Your honour,

The Defence motions for the summary dismissal of charges.

Precedent, whilst non-binding on the Court, is by your own previous decisions considered indicative and to be taken into account when deciding judicial matters. For this reason we refer the Court to HCLQ1404, HCLQ1504 and HCLQ1708.

The Defence believes that these rulings, considered collectively, clearly indicate that it is possible for a member of The Coalition to cease to be a member, and in doing so exit the jurisdiction of The South Pacific. The jurisdiction of The South Pacific, and thus the criminal liability of individuals, is determined not by the physical location of an individual or their actions but the nature of their relationship with The South Pacific; for an individual to be subject to the Court and jurisdiction of The South Pacific they must be a member of The South Pacific. Whilst the Defendant had, in the past, been a member of The Coalition at the time of charges being filed this was no longer the case. On the 12th of July 2017, more than a month prior to the filing of charges, the Defendant resigned their status as a Legislator and renounced all affiliation and membership of The Coalition. Further public statements to this effect have been made in numerous locations, and as such the Defence believes that no reasonable individual could consider the Defendant a member of the Coalition at the time of filing. On this basis, the Defence does not believe that this Court possess jurisdiction and that the charges must be summarily dismissed.