the AAA of E.  This course of action will be particularly suitable if the case is of a serious nature or if the case involves persons serving as Management Committee members of the MCAA.

 

(c)  Action on the Receipt of a Complaint - Investigation

 

      A complaint made to the MCAA either by a complainant(s) or by the AAAofE about a matter falling within the scope of this Code should specify which policy, rule or regulation has been contravened or whose interest has been infringed by the alleged misconduct, unfair practice or matter of concern.  Once a complaint has been received which satisfies this requirement, the Chairman of the MCAA, or his nominee, shall appoint one member of the Management Committee and one member of the General Committee, who is not a member of the Management Committee, to investigate whether, in the first instance, there is a case to answer.  In the interests of impartiality, neither of these investigators shall have had any involvement whatsoever in the matter which has given rise to the complaint.  If, for any reason, it is impracticable to appoint either or both such members, the Chairman of the MCAA shall appoint one or two persons (as the case may be) not on such committees to be the investigators.

 

      Concurrently with the appointment of the two investigators, the Chairman of the MCAA, or his nominee, shall write by recorded delivery post to the person or body that is the subject of the complaint, indicating the allegations.  The investigators shall take such steps as they think appropriate to ensure that the body or individual concerned is informed of the evidence against it or him and has the opportunity to respond to the allegations and evidence before any report of the investigation is completed.  Any response must (unless the investigators decide otherwise) be in writing.

 

      The investigators shall have authority to make informal enquiries and, if necessary, to receive written evidence in order to make a recommendation to Management Committee.  In making these enquiries they shall advise all persons whom they involve that any evidence which is relevant may be submitted later to a disciplinary hearing.

 

(d)  Investigation Report

 

      The investigators making these enquiries shall submit their report and recommendations to the Management Committee within 30 days of the complaint having been received by the MCAA.  This report should simply state

 

(i)                  the nature of the original complaint or allegation

(ii)                whether there is a case to answer, and, if so,

(iii)               which policy, rule or regulation has been contravened or whose interest has been infringed;

(iv)              whether the hearing should be held by the MCAA, passed to the AAAofE or delegated to a County Association as noted above.

  

If there is no case to answer, the investigators who have made these enquiries shall ensure that this decision shall be notified in writing to those persons who have initiated the complaint, all those who have been contacted for evidence and the County and any other body concerned.

 

If a hearing by the AAA of E or a County Association has been recommended, the Management Committee shall notify the body concerned accordingly so that a hearing can be held as soon as possible and in accordance with the approved and published disciplinary procedure of that body.  All details and papers relating to the case, including the report of the investigators, shall be forwarded for action with a request that a written report of the hearing together with a copy of the notification of the result to the parties involved shall be sent to the MCAA within ten working days of the decision being reached.  The Management Committee of the AAA of E or the County Association/body (or its equivalent) shall be responsible for confirming any disciplinary action that is agreed at the hearing.

 

(e)    Establishing an MCAA Disciplinary Panel

 

If a hearing by the MCAA has been recommended by the investigators, the Management Committee shall appoint a panel of three persons (“the Disciplinary Panel”).  These persons shall be independent of the matter in question and shall be drawn from the Officers of the MCAA, the President, immediate Past President and President Elect of the MCAA, members of the Management Committee, members of the General Committee, and members of the affiliated clubs save that neither of the investigators shall be eligible for this panel.  The Disciplinary Panel must include at least one but not more than two members of General Committee who are not also members of the Management Committee.  One of the three persons selected shall be nominated as Chairman by the Management Committee.  In addition, if the Management Committee is of the opinion that the nature of the case would justify the availability of specialist expertise, then it may appoint up to two people as co-opted members of the Panel.  These individuals may or may not be involved in the sport of athletics but will be accepted as well versed in the issue being considered.  The co-opted individuals shall not be entitled to a vote during any part of the proceedings.

 

Alternatively, the Management Committee may decide in its complete discretion to appoint an independent resolution service (such as the Sports Dispute Resolution Panel (Company Number 3351039) to decide the matter.  The Management Committee shall notify the parties concerned of this decision as soon as reasonably practical.  MCAA shall meet any fees charged by such dispute resolution service provided that this shall not prevent the independent dispute resolution service from imposing any costs awards against either party as it is permitted to do under its own rules governing the conduct of hearings.  Where a matter is so referred, any references in this Code to the “Disciplinary Panel” shall be deemed to be references to any arbitral panel formed under the rules of any relevant independent dispute resolution service.

 

In the interests of fairness and impartiality none of the members of the Disciplinary Panel, including a co-opted member, if any, shall have been directly involved in the matter being heard.

 

(f)      Action prior to a Disciplinary Hearing

 

In all cases the Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel shall ensure that the body or individuals who are the subject of the allegations are given full details of the matter in dispute in writing and by recorded delivery post.  The Chairman shall also:

 

(i)                  request that this notification of the allegations is acknowledged in writing by recorded delivery post by the body or individuals concerned within ten working days;

(ii)                provide a list of the members of the Disciplinary Panel to the body or individuals concerned;

(iii)               require that the letter of acknowledgement, which must be sent by recorded delivery post, states if the body or individuals has any objection, for good cause, to any of the Disciplinary Panel members;

(iv)              seek clarification of any matter which has previously been raised;

(v)                seek the names of individuals and representatives of County Associations, Clubs or Affiliated Bodies who will attend;

(vi)              advise that the body or individuals concerned may be accompanied by a colleague or some other person who must be named.

 

Similarly, the Chairman shall ensure that any witnesses or representatives of County Associations, Clubs or Affiliated Bodies who will be attending to support the case against the body or individuals are provided with full details of the matter in dispute, and asked if they have any matters which they require clarifying, and whether there are any other witnesses whom they intend to call whose names must be notified at this stage.

 

Members of the Disciplinary Panel will be sent copies of the above correspondence and, together with all the other parties to the dispute, advised that fifteen days notice of the date, time and place of the hearing will be given as soon as all the papers and other details are available for the Disciplinary Panel.

 

A Disciplinary Panel is authorised to require the attendance of any person or persons who may be able to provide expert evidence or assistance to the Panel in reaching its decision.  These persons shall be deemed to be in attendance and shall not have membership of the Panel.

 

The Chairman of the MCAA shall nominate either an employee, officer, member of the Management Committee, or member of the General Committee to be in attendance in order to act as secretary to the Disciplinary Panel but he or she shall not be a member of the Disciplinary Panel.

 

(g)    The Hearing

 

At the hearing, persons appearing before the Disciplinary Panel must be informed at the outset that:

 

(i)         the proceedings are the result of an investigation undertaken by the MCAA;

(ii)        the reasons for the hearing, namely the allegations or matters in dispute;

(iii)       the findings may lead to disciplinary measures if appropriate in the view of the Disciplinary Panel.

 

The arrangements for and conduct of the hearing shall be decided by the Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel.  Unless the Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel otherwise directs at the hearing, proceedings shall normally involve the presentation of the matters in dispute by the complaining party or of allegations of misconduct by the person or body who has raised them, together with supporting evidence, both written and oral.  Witnesses in support of this evidence may be called.  The Disciplinary Panel members and the body or individuals concerned shall have the opportunity to put questions at this point.

 

The other side shall then present its case, supported in similar fashion, and be subjected to questioning in the same way.  Both sides shall then be invited to summarise their case in turn. 

Note:  This procedure may be varied by the Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel in his absolute discretion if, after discussion with the other parties, he is of the opinion that such change would assist the hearing process in a fair and impartial way. 

 

The Disciplinary Panel shall then retire to consider its verdict.

 

The decision of the Panel shall be issued in writing by recorded delivery post to the parties concerned and also to the MCAA, the County Association or any other body involved as soon as possible after and, if practicable, within ten working days of the date of the hearing.  The decision shall be accompanied by details of any disciplinary action, which has been agreed by the Disciplinary Panel.  This may consist of:

 

(i)         a reprimand to the offender(s), with or without a written warning as to future conduct;

(ii)                a severe reprimand with a final and written warning as to future conduct;

(iii)               suspension or disqualification of an offending club or individual or organisation from athletic competition, coaching or administration for a specified period;

(iv)              suspension or expulsion of an individual, club or organisation from the MCAA for a specified period.

 

Any suspension, disqualification or expulsion shall normally run with immediate effect from the date of notification.

 

Any other parties affected by the decision of the Disciplinary Panel shall be notified of the decision in addition to those listed above.

 

 

(h)    Appeal

 

The letter notifying the decision of the Disciplinary Panel shall also set out the right of Appeal.

 

Any individual, club or organisation wishing to lodge an appeal either against a decision of the MCAA or of a County Association must do so within fourteen working days of receiving the written decision.  The letter of appeal against the decision must be sent by recorded delivery post to the offices of the MCAA and must state the grounds on which the decision is challenged which will normally be restricted to one or more of the following reasons:

 

(i)         excessive nature of a penalty;

(ii)                unfair conduct of the proceedings which have broken the rules of natural justice;

(iii)       new evidence, which might affect the decision that has been taken.

                 

                  The MCAA shall acknowledge a letter of appeal within ten working days of its receipt and shall establish an Appeal Panel within a further ten working days.  The Appeal Panel shall not include among its members any persons who have been involved directly either in the events giving rise to the hearing, or in the investigation, or in the hearing itself, but shall consist of three members selected by the Management Committee from a list of adjudicators, one of whom will be nominated by the Management Committee as the Chairman of the Appeal Panel.  In addition, the Management Committee may also appoint co-opted members as described in 2(e) above who will have no vote.

 

                  The list of adjudicators (“the List”) will consist of five individuals selected by the General Committee.  This List may be reviewed by the General Committee at one of its meetings at any time.  A person appointed to the List may at any time resign or be removed for good cause by the Management Committee.  No person who is a member of the Management Committee or the General Committee shall be an adjudicator save that a person appointed to the Management Committee or the General Committee when already an adjudicator shall not automatically be required to resign as an adjudicator (but may do so if he so wishes) if the hearing of an appeal for which he has previously been appointed an adjudicator has commenced but shall continue with the hearing of this particular case until it has been completed and a decision reached by the Appeal Panel.

 

                  The Management Committee shall select the members of the Appeal Panel from the List having regard to fairness and impartiality.  For example, an appeal relating to a specific County Association or County Associations would not be referred to an Appeal Panel including adjudicators selected from that County Association or those County Associations.

 

                  The appellant shall be notified by the MCAA of the membership of the Appeal Panel and required to acknowledge that he or she has no objection to any of the members, as described in Clause 2(f) above.  The appellant shall be notified by the Chairman of the Appeal Panel of the date, time and place of the appeal hearing with not less than fifteen working days notice after all papers have been received and the names of any witnesses and copies of any written evidence exchanged by both sides.  He or she may be accompanied by a colleague, whose name must be provided to the Chairman of the Appeal Panel at least 14 days in advance of the appeal hearing.

 

                  At the appeal hearing the appellant shall state his or her case supported by such witness (es) that he or she might call and the written evidence which he or she wishes to present.  The appellant may then be questioned by the Appeal Panel who may also hear witness (es) and receive written evidence, which supports the original finding.  The Appeal Panel shall retire to consider its verdict, which may either quash the original decision, or abate the penalty, or order that the case be re-heard, or confirm the original findings.

 

                  The decision of the Appeal Panel shall be issued in writing by recorded delivery post to the parties concerned and also to the MCAA, County Association or other body involved as soon as possible after and, if practicable, within ten working days of the Appeal being heard.  The letter shall also state any change in the disciplinary action agreed at the original hearing but such change may only reduce, and not increase, the original penalty.

 

                  There shall be no right of appeal from the decision of an Appeal Hearing of the MCAA in cases first heard by a County Association but where a case has initially been the subject of a hearing of the MCAA and then an appeal to the MCAA there shall be a right of appeal to AAA of E.  In the event that the Management Board of AAA of E declines to act as final arbiter the decision of the MCAA shall stand.

 

(j)      Records of Hearings and Appeals

 

                  The decisions of all MCAA Disciplinary Panels and Appeals Panels shall be retained in confidential records of the MCAA for a period of time specified by the appropriate panel, which shall not be less than ten years.  Supporting documentation shall also be retained in the same fashion.

 

(k)    Co-operation of Defendants

 

The procedures described in this code assume that the parties will co-operate in the interest of resolving the issue in question.  In the absence of such co-operation, or if it is withdrawn at any stage, the MCAA reserves the right to proceed with a hearing or an appeal based on such evidence and information as it is able to obtain.

 

3.  The County Associations, Clubs and Affiliated Bodies

 

(a)   The County Associations

 

The County Associations will, from time to time, receive directly complaints and allegations which merit investigation, together with cases referred to them by the MCAA.

 

Current practice in disciplinary matters in other fields sets considerable store on procedures being transparent, impartial and well publicised.  It is important that each of the County Associations has in place an official disciplinary procedure, which is complementary to that of the MCAA, and that reliance is not placed on ad hoc measures.  The County Associations should adopt similar procedures to those of the MCAA featuring inter-locking arrangements for receiving cases from the MCAA where that body finds it appropriate, and powers to refer cases of major significance to the MCAA where appropriate.  There should be provision for County Associations to delegate cases to Clubs, where the case is of a localised and domestic nature.  Suitable appeal structures will also be necessary.

 

(b)   Clubs and Affiliated Bodies

 

Clubs and Affiliated Bodies may, from time to time, receive direct complaints and allegations which merit investigation, and may also receive cases referred to them by their County Association.

 

It is important that each Club and Affiliated Body has in place simple but complementary disciplinary procedures to those described above.  These procedures must be transparent, impartial and well publicised, and must also include arrangements for appeals from a decision of a Club or Affiliated Body to the relevant County Association.

 

4.  Confidentiality

 

All those involved in whatever role in the disciplinary procedures of the MCAA and its related bodies and Clubs shall treat the matters under consideration as confidential at all times.  All papers shall be marked ‘Confidential’ accordingly.

 

Nothing in this requirement shall, however, prevent the MCAA from disclosing the outcome of a disciplinary hearing or appeal to UKA, AAA of E and the other national and territorial athletic associations within the UK.

 

5.  General

 

It is important in all cases that the procedures outlined herein are adhered to so as to minimise the possibility of the result of a hearing or an appeal being challenged successfully on procedural grounds.