LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — November 6–7, 2010, Page 5

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Question: Parties involved in a Dispute Resolution Panel hearing have the privilege of choosing and
having an advisor with them during the hearing. The Standard Operation Procedures Manual
states that the advisor shall not address the panel or directly participate in the discussions
during the hearing. When a party to a dispute resolution process chooses an advisor, may that
advisor, at the request of the party, submit a written statement of evidence, transmitted to the
panel members through the Secretary of the Synod prior to the hearing, to be considered
alongside all of the other witness given?
Opinion: The question submitted is unclear to the commission. If “a written statement of evidence”
means an affidavit in lieu of live testimony as a witness, the affidavit cannot be submitted as evidence
unless the other party does not object (a waiver to object), as the witness would then not be available for
questioning by the other party to the matter, as is required by Bylaw 1.10.18.1 (f) and Bylaws section 1.10
SOPM General Regulation F (b).
If “a written statement of evidence,” means a written summary of all the expected evidence presented in
the matter, then the summary is being submitted to the panel by the party to the matter, aided and assisted
by his/her advisor. If the advisor prepares this kind of summary, it is still being submitted by the party and
not the advisor.
Bylaw 1.10.4 (q) defines a “witness” as follows: “A person called to give testimony regarding facts to a
dispute before a Dispute Resolution Panel…” [emphasis added].
Bylaws section 1.10 SOPM General Regulation F (b) also indicates: “Witnesses who can substantiate the
facts relevant to the matter in dispute may be called before and address the panel. Unless otherwise
determined by the panel for good cause, witnesses shall attend hearings only during the time that they are
giving their own testimony” [emphasis added].
A witness may also be an advisor to a party, but since “witnesses shall attend hearings only during the
time that they are giving their own testimony,” then that person is not permitted to be present at the
hearing other than during the time he/she is giving his/her own testimony, absent agreement of the parties
and concurrence of the panel or a finding by the panel of good cause to allow such presence.
(Adopted 11/7/10)
16. Testimony by Secretary of the Synod in Dispute Resolution Process (10-2585)
The Secretary of the Synod, as administrator of the dispute resolution process under Bylaw 1.10,
submitted a series of questions regarding a pending matter, as follows:
Question: As administrator of a dispute resolution process under Bylaw section 1.10, I regularly receive
and distribute on behalf of the parties various documents submitted in advance of a hearing. In
a case that has been pending for more than a year, I have recently received and forwarded prehearing information that indicates that a party to the dispute intends to offer testimony
regarding his recollection of a telephone conversation between himself and myself that took
place prior to the beginning of the dispute resolution process, a conversation that briefly
alluded to a matter that the party believes important to the matter in dispute.
Although the Bylaws allow for the appointment of an alternate administrator when the
Secretary of the Synod “is a party to the matter in dispute, has a conflict of interest, or serves
as a witness” (Bylaw 1.10.6), there was no indication until receipt of the recent information
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