LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — October 2, 2002, Page 8

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1. The hearing shall be private, attended only by the parties, and one adviser of each
party's choice, should any party desire one (Bylaw 8.09 c 1).
…The panel shall establish the procedure to be followed in the hearing and the
relevancy of evidence so that each party shall be given an opportunity fully to present its
respective position (Bylaw 8.09 c 1).
d. No party to a dispute nor anyone on the party's behalf, shall either directly or indirectly
communicate with the reconciler or any member of the Dispute Resolution Panel, Appeal
Panel, or Review Panel without the full knowledge of the other party to the dispute (Bylaw
8.21 d).
Also relevant is Rule of Procedure 36, paragraphs a and b:
a) At the request of the parties or at the discretion of the panel, a preliminary
conference with the chairman of the panel and the parties may be scheduled to arrange
for an exchange of information and the stipulation of uncontested facts to expedite the
panel proceedings.
b) In large or complex cases, at the discretion of the panel, a preliminary hearing may
be scheduled with the chairman of the panel and the parties to arrange for the production
of relevant evidence, to identify potential witnesses, to schedule further hearings, and to
consider other matters that will expedite the panel proceedings.
Therefore, the answer to this question is: no. The rules governing attendance at the formal dispute
resolution hearing are set forth in Bylaw 8.09 c 1 quoted above. Any other meeting of a party to a dispute
with the Dispute Resolution Panel or a member thereof is governed by Bylaw 8.21 d and Rule 36 of the
Rules of Procedure,* both quoted above. It should be noted that both parties to a dispute, at all times, must
have notice of any meeting of a party to the dispute with the Dispute Resolution Panel or a member
thereof and be given the opportunity to be present at a time convenient to both parties.
67. Selection of Special Panel to Decide Bylaw 8.17 Request (02-2303)
A party to a dispute in a September 3, 2002 letter asked a series of questions regarding Bylaw 8.17
relating to the procedure to be followed if a party to a dispute alleges that a member of a Dispute
Resolution Panel has actual partiality or the appearance thereof.
Question 1:

Must the Secretary of the Synod divulge the names of the three panel members that will
decide the issue of partiality?

Opinion: The bylaw is silent on this issue. However, since the names of the members of the chosen
Dispute Resolution Panel are made known to the parties to the dispute, the Commission rules that the
names of the members of the disqualification panel should likewise be made known to the parties to the
dispute.
Question 2:

*

Who determines the procedure to be followed by the disqualification panel to reach a
decision?

The Commission recognizes the Rules of Procedure to the dispute resolution process because they were created as
a result of Resolution 7-03B adopted at the 1995 convention of the Synod.

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