Scottish FA's Judicial Panel Protocol updates for 2024/2025 season

The Scottish FA has published its updated Judicial Panel Protocol (JPP) for the 2024/2025 season 

The document, which contains the disciplinary rules and procedures, is reviewed and published annually, with changes introduced in collaboration with the Judicial Panel Protocol Working Group (JPPWG), made up of various stakeholders including representatives from clubs and league bodies. 

The full document of amendments to the JPP can be found here.

Key Changes

Some of the significant changes to the document include:

Fast Track Claim Fees - the fees for submitting a Claim in Para 11.9.8 have been increased to: 

DR72 - uplift to the sanctions for Team Staff and players (from 2/4/6 match suspension to 4/6/8 match suspension) 

Suspensions - All suspensions for sending off offences are now competition specific. Previously, if a player was sent off for A1, A2 or A3 in league competitions, it would result in a suspension of two Recognised Team matches immediate, which was applied to the player’s Recognised Team’s league and cup matches. This has been changed and the suspension will now be two league matches immediate, for these type of offences. The suspensions for A4, A5, A6 and A7 remain the same as in previous Seasons. The system for the accumulation of cautions remains the same as in previous seasons. Similarly, all suspensions for sending off offences in cup competitions will now only be applicable to matches in that same cup competition. 

Accumulation of cautions in cup competitions - An accumulation of every two cautionable offences during a Season will result in a one-match suspension. Previously, the number of cautions allowed before a suspension was applied was dependant on the round at which the club entered the competition. However, caution totals will now revert to zero prior to the start of the Semi-Final rounds and also earlier for the following competitions:

SPFL League Cup – prior to Round 2
SPFL Challenge Cup – prior to Round 3
Women’s Scottish Cup – prior to Round 3
Scottish Cup – prior to Round 4

Friendly match misconduct - Any suspensions incurred in friendly matches will now only be served in friendly matches rather than applied to competitive matches, as they were before.

Claims being deemed frivolous / having no prospect of success – The reference to claims having no prospect of success has been removed, with the reference to frivolous claims retained and extended to include claims which are vexatious or entirely without merit.