Overture 32

On Amending D-14.0600, Control of Materials During Pre-Trial Phase—From the Presbytery of National Capital.

The Presbytery of National Capital overtures the 217th General Assembly (2006) to direct the Stated Clerk to send the following amendment to the presbyteries for their affirmative or negative votes:

Shall a new section, “D-14.0600,” be added to the Rules of Discipline to read as follows:

“D-14.0600 6. Control of Materials During Pretrial Phase

“Documents, depositions, briefs, correspondence, memoranda, transcripts, and any other materials prepared or produced during the pretrial phase of a judicial proceeding may not be used for any purpose other than the judicial proceeding without the prior review and approval of the moderator and clerk of the permanent judicial commission.”

Rationale

During the pretrial phase of a complaint or appeal, a permanent judicial committee (PJC) may request or require various documents and other materials to be produced or prepared for its use in reaching a ruling and decision.

The PJC leadership may itself prepare various materials including memoranda, rulings, and supporting argument during the pretrial phase of a judicial proceeding.

Being a commission, a PJC may bring the full authority of its parent governing body to bear on parties and members of the PC(USA) to encourage or compel the production or preparation of such materials.

The purpose of the PJC in taking such action is to assist and enable it in fulfilling its constitutional responsibilities.

The parties or other affected persons have a reasonable expectation that these materials will be used by the PJC, and not for other purposes.

It would be an abuse of the judicial process for a party to cause a PJC to employ its authority for the production or preparation of such materials with the hidden intention of then using those materials for other purposes.

During the pretrial phase, the moderator and clerk of a PJC have an affirmative responsibility to protect the interests of all parties as well as of members and officers of the PC(USA) who may be involved in producing or preparing such materials.

The interest of the public to view such materials, while very important, is only one of a number of competing interests that should be weighed by a PJC in deciding what other uses, if any, might be appropriate and allowable under the circumstances.

The Rules of Discipline are currently silent on the question of whether other use of such materials requires prior review and approval by the PJC leadership.