Principles for Orderly Church Discipline

Principles for orderly church discipline, grievance and dispute resolution

Church discipline is often either neglected or misused or applied unfairly. The following principles will help ensure fairness.

Fair judgement

1. disputes chaired and judged by persons with no conflict of interest in the dispute (e.g. relatives, other parties in dispute, financial beneficiaries etc);


2. clear ruling with reasons given;


3. fair hearing of both sides including freedom of speech during hearings and reasonable opportunity reply to accusations;


4. principles of justice should be equally applicable to all in a similar situation (i.e. create precedent; right to know what principles/rules in decision).

Fair procedures

1. clear and consistent procedures as to how they will be handled;


2. investigations stick to the issue in question, rather than bringing up other issues;


3. procedures and structures once initiated remain to the conclusion of the dispute;

Right of appeal

1. appeals heard by someone other than that who made the original decision;


2. if appeals are not heard, reasons should be given for not hearing them;

Witnesses, questions and records

1. records kept of disciplinary meetings, to which parties involved should have access;


2. right to bring witnesses to disciplinary hearings (including the right to make records of the proceedings);


3. right to ask relevant questions and receive answers from the opposing parties and the authority;


4. acknowledgement of receipt of correspondence;

Representation

1. right to be represented by another party and to consult other parties for advice;


2. right to a fair time to consider evidence presented by the opposing parties and collect defensive evidence before having to answer accusations, have judgement decided or made public;


3. timeous hearing of disputes;

Clear roles and purpose

1. right to know the purpose of the meeting beforehand (e.g. whether it is discipline, negotiation, arbitration, dispute resolution; friendly discussion etc);


2. a persons role in the dispute should be known and people should not take on multiple roles in the same dispute (e.g. are they a mediator, a judge, a prosecutor, an advocate for a party; a witness; a disputing party etc).