Following the appointment by His Honour Brian Barker C.B.E. QC – Judicial Panel Chairman to the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) – of 23 members of the new, merged Disciplinary and Licensing Panel, the BHA has today published the necessary amendments to the Rules of racing to reflect its new judicial structure. It has also published for the first time the Terms of Reference for each of the Disciplinary Panel, Licensing Committee and Appeal Board.

The Rule changes and terms of reference ensure the implementation of further recommendations made by Christopher Quinlan QC in his recent review. The changes effected by the new Rules include: the formal handing over of responsibility for the Judicial Panel from the BHA to the Judicial Panel Chairman; that all disciplinary, licensing and appeal hearings will be chaired by a legally qualified person; that no active stewards should sit on the Disciplinary Panel; and that the Appeal Board now has the right to order that an appeal takes place as a full rehearing of the case, in exceptional circumstances.

The revised Rules will come into effect from 1 July. Copies of the new Rules for each of the Disciplinary Panel, Licensing Committee and Appeal Board can be found here. The Terms of Reference for each can be found here.

Catherine Beloff, Director of Legal and Governance for the BHA, said: “The BHA was very clear that it intends to adopt in full the recommendations from the Quinlan review. Following the implementation of the revised Rules on 1 July we will have made good progress towards achieving this objective.

“The Quinlan review’s recommendations were designed to ensure that the BHA’s quasi-judicial system is in line with best practice in sports governance and to increase confidence among participants and stakeholders. They will allow the BHA’s judicial functions to operate independently of its executive functions, which we hope participants and the public will find reassuring as it reduces the risk of potential conflicts of interest.”

Notes to editors:

1. The statement from His Honour Brian Barker C.B.E. QC regarding the appointment of his new judicial panel can be found here.
2. The Quinlan review can be found here.