Statutes and Ordinances of the University of Cambridge
Statute U
ACADEMIC STAFF

Chapter V

APPEALS

1. This Chapter establishes procedures for hearing and determining appeals by members of the academic staff who are dismissed or under notice of dismissal or who are otherwise disciplined.

2. This Chapter applies to appeals against, or arising from,

  1. (a)any decision of a competent authority (or of a delegate of such a body) to dismiss in the exercise of its powers under Chapter II of this Statute;
  2. (b)any proceedings, or any decision reached, under Chapter III;
  3. (c)any dismissal otherwise than in pursuance of Chapter II or Chapter III;
  4. (d)any disciplinary decision of a University authority otherwise than in pursuance of Chapter III;
  5. (e)any decision reached under Chapter IV;
  6. (f)any proceedings, or any decision reached, under Chapter VII, including any decision reached in pursuance of section 4 of that Chapter;

and ‘appeal’ and ‘appellant’ shall be construed accordingly; provided that the following shall not be subject to appeal:

  1. (i)a decision of the Regent House under Chapter II, section 4;
  2. (ii)any finding of fact by the Tribunal under Chapter III or Chapter VII, or any medical finding by a Medical Board under Chapter IV; save where, with the consent of the Septemviri, fresh evidence is called on behalf of the appellant at the hearing of the appeal.

3. There shall be a court, called the Septemviri, which shall hear such appeals. The Septemviri shall consist of a Chairman, who shall be a legally qualified member of the University appointed by Grace for four years, and six members of the Regent House appointed singly by Grace for two years; provided that:

  1. (a)a member of the Septemviri who is appointed after the commencement of proceedings before the Septemviri shall take no part in those proceedings;
  2. (b)a member of the Septemviri whose membership would otherwise terminate during any such proceedings shall remain a member in respect of those proceedings until they are concluded;
  3. (c)no person shall be a member of the Septemviri during any period in which he or she is a member, or has been elected or appointed but not yet become a member, of the Council or the General Board, save as provided in (b) above; and in that case such a person shall not attend a meeting or receive papers for a meeting of the Council or of the General Board, and such continued membership of the Septemviri shall constitute a sufficient cause of absence from meetings of either of those bodies.

Five members of the court shall constitute a quorum.

4. A member of the academic staff may institute an appeal by serving on the Registrary notice in writing setting out the grounds of the appeal. A notice of appeal shall be served within twenty-eight days of the date on which the document notifying the decision appealed from was sent to the appellant, provided that the Septemviri shall have power to hear an appeal submitted after that date if they consider that justice and fairness so require in the circumstances of the case.

5. The Registrary shall inform the Septemviri of any notice of appeal received and of the date when it was served, and shall inform the appellant that this has been done.

6. The procedure to be followed in respect of the preparation, consolidation, hearing, and determination of appeals shall be prescribed by Ordinances made under this section.

7. Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, such Ordinances shall ensure:

  1. (a)that an appellant is entitled to be represented by another person, whether such person is legally qualified or not, in connection with and at any hearing of an appeal;
  2. (b)that an appeal shall not be determined without an oral hearing at which, in addition to the University Advocate, the appellant and any person appointed to represent the appellant are entitled to be present and, with the consent of the Septemviri, to call witnesses;
  3. (c)that full and sufficient provision is made for postponements, adjournments, dismissal of the appeal for want of prosecution, and the correction of accidental errors;
  4. (d)that the Septemviri may set appropriate time limits for each stage of the proceedings (including the hearing itself) to the intent that any appeal shall be heard and determined as expeditiously as is reasonably practicable.

8. The Septemviri may allow or dismiss an appeal in whole or in part and, without prejudice to the foregoing, may:

  1. (a)remit an appeal from a decision under Chapter II (or any issue arising in the course of such an appeal), to the competent authority for further consideration as they may direct;
  2. (b)remit an appeal from a decision under Chapter III to be heard again either by the same Tribunal or by a differently constituted Tribunal to be appointed under the provisions of that Chapter;
  3. (c)substitute any lesser alternative penalty that might have been imposed in respect of the original charge or charges under the provisions of Chapter III;
  4. (d)remit an appeal arising under Chapter IV to be heard again either by the same Medical Board or by a differently constituted Medical Board to be appointed under the provisions of that Chapter.

9. The Clerk of the Septemviri shall notify the decision of the Septemviri on any appeal, including any decision reached in the exercise of their powers under section 8 above, together with any findings of fact different from those reached by the competent authority under Chapter II or by a Tribunal under Chapter III, as the case may be, to the Vice-Chancellor, to the University Advocate, and to the appellant.