L. Citizen Complaint Process
1. Complaint
a. A Complaint is filed with the Court by a citizen
1. May be filed as a post in the Judicial Thread or;
2. PM to any Justice or;
3. PM to Moderator
b. The Complaint should detail the circumstances for the
accusation, and include some evidence.
c. The Court appoints a Prosecutor for case.
1. The Accuser may represent themselves, arrange for
an Advocate, or request the Court to appoint an
Advocate.
d. Court notifies Accused and determines Defense.
1. Accused may represent themselves, arrange for an
Advocate, or request Court to appoint an Advocate.
e. The Prosecutor and the Defense investigate complaint.
1. May interview witnesses, gather evidence, etc.
2. If complaint made via PM, the Prosecutor and the
Defense shall communicate with Accuser through the
person the Complaint was sent to. The identity of
the Accuser should not be revealed unless they
choose otherwise.
f. The Prosecutor and the Defense then present the
results of the investigation to the Court.
1. The Court should be skeptical of all allegations,
requiring a reasonable chance the allegation is
true and determining that, if the allegation is
true, a violation of Fanatican law has occurred.
g. By majority vote, the complaint is disposed as
follows:
1. Dismissed
A. Complaint dismissed completely.
B. Complaint should not be referenced in future,
non-court events (think arrest record vs court
record).
2. Accepted
A. Complaint accepted for Trial.
3. Partially Accepted
A. Only some parts of the complaint are accepted.
B. Those portions not accepted are Dismissed and
should not be referenced in future discussions.
h. If the complaint is Accepted, the Court should
determine if there is a specific action that can
significantly remedy the harm caused.
1. The Prosecutor, the Defense and the Accused meet
to determine a proposed remedy.
A. If they unable to determine a remedy, the
complaint is Accepted.
2. The court then votes on the proposed rememdy. If
a majority of the Court agrees with proposal, the
remedy is accepted.
A. If not accepted, remedy discussions should
continue, with guidance from Court.
3. The Chief Justice shall post all instructions
needed to carry out the remedy for the next turn
chat.
4. Failure by the Accused to carry out remedy, or
make every effort to see that the remedy is
carried out, is treated as Guilty plea.
5. The Complaint treated as Dismissed if remedy is
carried out.
j. If the complaint is Dismissed for any reason,
including the Accused carrying out the rememdy, the
Chief Justice shall post the disposition and
reasoning in the Judicial Thread and the Judicial
Log. Any remedy should be included in this post.
2. Trial
a. The Prosecutor creates the formal charge.
b. The Chief Justice shall create a trial thread in the
Citizens forum, entitled
"People vs <Accused>".
1. The first post shall be from the Chief Justice
containing formal charge.
2. The second post shall be from the Prosecutor.
3. The third post shall be from the Defense.
4. The Discussion continues until the Chief Justice
declares arguments over.
A. Associate Justices may overrule if both agree.
They may also declare a halt to arguments if
both agree and Chief Justice is not willing.
B. At this time, the Prosecutor and the Defense
should make final, summary posts.
c. The Judiciary shall then confer privately and
determine by a majority vote, Court determines
1. Innocent
2. Guilty
3. Sentencing
a. The Chief Justice shall create a poll to determine
sentence handed down to the guilty party.
1. If there are multiple Guilty verdicts, the Chief
Justice shall determine if multiple polls (one per
charge) or a single, combined sentence poll shall
be used.
2. The poll shall include options determined by the
Chief Justice
A. The Chief Justice shall consult with the
Associate Justices for appropriate options, but
the final decisions shall rest with the Chief
Justice.
B. The options shall be ranked in the order of most
severe to the least severe.
C. There shall be no abstain option.
D. Some of the sentencing option the Chief Justice
should consider are:
1. Expulsion (removal from the current DG)
2. Suspension (time to be determined by Moderators)
3. Impeachment (removal from office)
4. Final Warning
5. Public Apology (wording to be approved by
Moderators)
6. Warning
7. No Punishement
E. The preceding list should not be considered
complete. The Judiciary may add additional
options as needed.
F. Options may be combined at the discretion of the
Judiciary for a single sentencing option.
G. Explusions and Suspensions must be approved by a
Moderator prior to their inclusion in the poll.
3. There shall be a minimum of three options with
varying levels of severity.
4. There shall always be an option of "Warning"
5. The poll shall be open for 2 days (48 hours)
6. The poll shall allow each citizen to select only
one option.
7. Once the poll has been closed, the Chief Justice
shall determine the sentence for the accused.
A. Each vote shall be determined as a vote for
the option selected, and all less-severe
options.
B. The sentence selected shall be the most severe
sentence that a majority of the citizens
supported.
Example:
Option A - 4 Votes
Option B - 12 Votes
Option C - 13 Votees
The sentence carried out is option B.
Option A has 4 total votes.
Option B has 16 total votes.
Option C has 29 total votes.
A total of 29 citizens voted, making Option
B is the most severe sentence that a majority
of the citizens support with a total of 16
votes in support and 29 votes overall.
8. The Chief Justice shall announce the sentence in
the sentencing poll, and PM the accused with it.
9. Sentencing shall commence once the sentence is
announced.
10. The guilty party may appeal the sentence to a
Moderator.
4. Conclusion
a. The Chief Justice shall post a summary in the
Judicial Log and in the Judicial Thread.
1. The post shall include the formal charge(s),
verdict(s) and sentence(s), as appropriate.
2. The post shall include a link to the discussion
thread and the sentencing poll(s).
5. General
a. The Accused is innocent unless proven Guilty.
b. All proceedings should go forth in an expedient
manner.
c. All proceedings started under one Court shall
continue with that Court through the conclusion of
that proceeding.
d. The Accused may plead Guilty at any point,
immediately moving the case to Sentencing.
e. Members of the Court may not initiate a Citizen's
Complaint.
f. Should a member of the Court be the target of a
Citizen's Complaint, a pro-tem Justice shall be
appointed.
M. Judicial Review
1. Judicial Review of an Existing Law
a. Request
1. Any citizen may request a Judicial Review by posting
the request in the Judicial Thread or via PM to any
Justice.
A. The request should contain the question and the
specific law involved.
B. If the request sent via PM, the citizen should
remain anonymous unless they choose otherwise.
2. The Chief Justice shall post a notice in the Judicial
Thread that a Judicial Request has been filed. This
post should contain a summary of the Request.
b. Public Discussion
1. The Chief Justice shall create a new thread in the
Citizen's Forum entitled (Judicial Review - Term <term
number> - Request <request number for that term>)
2. The first post shall contain the formal question and
law involved
A. The Chief Justice may rewrite the question so long
as the meaning is not altered. Any changes should be
discussed with the requestor.
3. All Citizens are then invited to discuss the question.
4. Justices are to post questions, but not conclusions.
5. Discussion continues until the Chief Justice declares
arguments over.
A. The Associate Justices may overrule if they both
agree to do so. They may also declare halt to
arguments if they both agree and Chief Justice is
not willing to end the discussions.
c. Judicial Discussion
1. The Judiciary shall then meet privately to discuss
review
2. The Judiciary shall produce a Majority opinion, and
if needed, a Minority opinion.
3. The Chief Justice shall post both opinions, including
the signers of each, in the Judicial Thread and the
Judicial Log.
A. Each Justice should post a confirmatory message
which may also include an explanatory note. Any
such note is not part of the official record.
4. All Judicial Reviews are part of COUNTRY_NAMEs body
of Law, and may be used for future decisions unless
overridden by future Laws.
d. General
1. All proceedings should go forth in an expedient
manner.
2. All proceedings started under one Court shall
continue with that Court through the conclusion of
that proceeding.
2. Judicial Review of a Proposed Law
a. As citizens, the members of the Judiciary should be
active during any discussion of a new law.
b. Once a final proposal has been made and agreed upon
for a proposed Law, the Chief Justice should post in
the discussion thread that the Judiciary will review
the law and the text of the law to be reviewed.
c. The Judiciary will then meet privately to discuss the
law.
d. If the proposed law passes review, the Chief Justice
shall post the poll for the proposed law in the Poll
sub-forum.
1. A majority of Justices must agree that the proposed
law does not conflict with any existing law or
constitutional article for it to pass review
e. If the proposed law does not pass review, the Chief
Justice shall post in the discussion thread the
reasons for the rejection.
1. Should a poll already be posted for this proposal,
the poll is deemed void.
N. Amending the Code of Standards
1. Polls to amend the Code of Standarsd shall be posted by
the Judiciary upon succesful completion of a Judicial
Review.
2. Polls are to be in anonymous responder format (standard
Forum poll option). and follow the standard Forum Poll
procedures.
a. Proposal must be in Yes/No/Abstain format.
b. Polls will stay open until:
1. All votes have been cast, or;
3. The posted poll closing time has been reached.
A. Minimum duration to run a poll is 48 hours.
c. There is no quorum to amend the Code of Standards
d. A simple majority of support is required to adopt or
alter a standard.
