Independent Review

A submitted protected report calls for a decision by someone other than the person preparing the investigation. The Independent Reviewer records whether the source should be approved, rejected or returned for more work. The decision includes the source revision, date, reason, operation key and linked matter. Those details let the Ethics Manager see exactly what was considered when the report’s outcome is applied.

The reviewer needs the report and the matter’s relevant evidence. Access should be confined to the case at hand. Reviewing an attachment does not grant access to a protected identity; that access has its own purpose, approver and expiry. If the reviewer needs more information, a returned decision can explain the gap without pretending the report was approved.

• Queue. Submitted reports are the starting point for the reviewer, linked to the matter under review.
• Decision. A review record keeps the choice, reason, reviewer and exact source revision together.
• Outcome. The Ethics Manager compares the decision with the operation receipt before treating an action as completed.

Choose who is independent for a given organization and how to reassign a case if the named reviewer has a conflict. Define the evidence threshold for approval and the reason expected on a rejection or return. Decide when a revised report needs another review. A new source revision should not silently inherit an earlier decision, even if its text looks similar.

Agree how the operation key is issued and what the team does when a guarded action has a failed or needs-review result. The receipt records the expected revision, outcome and effect references. Staff should reconcile an uncertain effect against that receipt before trying to create the same decision or side effect again.

Submit a report at a known revision. Have the Independent Reviewer inspect the matter and record Return with a reason requesting a missing interview note. The Investigator adds the note, and the coordinator prepares the revised report for review. The new decision must point to the version actually read. The earlier return remains understandable in the history; it should not be overwritten to make the case look as though it passed first time.

Repeat with approval and verify that the operation receipt identifies a completed result before the Ethics Manager treats the action as done. If a receipt says needs review, leave the exception visible for reconciliation. This protects the handoff between a person’s decision and the recorded effects of that decision.

• Submitted Reports — The Independent Reviewer’s incoming reports with revision and matter context.
• Guarded Action Exceptions — Results needing reconciliation before the outcome is relied on.
• Reports to Complete — Decided reports awaiting the final case outcome.

Follow independent review and the case closeout.