Users browsing this thread:

**Belschaft** · 05-02-2014, 04:00 PM

"Does the Chair of the Assembly have the power under Article 3, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Charter of the Coalition of the South Pacific, which relates to his or her duties in administrating the drafting, debate and passage of legislation, to correct spelling and numbering mistakes, once bills are being voted on, or once legislation has been passed?"

Opinions, please.

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

PREVIOUS ROLES

~~Unibot~~ · 05-02-2014, 10:58 PM

I'm leaning towards no. The Chair is clearly given residual powers, namely "all aspects", surrounding the drafting, debate and passage (the process of passing a piece of legislation) of laws. Section 3.2.1 does not indicate, however, that the Chair maintains residual powers over a post-passage, or a re-drafting stage of a law.

**Rebeltopia** · 05-05-2014, 09:33 AM

My legal opinion is that, once the bill is inserted into the Charter/CoL/ect, it is law, and there needs to be a vote to change said document.

"...if you're normal, the crowd will accept you. But if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader." - Christopher Titus
Deranged in NS since 2011

One and ONLY minion of LadyRebels
The OUTRAGEOUS CRAZY other half of LadyElysium

POSITIONS! POSITIONS, EVERYONE!!

Quotes

**Belschaft** · 05-06-2014, 05:16 AM

Ok, this is a draft opinion;

Quote:The High Court, having considered the question referred to it by Delegate Kringalia in regards to the powers of The Chair of The Assembly granted by Article 3, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Charter (C-3.2.1) has reached a unanimous decision that these powers do not grant any authority to alter in any way the Charter, Code of Laws, or any other legal document including but not limited to Treaties and Subsidiary Documents passed as General Laws.

C-3.2.1 states as follows;

"The Assembly will elect a Chair which will be responsible for the administration of all aspects of the drafting, debate, and passage of legislation."

The identification of the specific areas of drafting, debate and passage of legislation as being under the purview of The Chair of The Assembly, and the usage of the term "all aspects", unambiguously grants broad discretionary powers in these areas to the Chair, but cannot be construed as granting any powers - discretionary or otherwise - over any element of the law once it has been voted on by The Assembly. The High Court believes that the powers of The Chair exist only during the legislative process, and the administrative powers of The Chair do not apply to legislation once it has been enacted. Once a bill has been voted on and enacted in law it is no longer in drafting, debate or passage and as such does not fall under the purview of The Chair.

More broadly, the High Court believes that the discretionary powers of The Chair cease to be in effect once a bill has been brought to vote. Whilst The Chairs discretionary powers are extensive up until this point once a vote has been initiated they no longer posses such powers. Just as The Chair may not alter legislation after it has been enacted, they may not alter legislation whilst it is being voted upon.

To conclude, The High Court finds that The Chair of The Assembly does not posses the authority or power to make any alterations to the law - such power is reserved to The Assembly itself by Article 3, Section 1 of the Charter. As such, the actions of then Chair Sandaoguo in attempting to do so were illegal. The alterations made by Sandaoguo have no legal force, and the Charter and Code of Laws remain unaltered. The High Court recommends that the present Chair attempt to ascertain what alterations were illegally made and reverse them in the recorded versions of the law.

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

PREVIOUS ROLES

(This post was last modified: 05-07-2014, 09:20 AM by Gordon Freeman.)

**Rebeltopia** · 05-06-2014, 10:27 AM

Our scope is to determine if the Chair is allowed to alter any legal document. With that said, the only problem I have here is the conclusion. The calling out of Sandaoguo is, in my opinion, out of the scope of this legal question. I would be against any such specific calling out of anyone, admitting or not of any violations. It would be up to someone outside of the 3 of us to bring about charges if they so believe they are needed.

"...if you're normal, the crowd will accept you. But if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader." - Christopher Titus
Deranged in NS since 2011

One and ONLY minion of LadyRebels
The OUTRAGEOUS CRAZY other half of LadyElysium

POSITIONS! POSITIONS, EVERYONE!!

Quotes

**Belschaft** · 05-06-2014, 03:47 PM

I was trying to address the specific issue which prompted the legal question, and I do think we have the capacity to identify specific actions as being legal or illegal. But at the same time, I get your point; strike the last section?

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

PREVIOUS ROLES

**Rebeltopia** · 05-07-2014, 08:40 AM

I like the 1st sentence. A 1 sentence conclusion is good enough for me. Smile

"...if you're normal, the crowd will accept you. But if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader." - Christopher Titus
Deranged in NS since 2011

One and ONLY minion of LadyRebels
The OUTRAGEOUS CRAZY other half of LadyElysium

POSITIONS! POSITIONS, EVERYONE!!

Quotes

**Belschaft** · 05-07-2014, 09:19 AM

Ok. If Uni signs off I can issue it as a unanimous decision.

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

PREVIOUS ROLES

**Rebeltopia** · 05-07-2014, 10:01 AM

He'd have to look here... He hasnt posted anything in the last 5 days, except the Rejected Times ...

"...if you're normal, the crowd will accept you. But if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader." - Christopher Titus
Deranged in NS since 2011

One and ONLY minion of LadyRebels
The OUTRAGEOUS CRAZY other half of LadyElysium

POSITIONS! POSITIONS, EVERYONE!!

Quotes

**Belschaft** · 05-07-2014, 12:46 PM

You wanna poke him?

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

PREVIOUS ROLES