Title

APPEALS PROCESS

Policy Statement:

The purpose of this document is to outline the procedures to be followed when an appeal is brought against decisions made as part of any CSFS assessment process

Definitions:

Unless otherwise stated ‘CSFS’ means The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences;

Any references to Council and/or Council members refers to the Trustees of CSFS.

All interested parties refers to assessment manager, assessor/examiner, and candidate.

Appeal:

Appeals must reach CSFS in writing no more than three months after the date of the assessment.  Appeals must be in the form a written statement from the candidate outlining their grounds for appeal. 

Appeals must be address in writing to the Honorary Secretary and sent to the CSFS office (ideally by email)

Grounds for Appeal:

1. That there were medical, personal or other circumstances affecting the candidate’s performance of which the examiners were not aware when the decision was taken; this could warrant the examination at this round of assessments being discounted for this candidate. Evidence must be presented by the candidate to support their appeal in these circumstances.
2. That there was prejudice, bias or inadequate assessment on the part of one or more of the examiners.
3. That there were procedural irregularities in the conduct of the examination or of the assessment which were prejudicial to the outcome.

If the grounds for appeal are based on any allegation of prejudice, bias or inadequate assessment on the part of one or more of the examiners the Honorary Secretary will instigate an investigation. This will involve obtaining written evidence from the candidate and others relating to the allegation. The relevant assessment manager and assessors involved will be contacted for their written response to the allegations.  If required and depending on the nature of the allegation the Honorary Secretary may instigate an appeal hearing.  In this case the appeals panel will comprise of:

• Honorary Secretary (Chairman)
• One further member of Council not connected with the assessment process
• One Fellow of the Society or one Member who is a subject matter expert, as appropriate
• A member of office staff to minute the proceedings

All interested parties will receive at least 28 days’ notice of a meeting of the Appeals Panel.

Appeal Hearing:

The appeal hearing will follow the following format.

• All relevant written evidence shall be circulated to the members of the appeals panel, the relevant assessment manager, the candidate and the relevant assessors(s) against which the allegations are made.
• The candidate will be allowed to bring, at the discretion of the panel, a representative to the hearing by prior approval.
• At the appeal hearing the assessment manager, relevant assessor(s) and candidate and their representative will be allowed entry.
• The candidate will be asked to present their case.
• Only in exceptional circumstances will the candidate’s representative be allowed to address the panel.
• Following this the assessor(s) and assessment manager will be asked to present their case. The panel may ask questions of all parties for clarification.
• Following oral evidence all parties will be asked to withdraw and the panel will discuss the case and reach a conclusion in relation to the appeal.
• Once a decision has been reached, all relevant parties will be asked to re-attend the hearing and the Chair of the appeals panel will detail the conclusion of the panel and any further action which needs to be taken.
• A letter detailing the outcome of the hearing will be sent to the candidate.

The decision of the Appeals Panel will be reported to Council by the Honorary Secretary.

All decisions of the Appeals Panel will be final.   

CSFS Appeals Process