Council Regulations 1 of 2012
Made by Council on 14 June 2012 (date of
effect 1 October 2012)
Amended on 1 October 2016 (Gazette, Vol.146, p.708-709, 21 July 2016) and 3 March 2017 (Gazette, Vol.147, p276, 16 February 2017).
Part 1: General
1.1. These regulations are made under section 9 of Statute
Xlll.
1.2. In these regulations:
(1) the term ‘colleges’ shall mean colleges, societies,
Permanent Private Halls, and other institutions designated by Council by
regulation as being permitted to present student members for matriculation;
(2) ‘the student’ shall mean the student member whose
fitness to study has been referred to the Fitness to Study Panel for
consideration;
(3) ‘the Panel’ shall mean the Student Fitness to Study
Panel.
(4) a ‘primary referring body’ shall mean, in the case of
an undergraduate student, the college of the student concerned, and in the case
of a graduate student, the faculty or department of the student concerned; a
‘secondary referring body’ shall mean, in the case of an undergraduate
student, the faculty or department of the student concerned, and in the case of
a graduate student, the college of the student concerned.
Part 2: Membership
2.1. There shall be up to sixteen members of the Panel, no fewer than four
and no more than eight of whom shall be appointed by Council and no fewer than four and no more
than eight by the Conference of Colleges, all of
whom shall be members of Congregation. Members shall hold office for four years
and at the expiry of that term shall be eligible for re-appointment.
2.2. One of the four members appointed by Council and one of
the four members appointed by the Conference of Colleges (‘the appointing
bodies’) shall be designated, in each case by agreement between the
appointing bodies, to serve as Chair or Vice-Chair of the Panel. The term of
office shall be four years, to include two years as Vice-Chair. This is
provided always that no person may hold office as Chair or Vice-Chair of the
Panel (‘the offices’) without also being a member of the Panel and that at
any given time one of the offices must be occupied by a member of the Panel
appointed by Council and the other by a member of the Panel appointed by the
Conference of Colleges. Provided that each of these conditions is adhered to,
the Chair and Vice-Chair may serve one additional four-year term of office (two
years as Vice-Chair and two years as Chair) by agreement between the appointing
bodies.
2.3. The Chair of the Panel shall be responsible for the
general administration of the business of the Panel and for such other tasks as
are specified in these regulations. The Chair of the Panel may delegate to the
Vice-Chair such matters falling within the scope of these responsibilities as
he or she shall determine.
2.4. In the event of the resignation of any member of the
Panel before the end of his/her four-year term of office, whichever of Council
or the Conference of Colleges appointed the resigning member shall appoint a
replacement to serve for the remainder of the term concerned. At the expiry of
that remainder, the replacement member shall be eligible for re-appointment
under regulation 2.1 as if they had initially held office for four years.
2.5. Council and the Conference of Colleges shall by
agreement appoint a person to serve as Secretary to the Panel (‘the
Secretary’). The Secretary shall be responsible for the organisation of the
Panel’s work but shall not be a member of the Panel or participate or vote in
its proceedings.
Part 3: Powers
3.1. The Panel shall consider only such cases referred to it
by:
(1) (a) a primary referring body;
(b) a secondary referring body which has first consulted with
the relevant primary referring body and the latter has indicated that it does
not see a reason itself to make a referral but has no objection to the
secondary referring body doing so; or:
(c) a secondary referring body falling within the ambit of
regulation 3.2;
(2) (a) the Proctors;
(b) the Student Disciplinary Panel;
(c) the Student Appeal Panel;
where under the relevant statute or regulation there are
powers to suspend hearings until such a view is sought.
3.2. Where a secondary referring body has first consulted
with the relevant primary referring body and the latter has refused to make a
referral, the secondary referring body nonetheless has the right, irrespective
of the view of the primary referring body, to ask the Chair of the Panel to
review the matter. In such cases, the Chair of the Panel must request and, if
such are received, consider representations from the primary and secondary
referring bodies, and shall determine in the light of such representations
whether the case should be referred to the Panel for consideration. In the
event of a positive determination, the Panel shall consider the case.
3.3. Notwithstanding regulation 3.1, the Panel may consider
only such cases concerning the fitness to study of a named student as fall
within the relevant referring body’s jurisdiction and provided always that it
is reasonably satisfied that any other reasonable recourse or mechanism
available, either under the governing primary, secondary or other rules of the
relevant referring body or under the statutes and regulations, has first been
followed.
3.4. Notwithstanding regulations 3.1 and 3.2, the Chair of
the Panel shall be entitled to rule that a case which has been referred should
not be further considered by the Panel on the basis that it falls outside the
Panel’s jurisdiction as defined in these regulations.
3.5. (1) The Panel shall make determinations in respect of a
student’s fitness to study on behalf of the University and make such
recommendations to referring bodies as it shall consider necessary and
proportionate, given the factors specified in regulation 3.8. Decisions and
recommendations may include but are not limited to the following:
(a) a decision or recommendation that a student is not fit to
study in accordance with section 6 of Statute XIII;
(b) a decision or recommendation that the student is fit to
study in accordance with section 6 of Statute XIII;
(c) a decision or recommendation that the student’s
continued access to University and college facilities and premises be subject
to certain conditions;
(d) a decision or recommendation that a student’s access to
University and college premises and facilities be suspended for a specific, or
for an indefinite, period;
(e) a decision or recommendation that a student be withdrawn from their course or programme of study (if suspension under paragraph (d) above is not appropriate);
(f) a recommendation that the matter is dealt with by the
college under procedures determined by the college.
(2) The Panel shall seek the views of the student’s college
and department/faculty before making a decision or recommendation under
paragraph (1) above.
(3) The decision of the Panel shall be final and marks the
completion of the University’s procedure concerning fitness to study.
3.6. Notwithstanding regulation 3.5, the Panel may refer back
for resolution to the primary or secondary referring body, as appropriate, any
case which it believes may best be resolved by that referring body’s own
internal processes.
3.7. Notwithstanding regulation 3.5, the Chair of the Panel
may, in cases of demonstrable and serious urgency, recommend after discussion
with the primary referring body that such interim measures be adopted as are
necessary and proportionate until such a time as the case may be determined by
the Panel.
3.8. In considering a case the Panel (or, in the case of
regulations 3.4 and 3.7, the Chair of the Panel) shall:
(1) apply the definition of ‘fitness to study’ set out in
section 6 of Statute XIII;
(2) be entitled to employ or to draw upon suitably qualified
expert advice, including expert medical, psychiatric and legal advice;
(3) have due regard to the obligations of the University and
the student’s college under equality legislation and the duty to make
reasonable adjustments.
3.9. In accordance with section 11 of Statute XIII, if a
student who faces disciplinary proceedings under the University’s procedures
is referred to the Panel, the disciplinary proceedings shall be suspended
pending the Panel’s consideration of the student’s fitness to study and
shall recommence automatically if it is the decision of the Panel under
regulation 3.5 that the student is fit to study.
3.10. (1) In circumstances where a student’s condition or
conduct gives rise to a need for immediate action, the Proctors shall have
power to suspend that student pending consideration by the Panel of his/her
fitness to study.
(2) Each suspension under paragraph (1) above shall be
reviewed by the Proctors at least every 21 days.
3.11. Any information received by the Panel or the Proctors
in respect of matters concerning a student’s fitness to study shall be
regarded as strictly confidential and any person or body dealing with such
information shall have due regard to the duty of confidentiality attaching to
the information concerned.
Part 4: Sittings
4.1. Where a case is referred to the Panel and is not
excluded by the Chair under regulation 3.4, the Chair and Vice-Chair shall
designate three members of the Panel (one of whom may be either the Chair or
Vice-Chair) to hear the case and make a decision or recommendations or
references back under regulations 3.5 or 3.6. One such member shall always be
drawn from those appointed by Council and one from those appointed by the
Conference of Colleges under regulation 2.1. The third member shall be drawn
from those appointed by the Conference of Colleges in cases concerning
undergraduate students and from those appointed by Council in the case of
graduate students. Members of the Panel shall not have had prior involvement
with the particular student’s case.
4.2. The Chair shall direct the procedure for the hearing and
the Secretary shall be responsible for making such arrangements as are
necessary for each hearing.
4.3. The Panel shall be bound in all its hearings by the
rules of natural justice (and in so far as they differ, by the rules of
procedural fairness).
4.4. The Panel may commission expert opinion and ask the
student concerned to attend a consultation with the expert appointed.
4.5. The student shall be entitled to make representation to
the Panel and may call witnesses in support of such representation. They may at
all times be accompanied to hearings by a person of their choice but will be
expected to answer questions put to them, even if another person acts as their
advocate.
4.6. Refusal or any failure to attend the hearing by the
student, their witnesses or the person chosen to accompany the student, and any
refusal or failure by the student to attend a consultation under regulation
4.4, shall not necessarily invalidate the proceedings. The Panel will consider
whether an adjournment would in such circumstances be appropriate but has the
right under such circumstances to proceed with the hearing.
Part 5: Hearings of the Panel
5.1. Hearings shall be conducted in private in accordance
with guidance and procedures approved by the Student Wellbeing Subcommittee of the Education Committee
and shall have due regard to the principles of natural justice.
5.2. The student shall be notified of the date of the hearing
and shall normally be given a minimum of 10 working days’ notice.
5.3. The student shall be given reasonable notice, and
wherever reasonably possible a minimum of 10 working days’ notice, of the
matters to be considered by the Panel.
5.4. The referring body should normally provide to the Panel
in advance of the hearing the papers that it wishes the Panel to consider in
evidence. A copy of such papers is at the same time normally to be provided to
the student except to the extent that the Panel, informed by expert guidance,
is of the view that any matter under consideration, if known to the student,
could have an unacceptably deleterious impact on the student or on others.
5.5. Where expert opinion is required, the Panel will adjourn
until such time as the opinion has been obtained.
5.6. The hearing shall commence with private discussions of
the Panel to clarify matters of process only.
5.7. The student and an accompanying person (if any) shall be
called to appear before the Panel. The student and any accompanying person may
normally be present for the duration of the hearing until such time(s) as s/he
is asked to withdraw so as to enable the Panel to come to its decision.
5.8. The Chair of the Panel shall outline the detail which
the Panel has been convened to consider and ensure that the student understands
the nature of the matters under consideration.
5.9. A statement shall be requested from the student about
the matters under consideration upon which the Panel shall be entitled to
question the student. Any failure by the student to provide such a statement
shall not necessarily invalidate the proceedings.
5.10. Witnesses or external advisors (of which the Panel and
the student have been notified in advance) shall be called in the following
order: those called by the Panel followed by those called by the student. Each
witness or external advisor shall be requested to make an oral statement or to
confirm the contents of a previously provided written statement. They shall be
questioned by the Panel and may be questioned by the student or accompanying
person. Witnesses or external advisors shall withdraw from the hearing after
questioning.
5.11. The student and accompanying person shall withdraw to
enable the Panel to consider its decisions and recommendations.
5.12. The decisions and recommendations of the Panel shall be
confirmed in writing to the student and to the referring bodies by the
Secretary, normally within 10 working days of the hearing.
Part 6: Annual Report
6.1. The Panel shall provide an annual report on its
activities, making recommendations as appropriate, to the Student Wellbeing Subcommittee of the Education Committee.