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***Kris Kringle*** · 07-05-2020, 08:54 PM

HIGH COURT OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC
STANDARDS FOR CASE MANAGEMENT
EFFECTIVE 05 JULY 2020

Consideration of Cases
The High Court may consider legal questions, review requests, criminal complaints and appeals when they have been submitted by a member of the South Pacific. Each case should be managed by the Court in accordance with the Charter of the South Pacific, the Judicial Act, this document and all other relevant regulations.

The standard for the admission of legal questions and review requests is that they be justiciable. The standard for the admission of appeals is that they be justiciable; that is, that they be submitted on the grounds of process violations, contradictions of law, judicial misconduct or new evidence. The standard for the admission of criminal complaints is that there is probable cause that a crime was committed.

The documentation for all case types shall be the same, unless this document provides for different documentation for specific case types.

Reception and Case Information
The Chief Justice shall post a Notice of Reception on the thread of any case within 24 hours of its submission. The Notice of Reception shall confirm that the Court has received the case and will consider its justiciability or probable cause; it shall also contain the Docket File Number, Reference Name and an invitation for the petitioner and the general public to explain why the case should be admitted. If the case is a criminal complaint, the Chief Justice shall contact the accused party and afford them 48 hours to dispute the probable cause of the complaint.

Initial Deliberation
The Chief Justice shall post a case discussion thread in the Conference Room within 24 hours of a case submission. The Court shall then deliberate on the justiciability or probable cause of the case and shall consider all arguments provided in the public thread. The Court shall hold a vote on admission or dismissal within 72 hours of submission, but no vote shall take place before the conclusion of the 48 hours afforded to an accused party to dispute the probable cause of a criminal complaint.

Admission and Dismissal
The Chief Justice shall post a Determination of Justiciability or a Finding of Probable Cause (hereafter referred to as the relevant document) within 24 hours of the conclusion of the vote. A Finding of Probable Cause shall only be used for criminal complaints. Both documents shall clearly state if the case is admitted and shall contain the following additional information:

If the case is admitted, the relevant document shall invite the petitioner and the general public to submit briefs amicus curiae with their views on the whole or a part of the case. A period of 7 calendar days shall be given for the submission of briefs amicus curiae.
If the case is admitted, the relevant document should inform the petitioner, the general public and, when appropriate, the accused party, of their right to request the recusal of a Justice. A period of 3 calendar days shall be given for the submission of recusal requests.
If the criminal complaint is admitted, the Finding of Probable Cause shall contain an indictment clause and the Chief Justice shall, within 24 hours, inform the indicted party of their indictment and of their right to self-defence and to hire an attorney.
If the case is dismissed, the relevant document shall inform the petitioner and the general public of their right to request an In-Chambers Opinion with the reasons for the dismissal. A period of 7 calendar days shall be given for the submission of requests.

The Chief Justice shall write an In-Chambers Opinion to explain the reasons for the dismissal of a case when so requested by the petitioner or the general public within the 7 calendar days following a dismissal. The Chief Justice may assign the writing to an Associate Justice. All In-Chambers Opinions must comply with the Standards for Opinions, Verdicts, and Sentences, but they do not need to be signed by a secondary Justice.

Assignment and Recusal
The Chief Justice shall assign the presiding and secondary Justice in compliance with the Code of Judicial Conduct within 24 hours of a case admission. The Chief Justice shall make a new assignment if any of the assigned Justices recuse from the case as a result of a personal decision, a recusal request or an order to recuse, the latter as mandated by Article 1, Section 3 of the Judicial Act.

In the event that the primary and secondary Justices cannot reach an agreement on the outcome of a case, the Chief Justice shall assign a third Justice; the third Justice may side with either of the Justices originally assigned to the case and, from then on, the Justice with whom they sided shall preside over the case and the third Justice shall act as the secondary.

Temporary Injunctions
A petitioner, an indicted party or the general public may file a Motion on a Temporary Injunction to request the Court to issue, amend, extend or lift a temporary injunction. The Motion on a Temporary Injunction shall clearly state what is being requested and why it is necessary for the orderly progression of the case or for the maintenance of public peace and order.

The presiding and secondary Justices shall deliberate on the Motion on a Temporary Injunction and rule on it through a Summary Order within 48 hours of its submission. The presiding and secondary Justices retain the right to issue a Summary Order without a prior motion if, in their judgement, a temporary injunction is necessary for the orderly progression of the case or for the maintenance of public peace and order.

The Summary Order shall be issued by the presiding Justice with the signature of the secondary Justice and shall state whether the temporary injunction is granted and, if so, its scope and date of expiration. All Summary Orders must comply with the Standards for Opinions, Verdicts, and Sentences, but the arguments contained in them must be concise. The presiding Justice shall contact the party affected by the Summary Order within 24 hours of its issuance and inform them of the decision and of their ability to file a Motion on a Temporary Injunction to lift the Summary Order.

Deliberation
The presiding and secondary Justices shall have a period of 14 calendar days following their assignment to consider any and all information that is available, deliberate, draft and agree on an Opinion or Verdict. The writing of concurring opinions shall be done within this period. A Verdict shall only be used for criminal complaints. All Opinions and Verdicts shall comply with the Standards for Opinions, Verdicts, and Sentences.

The presiding Justice shall publish the Opinion or Verdict no later than 3 calendar days after it has been signed by the secondary Justice.

Sentencing
In the event that a criminal complaint is resolved with a verdict of Guilty, the presiding and secondary Justices shall determine during the period assigned for deliberation a provisional sentence that is proportional to the crime committed and the circumstances in which it was committed.

The presiding Justice shall post a Notice of Sentencing Hearing within 24 hours of the publication of the verdict. The Notice of Sentencing Hearing shall state the preliminary sentence and afford the petitioner, the accused party and the general public a period of 7 calendar days to challenge the preliminary sentence. The presiding and secondary Justices shall have a period of 3 calendar days following the expiration of the challenge period to consider any and all aggravating and mitigating factors that have been brought to their attention, deliberate and agree on a Sentence. All Sentences shall comply with the Standards for Opinions, Verdicts, and Sentences.

The presiding Justice shall publish the Sentence no later than 3 calendar days after it has been signed by the secondary Justice.

Appeals
The presiding and secondary Justices shall not participate in the deliberation or vote for the admission or dismissal of an appeal.

The Chief Justice shall assign the presiding and secondary Justices for an appeal that has been admitted from among the Justices who were not such in the original case, including Associate Justices on Senior Status. In the event that there are not enough uninvolved Justices, the secondary Justice of the original case may be assigned as secondary Justice, but their involvement shall be limited to ensure that the Opinion is understandable, grounded in law, formatted correctly and devoid of spelling and grammatical mistakes.

Expedited Cases
A petitioner may file a Motion for Expedited Treatment on a legal question or review request within 24 hours of the posting of a Notice of Reception when the context is such that significant damage would be caused by an ordinary treatment of the case. The Motion for Expedited Treatment shall clearly explain the significant damage that would be caused by an ordinary treatment of the case.

The Court shall deliberate on the Motion for Expedited Treatment as part of its initial deliberation and shall communicate its decision to grant or deny the motion within its Determination of Justiciability. The Court retains the right to decide, as part of its initial deliberation, to subject a case to expedited treatment without a prior motion if, in its judgement, significant damage would be caused by an ordinary treatment of the case.

An expedited case is managed as follows:

The period for the submission of briefs amicus curiae is reduced to 3 calendar days.
The period for the submission of recusal requests is reduced to 1 calendar day.
The period for deliberation, drafting and agreement is reduced to 8 calendar days.

Flexibility in Case Management
The presiding and secondary Justices can extend the periods for the submission of briefs amicus curiae, for the submission of recusal requests and for deliberation, drafting and agreement, should they consider it necessary for the orderly and effective management of the case. The Chief Justice or the Court may overrule an extension if they deem it excessive or unnecessary. All extensions must be communicated on the public thread.

In the event that the Chief Justice is vacant or is unable or unwilling to perform a task in the allotted time, the next available Associate Justice by ascending date of confirmation shall perform the task.

Effective 05 July 2020

Former Delegate of the South Pacific
Posts outside High Court venues should be taken as those of any other legislator.
I do not participate in the regional server, but I am happy to talk through instant messaging or on the forum.

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(This post was last modified: 01-20-2022, 02:52 PM by Kris Kringle. Edit Reason: [Chief Justice Edit] Updated the formatting. )