Rights & Responsibilities

For Attorneys representing students:

Attorneys are permitted to participate in the proceedings in Rights & Responsibilities. Upon request, copies of documents kept in the office regarding the students' status will be made available. To ensure confidentiality, the Rights and Responsibilities Office will not disperse records of any other student except for the student that you are representing unless written consent (release) is given to the office by that student.

Every student enrolled at the university must abide by the Code of Student Conduct. Text of this code and the corresponding sanctions that may be implemented should your client (the respondent) be found responsible can be found online at http://studentconduct.umd.edu/conduct/conduct.html. Similarly, every student that lives in the residence halls has signed a contract stating that they will abide by rules as listed in the Rights and Responsibilities Section of the Community Living Handbook. Text of these rules and sanctions can be found online at http://www.resnet.umd.edu/reslife/Community/CommunityHandbook/4.html .

As these web pages will elaborate, judicial procedures in a campus matter differ greatly from those in a courtroom. Please read the Code of Student Conduct thoroughly, especially Section 34 and the corresponding footnote, infra, pertaining to Attorneys and Representatives.

This hearing/conference is supposed to serve not only as a disciplinary function, but an educational one as well. In that vein, the representative from the Rights & Responsibilities office (in a conference), or a presiding officer and his/her board (in a hearing) may ask questions of the respondent regarding her conduct.

The Undergraduate Student Legal Aid Office, an arm of the Student Government Association, is permitted to represent a student at a hearing or conference should the student request their help. Because of their breadth of knowledge and experience regarding student judiciary policies and practices, you may wish to contact them to assist you and the respondent prepare for your case. They will keep the entire matter confidential. They can be reached during business hours by telephone at 301-314-7756, by email at slao_umcp@hotmail.com , and can be visited on the web at their website address: http://www.studentorg.umd.edu/legalaid .

As seen in the Code of Student Conduct:

Attorneys and Representatives

Representatives of both complainants and respondents in hearings pursuant to this Code have the right to call witnesses to testify, to question in person all witnesses who appear at the hearing, to voice timely objections, to make opening and closing statements, to petition for recesses in the proceedings and to zealously and lawfully assert their client's position under the Declaration of Student Rights and the Code of Student Conduct.39 All presenters and representatives who participate in disciplinary hearings and disciplinary conferences shall not:

intentionally engage in conduct to disrupt a hearing;
intentionally attempt to improperly influence an officer of the Office of Student Conduct, a hearing advisor or member of a judicial board;
intentionally fail to obey a reasonably definite and specific order by a presiding officer;
knowingly make a false statement of material fact, law or representation of the Code to other participants in a hearing;
knowingly fail to disclose a material fact in a hearing when disclosure is necessary to avoid assisting a future criminal or fraudulent act;
knowingly offer false evidence, falsify evidence, counsel or induce witnesses to testify falsely, or offer improper inducements to testify;
recklessly and unlawfully obstruct another party's access to evidence, or alter, destroy or conceal material not protected by privilege having potential evidentiary value;
if the representative is an attorney, otherwise fail to follow any obligations under relevant standards of professional responsibility in matters pertaining to the representation.

39. The dynamics of a judicial hearing in a university setting are not the same as those of a courtroom. Strict adherence to the conventions of courtroom advocacy may not be in the best interest of clients in university judicial proceedings.

The presiding officer and the board advisor are authorized to take reasonable measures to maintain control over the proceedings in order to elicit relevant facts, to prevent the harassment of participants, to insure that proceedings are not disrupted and the interests of fair ness are served. This may include regulating the timing, length and manner of presentations and objections, declaring recesses in the proceedings, and other appropriate actions. Presiding officers should have training and experience appropriate to the demands of the office.

Before hearings, presenters for both complainants and respondents shall be presented with a written statement approved by the Senate Committee on Student Conduct regarding their rights and obligations during hearings and the powers of the presiding officer to control behavior in hearings.