Poll: Should the following bills be passed together?

Nakari · 03-10-2018, 10:59 AM

There are five bills that are part of this Court Reform package. This vote includes the Judicial Act itself, an Amendment to Article VIII of the Charter, a Resolution on the Passage of the Judicial Act, and the repeals of the Judiciary Act and the Court Procedures Act.

This vote includes a bill amending the Charter, and thus requires a three-fifths majority to pass.

The voting period is five (5) days. Voting will end on March 15th 2018 at 3:00pm UTC.

The debate thread can be found here.

Judicial Act:

Quote:Judicial Act
An act to establish operational principle, procedures, and best practices for the High Court
Article 1: The High Court

(1) The High Court comprises a Chief Justice and at least two Associate Justices.

(2) The Chief Justice operates the High Court. In case of vacancy, absence, or recusal, the Associate Justices shall collectively operate the High Court.

(3) The Chief Justice may order the recusal of any associate justice on a specific issue. The Associate Justices may collectively force the recusal of the Chief Justice on a specific issue.

(4) In case of a vacancy, a willing and eligible Associate Justice will be selected by their peers to serve as Chief Justice.

(5) To appoint an Associate Justice, the Cabinet will consult with the High Court and present a willing and eligible individual to the Assembly for an approval vote.

(6) The Cabinet is compelled to appoint a fitting individual as per above with all deliberate speed if
a. there are less than two Associate Justices on the High Court,
b. the Chief Justice position is vacant and the Associate Justices cannot determine a new Chief Justice amongst themselves for any reason, or
c. a case cannot continue due to recusals.

Article 2: Judicial Conduct and Requirements

(1) Justices of the High Court shall
a. rule upon what is written in law, and not be influenced by prejudice based on personal bias, corruption by undue influence, or discord,
b. consider the impact of Court rulings carefully to ensure that, whenever possible, no individual is empowered to exploit rulings of the Court,
c. maintain good communication with fellow Justices as well as the broader community, and
d. be reasonably inquisitorial.

(2) An Associate Justice must have legislator status in the South Pacific and take an oath of confidentiality and impartiality.

(3) The Chief Justice must fulfill the requirements to be an Associate Justice, and additionally may not serve as senior or junior cabinet minister, as Chair of Assembly or their deputy, or as Delegate.

Article 3: Case Procedure

(1) A case is submitted to the High Court via a public post in the High Court area by any individual authorized to submit a case of the given type. A case can be a legal question, an appeal, an indictment, or a sentencing.

(2) The High Court will determine with reasonable speed whether a case is justiciable. If found justiciable, a justice will be assigned to the case, otherwise the case is unappealably dismissed.

(3) Any member of the South Pacific may request the recusal of the assigned justice at any time, which will be reviewed by the High Court. If granted, the High Court will assign another justice.

(4) Any member of the South Pacific may submit information, evidence, or opinions on the matter. To facilitate this, a case may not run for less than 72 hours.

(5) The assigned justice may, as necessary, request information, evidence, or opinions from any member or institution. With the approval of another justice, a member or institution may be compelled to answer such a request.

(6) Once the assigned justice has all necessary information and evidence, they will analyze the question with all deliberate speed to deliver an opinion. Any individuals involved in the crafting of the opinion must be named within it. The opinion must be approved by another justice not recused from the case.

Article 4: Legal Questions

(1) A legal question is a case containing one or more questions seeking to receive clarification on the meaning of existing law or the applicability of law to concrete or hypothetical situations.

(2) Legal questions can be submitted by any member of the South Pacific.

(3) The opinion delivered for a legal question shall have the full force of law until appealed or the law upon which the opinion was based is significantly changed.

Article 5: Criminal Cases

(1) As part of a case, the justice may indict an individual if there is probable cause that this individual has committed a criminal act. If the criminal act is not substantially related to the case, the assigned justice is encouraged to start a separate case for the indictment.

(2) Upon indictment, the individual will be contacted through at least one reasonable means and given at least one week to defend themselves before an opinion may be delivered.

(3) The assigned justice will deliver with the opinion a verdict for each indictment contained within the case. The verdict shall be guilty if and only if the accused admitted guilt or the justice has determined it to be substantially more likely than not that the criminal act occurred.

Article 6: Sentencing

(1) A sentencing case is started when an individual has been found guilty after being indicted. The case is started, if possible, by the justice that delivered the conviction.

(2) The sentencing case shall be on hold if an appeal for the conviction has been filed, for the duration of that appeal. If the original conviction is overturned, the sentencing case is automatically dismissed.

Article 7: Appeals

(1) An appeal is a case for which the petitioner seeks to reverse or reevaluate a concluded case that itself is not an appeal. An appeal may be filed by any member of the South Pacific or by any non-member with a vested interest in the case.

(2) Appeals may only be submitted on grounds of process violations, contradictions of law, or judicial misconduct.

(3) The assigned justice of the case being appealed is automatically recused from the appeal case.

Article 8: Confidentiality

(1) By default, material submitted for a case shall be submitted alongside the case proceedings in a public venue.

(2) Material that is confidential and may harm regional security may be submitted to the Court, provided that the Court works with the corresponding authority to redact the information that may harm regional security.

(3) Material that is of a personal nature, such as as that which reveals personally identifiable information or which would otherwise unreasonably violate personal privacy, may be provided to the Court on a confidential basis, and published in a redacted form only if a reasonable person could not deduce the identity being protected.

Amendment to Article VIII of the Charter:

Quote:1. The High Court will consist of one Permanent Justice Chief Justice and a Pool of Justices a number of Associate Justices, and will hold exclusive judicial authority in the Coalition.

2. The procedure for the appointment of the Permanent Justice and the members of the Pool of Justices the justices will be defined in a general law by the Assembly.

Resolution:

Quote:Resolution on the Passage of the Judicial Act

The Assembly of the Coalition of the South Pacific resolves the following upon passage of the Judicial Act:

(1) The incumbent Permanent Justice will be appointed as Chief Justice.

(2) The Pool of Justices will be dissolved.

(3) As per Article 1, Section 6.a of the Judicial Act, the Cabinet is compelled to swiftly nominate associate justices. The Assembly demands that the Cabinet issue at least two nominations within a week of passage.

(4) Any cases of the High Court extant at the time of passage will be completed as per the previous court procedures. This does not include appeals filed after passage.

Repeal of the Judiciary Act:

Quote:Judiciary Act
1. Appointment of the Permanent Justice.

Cabinet Appointment
(1) The Cabinet is responsible for appointing a well-qualified person to serve as Permanent Justice of the High Court, who has met the requirements for legislator status.
(2) When choosing a person to serve, the Cabinet must take into account the trustworthiness, fairness, professionalism, and expertise of their nominee.
(3) A majority of the Cabinet must support the nominee.

Assembly Disapproval
(4) The Cabinet must submit their nominee to the Assembly, where a three-day debate will commence immediately following the nomination.
(5) The Assembly may reject the nominee by passing a disapproval vote with at least three-fourths support of those voting, which must be up for vote for five days.
(6) The nomination will be considered accepted upon the conclusion of the debate period, if a disapproval vote is not initiated, or upon the failure of a disapproval vote.

Start of Term
(7) The term for the Permanent Justice will begin following the acceptance of their nomination by the Assembly.

2. Legislator Status Requirement

(1) In order to serve on the High Court, a person must maintain legislator status in the Assembly of the Coalition of The South Pacific.

3. Separation of Powers

Assembly and Political Participation
(1) The Permanent Justice, and members of the Pool of Justices, may exercise their political rights freely.
(2) When participating in the Assembly or political organizations, Justices should take care to not act in a way that calls into question the integrity and legitimacy of the High Court.

Executive Firewall
(3) No person may sit on the High Court while serving as a Minister, Deputy Minister, or other executive appointment.
(4) For the purposes of this section, serving as an officer in the military does not count as serving in an executive capacity, as long as their officer status does not grant them access to privileged Cabinet areas.
(5) Membership in the Council on Regional Security does not count as serving in an executive capacity. However, a CRS-member Justice must recuse themselves in cases where the CRS is a party.

4. Pool of Justices

(1) The Permanent Justice and the Cabinet shall come together to create a list of at least four well-qualified people to serve as temporary and appellate Justices, who meet the requirements for legislator status.
(2) When selecting from the Pool of Justices, selections shall be made according to the date entrants were added.
(3) Persons in the Pool of Justices must meet all qualifications to sit as Justice when selected, but do not have to be removed automatically from the Pool upon not meeting those qualifications.
(4) The Pool of Justices must be posted publicly.

Repeal of the Court Procedures Act:

Quote: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.

North Prarie · 03-10-2018, 12:09 PM

Aye

Midwesterner. Political nerd. Chipotle enthusiast.
Minister of Culture of the South Pacific // Former Prime Minister

Nakari · 03-10-2018, 01:18 PM

I'd like to remind voters that voting on the poll is preferable, and that voting both via poll and post is unnecessary.

**Seraph** · 03-10-2018, 04:50 PM

Aye

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Yahweo usenneo ir varleo, ihraneo jurlaweo hraseu seu, ir jiweveo arladi.

Salma 145:8

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**Rebeltopia** · 03-11-2018, 12:45 PM

Aye

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"...if you're normal, the crowd will accept you. But if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader." - Christopher Titus
Deranged in NS since 2011

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The OUTRAGEOUS CRAZY other half of LadyElysium

POSITIONS! POSITIONS, EVERYONE!!

Quotes

Nakari · 03-15-2018, 12:31 PM

These bills have passed 27-0.

Poll: Should the following bills be passed together? You do not have permission to vote in this poll.
Aye	78.13%	25	78.13%
Nay	0%	0	0%
Abstain	21.88%	7	21.88%
Total		32 vote(s)	100%