By the way, one thing I haven't mentioned before: You may have noticed that an actual indictment cannot be done by an individual. Rather, an individual can only ask a question of the form "was what person X did illegal?"; if the court determines probable cause that there was an actual criminal act, then an indictment occurs. This is very much deliberate.

First, this ensures that when an indictment occurs, it is based on a reasonable standard.

In the old laws, the PJ can, as part of the pre-trial phase, decide whether there is sufficient evidence that was presented. In this new system, this is similarly established, except that we now are explicit on the standard of evidence (specifically, "probable cause"), and since we now have an inquisitorial system, it means the justice can beseech that evidence if they don't feel the evidence given establishes probable cause but there is reasonable suspicion to investigate the avenue. The case then serves as a container to see if probable cause can be established or not.

Related to this point - I envision a future where preemptive penalties can be granted (for example, suspension of legislator status) in response to criminal proceedings. We kinda have this right now with the Border Control Act, which allows somebody to stay banned only for a certain amount of time unless there is a case opened in the court. In the future, I would bind this to an indictment - if an individual is indicted, then probable cause has been established, and so if the alleged crime warrants it (for example, election fraud in some fashion), then a preemptive penalty is reasonable (for example, suspension of legislator status).

Second, this means that we can allow a fast track for institutions that do investigations. Specifically, I'm thinking of a potentially reformed CRS. If the CRS (or whatever replaces it) establishes probable cause and brings that to the court, I see it reasonable for the CRS to be able to fast track to an indictment (including associated preemptive penalties on security grounds).

Of course, these things aren't part of what we have or part of this draft, but the framework established here allows us to do these things much easier than ever before if we wanted to.