English Bridge Union
There have been several instances of Appeals Committees substituting their own judgement in place of a poll carried out by TDs. When a TD has polled a number of players to determine logical alternatives, and found a bid to be made by some of them, an AC should be wary of ruling that the bid was not an LA. All they should be doing is adding their opinion to the poll – just because none of the AC would make the bid does not mean it can be discounted as an LA.
One scenario where it would be appropriate for an AC to overrule a consultation is where they feel that the players consulted were not peers of the player at the table, e.g. they were of different standard or they would not have taken previous actions by the player. When considering overruling a consultation, the AC should question the TD about who was asked, and what questions were asked.
