1. OBJECT OF THE ZAWE DISPUTE POLICY AND PROCEDURES

This ZAWE Disciplinary Policy and Procedure document is based on and in line with the SAEF Disciplinary Procedure. The SAEF requires that everybody or individual falling under the jurisdiction of SAEF shall ensure that any dispute it has with a body falling under the jurisdiction of SAEF is resolved in accordance with the dispute prevention and resolution procedures set out in the SAEF Constitution. 

The SAEF requires that all Discipline Associations shall resolve all available internal remedies to resolve Discipline Association disputes and as such, ZAWE shall utilise the services of the ZAWE Disciplinary Panel to resolve all disputes internally.

In light of the aforesaid, this Dispute Policy and Procedures is hereby established, with the object of implementing the necessary dispute resolution and disciplinary procedures for adjudication, determination and decision on any disputes or disciplinary matters where it is empowered to do so in terms of the SAEF’s Constitution and ZAWE’s Constitution.

2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE POLICY AND PROCEDURES FOR DISPUTE RESOLUTION

The ZAWE Dispute Resolution Policy and Procedures is hereby established, and provide for:

2.1 the Broad framework applicable in respect of all dispute prevention, dispute resolution and
disciplinary matters dealt with in this Dispute P & P;

2.2 the recognition of the Panel, as established by the Executive Committee of the ZAWE;

3.1 For purposes of this document see 35.1 SAEF Constitution to resolve such disputes, Clause 9.19 of SAEF Constitution and Clause 33 of the SAEF Constitution

4. ESTABLISHMENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE PANEL

4.1 The Panel is hereby established pursuant to the Act, the SAEF’s Constitution, and ZAWE’s Constitution for the purpose of adjudicating all properly referred disputes and to implementing the SAEF’s Disciplinary codes as well as upholding ZAWE’s Constitutional laws, rules and regulations and policies and to, amongst others:
4.1.1 take decisions as to such dispute or disciplinary measures as shall be appropriate in the circumstances, which are not decisions provided to be taken by the ZAWE Council in terms of the ZAWE Constitution;

4.1.2 make recommendations to the ZAWE Council regarding the suspension, fine or
termination of membership of any individual or Member, following the conclusion of disciplinary matters;

4.2 The Panel shall be empowered to determine its own rules, procedures and make any decisions concerning their rules and procedures, to the extent that such rules and procedures are not already contained in these Dispute P & P document, provided only that such rules or procedures may not undermine or negate the intentions of the ZAWE Constitution nor the SAEF Constitution.

4.3 The proceedings of the Panel shall not be open to the public, unless the Panel orders otherwise.

4.4 The Panel will observe the rules of natural justice, but will have discretion regarding admissibility of evidence notwithstanding an enactment or rule of law to the contrary, relating to the admissibility of evidence in proceedings before a tribunal, panel or court of law where such admission would be appropriate and not unduly unfair or prejudicial to one or more parties to the Dispute or Disciplinary proceedings.
Note in terms of the SAEF’s Constitution the decision to suspend, fine and terminate membership of any individual lies with the Discipline Association.

4.5 The Panel has all necessary authority, inherent powers and standing, in relation to any matter under its jurisdiction.

4.6 The rules and procedures regulating the functioning of the Panel shall be as set forth in this Disciplinary P & P document

5 JURISDICTION AND POWERS OF THE PANEL

5.1 The Panel shall have all necessary jurisdiction:

5.1.1 over a Member(s) and individual athlete(s), any ZAWE official, a temporary official involved for a limited time in the sport of ZAWE, coaches and/or technical staff, in the Republic and abroad, wherever they may be, at any time, engaging in, or having been engaged in, any activity that falls under the jurisdiction of ZAWE;

5.1.2 in respect of disputes or alleged disputes in the Republic and abroad;

5.1.3 in respect of any dispute or complaint referred to it by the ZAWE Council;

5.1.4 over any complaint or allegation, in respect of Members and/or individuals over which/whom ZAWE has jurisdiction, not otherwise expressly provided for in the Constitution or this Disciplinary P & P document, and
includes but is not limited to:

5.1.4.1 a breach of the ZAWE Constitution, the SAEF Constitution, the Act or any other governing provisions, as amended from time-to-time;
5.1.4.2 a breach of the rules and/or regulations of SAEF and/or ZAWE, as amended from time-to-time;
5.1.4.3 directives of ZAWE, as amended from time-to-time;
5.1.4.4 the SAEF code of conduct, the ZAWE codes, rules and regulations, and/or any other applicable code of conduct in respect of Working Equitation that falls under the auspices of the ZAWE;
5.1.4.5 an order or instruction of ZAWE properly issued and communicated to the affected individual;
5.1.4.6 a breach of any of the statutes or regulations of WAWE, the FEI, the IOC or any other relevant national or international body;
5.1.4.7 any matter which may bring, or may be designed to bring, either ZAWE, any of its officers, Members, employees or other associated individual or body, or the sport of Working Equitation into disrepute.

5.1.5 to condone the late delivery of any documents or notices or referral of a dispute or any other
non-compliance by a Member or referring party with the procedures set out in this Disciplinary P & P document, and to make any appropriate order;

5.2 The jurisdiction of the Panel shall be subject only to the following:

5.2.1 That the party referring a dispute or complaint to ZAWE and/or the Panel must have first exhausted all available internal remedies, at all appropriate levels i.e. from the club level, through the regional level and the provincial structures, as provided for in the Constitution or regulations of Member/s, which is applicable to such a party, and as may be applicable to such a dispute or complaint;

5.2.2 Where the internal remedies of a Member applicable to the referring party have not been made available or are not reasonably accessible to the referring party, such a party may approach the Panel directly in writing, in the format as required by the Panel, and the Panel shall have the necessary discretion tallow or to refuse to hear the dispute.

5.2.3 The Panel shall not have jurisdiction in respect of: -
5.2.3.1 matters in respect of which the referring party or Applicant has not complied with 5.2.1 above in exhausting internal remedies;
5.2.3.2 any dispute or complaint that has been previously heard and/or decided and/or ruled upon by the Panel.

6 COMPOSITION OF THE PANEL

6.1 The Panel shall consist of: -

6.1.1 the Chairperson of ZAWE’s Legal, Disciplinary, Governance, Ethics and Appeals Committee or his/her Deputy or another Member of the Legal, Disciplinary, Governance Ethics and Appeals Committee appointed to Chair the proceedings;

6.1.1.1 in the event of any conflict of interest on the part of the Chairperson in respect of any matter referred to the Panel, the ZAWE Exeo shall appoint another member of the Panel, or an independent third party, as the Chairperson in respect of that particular matter;

6.1.2 Any person or persons appointed in writing by the Panel, either internal OR external to the ZAWE organisation or structure, and who the Panel in their discretion believes to have the requisite minimum requirements including but not limited to Emotional Integrity, Fairness and Ethical in nature, Maturity in Judgment and Objectivity, and other qualities which society believes to be of a high standard, and which qualities are required of all members of the Panel.

6.1.3 an independent external person, or persons, if such person(s) participation is deemed necessary by the Panel, to assist with the adjudication of a specific Dispute;
and/or

6.1.4 the Secretary of the Panel or such other person designated by the Panel, who shall provide secretarial services to the Panel.

7. QUORUM

7.1 The Panel shall be convened by the Chairperson from time to time to deal with disputes, complaints or allegations or disciplinary matters referred for resolution by the ZAWE EXCO, either from the ZAWE Council or where such matter was directly forwarded to ZAWE EXCO.

7.2 From time to time and at the discretion of the Chairman as to when a Full Bench of the Panel is required, in order to constitute a Panel for a hearing or consideration of a dispute at least (3) three duly appointed members
of the Panel must be present. However, in the event that the hearing commences with (3) three members and one (1) member does not seat through the proceedings to their completion, the decision of the remaining (2) two members shall constitute a valid and enforceable finding.

8 PASSING OF DECISIONS

8.1 Decisions of the Panel are passed either by consensus or a simple majority of the members of the Panel present in person.

8.2 Decisions passed by consensus of all members and signed by all the members shall constitute a decision for purposes of 8.1 above even when it is not passed in a meeting.

8.3 Decisions passed by votes must be in a meeting of the Panel.

8.4 Save for the Secretary of the Panel, every member of the Panel present shall be entitled to vote.

8.5 All hearings of the Panel will be presided over by a Chairperson, and in the absence or recusal of the Chairperson, one of the members appointed by the Chairperson to represent him/her shall act as Chairperson.

8.6 The Panel may appoint any independent person, with specific specialty, to sit in a hearing if that person may assist the process although that person, unless appointed as a member of the Panel for the purpose of that particular matter, may not vote.

8.7 The Panel will apply the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, the Constitution of SAEF, Rules and Regulations of SAEF and the Constitution, Rules, Regulations, Policies and Directives of ZAWE.

8.8 The Panel may adopt its own procedure (without deviating from the minimal requirements stated in this Dispute P & P document) with the minimum of legal formalities but complying with the principles of natural justice.

9 CONFLICT OF INTEREST

9.1 Members of the Panel must decline to participate in any hearing where their participation will result in conflict of interest or will raise serious doubts regarding their impartiality. This applies in the following cases (among others) where: -
9.1.1 the member(s) in question has a direct interest in the outcome of the matter;
9.1.2 if he/she is associated with any of the parties;
9.1.3 if he/she is the member of the party in respect of whom a dispute arose; and
9.1.4 if he/she has already dealt with the case under different circumstances.

9.2 Members who decline to participate in a hearing on any of the above grounds or any other ground not listed herein shall notify the Chairman in writing immediately, and include the reason therefore in terms of clause 11 above.

9.3 Member(s) of the Panel or parties involved in a dispute may also raise an objection to a member of the Panel that they believe to be biased or whose participation will result in conflict of interest or will raise serious doubts regarding their impartiality, with sufficient proof of such Conflict having been provided.

9.4 The Chairman shall decide on any such claim of bias, provided that, if the objection is raised against the Chairman, the other Members of the Panel shall decide on the validity of the bias.

9.5 Proceedings that have involved someone whom the Chairman has ordered not to participate will be considered null and void.

10 CONFIDENTIALITY

10.1 The members of the Panel shall ensure that everything disclosed to them during the course of their duty remains confidential (including but not limited to the facts of the case, contents of the deliberations and decisions taken).

10.2 Only the contents of those decisions already notified to the addressees may be made public.

11 POWERS OF THE PANEL

11. The Panel shall have the power to deal with any matter relating to any dispute referred to it in terms of this Policy and Procedure document including, but not limited to

11.1.1 the alleged infringement of the Constitution, the rules, Regulations, directives, or resolution of ZAWE;
11.1.2 any act of misconduct;
11.1.3 improper practices;
11.1.4 misdemeanour;
11.1.5 acts of defiance; and/or
11.1.6 generally bringing sport or ZAWE into disrepute.

11.2 Upon hearing of a dispute or implementing the Disciplinary Code the Panel shall have the powers to –

11.1.1 warn or reprimand a party to a dispute; and/or
11.1.2 recommend a suspension of a Member or individual for a specified period of time; and/or
11.1.3 recommend a fine to be imposed in respect of a Member or individual; and/or
11.1.4 recommend termination of membership of ZAWE,
11.1.5 dismiss a complaint or dispute if it is vexatious, frivolous or does not set out a prima facie case or for any grounds as shall be appropriate in law; and/or
11.1.6 make any appropriative order including an order that a party pay the costs of the other party and/or costs of the Panel.

The Powers detailed herein are not mutually exclusive and more than one remedy may be imposed simultaneously or in concurrence.

12 FORM AND CONTENT OF THE DECISION

The decision or award of the Panel shall contain: -

12.1 the composition of the Panel;
12.2 the names of the parties;
12.3 a summary of the facts;
12.4 the reasons for the decision;
12.5 the terms of the decision; and
12.6 be signed by the Chairperson of the Panel and the Panel Secretary.

13 RULES FOR THE CONDUCT OF PROCEEDINGS IN RESPECT OF DISPUTES

13.1 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DISPUTE PREVENTION AND RESOLUTIONPROCEDURES
These Dispute Prevention and Resolution Procedures are established to apply as the dispute resolution procedures contemplated in the ZAWE Constitution and shall apply in respect to a dispute, complaint or allegation(s) lodged by a Member or individual over whom ZAWE has jurisdiction against any Member or individual over whom ZAWE has jurisdiction.

13.2 REFERRAL OF DISPUTES, SERVING AND FILING DOCUMENTS

13.1 All Disputes shall be referred by a Member or individual over whom ZAWE has jurisdiction
to the Legal, Disciplinary, Ethics and Appeals Panel of ZAWE, with a request that such dispute be handled in terms of this Policy and Procedure Document.

13.2 A Member or individual referring a dispute to SAEF, shall not do so without first having exhausted all available internal remedies, as provided for in that Member’s own constitution, or the constitution of the body or Member with which an individual has a dispute, as applicable, unless such referring Member or individual can demonstrate, as part of its referral to the Panel, that the relevant internal remedies have not been made available or are not accessible to the referring party, in which event the Panel shall have the discretion to allow or refuse to hear the dispute.

13.3 The referral of dispute by a Member or individual, shall be in a prescribed format and submitted and/or sent by electronic mail, hand delivered or registered mail to the Panel, provided that it shall be the responsibility of the referring party to make telephonic enquiries with Panel. It is to be noted that the preferred method of submission of any such referral is by way of electronic mail, with confirmation to be noted via “read receipt”.

13.4 The referring party must set out in detail, the full facts on which the complaint or dispute is based and refer to the alleged clause(s) of the Constitution, Rule and Regulations, Code of Conduct, or any other basis on which the dispute is founded, which have allegedly been contravened.

13.5 No disputes shall be considered by the Panel unless such dispute is lodged in the prescribed format and accompanied by the relevant vouchers, documents and/or receipts.

13.6 The Panel shall, upon receipt of the referral of a dispute, arrange for the Panel to stipulate the procedure to be followed by the party referring the dispute and any other party affected by the dispute, which procedure shall be stipulated in writing, for purposes of ensuring that the dispute shall be formulated in a manner that will expedite the hearing or adjudication thereof by the Panel. Any such stipulation shall be in accord with this Policy and the Constitution, and shall adhere to the principles of natural justice.

14 PRELIMINARY INQUIRY

14.1 The Panel may decide on whether a dispute has been properly referred and is to be dealt with in terms of these procedures.

14.2 If the Panel decides that a dispute has not been properly referred, it may decide not to hear such a dispute or give direction as to how such a dispute should be dealt with.

14.3 The Panel may, decide, after considering the dispute, whether to dismiss the dispute if it is found to be frivolous or vexatious or does not set out a prima facie case.

14.4 The Panel may, in order to decide whether or not to dismiss the dispute call for further information or affidavits from the referring party; and should the referring party fail to furnish such information, the Panel may dismiss the dispute.

14.5 If the dispute is dismissed the Panel must, within 10 (ten) days after the dismissal of the dispute, inform the referring party of such a dismissal and the reasons for same.

14.6 The Panel may contact the parties by telephone or other electronic means, prior to the commencement of the hearing, in order to seek to resolve the dispute.

14.7 Should the dispute be found to be of sufficient seriousness in nature to be escalated, the referring party will be required to pay a deposit of R1 000,00 (one thousand rand), or such other fee as Exco may determine from time to time, prior to initiation of the escalation process.

15 HEARINGS

15.1 Any dispute referred to the Panel, which dispute may escalate to a “Hearing”, will be heard within a reasonable time, subject to compliance with the requirements of these procedures or directives issued by the Panel, with regard to dispute(s) resolution process.

15.2 The Chairman, in consultation with the Panel, shall determine the procedure to be followed in the hearing of any dispute(s) to the extent not already provided for in the Coder the Disciplinary Code.

15.3 The Panel shall notify the parties of the date, time and place of the hearing.

15.4 The Panel shall be entitled, at its own discretion and depending on the availability of the members of the Panel for that particular hearing, to set the date, time and place of any hearing, and shall not be obliged to entertain any representations from the parties in respect thereof.

15.5 An electronic mail proven by an automatic delivery notice to the known email address of either party, or a notice sent per registered post proven by a registered slip that has been sent to a party's last-known email address or domicile address or the address of that party’s last-known representative will be deemed to be sufficient notice of the date, time and place of the hearing for the purposes of this rule.

16 PRE-HEARING MEETING

16.1 The Panel has a discretion to decide on whether there is need for a pre-hearing, and form thereof, and if it is decided that the pre-hearing is necessary then the Panel shall, not later than 10 (ten) prior to the hearing, notify the parties of the date, time and place for the pre-hearing meeting.

16.2 The following may be dealt with at the pre hearing meeting, for each party to:
16.2.1 provide admissions on certain issues;
16.2.2 confirm that the referring party has exhausted internal remedies;
16.2.3 advise whether any agreement may be reached regarding the presentation of
evidence by means of an affidavit;
16.2.4 raise any dispute regarding the duty to begin or the onus of proof;
16.2.5 agree which documents or copies of documents will, without further proof, serves evidence of what they purport to be;
16.2.6 agree which extracts may be proved without proving the whole document or any other agreement regarding the proof of such documents; and
16.2.7 discuss any possible settlement of the dispute.

17 FAILURE OF A PARTY TO ATTEND HEARING OF THE PANEL

17.1 If either party fails to attend at any proceedings before the Panel, the Panel may dismiss the matter by issuing a ruling.

17.2 If either party fails to attend or be properly represented at any proceedings before the Panel, the Panel may-:
17.2.1 continue with the proceedings in the absence of the such a party; or
17.2.2 adjourn the proceedings to a later date.

17.3 the Panel must be satisfied that the party had been properly notified of the date, time and venue of the proceedings, before making any decision

17.4 If a matter is dismissed, the Panel must send a copy of the ruling to all the Parties.

18. APPEAL

18.1 Any party aggrieved by a decision of the Disciplinary Committee may refer the matter to the EXCO for its final determination. A Full seating of the EXCO may decide on the matter
18.1.1 by a 75% majority of vote, or
18.1.2 Constitute an Appeals Committee for further investigation into the matter, after which a 75% majority Full seating of the EXCO will determine the outcome of the dispute

19 Any party aggrieved by the Final decision of the EXCO, may appeal to SAEF provided the leave EXCO is first sought and obtained within a period of21 (twenty-one) days of the date on which the determination was notified to the parties.

19.1 The EXCO shall grant the necessary discretionary leave if the matter is of great importance to the parties concerned and the referral sought is not judged frivolous or vexatious.