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+----- Thread: Aramanchovia for High Court Justice (/thread-1619.html)
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Aramanchovia for High Court Justice - Aramanchovia - 02-01-2015
Not going to post a lengthy campaign thread saying why you should vote for me. I will not try and persuade you to vote for me - I want everyone to vote for whoever you think the best candidate/s for the position will be. If it is me, great, and thank you. If not, that's fine too.
As some of you may not know me too well, I'll list a few things about me, so you have an idea whether you want to vote for me or not:
* I have been on NS since April 2011, all of that time in TSP. I am not a part of any other regions.
* I post more on the RMB a bit more than here, and try to be friendly and helpful where I can. I do participate more here than I used to though.
* I have been in the CSS for nearly 12 months.
* I joined the Fellowship Programme after the last elections and will continue to help there where I can, whether or not I get elected.
* I am frequently ranked in the regional top 10 in the world census rankings and keep track of these rankings on the forums here daily. I have not missed a day of rankings since I started (probably over 12 months now). Inactivity shouldn't be an issue with me
.* With the ongoing Great Council, Tsunamy asked me to be a liaison between the forum and rmb communities, especially regarding the bicameral debate, and I kept both informed of what was being discussed, and tried to promote discussion on the RMB.
I decided to run for this position, as I want to contribute more to the region, I feel it is time I stepped up. I am proud to be part of this region and want to keep it a great place to be. If I didn't think I was capable of the position, I wouldn't have run. Simple as that.
This ended up longer than I anticipated. Happy to answer any questions you may have.
RE: Aramanchovia for High Court Justice - Awe - 02-01-2015
Hi Aram, I'm glad that you decided to run in this election. As a Court Justice, I do have several questions about what you think are the underlying reasons behind the establishment of the judiciary.
- In your opinion, why does the Court exist?
- What do you think, would be the ideal relationship between the Court and other branches of TSP, namely the legislature (Assembly) and executive (Cabinet and CSS)?
- What do you think are the principles the Court should uphold and why?
- If elected, how could you contribute to the Court? Are there any changes you'd like to change about the judiciary (system, law reforms, etc) or is there anything that you think would be viable to implement?
RE: Aramanchovia for High Court Justice - Unibot - 02-01-2015
*waves* Good to see you running as well, Aramanchovia. Good luck.
RE: Aramanchovia for High Court Justice - Aramanchovia - 02-02-2015
Thanks Uni.
Awe:
In your opinion, why does the Court exist?
I believe our court system exists for the most part to keep a check on the Assembly and Government, to have an independent branch (as much as possible anyway), who can clarify ambiguities in the laws created in the assembly and hold government accountable for their actions if they are not following the code of laws. Basically - making sure things run as they should in these two critical areas.
Obviously these judgements need to be based on a legal basis where possible and should be as impartial as possible.
What do you think, would be the ideal relationship between the Court and other branches of TSP, namely the legislature (Assembly) and executive (Cabinet and CSS)?
I pretty much just answered this without reading ahead. I think how it is set up now pretty much is ideal, as long as we have the right people in place. The last thing you want is someone who is just there to serve their own interests.
What do you think are the principles the Court should uphold and why?
The court should act with integrity and impartiality. As a key role is to keep a check on sometimes heated debates, any decision needs to be justifiable with the law (as much as possible anyway - we all know our laws do have flaws, or they would never change). You need to keep personal opinions out of any judgement, and even if you do think it is a BS decision, it is not the court's role to amend laws to get the judgement you want. You need to judge based on the criteria (laws) in place, not necessarily what you believe is right.
If elected, how could you contribute to the Court? Are there any changes you'd like to change about the judiciary (system, law reforms, etc) or is there anything that you think would be viable to implement?
Honestly, I think the court is running much better now than it did originally (well, when we have the full complement of judges in any case) - I quite like it now to be honest. As someone new to the role, I wouldn't be in a hurry to make any significant reforms, at least until I have a bit of experience in the role. So to summarize - nothing immediate, no.
As to how I can contribute, I have been around long enough now to have a fair idea of what works and what doesn't in the region. I will freely admit, I'm not the strongest at writing legislation - as you can see from my responses, I ramble on a bit at times and am all over the place. That isn't the role of a judge though. It is more about being able to comprehend the laws, and how existing laws apply to certain situations. I do believe this is a strength of mine - I always did well in that sort of stuff at school (reading and comprehension etc - not as much the writing side). Another key capability needed for making correct judgements is logic, something I am also fairly strong at, and need to use in my job as an engineer. In summary, overall I'd say I have a lot of the right capabilities for the position. I may well not be the best candidate, but I'm sure I can do it well enough or I wouldn't have accepted the nomination.
Thanks for the questions!
RE: Aramanchovia for High Court Justice - Awe - 02-02-2015
Thanks for answering. Though, why does your formatting create text of different sizes? o.o
RE: Aramanchovia for High Court Justice - Aramanchovia - 02-03-2015
(02-02-2015, 09:34 AM)Awe Wrote: Thanks for answering. Though, why does your formatting create text of different sizes? o.o
I have issues with posting on my phone, it often adds a bunch of random tags when copying/quoting, I think others have mentioned having issues with the formatting on these forums too. I didn't preview it, or even check it on the topic, looked fine on my screen when typing it (with some slightly different sized fonts), but that's what happens. I will go back and fix it.
I think it apparently works a bit better with Tapatalk, but you can't see polls then? I would rather the dodgy formatting, just need to remember to preview/hit the clear formatting button.
RE: Aramanchovia for High Court Justice - Ryccia - 02-05-2015
Strong candidate, very active, CSS Member, etc. You are a strong candidate for this election, Aram!
Now, questions:
Do you know a lot about TSP Law and its processes?
Do you think that the Court has flaws?
Will you judge fair and be impartial in any case, and respect other justices' decisions?
RE: Aramanchovia for High Court Justice - Darkstrait - 02-05-2015
What would you say the biggest issue in TSP is, right now?
RE: Aramanchovia for High Court Justice - Escade - 02-06-2015
I'm actually interested in, "You need to judge based on the criteria (laws) in place, not necessarily what you believe is right."
Do you think that as a justice you would feel comfortable bringing up proposals or revisions to the judicial system based on areas where you didn't think it was fair or just?
RE: Aramanchovia for High Court Justice - Aramanchovia - 02-06-2015
Lots of questions. I'll do my best though.
Do you know a lot about TSP Law and its processes?
Obviously not as much as Belschaft who is also running (who probably wrote/amended a lot of the laws as well). Possibly more than Hopolis, who is quite new to the region (but does have more of a legal background I believe).
That said I have been around the region for almost 4 years as an active member, the forums for a large amount of that time and have seen how most of the system works. I do not have as much experience with the justice section as other processes, however have read a lot of the court threads - I haven't participated in them as it hasn't really been appropriate for me to do so. I have a pretty good knowledge of the Charter/Code of Laws, participated in the assembly etc, but I won't admit to being an expert in these fields.
Do you think that the Court has flaws?
I do believe there are definitely areas which need to be improved, as I have noticed a few times a justice has not had a clear procedure to follow and had to make judgement calls. Or if these do exist, they are not clearly spelled out anywhere. I believe Awe mentioned something similar in a thread in the GC and I am fully supportive of the suggestions made there - to create a document governing the courts procedures/code of conduct for justices etc.
I did admit I would not be rushing out to make reforms to the court earlier until I got a bit more experience on the job, and I stick by what I said. I don't know everything about how the justice system works yet, as I have been on the outside only and haven't had to work with the system to know what does need improving. It is good to see a current justice admitting to flaws in the system, as I have been a bit unclear of how decisions have been reached in the past - it seems often they have been a bit uncertain too due to not having clear procedures in place.
Will you judge fair and be impartial in any case, and respect other justices' decisions?
No, it'd be my way or no way!
Seriously, I'm not going to say otherwise, but yes I believe I would. The position has certain responsibilities and behaviours that need to be met and I would do my best to do the role as it should be - it'd be irresponsible to do anything else and would go against the trust given to me by the voters who elected me (if it happens).
What would you say the biggest issue in TSP is, right now?
In my opinion, it is people putting their own interests above those of the region as a whole. You'll find that is what most of the conflict has been about lately if you have a good look at it. Most of our problems seem to be internal right now, not external.
Do you think that as a justice you would feel comfortable bringing up proposals or revisions to the judicial system based on areas where you didn't think it was fair or just?
Certainly. Despite my previous comment, if there is something that is blatantly unfair or unjust, it needs to be fixed and I would be suggestion a revision in that situation. I would hope anybody would do the same, justice or not.
===
On a side note to these questions, I have been mostly staying out of a lot of the discussions regarding the court that have been happening the last few days, a lot of these centred around Bel's defamation case. This shouldn't be seen as a sign of disinterest, more the fact I will probably have to excuse myself from that case, and any related cases due to allegations made against possible unnamed CSS member involvement in the BLT Operation (as I am a member of the CSS) if elected. I am aware this is not the main component of the case, however it is a potential COI if I am elected and I do not want to impact on these cases by commenting out of place.