Appeals Procedure

1. On receipt of the Appeal, the Director of Compliance will acknowledge the form.
2. The Director of Compliance will appoint a Head of Appeals and convene a Panel.
3. The Head of Appeals will forward the Appeal to both the Complainant and the Respondent with a link to the Appeals policy and process.
4. The Head of Appeals will issue an invite to the Panel within 7 calendar days of being appointed and will include the date, time and relevant attendance information of the Appeals Panel. The date and time offered will be 21 calendar days from the appointment of the Head of Appeals.
   1. In advance of the hearing, the Head of Appeals will decide whether any legal advice needs to be obtained from the IRCM’s legal advisors.
   2. Where the appeal or legal advice sought incurs a cost, it is understood and agreed by all parties that this cost will be incorporated into the outcome of this Appeal.
   3. The hearing will be arranged using the IRCM’s Meeting and Conference platform.
   4. The Head of Appeals will attend and will chair the hearing.
   5. The Appeals Panel will attend.
5. On receipt of the information requested, the Head of Appeal will convene a Panel and follow the process in point 3 above.
6. Following on from the Panel review, the Panel will determine if the Appeal is;
   1. Rejected, or
   2. Deferred for additional information to be obtained, or
   3. Accepted as a valid appeal.
7. Where the Panel determines that there is no Appeal to answer, it will determine that the Appeal is ‘rejected’.
   1. Where the appeal is rejected, the Head of Appeals will notify both parties of the reason for the rejection of the appeal and determine this appeal ‘Rejected’ on the IRCM Register.
8. Where the Panel determine that further information is required, they will:
   1. request the additional information from the Complainant
   2. request additional information from the Respondent
   3. request any additional information from Third Parties.
      It is at this point that all relevant information (i.e. correspondence, etc.) pertaining to this appeal must be received no less than 30 calendar days after the request for additional information has been made to the Complainant, Respondent, or any third parties.
9. Where the Appeal is accepted as a valid appeal, a Review Panel will be convened.
   1. The Head of Appeals will attend and will chair the Review Panel.
   2. The Appeals Panel will attend.
   3. If the appeal relates to a Facilitation, the Facilitation Panel will attend.
   4. If the appeal relates to a Complaint, the Complaint Panel will attend.
   5. The Head of Appeals will provide details as to the reason the newly submitted material has been accepted as a valid appeal.
   6. All members of the Review Panel will review the newly submitted material against the original material submitted and the impact this newly submitted material has.
   7. All members of the Review Panel will determine the Outcome.
      Where a casting vote is required the Head of Appeals holds the casting vote.
10. Outcomes
    Outcomes will depend on the documentation submitted, the evidence presented and responded to at the hearing, and the severity and frequency of the complaint; and on factors which include:
    • The reason for the additional documentation submitted as part of the Appeal and not the original process.
    • The impact of the additional documentation submitted.
    • The Unified Code of Industry Ethics or Unified Coaching and Mentoring Industry Core Competencies clause(s) against which the complaint was raised.
    • The weight of the new evidence.
    • The original wishes of the Complainant.
    • Whether there has been one or more previous grievance, dispute or complaint received against the Respondent for the same, similar or other clause(s).
11. Where the appeal is upheld:
    1. in a Facilitation (Step 1), the Head of Appeals will contact the Complainant and request confirmation that the Complainant wishes to take their appeal to the next step and raise a formal Complaint.
    2. In a Complaint (Step 2), the outcome of the complaint will depend upon the wishes of the Complainant and the determination by the Panel.