They present their findings in an impartial manner to the Investigative Panel, which then makes the decision on whether a case should be sent to trial. Once a trial has been initiated, two new counsel are brought on to the case. One counsel serves as an advocate for the accused student while the other serves as the advocate for the accusation and defends the decision to ask the accused student to leave the University. The accused student may choose his own counsel from the general student body, the two investigating counsels, or from the trained honor counsel pool. At trial, counsel must present the facts of the case in a light most favorable for their party.
Counsels make sure the system runs fairly.
We are responsible for dealing with every single technical aspect of the entire process. When it really comes down to it the implementation of the honor system rests with the counsels. We make sure the letters of the procedures are being followed. The idea that an honor violation must be serious enough for an accused student to be found guilty of an honor offense dates back to 1984. In 1997 language was added to the Honor Constitution which required that the seriousness of an alleged violation be looked at twice during an honor trial process.