Advertising Standards Bureau Review of Operations 2014 | Page 86

The Independent Reviewer does not provide
a further merit review of a case. Their role is
to recommend whether the Board’s original
determination should be confirmed or be
reviewed. It is inappropriate to set up one person
as a decision maker in place of a 20 member
Board that makes determinations on the basis of
community standards.
The Independent Reviewer will first consider
whether the application for review sets out a
prima facie case for review and will decide to
accept or not accept the request.
If the Independent Reviewer decides to accept the
request, the Independent Reviewer will undertake
appropriate investigation. The investigation will
include an invitation for other parties in the
case (ie either the complainant(s) whose views
were considered by the Board or the advertiser)
to comment in writing on the submission
provided by the party requesting the review. The
Independent Reviewer can request that parties
to a case appear in person or by teleconference
if necessary.
If the Independent Reviewer decides not to accept
the request because they consider that it does
not meet any of the required grounds, the person
making the request will be informed and no
refund will be given.
Following investigation the Independent
Reviewer will make a recommendation to the
Board, stating whether the Board’s original
determination should be reviewed or confirmed.

What happens after a review
The Independent Reviewer can recommend:
•

t
he Board’s determination should be
confirmed. There is no further investigation
and the Board’s original determination
remains in place.

•

t
he Board should review its determination.
In this situation the case will be referred back
to the Board at its next meeting along with
the Independent Reviewer’s recommendation
and any material submitted during the
independent review process. The Board must
then review its determination in line with
any recommendations from the Independent
Reviewer. The Board can then either uphold
or dismiss the original complaint/s.

The case report for the original case will be
revised to include details of the Independent
Reviewer’s recommendation and, where necessary,
the outcome of the Board’s review of its
determination.
The Board’s determination on reviewed cases is
final. No further review is possible.
The ASB will inform all parties of the Board’s
final determination. Determinations that are
revised or ame