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Nat · 12-22-2020, 08:08 PM

P.S. I also made up the code .EO for evidence order (i.e. the one given to Philippinia and Shangyuen); feel free to keep it or toss it

Former Associate Justice of the High Court of the South Pacific (4 December 2019 to 5 February 2021)

**Belschaft** · 12-27-2020, 02:31 PM

So, the law seems pretty clear here; Article 4.3 of the Elections Act states "The terms for the incoming Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers will begin the week after elections, during which any and all election-related disputes must be settled. The outgoing Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers will maintain their offices until then."

This is obviously going to be a pain in the ass to calculate as there is no clear & consistent date for this, but it should fall on or around the 20th of the month. The mid-point of the term will thus be on or around the 20th of April, August & December. I believe this situation has arisen as the relevant laws were changed to specify "term" periods, whereas when Article 6 was written the was no such language in the law and convention was that terms ran from the 1st of the Month and that existing Ministers simply operated as "lame ducks" until a new one was elected.

I think the only way we can rule on this due to the precision of the language in Article 4.3 is that the mid-point for the purposes of Article 6 is two-months from seven days after the previous elections concluded, though I think we may have enough scope to designate the 20th of April, August & December as the "legal midpoint" without leaving the date itself to vary each election as this would be when the midpoint should fall if the election is carried out in line with the requirements of Article 4.

Does that all make sense to you Kris?

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

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***Kris Kringle*** · 12-27-2020, 02:38 PM

That does make sense to me. Obviously I'd have to see what exactly you draft for a ruling, but overall I agree with your logic.

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.

Legal Resources:
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**Belschaft** · 01-06-2021, 09:48 AM

Draft opinion.

HIGH COURT OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC
[2014.HQ] Special Election Cut-Off Date

Petitioner: Farengeto

Date of Submission: December 20th, 2020

Date of Justiciability: December 22nd, 2020

Date of Opinion: January XX, 2021

Legal Question(s): In the case of Cabinet vacancies, what is the cut-off for when "half of the term remains" applies?

Justice Belschaft delivered the opinion, signed also by Justice Kringalia.

Summary of the Opinion: It is the opinion of the Court that in the case of Cabinet vacancies the half point of a term of office falls on the 20th of April, August & December.

Article 4, Clause 3 of the Elections Act clearly states that "The terms for the incoming Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers will begin the week after elections"¹. Article 4, Clause 1 of the Elections Act similarly provides a precise legal timeline for the election process;

A six day period for legislators to declare their candidacy.
A seven day campaign period, starting after three days of the declaration period.
A three day voting period, starting once the campaign period ends.

This provides for a complete election period lasting thirteen days. The Court has chosen to interpret "the week after elections"¹ as meaning seven days after the conclusion of the election period; whilst it would be possible to interpret this to mean the first Monday after the conclusion of the election period, this would provide an irregular and varying period of time between the conclusion of the election period and the beginning of the new term of office which in some circumstances could be less than twenty-four hours. As this period is intended for the settling of "any and all election-related disputes"¹ and this process cannot be realistically completed in such a short period of time, the Court has concluded that interpreting this to mean the first Monday after the conclusion of the election period would produce an absurdity.

As such it is the determination of the Court that the term of office for the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers begins on the 20th of February, June and October; and that accordingly for the purposes of Cabinet vacancies the half point of a term of office falls on the 20th of April, August & December.

It is so ordered.

REFERENCES
[1] Elections Act; Article 4, Clause 3 (2021). The MATT-DUCK Law Archive.

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

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(This post was last modified: 01-06-2021, 10:33 AM by Belschaft.)

***Kris Kringle*** · 01-06-2021, 08:14 PM

I broadly agree, but I'd prefer that there be some language that reminds the reader of when elections are supposed to start; this way any reader could easily understand that Election start date + 13 days + 7 days does result in the 20th of February, June and October. I realise that this could be easily consulted in the law, but I think it'd be worth including for ease of understanding.

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.

Legal Resources:
THE MATT-DUCK Law Archive | Mavenu Diplomatic Archive | Rules of the High Court | Case Submission System | Online Rulings Consultation System

**Belschaft** · 01-06-2021, 08:29 PM

I can amend accordingly.

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

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**Belschaft** · 01-07-2021, 02:07 PM

Revised draft.

HIGH COURT OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC
[2014.HQ] Special Election Cut-Off Date

Petitioner: Farengeto

Date of Submission: December 20th, 2020

Date of Justiciability: December 22nd, 2020

Date of Opinion: January XX, 2021

Legal Question(s): In the case of Cabinet vacancies, what is the cut-off for when "half of the term remains" applies?

Justice Belschaft delivered the opinion, signed also by Justice Kringalia.

Summary of the Opinion: It is the opinion of the Court that in the case of Cabinet vacancies the half point of a term of office falls on the 20th of April, August & December.

Article 4, Clause 3 of the Elections Act clearly states that "The terms for the incoming Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers will begin the week after elections"¹. Article 4, Clause 1 of the Elections Act mandates that elections for the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers begin "on the first of every February, June and October"², and provides a precise legal timeline for the election process;

A six day period for legislators to declare their candidacy.
A seven day campaign period, starting after three days of the declaration period.
A three day voting period, starting once the campaign period ends.

This provides for a complete election period lasting thirteen days, beginning on the 1st of the month and concluding on the 13th.

The Court has chosen to interpret "the week after elections"¹ as meaning seven days after the conclusion of the election period; whilst it would be possible to interpret this to mean the first Monday after the conclusion of the election period, this would provide an irregular and varying period of time between the conclusion of the election period and the beginning of the new term of office; in some circumstances this period could be less than twenty-four hours. As this period is intended for the settling of "any and all election-related disputes"¹ and this process cannot be realistically completed in such a short period of time, the Court has concluded that interpreting this to mean the first Monday after the conclusion of the election period would produce an absurdity.

As such it is the determination of the Court that the term of office for the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers begins on the 20th of February, June and October; and that accordingly for the purposes of Cabinet vacancies the half point of a term of office falls on the 20th of April, August & December.

It is so ordered.

REFERENCES
[1] Elections Act; Article 4, Clause 3 (2021). The MATT-DUCK Law Archive.
[2] Elections Act; Article 4, Clause 1 (2021). The MATT-DUCK Law Archive.

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

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(This post was last modified: 01-07-2021, 02:07 PM by Belschaft.)

***Kris Kringle*** · 01-07-2021, 05:43 PM

I'm comfortable signing off on this.

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.

Legal Resources:
THE MATT-DUCK Law Archive | Mavenu Diplomatic Archive | Rules of the High Court | Case Submission System | Online Rulings Consultation System