14.1: (Senior Rugby) The New Zealand Rugby Disciplinary Rules provides all of the rules and regulations for incidents of yellow cards, red cards, complaints of poor behaviour within the playing enclosure, Citings, misconduct or matches called off for all of our senior players (colts and above).

14.1.1: For all junior and secondary school players, a new Junior Rugby Judiciary Trial has been introduced in the Bay of Plenty region. This new policy will apply for all junior and secondary school players who are Ordered Off, receives 3 or more Yellow Cards in the same competition and/or is subject to a Misconduct Complaint. They also apply to a Match involving Players that is called off. A copy of the Junior Rugby Judiciary Trial Policy document can be found at appendix “16”.

14.1.2: For all persons aged 18 and above registered as players, coaches, or any voluntary role for a junior club or primary, intermediate or secondary school that is the subject of disciplinary proceedings, their matter will be dealt with by the New Zealand Rugby Disciplinary Rules process and not the Junior Rugby Judiciary Trial.

14.2 RED AND YELLOW CARDS

All red and yellow card reports for all grades are to be reported by the referee on the official forms provided and submitted to the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union within 48 hours from the completion of the match. Refer to Referee Reporting.

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION APPLIES TO SENIOR RUGBY ONLY. FOR ALL JUNIOR AND SECONDARY SCHOOL RUGBY, REFER TO APPENDIX "16".

14.2.1: Any player who receives a yellow card three times during the season, following written confirmation from Bay of Plenty Rugby Union, shall receive an automatic one week (equating to one playing day) stand down period, immediately after that fixture.

14.2.2: For any player who is receives a red card shall, upon receipt of the report, have their matter referred to the Complaints Review Officer who can either:

14.2.2.1: Suspend the player for two weeks or

14.2.2.2: Call for a Disciplinary Hearing to be held.

14.3 MATCHES CALLED OFF BY THE REFEREE

14.3.1: Any games called off by the referee or postponed (excluding disciplinary incidents), shall be dealt with by the relevant competitions committee.

14.3.2: If a match is called off by the referee as a result of persistent or serious foul play and/or persistent or serious misconduct (Rule 46 NZR Disciplinary Rules) by players or team officials, the referee shall report the matter to the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union within 48 hours of the completion of the match via the completion of a “Match Called Off” report. These types of reports will be dealt with by the Judicial Officer via the Complaints Review Officer.

14.4 POOR BEHAVIOUR FORM

14.4.1: The Bay of Plenty Rugby Union provides a process for anyone to report poor behaviour at a rugby match by anyone. The standard of proof required for such a complaint is high and most complaints of this nature require eye witness testimony, photographic or video footage. Where the alleged offender in any such complaint is a "REGISTERED PERSON" (player, coach, referee, registered volunteer) then the matter can be dealt with by the Judicial Panel in the same way as a red card, yellow card, or match called off report.

14.4.2: For a complaint of this nature to be dealt with by the Judicial Panel, a complainant must complete a Poor Behaviour Form to the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union within 48 hours of the completion of the match via the completion of a “Poor Behaviour Form”. This type of reports will be dealt with by the Judicial Officer via the Complaints Review Officer.

14.4.3: Where the alleged offender in any such complaint is NOT a "REGISTERED PERSON" (player, coach, referee, registered volunteer) then the matter will be referred to the HOST CLUB to handle under the club's Event Manager Host Rrsponsibilities rules.

14.5 HELPING TO UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS

The Judicial Officer is independent volunteer of the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union and has many years of experience in the disciplinary process. What cases does the judicial officer hear?

14.5.1: The Judicial Officer can hear the following cases;

14.5.1.1: Ordering Offs (Red Cards) and/or Misconduct* issued by a referee

14.5.1.2: Yellow cards if the BOPRU Complaints Review officer deems this to be a higher offence than reported.

14.5.1.3: Match called off by a referee

14.5.1.4: Complaints of poor behaviour lodged by a person other than the referee (refer to the Poor Behaviour Report on our website) commonly referred to as citings.*Misconduct means any conduct, behaviour, statements or practices on or off the playing enclosure during or in connection with a match that is unsporting, cheating, unruly, ill-disciplined or has the potential to bring the sport into disrepute.

14.6 WHAT IS THE PROCESS?

The process of preparing for a hearing is the same no matter whether the case is the result of a red card, misconduct, match called off or a citing. The Referee and/or Assistant referee complete an online report to the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union within 48 hours of the game. In terms of a Poor Behaviour Complaint form, it is completed by whoever wishes to lodge the complaint.

14.6.1: All complaints are received by the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union, who then forwards them to the Complaints Review Officer. The role of the Complaints Review Officer is two fold:

14.6.1.1: Issue a two week stand down or

14.6.1.2: Order a Disciplinary hearing. NOTE: All Disciplinary Hearings are conducted ONLINE, but a face to face hearing can be requested in certain circumstances.

14.6.2: Any person subjected to a judicial matter has the right to bypass the Complaints Review Officer step as outlined in rule 14.5.1 and request a Disciplinary Hearing be held. If you wish to do this, you need to do so in writing to competitionsadmin@boprugby.co.nz requesting a hearing within 48 hours of the conclusion of the match.

14.6.3: If a Disciplinary Hearing is ordered by the Complaints Review Officer, Bay of Plenty Rugby Union staff member will email reports/correspondence to the appropriate person within the club or school. At this stage the club/school has the following choices:

14.6.3.1: You can attend the disciplinary hearing. It is recommended that the player and a representative who can talk about the player’s general conduct attend the hearing, as well as any relevant witnesses.

14.6.3.2: You can defer the hearing until the following week. The relevant player/s will be suspended from play until the hearing takes place.

14.6.4: The player or any representative may enter an early plea. This is where they are satisfied the player has committed the conduct and is guilty of the offence.

14.6.5: You have the option of not attending a disciplinary hearing at all and leave it to the disciplinary panel to decide on the outcome in the player’s absence.

14.6.6: If you attend a hearing, any evidence/photos/reports/videos etc. that you wish to produce at the hearing should be emailed to competitionsadmin@boprugby.co.nz before 12.00pm, the day of the hearing so this can be passed onto the Judicial Officer and any other parties involved.

14.6.7: In some cases, a hearing is postponed to the following week in order for clubs/schools to gather more information. In this instance the player or person involved is suspended from all forms of rugby until the hearing has taken place.

14.7 WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A HEARING AND WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

14.7.1: A disciplinary hearing provides a forum to discuss the incident and the Judicial Officer has the responsibility of hearing and determining all matters that comes before it within the Unions jurisdiction. In the end, the Judicial Officer looks to reach a reasoned decision in accordance with the New Zealand rugby Disciplinary Rules.

14.7.2: The hearing will almost always take place via an online video conferencing system where details of the link will also be sent to all participants and the Judicial Officer.

14.7.3: Generally, there is more than one hearing per night so it is important you log on in plenty of time. Our online video conferencing system has the ability to place people in a waiting room. This is where you will be until you are let in the virtual hearing.

14.7.4: The hearings generally start at 6.00pm and are then scheduled one after the other. The following gives you a rough idea of what a disciplinary hearing looks like:
14.7.4.1: After an opening Karakia, the Judicial Officer will first ask whether the person appearing committed the offence as detailed in the allegation. If you wish to defend on this question, the only thing that can be argued is that the player did not do what is alleged, or that it is a case of mistaken identity.

14.7.4.2: Everything else is mitigation and does not come under the Judicial officer's first questions, for example “the punch wasn’t that hard” or “I was provoked” or “He’s a really good club man, no prior record etc”. All of this will come under the mitigation section which will eventually conclude with the length of the suspension.

14.7.4.3: The Judicial Officer will usually give the decision orally at the end of the evening, but sometimes they need to discuss the sanction further.

14.7.4.4: The decision or sanction will be in writing via email to the club/school by the Friday.

14.8 RIGHT OF APPEAL

14.8.1: If any player or person or club or school wishes to appeal the decision of the Judicial Officer or the relevant competition committee, they must do so in writing to the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union within seven (7) days from the date on which the written decision was received by the party lodging the appeal.

14.8.2: The cost of an appeal is $1,000.00 bond. This is to be deposited into the following bank account: Account Name: Bay of Plenty Rugby Union Incorporated. Account Number: 020466-0329270-00.

14.8.3: The appeal must include proof of payment of the $1,000.00 bond and a full and detailed explanation of the grounds for the appeal, including any and all new evidence to support those grounds for the appeal.

14.8.4: Any appeal received after the seven (7) day appeal period has expired, or not received in it's entirety by the expiry period will not be heard.

14.8.5: The appeal letter and documentation will be provided to the Appeals Committee who upon receipt will review the contents and advise the author as to whether there are valid grounds for an appeal and the next steps, which may include attending an Appeal Committee Hearing.

14.8.6: The potential outcomes of the appeal could be:

14.8.6.1: Dismiss the appeal.

14.8.6.2: Hear the appeal on the written documents only. (No attendance by any party required)

14.8.6.3: Hold a Hearing on only the matters raised in the appeal documents.

14.8.6.4: Hold a full "de novo hearing. From Latin, meaning “from the new.” When a judicial authority hears a case de novo, it is deciding the issues without reference to any legal conclusion or assumption made by the previous judicial authority to hear the case.

14.8.7: The $1,000.00 bond will be either:

14.8.7.1: Retained if your appeal is dismissed, or

14.8.7.2: Return if your appeal is successful, or

14.8.7.3: Part returned if your appeal is part successful, the decision to be assessed by the Appeals Committee.

14. DISCIPLINARY PROCESS

14.1 THE NEW ZEALAND RUGBY DISCIPLINARY RULES

14.2 RED AND YELLOW CARDS

14.3 MATCHES CALLED OFF BY THE REFEREE

14.4 POOR BEHAVIOUR FORM

14.5 HELPING TO UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS

14.6 WHAT IS THE PROCESS?

14.7 WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A HEARING AND WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

14. DISCIPLINARY PROCESS

14.1 THE NEW ZEALAND RUGBY DISCIPLINARY RULES​​​​​​​

14.2 RED AND YELLOW CARDS

14.3 MATCHES CALLED OFF BY THE REFEREE

14.4 POOR BEHAVIOUR FORM

14.5 HELPING TO UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS

14.6 WHAT IS THE PROCESS?

14.7 WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A HEARING AND WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

14.1 THE NEW ZEALAND RUGBY DISCIPLINARY RULES