The Referee is responsible not only for the direction of the bout, the judging of hits and the checking of equipment, but equally for the maintenance of order in the bouts that they are refereeing (cf t.35/i The Referee).
In their capacity as director of the bout and arbiter of hits, they can, in accordance with the rules, penalise the fencers, either by refusing to award a hit which has been made on the opponent, or by awarding hits against them, which they have not actually received, or by excluding them from the competition that the they are refereeing all, according to the circumstances, with or without prior warning. In these circumstances, and if it is judged on a matter of fact, the Referee's decisions are irrevocable.
By reason of the right of jurisdiction which the Referee has over all the fencers who participate in, or are present at a competition which they are refereeing, they can also propose to the Directoire Technique the exclusion from the venue of the competition of the spectators, trainers, instructors and other persons who accompany the competitors (cf. t.114, t.118, t.120 Offences and Penalties).
Finally, the Referee may recommend to the Directoire Technique all other penalties that they may consider appropriate (exclusion from the whole competition, suspension or disqualification, cf. t.97).
The Directoire Technique is the authority competent to deal with appeals against decisions of the Referee (cf. t.97ss, t.122).
