T2-JR9-May a leader post instruction prior to their term beginning?

donsig has requested the following Judicial Review:

I would like to ask for a Judicial Review of Section I of the CoL. Specifically, can newly elected leaders legally post game play instructions before their term actually begins?

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The laws for which this review is conducted are:
Section I of the Code of Laws:
Also relevant are Section F.3 of the Code of Laws

-- Ravensfire, Chief Justice of Fanatica

Ministers are responsible for all of the actions taken and decisions made that pertain to their Department, according to Article D of the Constitution:

Article D. The Executive branch is responsible for determining
and implementing the will of the People. It is headed
by thePresident who shall be the primary Designated
Player. The President shall take direction from a
council of 4 leaders and from other elected and appointed
officials via the turnchat instruction thread.
1. The Minister of Internal Affairs shall be
responsible for all domestic and cultural
initiatives, as prescribed by law.
2. The Minister of Foreign Affairs shall be responsible
for matters involving treaties with foreign nations,
as prescribed by law.
3. The Minister of Defense shall be responsible for all
military strategy and troop activities, as
prescribed by law.
4. The Minister of Trade and Technology shall be
responsible for all tech acquisition and trade
initiatives, as prescribed by law.


The will of the people was obviously that this person take the helm of the Department they were elected to and run with the ball. If a game turn is to be played, I would think that the citizens would want the Minister they elected to post Instructions for the Department’s responsibilities in that Turn Chat.

CoL Section B.2.c.4 and 5 states that the Minister is to formulate the Information (Instructions) in the absence of Citizen input and post them:

4. Formulate departmental policies, plans and agendas
of their own in the absence of citizen feedback
(forum outage, low participation, etc).
5. Convey these policies, plans and agendas to the
President for play in the game.

As there is no time for citizen input and there’s going to be turns played, I imagine the citizens want the Minister to cover his responsibilities. So, I would say yes. The Ministers are not only legally allowed to post these Instructions, but should do so in fulfilling their obligation to the people.

Question:

CoL Section I states in part "...by a citizen empowered to do so..." F.3 of the CoL defines when the term of a leader starts, "...beginning on the first day of that month."

Would this indicate that a leader is not empowered to post instructions until they are "officially" in office?

If a t/c is scheduled right at the start of the term, should we expect the leaders of the upcoming term to determine the WoTP in the 24 hours? What should happen if there is a run-off poll for a leadership position?

As a general comment, what benefit is gained from running a t/c immediately upon the start of a new term?

-- Ravensfire, Chief Justice of Fanatica

Have you ever heard the phrase, "Not on my watch!"? It doesn't refer to the timepiece on one's wrist. It's talking about a period of time in which one is responsible for what goes on. A workshift so to speak. A look out sentry. Guard duty.

It doesn't really matter if a President calls for a Turn Chat to span the change over period from one Term to the next, such as RM did. That's his option as President. The newly elected President zorven had the option of continuing that Turn Chat or not, it was up to him. This game doesn't get redesigned at the begining of each Term, so it doesn't really matter if the first t/c of a Term is immediate or, (like some people prefer) 4 days after the Term starts. What if I, as President, wanted to run 3 Turn Chats a week? Shouldn't I start right away? Wouldn't I have a pretty good idea of what the population wanted? Didn't they just elect me because of this knowledge?

Regardless of "when" a Turn Chat is scheduled, the first few minutes of a Term or the first few days, ANY elected Minister is supposed to have the required information pertinent for his Department prepared and posted in any TCIT desinated for that Turn Chat. That's their job. They should be prepared to fulfill their job requirements when their *watch* starts. You don't show up for the first day of a new job wearing bathing suit, with a plastic floatation device around your neck and a beer in your hand and say, "Oh, now I have to get ready for work...". Your supposed to be prepared.

As ravensfire has said, "...begining the first day of the month." That doesn't mean NOON on the first day, it means all of the first day. As soon as that day begins, every elected official should have all of their bases covered, including legally posted instructions for a current Turn Chat.

Should we let Leaders slack off and say something like "you can't do that!" or "I'm just not ready to start my job yet...". No, not on my watch.

The effective time of the instruction is what counts. As long as the turns are played after the term begins, then the leaders are just doing their jobs. Now, if a term 3 leader tried to give instructions for turns played in term 2, for example, then this would clearly be illegal.

This Public Discussion is closed.
The Term 2 Court is charged with producing a ruling as soon as possible.

Originally posted by Peri
This Public Discussion is closed.
The Term 2 Court is charged with producing a ruling as soon as possible.

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We have a bit of a problem here people. If this JR is truly the the responsibility of the term two judiciary then only the term two CJ can call discussion complete. If this JR is the responsibility of the term three judiciary then I respectfully request that the sitting CJ not be so darn fast in closing the discussion for I have a thing or two to say in these JRs. I was unable to post here as a sitting justice but now that I'm no longer a justice (and the silly gag riule no longer applies to me) I would like to add to this discussion.

This Public Discussion is now closed.

-- Ravensfire, Chief Justice of Fanata (Term 2)

Originally posted by ravensfire
This Public Discussion is now closed.

-- Ravensfire, Chief Justice of Fanata (Term 2)

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I respectfully submit that this is also premature. I have requested a Judicial Review to ascertain who should be completing these Judicial reviews. Until such time as that JR is complete these JRs should be left open.

The Chief Justice of Term 4 has authorized discussion of unresolved cases to be reopened. Citizens wishing to comment should do so within the next 2-3 days.

I request the CJ close comments on this review so we can finish it off.

Sounds good to me, discussion closed.