2016 Wesleyan Discipline:Board of Review, General

Article 11. The Supreme Judiciary

370. There shall be a judicial council to be known as the Board of Review whose number of members, qualifications, terms of office, and method of election shall be determined by the General Conference. 375. The Board of Review shall have authority:

(1) To determine the constitutionality of any act of the General Conference upon appeal of the General Superintendent(s), or one-fifth of the members of the General Conference.

(2) To hear and determine any appeal from the decisions of the General Superintendent(s) as to the constitutionality of an action by a district or upon a point of Church law.

(3) To hear and determine the legality of any action by any General Church board upon appeal of one-third the members thereof, or by request of the General Superintendent(s).

(4) To settle questions in dispute between districts upon appeal by a two-thirds vote of a district that claims it has a grievance against another district.

(5) To determine the validity of any complaints against books used in the course of study or in our schools.

(6) To settle and determine the legality of issues arising between a district and the General Conference.

380. A decision of the Board of Review shall be final unless the General Conference votes to overrule the same by a two-thirds vote of those present and voting.

A. Membership

5400. Members. The General Board of Review shall consist of nine members, five of whom shall be ordained ministers and four of whom shall be lay covenant members of The Wesleyan Church.

(1) Their term of office shall be for four years. They shall serve from the close of the session of the General Conference at which they are elected until the close of the next session of the General Conference or until their successors are elected and qualified.

(2) A member of the General Board of Review may not at the same time be a member of the General Board.

(3) The General Conference shall elect by majority vote the members of the General Board of Review, from nominations presented by the Committee on Special Nominations. Additional nominations may be made from the floor of the General Conference (Disc. 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:1580:2; 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:1590:19).

(4) Members of the General Board of Review shall recuse themselves in the case of conflict of interest. Whenever a member is disqualified, the chair shall appoint an alternate for the hearing of that particular matter (2016 Wesleyan Discipline:5405), provided that such appointment shall maintain the membership of the Board as five ordained ministers and four lay covenant members.

5405. Alternates. The General Conference shall elect, in the same manner described in 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:5400:3, four ordained ministers and three lay covenant members to serve as alternate members of the General Board of Review, with the same qualifications (2016 Wesleyan Discipline:5400:2) and term of office (2016 Wesleyan Discipline:5400:1) as the members (cf. Disc. 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:1590:19).

B. Sessions

5420. The General Board of Review shall meet at times and places of its own choosing as deemed necessary, or as requested by the General Board or its Executive Board.

C. Organization and Procedure

5425. Organization and procedure for the General Board of Review shall be:

(1) Organization. The General Board of Review shall organize itself and shall elect, from among its own members, a chair, vice-chair, secretary and such other officers as deemed necessary.

(2) Procedure. The General Board of Review shall decide on its own methods and rules of procedure and shall adopt such bylaws as deemed necessary, provided such do not contravene any provisions of The Discipline. All parties shall file their written position statements and arguments and shall present evidence under such rules as the General Board of Review shall adopt from time to time (cf. 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:5068).

(3) Quorum. Seven members shall constitute a quorum. A decision of the General Board of Review against the constitutionality of an act by the General Conference shall require a two-thirds majority vote of all members of the Board, and on all other matters a majority vote of all members of the Board shall be sufficient.

5430. Records. The General Board of Review shall keep complete and accurate records of all proceedings, testimonies, evidence, documents and findings, certified copies of which shall be forwarded promptly upon the conclusion of the matter to the Executive Director of Communication and Administration. 5435. Notification. After each session of the General Board of Review, an official summary of the Board’s decisions on points of Church law or interpretations of The Discipline, as prepared by the secretary and attested to by the chair, shall be reported to the General Board.

D. Duties and Powers

5445. The jurisdiction and duties of the General Board of Review are set forth in the Constitution (Disc. 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:370–380) and as provided for herewith:

(1) To determine the constitutionality of any act of the General Conference, upon the appeal of the General Superintendent or one-fifth of the members of the General Conference (Disc. 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:375:1; 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:2061:3). A two-thirds majority vote of all the members of the General Board of Review is required to find an act of the General Conference unconstitutional (2016 Wesleyan Discipline:5425:3). An act of the General Conference that is declared as unconstitutional by the General Board of Review shall be null and void (cf. Disc. 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:1590:3).

(2) To hear and determine any appeal from a ruling of the General Superintendent on a point of church law, an interpretation of The Discipline or the validity of an action by a district as set forth in Disc. 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:2064 (2016 Wesleyan Discipline:375:2).

(3) To hear and determine any appeal concerning the legality of any action by any General Church board upon appeal of one-third of the members thereof or by request of the General Superintendent (Disc. 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:375:3; 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:2066).

(4) To hear and determine any appeal from the judgment of a general judicial committee over issues arising between a district and the General Church or between districts or between a local church and the General Church (Disc. 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:375:4, 6; GBP-2016 Wesleyan Discipline:5370).

(5) To hear and determine such other matters as shall be referred to it by the General Conference or the General Board.

E. Appeals

5450. A decision of the General Board of Review on matters assigned to it by the Constitution shall be final until overruled by the General Conference by a two-thirds majority of those present and voting (Disc. 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:380). A decision of the General Board of Review on matters assigned to it by statutory law shall be final and not subject to appeal (cf. 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:5288).

i 1 Cor. 13:4-7; Eph. 4:15; 2 Tim. 4:2.
ii See 1 Thess. 5:14; 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:Jude 22-23.
iii Matt. 18:15-18; Gal. 6:1-2; 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:James 5:16, 19-20.
iv See 1 Cor. 6:1-8.
v See 2 Thess. 3:6, 14–15; 1 Tim. 6:3–5; 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:2 John 9-11
vi See Rom. 16:17–18; 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:Titus 3:10-11; 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:3 John 9-10.
vii See 1 Cor. 5:1–13; 6:9–11.