Transparency
Regulations of the Panel of Judges
Annex 3 to the Internal Operating Regulations, of the Club Federal Chinologic – Royal Association.
Aligned with the standards of the World Dog Federation (WDF) and the International Institute of Professional Cynology (IIPC).
Approved by the Board of Directors in the meeting of [data]. Ratified by the General Assembly on [data].
Preamble
The cynological judge exercises an authority of judgment that produces immediate consequences for animals, for owners, and for a professional community that observes them. The quality of this authority is not limited to knowledge of breed standards or technical regulations — it includes the ability to maintain ethical distance from the pressures of the personal, commercial, and emotional relationships within a cynological community that is by its nature small and interconnected.
The Panel of Judges is the structure through which the Association trains, assesses, certifies, and protects this authority. These Regulations define the composition of the Panel, the rights and obligations of its members, the procedures for acquiring and maintaining the status of judge, and the relations of the Panel with the other structures of the Association and with the affiliated international federations.
Chapter I. General Provisions
Art. 1. Object and purpose
(1) These Regulations establish the organisation, functioning, and activity of the Association’s Panel of Judges.
(2) The Regulations govern:
a) the composition and structure of the Panel;
b) the categories and specialisations of judges;
c) the procedure for acquiring, maintaining, and losing the status of judge;
d) the rights and obligations of judges;
e) the conduct of judging activity;
f) performance assessment and continuing professional development.
Art. 2. Normative framework
These Regulations are founded on and supplement:
a) the Statute of the Association;
b) the Internal Operating Regulations, in particular Art. 10 (duties of the Technical Vice-President) and Art. 6 lit. a (the Panel of Judges);
c) the Code of Ethics — Annex 1, in particular Chapter V (Ethics in judging) and Chapter VI (Animal welfare);
d) the detailed Disciplinary Procedure — Annex 2;
e) the standards and technical regulations of the World Dog Federation (WDF) and the International Institute of Professional Cynology (IIPC).
Art. 3. Scope of application
These Regulations apply to:
a) all persons who exercise or aspire to exercise the status of judge within the Association;
b) the governing structures of the Panel;
c) organisers of cynological events who engage judges of the Association.
Art. 4. Definitions
For the purposes of these Regulations:
a) Judge — the person certified by the Association as having the professional competence to evaluate, in a formal context, canine specimens or cynological performances;
b) Judging assignment — the concrete activity through which the judge evaluates, at a specific event, specimens or performances;
c) Specialisation — the technical field in which the judge is certified to perform judging;
d) Panel Register — the official record of the members of the Panel, kept by the Secretary General under the coordination of the Technical Vice-President;
e) Mentor — a senior judge designated to supervise the training of a trainee judge.
Chapter II. Composition and structure of the Panel of Judges
Art. 5. Definition of the Panel
(1) The Panel of Judges is the professional structure within the Association that brings together all persons certified as judges of the Centre.
(2) The Panel does not have a distinct legal personality. It operates under the authority of the Board of Directors and under the direct coordination of the Technical and Judging Vice-President.
(3) The Panel enjoys technical autonomy in purely professional matters (interpretation of standards, proposals for the standardisation of evaluation, internal organisation of seminars), within the limits established by the Statute, the Regulations, and this Annex 3.
Art. 6. Categories of judges
(1) Within the Panel there are four categories of judges, in progressive order of competence:
a) Trainee judge — a person admitted to the training programme as a judge, without the right to judge autonomously;
b) National judge — a person certified after passing the judge examination, with the right to judge national events in their specialisation;
c) International judge — a national judge with proven seniority and performance, certified to judge international events;
d) Senior judge — an international judge with a recognised contribution to the training of other judges and to the development of the Panel, recognised by decision of the Panel Assembly ratified by the Board of Directors.
(2) Transition from one category to another is effected through a promotion procedure, in accordance with Chapter IV.
Art. 7. Specialisations
(1) The specialisations of judges reflect the technical nature of the evaluation. The main categories are:
a) judges for morphological evaluation (conformity to the breed standard);
b) judges for utility and working trials;
c) judges for cynological sporting disciplines (as applicable: agility, obedience, canine sport in general);
d) breed specialist judges (single-breed specialists), certified for a restricted group of breeds;
e) other specialisations recognised by the Association, aligned with the WDF/IIPC framework.
(2) The detailing of the breed groups and the concrete trials covered by each specialisation is the subject of a technical procedure approved by the Panel Council and ratified by the Board of Directors, aligned with the applicable WDF structure.
(3) A judge may be certified for several specialisations, if they have separately completed the training stages for each.
Art. 8. Panel Register
(1) The Panel Register is the official record of the members of the Panel. It is kept by the Secretary General, under the coordination of the Technical Vice-President.
(2) For each judge, the Register includes:
a) identification data;
b) the category (trainee/national/international/senior);
c) the certified specialisations;
d) the date of acquisition of each status and each specialisation;
e) the record of continuing professional development (hours, events);
f) the record of judging assignments performed;
g) the periodic assessments;
h) any disciplinary sanctions and rehabilitations;
i) the current status (active, suspended, withdrawn, excluded).
(3) The Register is kept permanently up to date. An annual summary of the Register is published on the official channels of the Association, in a form that complies with the protection of personal data under the GDPR.
Chapter III. Governance of the Panel
Art. 9. The Technical and Judging Vice-President — President of the Panel
(1) The Technical and Judging Vice-President is, ex officio, the President of the Panel of Judges. They coordinate the Panel in general in accordance with Art. 10 of the Internal Operating Regulations.
(2) In this capacity, the Technical Vice-President:
a) ensures the link between the Panel and the Board of Directors;
b) convenes the Panel Assembly and the Panel Council;
c) presides over the meetings of the Panel Council;
d) validates the judges’ promotion proposals before submitting them to the Board of Directors;
e) supervises the Panel Register;
f) manages the relationship with the international federations on the judging side;
g) officially represents the Panel of Judges within and outside the Association.
Art. 10. The Panel Council
(1) The Panel Council is the collegial body with a strictly advisory role in the technical coordination of the Panel. Its opinions and proposals are not of a decision-making nature; decisions belong, as the case may be, to the Technical Vice-President, the Board of Directors, or the General Assembly.
(2) The Panel Council is composed of four (4) members:
a) the Technical and Judging Vice-President, President of the Panel, ex officio, who presides;
b) three (3) members elected by the Panel Assembly, representing, as far as possible, the main specialisations of the Panel.
(3) The term of office of the elected members is [3] years, renewable.
(4) The Panel Council is convened by the Technical Vice-President whenever necessary. Convening is mandatory for major technical decisions concerning:
a) the curriculum for the training of judges;
b) the criteria for promotion between categories of judges;
c) the periodic assessments of judges;
d) amendments to these Regulations;
e) other matters considered by the Technical Vice-President to have a significant impact on the Panel.
(5) The opinions of the Panel Council are formulated by simple majority of the members present and are recorded in minutes. The separate opinions of members are expressly recorded.
(6) The opinions of the Panel Council are of an advisory nature. The Technical Vice-President or, as the case may be, the Board of Directors are not obliged to adopt them, but must justify in writing any significant departure from them.
(7) Until the full constitution of the Panel Council in the composition provided for in paragraph (2), its duties are exercised by the Technical Vice-President, after consultation with the Panel Assembly.
Art. 11. The Panel Assembly
(1) The Panel Assembly brings together all national, international, and senior judges entitled to practise. Trainee judges may participate, without the right to vote.
(2) The Panel Assembly meets at least once a year, in ordinary session, and whenever necessary, in extraordinary session.
(3) The Panel Assembly:
a) elects the members of the Panel Council from among the titular and senior judges, observing the principle of representation of specialisations;
b) analyses the annual report of the Technical Vice-President on the activity of the Panel;
c) formulates proposals concerning continuing professional development programmes;
d) discusses technical aspects of judging practice;
e) proposes amendments to these Regulations.
(4) The Panel Assembly is of an advisory-professional nature. Its decisions become binding only after ratification by the Board of Directors, where applicable.
Chapter IV. Acquisition and maintenance of the status of judge
Art. 12. General conditions for admission as a trainee
To be admitted as a trainee judge, a person must cumulatively meet the following conditions:
a) be at least [25] years of age;
b) have verifiable cynological experience of a minimum of [5] years (breeding, exhibitions, sport, club activity);
c) hold higher education or, in the absence thereof, equivalent specialised cynological training, evidenced by diplomas, certificates, or publications;
d) be an active member of the Association for a minimum of 12 months at the date of submitting the application;
e) be an adherent to the Code of Ethics and have no active or ongoing disciplinary sanctions;
f) present two written recommendations from senior or international judges of the Association.
Art. 13. The application for admission and the preliminary examination
(1) The application for admission as a trainee is submitted to the General Secretariat, accompanied by supporting documents for the conditions in Art. 12.
(2) The application is analysed by the Panel Council, which formulates a proposal to the Technical Vice-President, within 30 days.
(3) Admission as a trainee is confirmed through a preliminary examination (structured interview and written theoretical test), organised by the Panel Council, which verifies the basic knowledge in the requested specialisation.
(4) The final decision on admission as a trainee belongs to the Board of Directors, upon the proposal of the Technical Vice-President.
Art. 14. The traineeship stage
(1) The traineeship stage has a minimum duration of [18] months and a maximum duration of [36] months from admission.
(2) Each trainee is accompanied by a Mentor, a senior or international judge from the same specialisation, designated by the Panel Council.
(3) During the traineeship, the trainee has the obligation:
a) to participate in the theoretical training programme organised by the Centre, with a workload of a minimum of [60] hours;
b) to assist the mentor in a minimum of [10] real judging assignments, as an active observer;
c) to prepare, for each assisted assignment, a written report with their own observations and the mentor’s appraisal;
d) to participate in a minimum of two international seminars (WDF, IIPC, or equivalent) or, in their absence during the traineeship period, in recognised equivalent seminars;
e) to fully comply with the Code of Ethics and these Regulations.
(4) The trainee may not judge autonomously during this period, but may participate in collective juries under direct supervision, with express mention of their trainee status.
Art. 15. The judge examination
(1) At the end of the traineeship period, the trainee sits the judge examination.
(2) The examination comprises:
a) a written theoretical test (breed standards, technical regulations, principles of evaluation);
b) an oral test (interpretation of typical situations, technical questions);
c) a practical test (real evaluation of specimens or performances, under supervision).
(3) The examination board is composed of three (3) senior or international judges, at least one of whom in the candidate’s specialisation. The trainee’s mentor may not be a member of the examination board.
(4) Passing the examination requires a minimum passing grade in each test separately. Failing a test entails its retaking, after a minimum of 6 months, but no more than twice.
(5) Failure on the third attempt leads to the definitive conclusion of the traineeship, without the possibility of resuming the procedure except after 3 years and with a new complete application for admission.
Art. 16. Certification as a national judge
(1) Passing the judge examination is established by Decision of the Board of Directors, upon the proposal of the examination board, validated by the Technical Vice-President.
(2) The Decision includes the identification data, the certified specialisation, the date of certification, and the registration number in the Panel Register.
(3) The certified judge is issued an official certificate and assigned a unique judge code, retained for the duration of the exercise of the status.
Art. 17. Promotion to international judge
(1) Promotion from national judge to international judge is effected upon request, after cumulatively meeting the following conditions:
a) a minimum of [5] years of activity as a national judge;
b) a minimum of [30] autonomous judging assignments carried out;
c) a minimum of [60] hours of continuing professional development in the last 3 years;
d) participation in a minimum of three (3) international seminars (WDF, IIPC) or equivalent;
e) positive assessments in the last 3 years, without active sanctions;
f) functional fluency in an international language (English or another accepted by the applicable federation), demonstrable through a test;
g) two written recommendations from senior or international judges.
(2) The promotion is decided by the Board of Directors, upon the proposal of the Panel Council and with the opinion of the Technical Vice-President, after a specific assessment test.
Art. 18. Promotion to senior judge
(1) The title of senior judge is a distinction granted to international judges with a recognised contribution to the training of others and to the development of the Panel.
(2) The minimum conditions:
a) a minimum of [10] years of activity as an international judge;
b) documented mentoring activity (a minimum of [3] trainees successfully led);
c) public specialist contributions (articles, conferences, manuals);
d) the absence of disciplinary antecedents in the last [5] years.
(3) The decision to award the title belongs to the Panel Assembly, by open vote with simple majority, and is ratified by the Board of Directors.
Art. 19. Loss and suspension of status
(1) The status of judge, regardless of category, is lost through:
a) written resignation;
b) a disciplinary decision of exclusion, in accordance with the Disciplinary Procedure;
c) failure to fulfil continuing professional development obligations over prolonged periods, in accordance with Art. 25;
d) non-exercise of the status, without legitimate reason, for a period longer than [3] years;
e) definitive incompatibility with the professional standards of the Panel;
f) prolonged physical or mental inability to exercise the status;
g) death.
(2) The status of judge may be suspended as a disciplinary sanction or at the holder’s own request, for determined periods.
(3) The loss of status is established by decision of the Board of Directors, communicated in writing to the person and recorded in the Panel Register.
Chapter V. Rights of the judge
Art. 20. Professional rights
A judge entitled to practise has the right:
a) to receive judging assignments in their certified specialisations;
b) to record their decisions freely and with reasons, within the limits of the technical standards;
c) to refuse an assignment, with reasons, without the refusal being held against them in the absence of bad faith;
d) to propose technical interpretations of the standards within the Panel Council and the Panel Assembly;
e) to benefit from the Association’s continuing professional development programme;
f) to use the official title and insignia corresponding to their status and specialisation.
Art. 21. Institutional rights
The judge has the right:
a) to participate with the right to vote in the Panel Assembly;
b) to elect and to be elected to the Panel Council, under the conditions of these Regulations;
c) to be informed of the decisions that concern them;
d) to submit complaints to the Panel Council or the Ethics and Discipline Committee;
e) to contest the decisions of the Board of Directors that concern them individually, under the conditions of the Statute and the Disciplinary Procedure.
Art. 22. Financial rights
(1) For each judging assignment, the judge has the right to:
a) the fee established by contract with the event organiser;
b) reimbursement of transport, accommodation, and meal expenses, in accordance with the contract;
c) professional insurance, under the conditions established by the Association.
(2) The recommended minimum fees for national and international assignments are approved annually by the Board of Directors, upon the proposal of the Panel Council, and published for transparency.
Chapter VI. Obligations of the judge
Art. 23. General obligations
The judge has the obligation:
a) to comply with the Statute, the Internal Regulations, the Code of Ethics, these Regulations, and the applicable technical standards;
b) to maintain and update their professional competence through continuing professional development;
c) to exercise the status with dignity, impartiality, and professional rigour;
d) to honour accepted bookings;
e) to report judging activity under the conditions of these Regulations;
f) not to use the status of judge for personal commercial purposes (promotion of their own dogs, kennel, or services).
Art. 24. The obligation of annual declaration of interests
(1) Each judge submits annually, by [31 ianuarie], a Declaration of Interests which includes:
a) the dogs they own personally or through family (up to the second degree);
b) the kennels in which they are registered as owner or collaborator;
c) the breeds they actively breed;
d) active commercial relationships with other breeders (stud partnerships, exchanges of specimens, commercial associations);
e) membership status or positions held in other cynological clubs or associations;
f) teaching roles (students they are currently training in the capacity of mentor or lecturer).
(2) The Declaration of Interests is kept at the General Secretariat and is accessible to the Board of Directors and the Ethics and Discipline Committee for the verification of incompatibilities.
(3) Significant changes to the content of the Declaration (acquisitions, sales, new associations) are notified within 30 days.
(4) Failure to submit the Declaration or incomplete submission in bad faith constitutes an ethical breach, sanctionable in accordance with the Disciplinary Procedure.
Art. 25. The obligation of continuing professional development
(1) Each judge has the obligation to participate annually in continuing professional development activities, as follows:
a) The national judge: a minimum of [20] hours/year;
b) The international judge: a minimum of [30] hours/year, of which at least [10] hours at international events;
c) The senior judge: a minimum of [30] hours/year, with regular participation in training events;
d) The trainee judge: in accordance with Art. 14.
(2) The following are eligible as continuing professional development activities:
a) seminars organised by the Association;
b) seminars organised by WDF, IIPC, or recognised federations;
c) cynological scientific conferences;
d) university and postgraduate cynology courses;
e) mentoring activity for trainee judges (partially recognised);
f) the publication of specialist articles (partially recognised).
(3) Failure to meet the annual continuing professional development quota entails:
a) on the first occasion, a written warning from the Technical Vice-President and a recommendation to make up the shortfall within 6 months;
b) on the second consecutive occasion, suspension of status until the quota is made up;
c) on the third consecutive occasion, a proposal for withdrawal of status, in accordance with Art. 19 paragraph (1) lit. c.
Art. 26. The obligation to report activity
(1) For each judging assignment performed, the judge submits to the General Secretariat, within [15] days of the event, an Assignment Report which includes:
a) the event details (organiser, location, date);
b) the specialisation exercised;
c) the number of specimens/performances evaluated;
d) the main results;
e) technical or methodological observations;
f) any incidents or problems noted.
(2) The Report may be structured in a standardised form approved by the Panel Council.
(3) The Reports are kept in the Panel Register and may be consulted for the assessment of the judge’s activity and for the identification of trends.
Chapter VII. Conduct of judging activity
Art. 27. Invitation and acceptance of an assignment
(1) The organiser of a cynological event invites the judges directly, selecting them from the Panel Register, according to the required specialisation.
(2) The invitation must be communicated in writing a minimum of [60] days before the event, for international events, and [30] days, for national ones, with the following elements:
a) the nature of the event;
b) the date, place, duration;
c) the required specialisation and the object of the evaluation;
d) the fee and the financial conditions;
e) the known list of the other judges involved;
f) information about the principal owners/breeders expected (when available).
(3) Before formal acceptance, the judge verifies the incompatibilities provided for in Art. 17 of the Code of Ethics. If there is an incompatibility, they refuse the assignment, with reasons.
(4) The formal acceptance is transmitted to the organiser and, in parallel, to the General Secretariat, for registration in the Register of assignments.
Art. 28. The pre-event declaration of incompatibility
(1) A minimum of [7] days before the event, after receiving the catalogue of entries, the judge submits to the organiser and to the Association’s General Secretariat a pre-event Declaration of Incompatibility, by which:
a) they confirm the absence of known incompatibilities;
b) or, as the case may be, they flag the specific specimens/persons for which an incompatibility exists, requesting their exclusion from their judging and reassignment to another judge.
(2) Refusal of the declaration or concealment of a known incompatibility constitutes a serious ethical breach, sanctionable in accordance with the Disciplinary Procedure.
(3) The model of the Declaration is annexed to these Regulations and may be adapted in electronic form.
Art. 29. Withdrawal from an accepted assignment
(1) The judge may withdraw acceptance of an assignment:
a) for objective reasons (illness, family emergency, force majeure situation);
b) in the case of the discovery of an incompatibility not initially identified;
c) in the case of a substantial modification of the conditions of the initial invitation.
(2) The withdrawal is notified to the organiser and the General Secretariat as soon as the reason becomes known.
(3) Repeated and unjustified withdrawal from accepted assignments may give rise to discussions at the Panel Council and, in serious cases, suspension of status.
Art. 30. Conduct in the ring and communication of the decision
(1) The judge’s conduct in the ring follows the provisions of Art. 19 of the Code of Ethics.
(2) In addition to these, the judge:
a) observes the order of entry of the specimens and does not allow procedural favouritism;
b) examines each specimen/performance within a comparable time interval;
c) records the observations in the official catalogue of the event in real time;
d) communicates the decision clearly and firmly, with a concise justification, if the event regulations so provide;
e) does not comment on the decisions of other judges at the same event during its course.
(3) The judge’s decision in the ring is final for the respective event. Appeals may concern exclusively the procedure, not the substance of the subjective evaluation.
Art. 31. Post-event procedure
(1) After the conclusion of the event, the judge:
a) signs the official catalogues and hands over the documentation to the organiser;
b) within [15] days, submits the Assignment Report in accordance with Art. 26;
c) immediately reports to the Technical Vice-President any serious incident noted (suspicions of fraud, abuse of animals, pressure exerted on them).
(2) Any public, post-event criticism of their decision or of the decisions of other judges is made only under the conditions of Art. 19 paragraph (2) of the Code of Ethics — in professional registers, with technical arguments, without personal attacks.
Chapter VIII. Periodic assessment and continuing professional development
Art. 32. Periodic assessment
(1) Each judge is subject to a periodic assessment, every [3] years from certification or the last assessment.
(2) The assessment is carried out by the Panel Council, in its advisory capacity, on the basis of:
a) the Reports of the assignments performed in the reference period;
b) the record of continuing professional development (hours, events);
c) feedback from event organisers (standardised form);
d) any complaints or observations received;
e) the consistency of the decisions and their quality.
(3) The result of the assessment may be:
a) positive — maintenance of the status and the specialisations;
b) positive with observations — maintenance of the status with recommendations for improvement and accelerated review (1 year);
c) neutral — recommendation of additional training;
d) negative — proposal for temporary suspension or withdrawal of a specialisation.
(4) On the basis of the analysis of the Panel Council, the Technical Vice-President adopts the final result of the assessment. For results involving temporary suspension or withdrawal of a specialisation, the decision is taken by the Board of Directors, upon the proposal of the Technical Vice-President.
(5) The result of the assessment is communicated in writing to the judge, with reasons, and recorded in the Panel Register.
Art. 33. The annual continuing professional development programme
(1) The Panel Council proposes annually a continuing professional development Programme, which includes:
a) the seminars organised by the Association;
b) the recommended international events (WDF, IIPC);
c) priority topics for updating;
d) the calendar of activities.
(2) The annual Programme is approved by the Board of Directors and communicated to all judges no later than December of the preceding year.
Chapter IX. International recognition
Art. 34. Relationship with the international federations
(1) The Panel of Judges aligns its practice with the standards of the World Dog Federation (WDF) and the International Institute of Professional Cynology (IIPC).
(2) In the case of discrepancies between these Regulations and the rules of the affiliated federations, the Panel Council proposes harmonisation to the Board of Directors, without contravening the Statute.
Art. 35. Recognition of qualifications
(1) The judges of the Centre may request recognition of their qualifications by the affiliated international federations, in accordance with their specific procedures.
(2) The Association supports procedurally the requests for international recognition of its judges, by issuing supporting documents and through institutional representation.
(3) The recognition of judge qualifications obtained at other cynological federations or organisations is effected by the Board of Directors, upon the proposal of the Panel Council, after verification of the equivalence of standards.
Chapter X. Final Provisions
Art. 36. Sanctions
Breaches of these Regulations are sanctioned in accordance with the detailed Disciplinary Procedure (Annex 2) and the Code of Ethics (Annex 1), in correspondence with the gravity of the act.
Art. 37. Amendment of the Regulations
(1) The amendment of these Regulations is effected by decision of the Board of Directors with a qualified majority of four (4) out of five (5) members, after consultation with the Panel Council.
(2) The amendments are ratified by the General Assembly at the first meeting following their adoption.
(3) The Panel Assembly may propose amendments to these Regulations, within its annual meetings.
Art. 38. Entry into force. Transitional Provisions
(1) These Regulations were approved by the Board of Directors in the meeting of [data] and ratified by the General Assembly on [data].
(2) The Regulations enter into force on the date of ratification by the General Assembly.
(3) For judges already certified at another structure who wish to affiliate with the Panel, the Board of Directors, upon the proposal of the Panel Council, may establish transitional equivalence conditions, which may not fall below the minimum standard applicable to new judges.