The BHA published the necessary amendments to the Rules of Racing to reflect its new judicial structure, Wednesday. The Terms of Reference, for the disciplinary panel, licensing committee and appeal board were also published for the first time. These amendments ensure the implementation of additional recommendations made by Christopher Quinlan QC in his recent review. Areas affected by the new rules include: the formal handing over of responsibility for the judicial panel from the BHA to the judicial panel chairman; all disciplinary, licensing and appeal hearings will be chaired by a legally qualified person; and that the appeal board has the right to order that an appeal take place as a full rehearing of the case in exception circumstances. These changes go into effect on July 1.
“The BHA was very clear that it intends to adopt in full the recommendations from the Quinlan review,” said Catherine Beloff, Director of Legal and Governance for the BHA. “Following the implementation of the revised Rules on 1 July we will have made good progress towards achieving this objective. The Quinlan review's recommendations were designed to ensure that the BHA's quasi-judicial system is in line with best practice in sports governance and to increase confidence among participants and stakeholders. They will allow the BHA's judicial functions to operate independently of its executive functions, which we hope participants and the public will find reassuring as it reduces the risk of potential conflicts of interest.”
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