(1) A public officer against whom disciplinary proceedings have been instituted shall be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard in accordance with the principles of natural justice in a hearing before the Commission.
(2) A hearing may be in writing or it may be oral.
(3) Where a hearing is oral, the public officer against whom the disciplinary proceedings have been instituted may be represented by an attorney-at-law or a person of his or her choice.
(4) A hearing must be conducted —
(a) in private; and
(b) with speed and efficiency.
(5) The standard of proof in a hearing is the balance of probabilities.
(6) In a hearing the Commission may make a decision, without regard to the rules of evidence specified in the Evidence Act or to other legal technicalities and form.
(7) In an oral hearing where a witness gives evidence, the public officer against whom disciplinary proceedings have been instituted shall have the opportunity to question that witness or to respond to evidence that is in writing.
(8) Documentary evidence must not be used against a public officer in a hearing unless the public officer has been supplied with a copy of, and has been given a reasonable opportunity to peruse the document before the hearing.