Discipline
The Irish Shows Association expects and will insist upon appropriate behaviour from all Exhibitors and others participating in any of the activities at our Member Shows and will not tolerate inappropriate behaviour.
Inappropriate behaviour shall include but not be limited to the following:

• Profanity, coarse or vulgar language or gestures towards judges, exhibitors or other Show officials
• Harassment or bullying, including using words or actions that threaten, intimidate or undermine judges or other officials before, during or following Member Show activities
• Failure to follow rules and/or obey instructions
• Abusing any animal

Disciplinary Procedures:
Complaints of misconduct against an Exhibitor, Spectator or other participant at an affiliated Show or any event organised by the Irish Shows Association, or alleged breaches of the rules and standing orders of The Irish Shows Association, shall be investigated and adjudicated upon by a Disciplinary Committee appointed by the Board of the Irish Shows Association. All complaints must be submitted in writing and must be signed by all parties submitting the complaint. The Disciplinary Committee shall seek to ensure the existence of consistent, effective, fair and transparent complaint procedures and shall act in accordance with natural and constitutional justice. Hearings of all committees shall be confidential and held in private unless the committee decides otherwise.
 

Disciplinary Committee:

A Disciplinary Committee shall be established by the Board of the Irish Shows Association to determine alleged misconduct, or alleged breaches of the rules and standing orders of The Irish Shows Association. The Disciplinary Committee shall consist of five (5) persons all being Directors, of the Irish Shows Association. One of these five shall elected as Chairperson of the Disciplinary Committee. Each member shall be appointed on the basis that he or she is able to hear issues referred to the Disciplinary Committee under these General Rules fairly and impartially. The Disciplinary Committee has the power to hear and determine all issues referred to it in accordance with the General Rules of the Irish Shows Association.

Discipinary Process:

The Disciplinary Committee shall appoint one of its members as Disciplinary Officer. All alleged complaints of misconduct or breach of General Rules shall be referred to the Disciplinary Officer who will determine if the matter should be referred to the Disciplinary Committee. In making this determination the Disciplinary Officer may consider any evidence he or she deems worthy. The Disciplinary Officer shall have the right to make enquiries of any individuals, seek further information in relation to the matter and seek guidance as he or she shall consider appropriate to determine whether the matter should be investigated further, dealt with otherwise or brought forward as an alleged breach of these General Rules.

Where the Disciplinary Officer determines that a breach of General Rules should be alleged, the Disciplinary Officer shall notify the Secretary of the Irish Shows Association of this decision and the Secretary shall refer the matter to the Chairperson of the Disciplinary Committee. Where the Disciplinary Officer determines that a breachof General Rules should not be alleged, the Disciplinary Officer shall notify the Secretary of the Irish Shows Association of this decision and the Secretary shall take such action as he or she believes appropriate.

Hearing Procedures:

Upon receipt of a referral from the Secretary of the Irish Shows Association, the Chairperson of the Disciplinary Committee, or a Vice-Chairperson, if necessary, shall form a hearing committee to consider the issue. A hearing committee may consist of either three or five persons as the Chairperson or a Vice-Chairperson deems appropriate. A hearing committee will not have powers to award costs. Subject to these General Rules a hearing committee shall have the power to regulate its procedures. The Hearing Committee will appoint, from within its members a person who will be responsible for recording the proceedings of the hearing and for sending a copy of same, duly signed by all members of the hearing committee, to the National Secretary, within 2 days of the hearing.

Any person against whom a complaint has been made shall be entitled to an in-person hearing. Hearings of the hearing committee shall be confidential and held in private, unless the hearing committee decides otherwise. The hearing committee shall have the power to decide on the admissibility, relevance and weight of any evidence and shall not be bound by any legal rules in relation to such matters. Facts may be established by any reliable means, including admissions.

Each party to the proceedings shall have the right to present evidence, make submissions, call witnesses, and cross-examine the witnesses of the other party and, subject to the hearing committee's discretion to accept testimony by telephone, written statement, or submission, whether by fax, email, or other means. The hearing committee, at the request of one of the parties to the proceedings or on its own initiative, may require one or more parties to the
proceedings to supply it and/or the other party or parties to the proceedings, within such time as the hearing committee determines, with further particulars of the case of that party, including details of all witnesses that party intends to call at any hearing together with details of the evidence to be given by those
witnesses and that party shall comply with that direction. The hearing committee, at the request of one of the parties to the proceedings or on its own initiative, may direct one or more parties to the proceedings to make any property, document, or other thing in that party's possession or under its control available for inspection by the hearing committee and/or any other party and that party shall comply with that direction. Any failure by any party to the proceedings to comply with any requirement or direction of the hearing committee, including those requirements or directions to be complied with within a truncated time schedule, shall not prevent the hearing committee from proceeding and such failure maybe taken into consideration by the hearing committee when making its decision. A failure by any party or their representative to attend a hearing after notification shall not prevent the hearing committee from proceeding with the hearing in their absence.

All hearings shall be recorded and the Irish Shows Association shall retain the record.The hearing committee may postpone or adjourn a hearing.

The hearing committee shall have the power, at its absolute discretion, to appoint an expert to assist oradvise it. The person chosen as the expert shall not be involved in the matter before the hearing committee and shall be free from any conflict of interest. The decision of a hearing committee shall be final and binding on all parties, unless appealed in accordance with these General Rules. The decision of a hearing committee shall be notified to the Secretary of the Irish Shows Association who shall ensure that all the necessary parties are notified of the decision within five working days from receipt of the decision from the hearing committee. The Secretary of the Irish Shows Association shall ensure that the decision is enforced.

Penalties:

The hearing committee shall have the power to impose one or more of the following penalties for misconduct or for a breach of these General Rules:

• A formalwarning;
• A formal reprimand;
• A suspension of a person from entering or competing in any competition organised by the Irish Shows Association for a period up to and including one calendar year.

Appeals:

A decision of the Disciplinary Committee may be appealed. An appeal maybe lodged by any party to the original decision. A notice of appeal must be made in writing to the Secretary of the Irish Shows Association, within fourteen (14) days of the date of issue of the original decision. Upon receipt of the notice of appeal, the Secretary shall refer the appeal to the Chairperson of The Irish Shows Association who shall form an appeal committee to consider the appeal. The Appeal committee shall consist of three Directors of the Irish Shows Association. The Appeal committee shall not include any members of the Disciplinary Committee who were involved in the hearing at first instance which is the subject of the appeal. Subject to these General Rules the appeal committee shall have the power. To regulate its procedures. The Appeal Committee shall havethe power to approve, amend or over rule the decisions of the Disciplinary Committee. The appeal committee shall have the power to impose any penalty it deems appropriate upon a person found on appeal to have breached these General Rules or the rules of a show section/subcommittee. The decision of an Appeal committee shall be final and binding on all parties.

Procedure:

A complaint of misconduct/inappropriate behaviour against an Exhibitor or other participant in a Member Show shall be made in writing and delivered to the Secretary of the relevant Member Show within 72 hours.

A copy of the complaint shall be sent by the Secretary of the Member Show to the National Secretary of the ISA. A copy of the complaint will be sent by the National Secretary to the person or persons against whom the complaint is made. A person or persons against whom a written complaint is made shall have a period of 14 working days from the date of receipt of the claim to reply to the said complaint; such reply shall be made in writing.

Both parties shall state whether an oral hearing of the complaint is sought. The Disciplinary Committee shall be entitled to hold an oral hearing in regard to the complaint whether or not sought. The Disciplinary Committee shall decide in each case whether to hold such an oral hearing in respect of the complaint, or any part thereof and there shall be no appeal from such decision of the Disciplinary Committee. For the purposes of dealing with a complaint, any three members of the disciplinary committee will constitute the complaint committee.

The Disciplinary Committee shall, at any time, seek further information from either party. In the event of either party refusing or failing to provide such further information within the time specified by the Disciplinary Committee, the Committee shall be entitled to make a decision on the complaint and/or to hold an oral hearing of the complaint in the absence of a copy of such further information being received by the Disciplinary Committee from either party.

The Disciplinary Committee shall be entitled to reject a complaint where, in the opinion of the Committee, it finds there is no basis for it.

Sanctions:

In the event of a first incident of inappropriate/unacceptable behaviour being deemed to be proved against the offender, the Disciplinary Committee shall issue a written warning to the offender. In the event of any subsequent incident, the Disciplinary Committee shall be entitled to impose sanctions on the offender, including a prohibition on such offender participating in any of the events/activities at any Member Show of the ISA, provided always that in the event of a first incident of inappropriate/unacceptable behaviour being deemed by the Disciplinary Committee to constitute gross misbehaviour, the Disciplinary Committee shall be entitled to impose such sanctions on the offender as it deems appropriate, including the prohibition on such offender from participating in any of the events/activities of any Member Show of the ISA.
The decision of the Disciplinary Committee shall be final.