The Rules of Natural Justice Derivation The rules of natural justice are derived from Roman law. The Romans believed certain basic fundamental legal principles to be self evident truths. Simply put the rules of natural justice relate to fairness:they existto protect the fair dealing with individuals who find themselves before a court,tribunal or any hearing to whose judgement an individual is subject. In any instance of anyone being before a hearing the individual has a right to be heard. This is often called audi alterampartem. Thus, if a student is being subjected to a plagiarism hearing for example then the student has a right to make representations. Linked to this right is the right to be informed beforehand of the allegations against him or her. The other key rule from which the others are derived is nemo judex in parte sua (no‐one can judge their own case). English Common Law The rules of natural justice are enshrined in the English common law and comprise The Right to a Fair Hearing. Any hearing must allow to the parties before it the opportunity to prepare and present evidence and to respond to arguments presenting by the opposite side. When conducting an investigation in relation to a complaint it is important that the person being complained against is advised of the allegations in as much detail as possible and given the opportunity to reply to the allegations. The Bias Rule. This states that no one should be judge in his or her case. This is the requirement that the deciding authority must be unbiased when according the hearing or making the decision. Additionally, investigators and decision‐makers must act without bias in all procedures connected with the making of a decision. A decision‐maker must be impartial and must make a decision based on a balanced and considered assessment of the information and evidence before him or her without favouring one party over another. Even where no actual bias exists, investigators and decision‐makers should be careful to avoid the appearance of bias. Investigators should ensure that there is no conflict of interest which would make it inappropriate for them to conduct the investigation. The Evidence Rule The third rule is that any administrative decision must be based upon logical proof or evidence material. Investigators and decision makers should not base their decisions on mere speculation or suspicion. An investigator or decision maker should be able to clearly point to the evidence on which the inference or determination is based. Evidence (arguments, allegations, documents, photos, etc.) presented by one party must be disclosed to the other party, who may then subject it to scrutiny. Decisions Any decision must be one that is within a reasonable range of decisions available to the decision maker on the evidence. Any decision made must always be supported by detailed reasons for the decision that must be disclosed to the parties subject to the decision.
Posted on: Thu, 19 Sep 2013 00:03:53 +0000
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