Judiciary Definitions

The following terms shall be ascribed the corresponding meanings:

Appeals Committee means anybody constituted pursuant to the Appeals Committee Code of Procedure or otherwise vested with requisite jurisdiction to receive, consider and determine appeals from decisions of the Judiciary.

Charge means the offence particularised in the Notice of Charge.

Judiciary means the NSWRL Community Judiciary constituted in accordance with Rule 4, comprising the Judiciary Chairperson and the Judiciary Panel.

Judiciary Chairperson means the person appointed to that role pursuant to Rule 4.

Judiciary Code of Procedure means this document including all schedules and annexures.

Judiciary Counsel means the person appointed to that role pursuant to Rule 2.

Judiciary Panel means the panel of two (2) Judiciary Panel Members empanelled for a Judiciary hearing pursuant to Rule 7.1.2.

Judiciary Panel Pool means the persons appointed to that role pursuant to Rule 4.

Judiciary Panel Member means a person in the Judiciary Panel Pool appointed to that role pursuant to Rule 4 empanelled on a Judiciary Panel in accordance with Rule 7.1.2.

Leagues refers to the district, region, combined competition and/or regular competition and includes where necessary a reference to all matches, tournaments and premierships conducted by or under the auspices of the League and/or competition.

Match means a game of Rugby League played in any competition, tournament or premiership conducted by or under the auspices of the League and/or competition.

Match Official’s Incident Report means a report completed by a Match Official in accordance with Rule 6.

Match Review Committee means the body established pursuant to Rule 3.

Match Review Committee Chairperson means the Match Reviewer appointed to that role pursuant to Rule 3.

Match Reviewer means the persons appointed to that role pursuant to Rule 3.

Notice of Challenge means a notice in the form set out in Appendix 3 specifying all relevant particulars of a challenge by a Player to the jurisdiction and/or composition of the Judiciary submitted in accordance with Rule 8.

Notice of Charge means a notice in the form set out in Appendix 4 specifying all relevant particulars of a Charge which is determined pursuant to Rule 6 by the Match Review Committee and issued by the Judiciary Administrator to a charged Player.

Notice of Hearing means a notice in the form set out in Appendix 5 specifying all relevant particulars of a Judiciary hearing which is issued pursuant to Rule 7 by the Judiciary Administrator to a charged Player, the Judiciary Counsel and any other person required by this Judiciary Code of Procedure to receive such notice.

Notice of Plea means a notice in the form set out in Appendix 6 specifying in accordance with Rule 6 how a Player shall plead in response to a Charge particularised in a Notice of Charge.

Guidelines means the timelines and guidelines imposed on the required appendixes for both Judiciary Administrator and charged players.

Notice of Outcome a letter provided to the district or region detailing the outcome of the hearing and or plea.

Offence means an act or omission in a Match which is sufficient to give rise to the Match Review Committee issuing a Notice of Charge against the Player. A schedule of offences is set out at Appendix 2.

Judiciary Administrator means the person appointed to that role pursuant to Rule 4.5.

Probability In every case, the Judiciary Counsel bears the onus of proof on the balance of probabilities.  The Judiciary is not bound by the Rules of Evidence usually applicable to proceedings in courts of law.  Although direct evidence of a fact in issue is to be preferred, the Judiciary may inform itself of the facts in any other way in which the Chairman considers both reliable and appropriate. 

COMMUNITY RUGBY LEAGUE EXPLANATION OF HEADINGS

Player – the registered name of the player cited or dismissed (i.e. the name that would appear on the club’s team sheet)

Club – the name of the club the player was playing for when dismissed or cited.

Grade – the grade competition the player dismissed or cited.

Charge – the charges reflect the subsections of Section 15 of the International Laws of the Game.

Grading – the four levels of grading (see below for an explanation of points) reflect the severity of actions within each charge. A Low-level grading is the lightest and in general, would apply to actions that were ‘careless’ in nature with little or very minor impact on the player or official. A high-level grading would, in general, apply to actions that were deliberate or intentional and either caused or had the potential to cause substantial injury to another person. The two main exceptions to this are ‘kicking’ and ‘dropping knees’. Both these categories are, by definition, deliberate acts and therefore are seen to attract higher penalties. Serious is any matter deemed necessary for the judiciary panel.

Base Penalty – the scheduled penalty for the charge issued, taken from the Penalty Schedule.

Prior Proved Offences – If a player has been convicted of an offence in the two (2) year period immediately preceding the incident, the player is liable to an increase equivalent to one match in addition to the base penalty.

Clean Record – A player is entitled to a Clean Record discount if they have not been convicted of a Judiciary or Code of Conduct Offence in the previous two years from the date the current offence occurred. Under such circumstances, the player is entitled to a reduction equivalent to one match from the base penalty. 

Suspended Penalty - In cases where a suspended penalty is issued, the minimum probationary period to enact the penalty is 12 months. For example, if a player receives a four (4) match penalty with two (2) matches suspended for an offence on Sept 1 2024, the suspended penalty is applicable and added to the penalty for any proven Rugby League misconduct matter until midnight on Sept 2 2025. 

Possible Penalty – the penalty a player will face taking into account their playing record (discounts and penalty loadings). 

Early Plea – A Player who after receiving the charge details pleads guilty or no contest to an offence and accepts the grading determined by the League will waive his rights to a judiciary hearing and subsequent appeals.

Guilty Plea – the total penalty awarded, should a player be found guilty of the Charge and Grading by the Judiciary Panel. This total will take into consideration all discounts and loadings that apply to the player at the time of the incident.

No Contest Plea - When a person elects not to contest the offence charged, the making of that election does not constitute an admission on their part that the player is guilty, or otherwise responsible for, the conduct charged but, rather it is an indication that the player has chosen for one reason or another not to contest the charge. The final penalty will be determined taking into consideration all discounts and loadings that apply to the player at the time of the incident.

Not Guilty Plea – If a player may prefer to have the charge heard by the Judiciary Panel by either entering a Not Guilty Plea, and that player is found to be guilty of the charge and grading by the Judiciary Panel, the player is liable to an increase equivalent to a minimum of one match in addition to the base penalty.

Guilty Plea requesting downgrade - A player may prefer to have a charge heard by the Judiciary Panel by either entering a Not Guilty plea or Guilty Plea to the Charge but at a lessor grading. If, at the subsequent hearing, a player is found guilty to the original charge and grading, they will not be entitled to any reduction other than ‘Clean Record’ additionally the player is liable to an increase equivalent to one match. If, however, the player pleads guilty but disputes the grading of the charge and the Judicial Panel reduces the grading, the player will also receive the benefit of an early guilty plea discount.