P.R. Laws tit. 15, § 198m
Any person affected by the orders, decisions, suspensions or fines imposed by the Horse Racing Administrator, the Stewards or any other authorized official, may personally, or through legal counsel, request a review before the Horse Racing Board. The Horse Racing Board may review, on the basis of the file, the decisions issued by the Horse Racing Administrator, the Stewards or any other official in the exercise of the duties and powers conferred by the Horse Racing Act, the Horse Racing Regulations or other applicable orders or resolutions. The Board may hold argumentative hearings concerning any review proceedings. The Horse Racing Board may not alter or change the determinations of fact of the Horse Racing Administration in its resolutions unless they are not supported by substantial evidence, after examining the file as a whole or when the file indicates that the actions of the latter are conducted outside the scope of the law.
The petitions for review shall not suspend the effect of the orders, decisions, suspensions and fines while they are being resolved by the Board. Provided, That the Horse Racing Board, in order to determine just cause, shall hear both parties before suspending the effects of any order, decision, suspension or fine imposed by the Horse Racing Administrator, the Stewards or any other official authorized therefore. In the case of fines, the person sanctioned may not register, train, care for or ride horses unless he/she deposits with the Office of the Administrator the amount of the fine, which shall be returned to him/her if the resolution of the Board is favorable to him/her. The operating enterprise shall also deposit the amount of the fine imposed in order to be able to appeal before the Horse Racing Board or the court. Noncompliance with or delay in complying this requirement or in the payment of the fine shall entail the payment of interest on the amount owed.
Every petition for review must be filed with the Office of the Secretary of the Horse Racing Board within the jurisdictional term of twenty (20) days as of the date of notice of the order or resolution.
The Board shall see the petition for review within thirty (30) days after being filed with the aforementioned Office of the Secretary and shall issue a resolution within sixty (60) days after the hearing. The Board shall issue a resolution denying, sustaining, modifying or revoking the revised order, resolution or decision. The Horse Racing Board shall be bound to make determinations of fact and conclusions of law in all cases whereby it issues a resolution, which must in turn, cite the facts according to the evidence presented. The quantum of evidence shall consist of the substantial evidence regarding those cases that come before the Horse Racing Administrator and the Horse Racing Board.
The affected party may petition for a reconsideration of the order or resolution of the Horse Racing Board, through a motion to that effect, which shall be filed with the Office of the Secretary of the Board within the jurisdictional term of twenty (20) days as of the date of notice of the order or resolution. The Horse Racing Board may not alter or change the determinations of fact in the resolutions of the Horse Racing Administrator unless these are not supported by substantial evidence, after examining the file as a whole or when the file indicates that the actions of the latter were conducted outside the scope of the law.
The Board shall establish, through regulations, the manner in which the procedures before it shall be conducted.
Neither the filing of the motion for reconsideration provided by §§ 198—198y of this title nor the issue of the writ of review issued by the Circuit Court of Appeals shall suspend the effectiveness of the decision, order, resolution or action which the Board has been asked to reconsider or which has been appealed before the court.
No injunction or cease and desist order or any restrictive measure which hinders the execution of the orders or resolutions appealed, shall be issued without notifying or hearing the Board, the Horse Racing Administrator, the Stewards or any other official, as the case may be.
History —July 2, 1987, No. 83, p. 296, § 14; Aug. 12, 1988, No. 175, p. 826, § 2; June 5, 2004, No. 139, § 8.