New take on clergy discipline

2002-09-25 14:02

Bloemfontein - The Anglican Church in Southern Africa was set on Wednesday to break new legal ground by introducing a revised disciplinary process against clergy accused of sexual misconduct.

Intended changes were aimed at making an inquiry "more than a trial of the victim", extending time limitations for the laying of sexual abuse complaints, as well as the listing of mandatory sentences.

In a statement on Wednesday the church said it was reconsidering its code of conduct for clergy and its disciplinary processes, including those involving sexual misconduct.

The revised disciplinary process had already been approved in principle and was scheduled for a second and third reading before finally being put to vote before the church's three-yearly synod in Bloemfontein.

Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane said the church had found itself in the past "vulnerable" in dealing with disciplinary issues involving sexual misconduct. The synod thus considered a variety of measures to broaden and strengthen the church's ability to respond "fairly and pastorally" to the parties concerned.

One of the shifts was from a focus on the consent of the victim to considering the coercive circumstances of the alleged event.

"This makes an inquiry more than a trial of the victim", Ndungane said.

The synod committee gave particular attention to the fact that the sexual assault of minors was often not revealed for some years, and therefore sought to extend the time limitations in that regard, the church said. Church laws already allow for charges to be dealt with outside of legal timeframes.

Ndungane did not anticipate a flood of allegations following the adoption of the new legislation.

"Perhaps the focus of this issue in the councils of church may lead those who have suffered victimisation to bring closure to their suffering," he said.

Regarding the risk of spurious accusations, Ndungane said the intentions were to relax some mandatory aspects in the proposals so that a bishop might determine whether a case existed before implementing the trial proceedings.

Legal experts helped draft the resolutions, which were nine months in the making.

The proposals considered the current framework of similar secular law, but also broke new ground in developing further the work of the South African Law Commission. The commission was still working toward similar inclusions in South African law, the church said.

It was decided to include definitions of sexual assault in the church laws, because church advisers felt that the definitions within secular law were inadequate and subject to alteration beyond the scope of what the synod intended, the church said.

- SAPA