A104 Amend Canon IV.6.9
Resolved, the House of ________________ concurring,
That Canon IV.6.9 is hereby amended to read as follows:
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IV.6.9.
Absent extraordinary circumstances, and notwithstanding any other provision of this Title, all matters reported to an Intake Officer shall reach final, non-appellate, resolution within 15 months of the initial Intake Report date. The Reference Panel shall monitor the progress of each referral on a monthly basis to ensure that the matter is progressing in a timely fashion. Until such time as the matter is referred to a Hearing Panel, if the Reference Panel determines that the matter has reached an impasse or is not progressing in a timely fashion, it may re-refer the matter. The Intake Officer shall report at least monthly to the Respondent, the Respondent’s Advisor, the Respondent’s Counsel, if any, the Complainant, the Complainant’s Advisor and the Complainant’s Counsel, if any, on the progress in the matter. The President of the Disciplinary Board, following consultation with the relevant panels, may, in their sole discretion, reasonably adjust any time periods specified in this title related to matters before panels, for the purposes of ensuring timely progress.
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IV.6.9.
Absent extraordinary circumstances, and notwithstanding any other provision of this Title, all matters reported to an Intake Officer shall reach final, non-appellate, resolution within 15 months of the initial Intake Report date. The Reference Panel shall monitor the progress of each referral on a monthly basis to ensure that the matter is progressing in a timely fashion. Until such time as the matter is referred to a Hearing Panel, if the Reference Panel determines that the matter has reached an impasse or is not progressing in a timely fashion, it may re-refer the matter. Once a matter is referred to a Hearing Panel, Canon IV.15.1 shall govern any issue regarding the progress of the matter. The Intake Officer shall report at least monthly to the Respondent, the Respondent’s Advisor, the Respondent’s Counsel, if any, the Complainant, the Complainant’s Advisor and the Complainant’s Counsel, if any, on the progress in the matter. The President of the Disciplinary Board, following consultation with the relevant panels, may, in their sole discretion, reasonably adjust any time periods specified in this title related to matters before panels, for the purposes of ensuring timely progress.
Explanation
One of the persistent concerns the Court of Review has heard from the church since its inception, is the length of time it takes Title IV matters to progress from Intake to final resolution. In many cases, the longer a matter is pending, the greater the harm experienced by potentially injured parties, affected communities, complainants, and dioceses. Further, it has been the repeated experience of Hearing Panels conducted in The Episcopal Church that process delay has become an intentional procedural tactic employed by various participants. While the canons provide specific opportunities to limit delay at some later stages of the process, even those tools are often ineffective in the face of extensive discovery and motion arguments, continuance requests, scheduling conflicts, and other sources of delay. This amendment would attempt to reduce overall process length by prioritizing the needs of injured parties, affected communities, complainants, and Dioceses, by setting an overall time limit of 15 months from the date of the initial written Intake Report within which Title IV matters must reach final adjudication, absent extraordinary circumstances (such as, for example, pending criminal trials). It would also empower the President of the Disciplinary Board, after consultation with the relevant panel, to adjust any time periods prescribed by Title IV at various stages of panel consideration to accomplish this objective. This approach helps our disciplinary process better balance the overall objectives of Title IV and the needs of all the various parties.