The client may lodge an appeal when disagreeing with any of the following decisions made by SA in accreditation procedure:

• decision on accreditation (e.g. refusal to grant accreditation, refusal to grant extended scope of accreditation, suspension or withdrawal of accreditation for the complete scope or part thereof),
• a decision to refuse an application for introduction of an accreditation procedure, or a decision to refuse an application for introduction of a procedure for extension of the scope of accreditation,
• a decision to interrupt or refuse assessment,
• a decision on termination of procedure,
• finding of nonconformities or refusal of a proposal for action, or refusal of implementation of action by the assessor team,
• other decisions made by SA, which impede the attainment or maintenance of accreditation.

What is the procedure for lodging and handling an appeal?

The client must send his appeal  within 15 days of adoption of the decision, against which it intends to file an appeal. Client sends an appeal in a letter addressed to SA  or brings it personally to the Secretary of SA (against the acknowledgment of service). In his appeal, the appellant must provide:

• stating, that it contains an appeal,
• the client’s details and the details of his legal representative or proxy,
• the subject matter of the appeal,
• the reasons for the appeal,
• the justificationof the appeal,
• the statement as to whether or not he wishes to attend the appeal commission’s sitting,
• his or his legal representative’s or proxy’s signature,
• and attach;
  • the Power of Attorney, when the appellant is represented by a representative or a proxy,
  • the proof of payment on account for the appeal proceeding (in the amount of 1.5 assessment day rate, as stated in the document S10, Rules on price formation for the services provided by Slovenian Accreditation).

Should the client not state in the title of the letter that it contains an appeal, or should he not provide all the data required, or should he not attach a proof of payment on account to the appeal, SA will invite the appellant to complete the appeal within 3 working days of receipt of the invitation. Should the appellant fail to complete the appeal in due time, the appeal will be considered withdrawn.

During the addressing of the appeal, SA will stop performing the procedure which is the object of the appeal. When the director upon reviewing the appeal finds the appeal to be substantiated, he/she will make an appropriate decision regarding teh object of the appeal; otherwise, the Director will refer the appeal to the Appeal Commission to deal with it. The chair of Appeal Commission will appoint a panel to conduct the procedure and address the appeal at second instance, while the decision is made by the SA Board.  The appellant has the right to attend the appeal commission’s sitting, where the commission addresses the case and studies the documented evidence. SA will notify the appellant in writing of the date of the appeal commission’s sitting at least 8 days before the session. SA will allow the appellant to bring forth facts and evidence to justify his appeal at the session.

SA will bring a decision on the merits of the appeal as soon as possible, or at least within 60 days, or, in more complex cases (e.g., when a foreign expert needs to be engaged) within 90 days from receipt of a complete appeal application at the latest.The decision will be final and can no longer be the object of a new appeal proceeding with SA. Should SA decide that the appeal is unjustified, the payment on account will not be reimbursed to the appellant. When SA decides that the appeal is justified, SA will reimburse to the appellant the money paid on account within 15 days of adoption of the decision.

Read more on appeal lodging and handling procedure in the documents S03, Rules of accreditation, and D05-12, Appeals and objections to notification of assessment.