[PASSED] A1911.01: Amendment to the Criminal Code (Parole and Prohibited Groups) - Printable Version +- The South Pacific (https://tspforums.xyz) +-- Forum: Hall of Historical Records (https://tspforums.xyz/forum-8.html) +--- Forum: Archives (https://tspforums.xyz/forum-141.html) +---- Forum: Fudgetopia Hall of Government (https://tspforums.xyz/forum-12.html) +----- Forum: Assembly of the South Pacific (https://tspforums.xyz/forum-91.html) +------ Forum: Voting Chamber (https://tspforums.xyz/forum-83.html) +------ Thread: [PASSED] A1911.01: Amendment to the Criminal Code (Parole and Prohibited Groups) (/thread-7581.html) |
[PASSED] A1911.01: Amendment to the Criminal Code (Parole and Prohibited Groups) - Nakari - 11-03-2019 Legislators, a motion to vote on the following bill has been seconded. The debate thread can be found here. The Criminal Code in its current form can be found here. As an amendment to a general law, the vote will last 3 days, ending at 23:30 UTC on 6th November 2019. The vote requires a 60% majority to pass. Please vote by poll if possible. If you cannot vote by poll, post 'Aye', 'Nay' or 'Abstain' in this thread. Please do not vote both by poll and by post. Comments and discussion belong in the debate thread and may be moved there. Amendment to the Criminal Code Wrote: RE: A1911.01: Amendment to the Criminal Code (Removing Parole and Prohibited Groups) - Nakari - 11-04-2019 Note: the majority requirement has raised to 60%, as repealing this law would involve rescinding a Prohibited Group designation, which requires a 60% majority. RE: A1911.01: Amendment to the Criminal Code (Removing Parole and Prohibited Groups) - Belschaft - 11-04-2019 (11-04-2019, 07:50 AM)Nakari Wrote: Note: the majority requirement has raised to 60%, as repealing this law would involve rescinding a Prohibited Group designation, which requires a 60% majority. Honourable Chair, Article 1.4 of the Legislative Procedure Act states that “General laws, amendments, resolutions, and treaties require a simple majority of those voting to pass” whilst only “Constitutional laws, constitutional amendments, and resolutions dealing with matters of constitutional law require a three-fifths supermajority of those voting to pass”. The Criminal Code is not marked as a Constitutional Law as specified by Article 1.1 of the Charter, and as such is a General Law. In this matter the law is thus clear that a simple majority of those voting is the necessary threshold for amendment, and this decision is thus extremely questionable. I would respectively ask what law, precedent or court ruling you considered when reaching this decision. RE: A1911.01: Amendment to the Criminal Code (Removing Parole and Prohibited Groups) - Sasha - 11-04-2019 Honourable Chair, I personally believe that, unless the law is a constitutional law or specifies that the law or its majority requirement require such a majority to be repealed, it should fall under the rules for general laws and only require a 50% majority. Laws ought to be written clearly, so if the intention is that the law not be repealable unless a special majority is reached, that should be clearly stated as being applicable to the entire law. RE: A1911.01: Amendment to the Criminal Code (Removing Parole and Prohibited Groups) - Nakari - 11-04-2019 (11-04-2019, 10:48 AM)Belschaft Wrote:(11-04-2019, 07:50 AM)Nakari Wrote: Note: the majority requirement has raised to 60%, as repealing this law would involve rescinding a Prohibited Group designation, which requires a 60% majority. Repealing this section of law essentially takes two actions: it repeals the relevant sections of law, but also rescinds the designation of a proscribed group. One requires 50% majority, the other 60%. When we have passed omnibus law packages that encompass both constitutional and general laws, the precedent is to use the higher requirement to determine the required majority (with the consequence that some amendments to general laws have required more than a simple majority). I followed this precedent here, and chose the higher required majority. If this vote reaches between 50% and 60% majority, I am happy to leave the ultimate determination to a Legal Question. RE: A1911.01: Amendment to the Criminal Code (Removing Parole and Prohibited Groups) - Belschaft - 11-04-2019 (11-04-2019, 01:42 PM)Nakari Wrote:(11-04-2019, 10:48 AM)Belschaft Wrote:(11-04-2019, 07:50 AM)Nakari Wrote: Note: the majority requirement has raised to 60%, as repealing this law would involve rescinding a Prohibited Group designation, which requires a 60% majority. Chair, With all due respect to your position, the precedent you refer to - that when passing an omnibus bill including both Constitutional Laws and General Laws the higher threshold is used - has no relation to this matter, as it relates to bills effecting both Constitutional and General Laws. The Criminal Code is a General Law in its entirety. Article 2 of the Legislative Procedure Act (LPA) details the powers of your office, including discretionary powers, but at no place in our laws is the Chair granted the power to assign certain matters voting thresholds different to those explicitly defined by Article 1.4 of the LPA. As such your action here is in clear violation of Article 1.4 of the LPA and thus unlawful. Regardless of the passage of this specific amendment, your action would establish a precedent directly contrary to Article 1.4 of the LPA. As such, and unless you are willing to acknowledge your error and revoke this unlawful action, I will be seeking immediate redress from the Courts. RE: A1911.01: Amendment to the Criminal Code (Removing Parole and Prohibited Groups) - Jebediah - 11-05-2019 I would propose to postpone the vote until the legal question about which majority requirement takes precedence is completed, to avoid any wrongdoing. RE: A1911.01: Amendment to the Criminal Code (Removing Parole and Prohibited Groups) - Nakari - 11-06-2019 The vote has closed with 19 Ayes, 15 Nays, and 11 Abstains. There is a 55% majority for Aye. Excitingly, we won't know whether it's passed or not for a while! RE: A1911.01: Amendment to the Criminal Code (Removing Parole and Prohibited Groups) - phoenixofthesun14 - 02-10-2020 Legislators, Please be advised that, based on the Opinion of the High Court issued the 8th of February, the voting threshold is determined to be a simple majority. In this case, this amendment has passed with a 54% majority in favor. A breakdown of the votes (including abstentions): (without abstentions) This thread will remain up until the 11th of February, 23:00 UTC before being archived. |