East Midlands Rugby Union

Helping to promote, foster and develop the game of Rugby Union

Short Judgement Form

Short Judgement Form

ALL Clubs, Schools and Colleges must complete & submit this to the EMRU Discipline Secretary after their internal disciplinary hearing

Background:

The Short Judgment Form (SJF) is an RFU document which enables the records to be input on GMS and follows the format of a panel hearing as per guidelines. Therefore, it is very relevant to both Club hearings and the EMRU Disciplinary Panel as it includes all the areas any panel needs to consider. It can be downloaded below

Completion:

The SJF gives the Club the opportunity to inform the Panel what their outcome would be and how they got to that position. The SJF should be completed by the Club to provide the rationale behind the decision their Internal Disciplinary Panel have come to. It should then be forwarded to the EMRU Disciplinary Secretary for the EMRU panel to take into account in preparation for the EMRU hearing.

What/how to Complete:

Page 1

This provides player, match & offence details, when the hearing was conducted and by who. Then it gives the verdict and summary of the net sanction proposed/imposed once hearing completed.

Page 2

This gives details of the offence as per the evidence from the referee’s report, the player version and the panel’s conclusion. This then leads into the Entry Point (if found Proven), a brief summary of the rationale for their decision (either Proven OR Not Proven) is then inserted on the top of Page 3.

Page 3

After the rationale for the Entry Point are any factors the panel has taken into consideration to mitigate the sanction. This can only be to a max 50% of the original entry point (e.g. if low end 6 weeks a maximum of 3 weeks can come off the gross sanction).

The factors include: has the player pleaded guilty to the offence, what is his/her experience as a player, has he/she made a genuine apology or shown remorse, is there a clean record, what has his/her conduct been at the hearing, and finally any other area to be taken into account e.g. volunteering, long service etc

Page 4

This page is for there any reasons for aggravating the sanction on top of the entry point. This could be for a poor player’s poor disciplinary record over last 5 years, a need for deterrent or other factors (up to a max of 50% of the entry point e.g. if Low End = 2 weeks then only 1 week can be added on).

The final box on Page 4 “Any Other Information” is for exactly as it says, it can be used to enter any other areas that the Panel need to be aware of not covered elsewhere in the form.

Summary:

There is nothing on the SJF that a club wouldn’t cover in their hearing if procedures are followed and there should be no need for it to be “War and Peace”. Once passed on to the EMRU Disciplinary Secretary for the Panel’s consideration, if fully completed there is no need for any other documentation.

The SJF also provides an aide memoire so that all matters are covered in club hearings, hopefully in most cases as a result there should be no requirement for the club to be questioned on their process and findings.

For any help and advice please contact the Discipline Secretary

Bish Seymour 07540 704936 

pb.seymour@emru.co.uk