Users browsing this thread:

Awe · 05-26-2016, 11:38 AM

Court Procedures Act

An Act to establish procedures and best practices for the operation of the High Court

1. Judicial Conduct

(1) Justices of the High Court shall rule upon what is written in law, and not be influenced by prejudice based on personal bias, corruption by undue influence, or discord.

(2) Justices of the High Court shall consider the impact of Court rulings carefully. Whenever possible, no individual should be empowered to exploit rulings of the Court.

(3) Justices of the High Court shall maintain good communication with fellow Justices as well as the broader community.

2. Pool of Justices

(1) The Pool of Justices comprises at least four individuals to serve as temporary and appellate Justices when appointed. The Pool of Justices must be posted publically.

(2) The Permanent Justice and the Cabinet will work in close cooperation to nominate willing and capable individuals to serve on the Pool. Justices in the Pool of Justices must meet the same requirements as the Permanent Justice.

(3) Selection from the Pool of Justices will occur in order of seniority in the Pool. If there are no further Justices on the Pool, more Justices are appointed as required with all deliberate speed.

3. Legal Question Procedure

(1) Legal Questions may be submitted by any member to the Court when there is a question on the meaning of a law, or on what is required or prohibited by law.

(2) When submitting a Legal Question, the Petitioner must include all relevant portions of the law or laws in question by reference and citation, and all questions for which an answer is sought.

(3) Once submitted, the Permanent Justice shall declare if the Legal Question is justiciable.

(4) A Legal Question shall only be denied if and only if it is not deemed justiciable.

(5) Denial of a Legal Question may not be appealed; the Petitioner may submit a new Legal Question that is justiciable.

(6) If the Legal Question is deemed justiciable, the High Court will analyze the question and deliver an Opinion with all deliberate speed.

(7)The Opinion may only be appealed on grounds of violation of procedural due process, a contradiction of law, or judicial misconduct.

(8) If the Petitioner files an appeal, an appellate Justice from the Pool of Justices will deliberate the validity of the appeal and decide to rehear the case or uphold the original Opinion.

(9) The Opinion on an appeal is final and may not be further appealed, except in cases of extreme judicial misconduct.

4. Criminal Trial

Filing a Complaint

(1) Any past or current member of The South Pacific may lodge a criminal complaint against another individual within the jurisdiction of the South Pacific, or have such done on their behalf by a representative.

(2) During the filing period,
a. the individual lodging the complaint shall be referred to as “The Complainant”,
b. the representative of the Complainant shall be referred to as “Complainant’s Counsel”,
c. the individual against whom the complaint is lodged shall be referred to as “The Accused”, and
d. The representative of the Accused shall be referred to as “Accused’s Counsel”.

(3) The Complainant or Complainant’s Counsel must create a thread identifying
a. the Accused party or parties,
b. the criminal offence they believe the Accused has perpetrated, and
c. sufficient preliminary evidence to warrant a trial.

(4) The Chief Justice will publicly acknowledge receipt of the complaint within 72 hours.

(5) The High Court Justices will collectively determine whether sufficient preliminary evidence has been presented to warrant a trial.

(6) Should the evidence presented be deemed insufficient, the complaint will be rejected until such time that further evidence is presented.

(7) Should the evidence presented be deemed sufficient,
a. this determination shall be publically posted,
b. The Complainant, The Accused, and their respective Counsels shall be informed with a personal message,
c. a case number shall be assigned, and
d. a new forum thread shall be created for the Pre-Trial stage and all other stages.

Pre-Trial

(8) Beginning with the Pre-Trial stage,
a. the Complainant and their representative shall be referred to as the Prosecution,
b. the Accused and their representative shall be referred to as the Defence,
c. the Accused shall be referred to as the Defendant, and
d. the Complainant shall remain referred to as such.

(9) Upon entering the pre-trial stage, the Defence has one week to respond to the complaint Should they not respond to the complaint,
a. a plea of not guilty is automatically entered,
b. a representative for the Defendant is appointed by the court to act as the Defence instead, and
c. the court will proceed to formal trial.

(10) In responding to the complaint, the Defence must first enter a plea of either guilty or not guilty. Should the Defence enter a guilty plea, then the High Court will move immediately to sentencing. A not guilty plea can be changed to a guilty plea at any point in time following this stage.

(11) Subsequent to this both the Defence and the Prosecution may submit pre-trial motions, including but not limited to motions to dismiss the charges, requests for additional time, alter the charges and for one or more Court Justices to recuse themselves. Such motions should provide evidentiary reason to justify them, and will be considered by the Court Justices collectively. Such motions may be considered later at the discretion of the Court Justices, but will not be granted short of extraordinary circumstances outside of the pre-trial stage.

(12) Once all pre-trial motions have been addressed, the Defence and the Prosecution will have a period of at least one week to submit lists of intended witness and all other forms of evidence to the Chief Justice for review and approval. The Court Justices will collectively approve or deny each proposed witness and piece of evidence, and provide the approved lists to both the Defence and the Prosecution. The Defence and Prosecution both have the right to cross-examine the others’ witnesses.

(13) A period of time will then be allowed for the gathering of all witness testimony. This should be arranged via a means mutually agreeable to the Defence and the Prosecution, or failing this by a means determined by the Chief Justice.

Trial

(14) The Prosecution will have one week to present their case, including all evidence and witness testimony.

(15) The Defence will then have one week to cross-examine the prosecution's witness testimony and offer rebuttal to the Prosecution's case.

(16) The Defence will then have one week to present their case, including all evidence and witness testimony.

(17)The Prosecution will then have one week to cross-examine the defence's witness testimony and offer rebuttal to the Defence’s case.

(18) The Prosecution will have one week to present their closing argument.

(19) The Defence will have one week to present their closing argument.

(20) The Chief Justice may permit delays upon request at their discretion.

(21) The case will then proceed to verdict and sentencing.

Verdict

(22) The Court Justices will collectively reach a verdict amongst themselves by majority decision with the Defendant to be found either guilty or not guilty. The verdict must be accompanied by an explanatory opinion explaining how and why the Court Justices reached the verdict. When a Court Justice dissents from the majority verdict, they may attach a dissenting opinion.

(23) Should a guilty verdict be reached then the case will proceed to sentencing immediately.

Sentencing

(24) Upon reaching a guilty verdict the Court Justices will also pass sentence, to be announced at the same time. The sentence must be accompanied by an explanatory opinion explaining the particular sentence was imposed.

(25) Sentences involving bans more than a year in length shall be subjected to a review by a Parole Board.

[Image: 9ehfkQV.png]

the island league

Former Offices

RP Information

(This post was last modified: 03-17-2018, 11:05 AM by Nakari. Edit Reason: title updated to reflect repeal )

Nakari · 03-17-2018, 11:04 AM

This law was repealed by the Assembly on March 15th 2018 (debate thread | voting thread).