Annex A: Rules for Disciplinary Proceedings

This Constitution is not the sole document governing safeguarding within the Party. The Safeguarding Assembly of the Party and the Safeguarding Assembly referred to by the WhatsApp Safeguarding Policy Document are constitutionally held to be the same Assembly, governed by the same processes as found in that document, with the WhatsApp Safeguarding Assembly specifically a member working group of the Safeguarding Assembly, which is a committee.

The WhatsApp Safeguarding Policy Document shall be considered an annex to this constitution.

The Committee for Resolutions is permanently and exclusively composed of all current Party Members.

The Committee for Resolutions should refer all operational decisions to the Safeguarding Assembly, or to a relevant advocacy assembly.

The Safeguarding Assembly (or the relevant advocacy assembly) has the core remit for making safeguarding determinations and ensuring safeguarding within the Party.

The Safeguarding Assembly has the right to require the Committee for Resolutions "rerun" any decision which is perceived to be contrary to safeguarding standards, and if referred to the relevant advocacy assembly, that assembly may specify outcomes to that decision which are undesirable, which must then be avoided by the Committee for Resolutions when "rerunning" the decision.

Upon development of the Constituency Societies (ie once they have grown sufficiently in size and complexity), it is anticipated that each Constituency Society should establish special localised assemblies organised according to the requirements laid out in this Annex with regards the greater Committee for Resolutions. These assemblies will also be members of the larger Committee for Resolutions assembly.

Non-geographical assemblies may also establish special "Resolutions assemblies" in the future. These assemblies will also be members of the larger Committee for Resolutions assembly.

The Secretaries of Resolution (numbering three) are permanent positions, limited to terms of no longer than 3 years. The Secretaries of Resolution are to be elected exclusively by the Consensus of the Committee for Resolutions (ie the Party Membership). The Secretaries of Resolution are to assist the Secretary of the Committee of Resolutions in organising disciplinary proceedings.

The Secretaries of Resolution principally act as secretaries: they provide labour to the Mavens in concert with the Secretary of the assembly. However, in the event of an appeal, they will, with three freshly appointed Mavens, form a "Council of High Resolution". A Council of High Resolution is not, however, empowered to make a final decision on an appeal; that, again, is reserved to the membership of the Committee for Resolutions. Instead, any Council of Resolution should provide a strictly advisory judgement, which can either be accepted or rejected by Consensus.

There shall also be temporary officers, referred to as "Mavens" (or "Mavens of Resolution"). In the event of a disciplinary proceeding, there shall be three Mavens appointed. The Mavens of Resolution shall be appointed on a case-by-case basis, and their term shall be limited to the time required to conclude the specific case they are appointed to give their labour to.

The Mavens shall be appointed by the assembly with greatest relevance to the case they are assigned to. For example, in a matter relating to ableism, the Disability Activism Society would be responsible for appointing the three Mavens. The Mavens must hold expertise on the topic in question; their role is to advise and inform the development of Consensus on disciplinary issues.

If no such assembly is currently extant, then a joint session of the Operational Working Group, the Committee for Resolutions, and the Safeguarding Assembly may, by Consensus, select three Mavens. It is required that that Consensus decision should follow the spirit of this Annexe as closely as possible, and any perceived failure to do so will be considered clear grounds for a future appeal.

Mavens must be Party Members, and they cannot be paid staff (ie they must not be in receipt of a wage from the Party). The Secretary for Resolutions must make themself available to support Mavens with time and labour.

In the event that any three assigned Mavens unanimously perceive that achieving Consensus on a disciplinary issue is deeply unlikely, they may request permission from those participating to break that deadlock. That permission should in turn be provided by Consensus, or, in the event of another deadlock, via STAR vote, following the usual party procedure for such ballots.

The Secretary of the Committee for Resolutions may also call for permission from the Committee for the Mavens to seek to break a deadlock at any time they perceive the attempt to reach Consensus on a disciplinary issue to have fully stalled.

In the event of a deadlock preventing achievement of Consensus on a disciplinary issue, the relevant Mavens may by generating consensus of their own break that deadlock (ie any decision ought to be unanimous among the Mavens).

The following is henceforth defined as the standard disciplinary process in the Party:

  1. A disciplinary matter is referred to the Safeguarding Assembly.
  2. The Safeguarding Assembly refers the matter to the Committee for Resolutions, and must begin the process of considering whether any constitutional changes need be advised to the Operational Working Group in the event of a potential "yes" Consensus decision on whether there has been a breach.
  3. The Committee for Resolutions informs anyone impacted by the referral (including any accused individuals, and, via the supporting labour of the Media Working Group, the public), opens the disciplinary case, and requests that the relevant expert assembly appoints three Mavens to the case.
  4. The relevant expert assembly appoints three Mavens, who gather research materials & educational information in preparation. They may request the support of the Research Working Group via the Secretary of that assembly, but the Research Working Group must ensure operational security, and must not allow any volunteers to provide labour who are connected to the case in any way.
  5. The Secretary of the Committee for Resolutions, after consulting the Mavens, sets a time & date for the (potentially first) hearing on the matter.
  6. The hearing must be accessible to all, and may be run asynchronously, as well as both online & in person, if necessary to achieving that goal. The hearing must be in public.
  7. At the hearing, the Mavens must first provide background information as they deem relevant.
  8. The Secretary for Resolutions must then present to those gathered at the hearing the disciplinary matter precisely as it was referred to the Safeguarding Assembly.
  9. Questions may be asked at this point by anyone gathered, whether of the Mavens or of anyone accused of wrongdoing in the matter referred to the Safeguarding Assembly.
  10. If the case is deemed of sufficient complexity by both the three Mavens & the Secretary of the Committee for Resolutions, then the Secretary may call for a pause in proceedings & set a second date for a second hearing.
  11. If Consensus takes a long time to develop, then the Secretary may call for a pause in proceedings & set a second date for a second hearing. The Secretary may repeat this as necessary to achieve Consensus.
  12. However, if there is clear deadlock, then the Secretary or the Mavens or both may request permission from the Committee for Resolutions to refer the matter to the deadlock-breaking unanimous decision of the Mavens.
  13. If such permission is not given, then the entire process must be restarted from the beginning. New Mavens must be appointed in this instance.
  14. If there is not deadlock, and Consensus is achieved, then the Consensus of the Committee for Resolutions is binding.
  15. Appeals may be made on an operational basis: if procedure is not properly followed, or if information provided to the hearing(s) later proves not to be factual, then the case must be re-heard by a Council of High Resolution composed of three (fresh) Mavens & the three permanent Secretaries of Resolution.
  16. The adhoc Council of High Resolution will, upon reexamination, present its findings to the Committee of Resolutions at a meeting of that body. However, the Committee for Resolutions is not required to agree with the findings of the adhoc Council of High Resolution.

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