Scientology Justice

The Scientology Justice system is the Church of Scientology's internal means of assessing and dealing with violations of their code of ethics. These violations include those outside of the Church as well as within it.

The Scientology Handbook, a compilation of texts by founder L. Ron Hubbard, says "When the individual fails to put in his own ethics, the group takes action against him and this is called justice" and also notes that "Man cannot be trusted with justice. The truth is, man cannot really be trusted with 'punishment'."

A Committee of Evidence, abbreviated as "Comm Ev", is a tribunal that deals with serious offenses. According to Scientology policy, the Committee of Evidence is only convened at a church member's request or when there is evidence of serious wrongdoing by a church member.

Administratively, the Committee of Evidence is initiated by a convening authority, usually the LRH Communicator of the organization. This person does so at the request, usually, of another church executive who makes formal accusations of violations of church ethics codes. A chairman, a secretary, and two to five other members are chosen by the convening authority who must be "senior" to the accused. Their task is to read and hear evidence for and against the accused church member. They have two weeks to complete the Committee of Evidence. Committee of Evidence policy explicitly bars any legal representation for the accused.

After reviewing evidence, the secretary and members vote on whether they think the accused church member is guilty or not guilty of each of the presented charges. Conviction on a charge is by majority vote. The Committee of Evidence then recommends punishment, which in principle, must be done in accordance with L. Ron Hubbard's policies. The outcome of a Committee of Evidence is issued in a document called the "Findings and Recommendations". All Committee of Evidence members must sign this document whether they agree with it or not. The only means of recourse are: A review Committee of Evidence, where the committee is supposed to just listen to the recordings and review the documents of the original Committee of Evidence, then issue new Findings and Recommendations, a petition by the accused church member to have the Committee of Evidence cancelled, which is directed to an executive highly placed in the church hierarchy or a Board of Review in which the charges are reviewed by newly appointed Committee of Evidence members. Both the Board of Review and the Review Committee of Evidence have the option of making new recommendations.

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