2016 Wesleyan Discipline:Specification of charges

5024. A hearing may not be ordered until a proper inquiry is made. When the investigation has found evident need for discipline, it shall prepare appropriate charges and specifications.

(1) A charge sets forth an offense, a kind of act or conduct that makes a person liable to discipline.

(2) A specification states what the accused is alleged to have done, an instance of the offense indicated in the charge.

(3) It is not required that the accusations be written in any particular legal form. Every accusation must be in writing, dated, signed by the accuser(s), and must clearly define the alleged offense by its proper term as stated in 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:5010, and each charge must be accompanied by at least one specification.

(4) A charge shall not allege more than one offense. However, more than one charge against the same person or unit, with the specifications for each charge, may be presented to the judicatory at the same time and heard at the same time, provided that the vote on each charge shall be taken separately. The specifications shall declare as far as possible, the time, place and circumstances of the alleged offense, and shall be accompanied with the names of the witnesses and the title of each record or document to be cited for its support.