Private Education (Appeals) Rules 2010

The secretary shall provide administrative and secretarial support to the Appeals Board in the discharge of its duty under the Act.

The secretary shall act in accordance with such instructions as may be given by the chairman from time to time and shall, in particular, be responsible for —

The secretary shall attend every meeting and every hearing of the Appeals Board.

Any person who is aggrieved by, and wishes to appeal against, an appealable decision shall appeal to the Appeals Board by lodging with the secretary —

The Appeals Board may, subject to such conditions as it may impose, accept any document referred to in sub-paragraph (a) or (b) of paragraph (1) which is lodged by the appellant after the expiration of the period specified in that sub-paragraph, if the Appeals Board is satisfied that the appellant was unable to lodge that document within that period —

The secretary shall, as soon as practicable after receipt of a notice of appeal under paragraph (1)(a) and a petition of appeal and any document referred to in paragraph (1)(b), serve a copy of that notice of appeal and that petition of appeal and other document on the Agency.

The Agency shall, within a period of 21 days after the date of receipt of a copy of the petition of appeal and other document referred to in paragraph (1)(b), unless earlier withdrawn or deemed withdrawn, provide the Appeals Board and the appellant with a succinct presentation of the arguments of fact or law upon which the Agency will rely in responding to each ground of appeal, together with the supporting documents, if any.

The Appeals Board may, after giving the appellant and the Agency an opportunity to be heard, at any stage in the appeal proceedings and without calling for the Agency’s representation, determine the appeal by confirming the appealable decision of the Agency if —

Where the Appeals Board determines an appeal under paragraph (1), it may make such consequential order as it considers appropriate.

An appellant shall not raise or rely on any ground of appeal that is not stated in the appellant’s petition of appeal unless the Appeals Board grants its permission for the appellant to amend the appellant’s petition of appeal to include that ground.

No permission to amend a petition of appeal in order to add a new ground of appeal shall be granted to the appellant unless the Appeals Board is satisfied that —

An appellant may, at any time before the Appeals Board makes its decision on the appellant’s appeal under section 26(3) of the Act, withdraw the appeal by serving on the secretary a written notice to that effect.

The secretary shall, as soon as practicable, notify the Agency of any appeal that is withdrawn under paragraph (1) or deemed withdrawn under rule 11(2).

A request for the confidential treatment of a document or part of a document lodged or provided in connection with any appeal proceedings before the Appeals Board —

The party making the request for the confidential treatment of a document or part of a document shall also lodge with the Appeals Board, if the party considers it possible to summarise or redact the material in the document, a non-confidential version of the document in a form which can be served on the other party.

No request for confidential treatment will be considered if the request does not comply with paragraph (1), unless the Appeals Board considers that the circumstances are exceptional.

The Appeals Board may grant confidential treatment in relation to any document or part thereof, on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit (including changes to the summary or redacting of material in any non-confidential version lodged under paragraph (2)), if it is satisfied that the document or part thereof contains ––

In the event of a dispute as to whether confidential treatment should be granted, the Appeals Board shall decide the matter after hearing the parties, taking into account the matters referred to in paragraph (4).

The Appeals Board shall not rely on any document or part thereof to which confidential treatment has been granted, for the purposes of considering the appeal and making a determination for resolving it, but may rely on the non-confidential version lodged (if any) under paragraph (2) or (7)(a), as the case may be.

When the Appeals Board grants confidential treatment in relation to any document or part thereof under this rule in connection with any appeal, the party making the request for the confidential treatment shall, no later than 5 days after the Appeals Board’s decision —

Subject to paragraph (2), no person shall, unless authorised by the Appeals Board, disclose any information, document or evidence (whether oral or documentary) tendered or produced to any other person, except to the secretary, a member of the Appeals Board, the Agency or the appellant (or his advocate and solicitor).

Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the disclosure of any information, document or evidence, or any part thereof —

Any person who contravenes paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

Unless otherwise directed by the Minister, a non-refundable fee of $500 shall be paid by an appellant to the secretary at the time that each petition of appeal is lodged by the appellant.

Where the cheque or authorisation for the payment of the fee referred to in paragraph (1) is subsequently dishonoured and payment is not received by the secretary within 7 days thereafter, the petition of appeal to which that fee relates (and the notice of appeal connected therewith) shall be deemed withdrawn.

Any irregularity resulting from a failure to comply with any provision of these Rules before the Appeals Board has reached its decision shall not of itself render the proceedings void.

Where any such irregularity comes to the attention of the Appeals Board, it may give such directions as it thinks just to cure or waive the irregularity before reaching its decision if it considers that any person may have been prejudiced by the irregularity.

The following may be corrected at any time by the chairman by certificate under his hand: