Appeals

ACP 10-12 applicants have the right to lodge an appeal against the decision of the VCC.  Appeals may only be made on the following grounds:

  • there was an alleged material defect in the application of the procedure. For example, where it is alleged that a committee overlooked or misapprehended a significant fact; and/or
  • there was an alleged material defect in the documentation which was not prepared by the applicant and was used by the committees which considered the appellant’s application.  For example, where it is alleged that the documentation placed before a committee(s) was incomplete. 

Appeals must be made in writing, addressed to the Secretary of the Appeals Committee (AC) and sent to acp@admin.cam.ac.uk by the date specified in the timetable and clearly explain the reasons on which the appeal is grounded. 

The Membership and Role of the Appeals Committee (AC)

The GB will appoint an AC to consider appeals after the VCC has made its recommendations to the GB and these have been communicated to the applicants. The AC will consist of a Chair and five other members, and each member should be present at the meeting(s).  If there are circumstances where this is not reasonably practicable, the quorum necessary to reach a substantive decision will be a simple majority of the members, i.e. four. 

The role of the AC is limited to considering whether or not procedural fairness has prevailed in the consideration of an application. Accordingly, an appeal will not be a re-hearing or a general review of the application.  The consideration of the AC will be confined to the issues raised in the grounds of the appeal.  The AC will not consider fresh evidence in support of the appellant’s application unless it relates to a fault in the application of the procedure of a committee or in the documentation. 

Key Principles of the AC

  • Members of the AC must not be eligible to apply for promotion under that year’s exercise of ACP 10-12.
  • A member may not take part in the consideration of a particular applicant’s appeal if they were a member of a committee which considered an appellant’s application in that year’s exercise.
  • Declarations of interest must be stated by committee members, and agreed actions to address them must be documented in the minutes.
  • All persons involved in the process and in the consideration of appeals should exercise impartiality and fairness and be seen to do so.
  • If the Chair of the AC withdraws for the whole or part of a meeting, the committee shall appoint a Chair to act in their absence.
  • The Head of Reward will act as the Secretary.
  • Meetings may take place in person and/or virtually.

The Procedure of the AC

Before the AC meets, the Secretary of the AC will share the appeal letters with the Chair of the relevant committee(s) and ask that they submit a written statement responding to the grounds on which the appeal was lodged.  The Chair(s) of the relevant committee(s) may consult members of the committee, as they deem appropriate, or, if necessary, reconvene the committee to consider the terms of the response.

The AC will receive a link to this guidance and the following documentation in respect of each appeal lodged: 

  • the statement of appeal (with any supplementary documents) submitted by the applicant; 
  • the complete set of the documentation received by the relevant committees when they considered the application for promotion; 
  • the minutes of the meeting(s) of the relevant committees, and;
  • the statement(s) from the relevant committee(s), responding to the grounds on which the appeal was lodged.

The AC should confine its consideration of appeals to the documentation submitted. Appellants will not be asked to attend the meeting, but the AC may exercise discretion to invite an appellant to attend or ask the appellant to provide any information for clarification in writing, if that is considered necessary. 

The AC may, before proceeding to a final consideration of the appeal, seek further clarification from the Chair(s) of the relevant committee(s), if deemed necessary.  The Chair of the relevant committee may consult members of the committee, as they deem appropriate, or, if necessary, reconvene the committee to consider the terms of the response. 

Decisions on appeals should be made collectively at the meeting. The Secretary of the AC will be responsible for recording the decision in each case.  If there is an equal division of opinion, the Chair shall exercise a casting vote. 

Determination of Appeals

The AC will determine an appeal by doing one of the following: 

  1. Uphold one or more of the grounds of appeal and stating that, in their view, the grounds on which the appeal has been upheld might have affected the decision of the VCC. In such cases, the AC will refer the application back to the relevant promotion committee(s) at which the fault is alleged to have occurred and ask the committee(s) to consider the AC’s findings and rescore the application. The promotion application will then be referred back to the VCC for reconsideration in light of the revised assessment.
  2. Uphold one or more grounds of appeal but stating that, in their view, the grounds on which the appeal has been upheld would have made no material difference to the decision of the VCC. In these cases, the AC will refer the application back to the relevant promotion committee(s) at which the fault is alleged to have occurred, to confirm whether the upheld ground(s) of appeal would have made any material difference to their scoring of the application. Only where the promotion committee(s) indicates that the upheld ground(s) would have made a material difference to their assessment would the application then be referred to the VCC for reconsideration. 
  3. Reject the appeal on all grounds. 
  4. Strike out an appeal on the grounds that it is frivolous, vexatious, or otherwise an abuse of process. 

There is no right of appeal against the AC’s determination of an appeal. 

Minutes and Subsequent Action 

The Secretary of the AC will record the outcome of the AC’s consideration of each appeal. The record will state the ground(s) of the appeal and its outcome. 

In the case of appeals determined under 1, above, the Secretary of the AC will refer the appellant’s application back to the VCC for reconsideration. In the case of appeals determined under 2 above, the Secretary of the AC may refer the appellant’s application back to the VCC for reconsideration, if deemed necessary by the relevant FC and/or SC. In the case of appeals determined under 3 or 4 above, the Secretary of the AC will inform appellants of the outcome by letter and copies of these letters should be sent for information to the Chairs and Secretaries of the VCC, and the relevant SC and FC. 

The VCC will receive and consider the written report(s) on the appeal(s) considered by the AC and determined under 1 (and in some cases 2) above, with a view to deciding whether the applicant should or should not be promoted to the office/post for which they have applied.

In considering any appeal referred to them by the AC, the VCC will comprise five members, including the external member relevant to the field of the appellant; the committee may vary its procedure as necessary. The Secretary of the VCC will inform each appellant of the VCC’s reconsideration of their application. There is no right of appeal against the outcome of the reconsideration of an application by the VCC.