1. Subject to D3 above, and within 3 working days of the commencement of Stage 6, the Secretariat will request the Panel to produce its final report.
2. On a date 20 working days after the end of final public consultation (i.e. 20 working days after the date specified at paragraph H2(h)) the Panel will deliver its final report to the Secretariat.
3. The Panel's final report will recommend that:
(a) no application be taken forward to Stage 7, in which case the SLD Procedure in respect of the application(s) will terminate;
(b) one application only (the "Selected Application" and, accordingly, the "Selected Applicant") be taken forward to Stage 7, subject to no further amendments; or
(c) the Selected Application be taken forward to Stage 7, subject to further amendments required by the Panel, which will be detailed and explained in the report.
4. If the amendments described at paragraph K3(c) above are not made by the Selected Applicant to the Panel's satisfaction and within the time limit specified by the Panel in the final report, the Panel will in its discretion terminate the SLD Procedure or recommence Stage 6, retaining the right to select an alternative Selected Applicant.
5. Nothing in the Panel's final report will prejudice a subsequent application.
6. The publication of the Panel's final report, or the expiry of the time-limit set by the Panel in accordance with paragraph K3(c) if applicable (whichever is the later), will mark the end of Stage 6. Within 3 working days of receipt, the Secretariat will forward the Panel's final report to the applicants, together with notification that Stage 6 has ended, and within a further 2 working days, the Secretariat will publish on its web site the Panel's final report.
L. Stage 7 - Decision by Nominet's Council of Management
1. Subject to D3 and within 3 working days of the commencement of Stage 7, the Secretariat will refer the matter to Nominet's Council of Management for approval.
2. At the board meeting following the date of delivery of the Panel's final report and in any event not more than 3 months after that date, the Council of Management will confirm its acceptance of the report's findings, except that the Council of Management will be able to reject the report's findings and terminate the SLD Procedure in question where it has reasonable grounds to believe that the operation of the relevant SLD by the Selected Applicant would for demonstrable technical or legal reasons prejudice the quality, efficiency and reliability of Nominet's operation of the .uk namespace, or where approval of the report would conflict with Nominet's Directors' fiduciary duties to Nominet.
3. Within 3 working days of the Council of Management's decision, Nominet will inform the Secretariat of the Council of Management's decision.
4. Within 3 working days of notification at paragraph 3 above, the Secretariat will inform the applicant of the Council of Management's decision. In the event that the decision is to reject the Panel's recommendation, the SLD Procedure will terminate.
5. In the event that the Council of Management accepts the Panel's recommendation, the Selected Applicant and Nominet will enter into negotiations in good faith to agree a contractual relationship and the contract thus agreed will cover (but will not be limited to) the following:
(a) the payment by the Selected Applicant to Nominet of Nominet's cost-recovery charges relating to:
(i) Nominet's reasonable legal and other costs directly associated with the delegation of the SLD; and
(ii) a ring-fenced insurance policy insuring Nominet against liability generated by the Selected Applicant;
(b) the appointment of an agreed independent third party (which may be but need not be the Panel) to resolve any future dispute about the need to delegate the SLD away from the Selected Applicant and the apportionment of any relevant fees of the independent third party; and
(c) the timing and procedure of delegation at Stage 7.
6. Throughout this stage, the Panel will remain in place and will be available to assist with the resolution of any deadlock or breakdown in the negotiations. Such assistance may be requested either by the Selected Applicant or Nominet. The cost of retaining such services will be met by the Selected Applicant and the Secretariat will request further Stage 7 cleared fees from the Selected Applicant, prior to such services being used. In the event that negotiations break down irretrievably, the matter will be referred to formal mediation according to the CEDR rules from time to time in force.
7. The negotiations will be concluded within 3 months, unless both parties agree to extend the time limit.
8. Upon agreement between the parties and the lodging of the performance bond in paragraph L5(b) Nominet will delegate the relevant SLD to the Selected Applicant in the manner and according to the timescales agreed between the parties.
9. Any unused and uncommitted funds in the Account will be returned, together with interest, to the Selected Applicant and (where it has not been possible to calculate apportionment at an earlier stage) to all other applicants. The Secretariat will issue a report on the Account to all applicants.
10. The delegation of the SLD, or the Council of Management's rejection of the Panel's recommendation (as the case may be) will mark the end of the SLD Procedure. Within 5 working days, the Secretariat shall publicly declare on the web site that the SLD Procedure in relation to the relevant SLD has closed.
Schedule 1 - Indices (see C5)
The index should list each paragraph of the Policy and Procedure which sets out a requirement or other matter which the applicant must deal with in its application, and show clearly which paragraphs or sections of the application deal with this point. The Policy and Procedure clauses should be listed in order. Only the clauses which impose an obligation (listed below) need to be detailed. These should be subdivided where necessary for clarity.