Adjudicator Rules

Rince Tuatha Nua holds all of our judges - RTN certified as well as guest judges - to the highest moral and ethical standards. We pride ourselves on transparency, trustworthiness, and respect for the dancers, their families, and instructors within our organization and those visiting our feisianna. Please read below for more rules pertaining to adjudicating with RTN.

Guest Adjudicators
a) Guest adjudicators must be approved by the Board of Directors, the Judges Board, and RTN's Feis Committee.

b) All guest judges will have a background check run and held on file with RTN, as well as complete training with a member(s) of the RTN Judges Board.

c) Feis hosts must submit their adjudicators name and qualifications as least 60 days prior to their event and before publicly announcing any guest adjudicator.

d) Guest adjudicators must possess adjudicator certification or appropriate professional experience and be in good standing within their respective organization and/or community to be considered as a guest judge.

General Regulations
a. Feis adjudicators, whether serving in an official capacity or not, will conduct themselves in a professional manner -one that will reflect favorably upon themselves, the Feis and RTN – at all times.

b. Adjudicators will refrain from actions at competitions which will result in disrespect for themselves or other adjudicators.

c. Adjudicators will be in full compliance with the RTN's rules and will take immediate action to correct faulty competition procedure or any breach of competition rules before, during, or after the feis.

d. Adjudicators will assume full responsibility for decisions they reach and will take immediate action to correct any error or unjust situation.

e. Adjudicators will report poor sportsmanship on the part of competitors, parents, teachers or musicians and will include recommendations for appropriate actions to the Feis Chairperson.

f. In case of cancellation by an adjudicator, notice must be given to the Feis Chairperson at least 48 hours in advance.

g. Adjudicators will exercise cooperation and mutual respect when more than one adjudicator is employed at the same competition.

h. Adjudicators are prohibited from using electronic devices while judging a competition.

i.Teachers, members and dancers are not permitted to text with adjudicators before or during assigned competitions.

Conflict of Interest          
1. An adjudicator must not judge a competition in which competitors include a dancer (solo or team) whose participation, by way of relationship and/or association with the adjudicator, may give rise to an objective conflict of interest on the part of the adjudicator. 

• (a) A Conflict of Interest is any interest, relationship, association or activity that is incompatible with an adjudicator's obligations to ensure that all competitors are judged on their merits, free from any bias or coercion.        

• (b) Conflicts of Interest arise in particular when the personal interests of an adjudicator influence that adjudciator's judgment or ability to act in the best interest the competitors. 

• (c) An adjudicator shall not judge in any event and must retire from the panel, if s/he knows or believes that his/her  physical or mental condition does not allow him/her to perform the job properly without any limitations.                               

Restriction on Adjudicating via Relationship: An adjudicator shall not judge any event where any person competing in that competition is a member of his/her immediate or extended family, including de facto relationships, or where s/he has a personal relationship to any competitor in the competition which makes it inappropriate for him/her to serve as an adjudicator.  

Immediate or extended family includes anyone to whom that judge is related by blood or marriage, to the degree of first cousin or close, or adoption, or with whom the judge lives or cohabits.

Restriction on Adjudicating via Association: An adjudicator shall not judge any event where any dancer (solo or team) competing in that competition has been taught or assessed in the previous two years, either in person or by video or other means by that adjudicator.  

(1) Examples:         

• Pupils of a class whose members the adjudicator has in the previous two years assessed, either in person or by video, other than at an official Dancer’s Certificate examination of RTN.  Any dancer (solo or team) who the adjudicator is teaching/or has taught in the previous two years.      

• Any pupil of a school where the adjudicator forms part of a partnership, regardless of whether or not the adjudicator has at any time provided instruction to that dancer.

• Any person, whether registered with RTN or not, who gives a workshop in any form to a class should be regarded as being associated with that class and any other dancing school in which they have an involvement, whether directly or indirectly.

• Any Adjudicator involved in a show may not judge any dancer involved in the same show for a period of 2 years.

• Where a workshop is conducted by a registered ADCRG for another registered ADCRG or TCRG, these rules will apply to both parties.                 
              

(2)   Exceptions:

• This rule does not apply to cultural events, cultural tours, folk festivals and full time college/University students.

• Any workshops or camps open to students from any school and/or is organized by RTN is exempt from the association rules.

• Where a dancer has transferred from the class of an adjudicator, due to a change of residence as permitted under existing RTN rules, and therefore does not serve a suspension period, the adjudicator will be exempt from the this ruling.

• Where a child has transferred from the class of the adjudicator and been subject to the suspension period, s/he is exempt from this ruling as, in the interest of natural justice, a child may not be subject to two separate rules running consecutively.

• For smaller feiseanna who may have trouble finding a judge, adjudicators may not judge anyone in the above described relationship category at any time but may judge dancers from the association category so long as there is at least one other judge co-adjudicating that competition.
  
  Newly Qualified Adjudicators
  A newly qualified adjudicator must have judged at least one registered feis, prior to adjudicating a championshipevent.
  
  Adjudicators re-registering
  A RTN ADCRG who fails to register as an RTN member for a period of 3 consecutive years will, following their application for re-registration, be subject to restrictions on their eligibility to adjudicate for a period of time and/or at certain events.