Here are draft judiciary procedures for review and comment by the court and citizens. I'll do the fancy formatting thing later.
Judicial Procedures 1. All members of the Judiciary shall share certain rights and responsibilities. There responsibilities are:
1. Discuss the Court Procedures, as composed by the Chief Justice, in a most constructive way, and ratify when reaching consensus.
2. Post polls and discussions on interpretations of the Constitution, and any lower laws.
3. Are expected to appoint a Pro-Tem Justice, if they are unable to carry out there duties. Pro-Tem officials have all the rights and responsibilities of the officials they are filling in for, but are a temporary position, and must surrender their pro-tem status upon the request of the official. The pro-tem status may be given for individual assignments or for the entirety of the official (this must be declared).
4. Initiate and participate in Judicial Reviews, in a timely manner, to determine the legality of proposed Constitutional Amendments and any other form of lower law. Any citizen may request a JR for this purpose.
5. Initiate and participate in Judicial Reviews (JRs) to interpret and clarify existing Constitutional Articles and any other form of lower law. Any citizen may request a JR for this purpose.
6. Initiate and participate in Judicial Reviews to examine whether or not all investigations should be considered as having "No Merit".
7. Post Legislative polls that have passed Judicial Review.
2. The Chief Justice ~
1. Performs as needed in the positions of Public Defender and Judge Advocate in the absence of either official. This duty shall only apply if said officials have not appointed a Pro-Tem official. This may include the appointment of a Pro-Tem official for that position.
2. Is responsible for posting the current Active Census in the Judicial thread at the beginning of the Term.
3. Is responsible for the updating, maintaince, and organization of the Judicial Log.
4. Is responsible for monitoring investigation threads to keep them on topic and procedurally accurate.
5. If the situation arises where the actions of a Leader (Advisor) of a Department fall within the parameters of being absent from a position, as set forth by CoL Section H.5, the Chief Justice may declare said Office vacant.
4. The Public Defender ~
1. Is tasked with ensuring all Citizens Complaint investigations are performed correctly, with presumed innocence of the accused.
2. Will ensure that the accused understands the charges brought against them and what rules were in violation so the accused can mount an effective defence.
3. Will perform as defender, unless the accused wishes otherwise.
5. The Judge Advocate ~
1. Is tasked with the mechanics of Citizen's Complaint investigations and trial.
2. Will open and close discussions and polls as appropriate to the trial.
3. Will perform as Prosecutor (gather and present evidence) for any anonymous accusers.
6. Judicial Review
1. All Judicial Review and Investigations will be held publicly. Public communication between the Justices will be posted in the Judicial thread or the Investigation threads.
2. A quorum requires the attendance of all three members of the Judiciary except in the case of absence (either announced or unannounced) in which case two members are sufficient.
3. Review of proposed legislation.
a. Any member of the General Assembly may present proposed legislation to the Judiciary, after following procedure for proposing amendments and laws.
b. The request will be included in the Courts Docket.
c. 2 of 3 Justices must agree that the amendment or law does not conflict with existing rules.
d. If a proposal is rejected due to conflict(s), it is returned to the General Assembly with details of the conflict(s) noted. This proposal may then be edited and resubmitted for Review.
e. If the proposal is approved through Judicial Review, it is posted as a ratification poll by a member of the Judiciary.
4. Interpretation and clarification of existing Law.
a. Any member of the General Assembly may request a Judicial Review for interpretation or clarification of an existing Law. They must include the law in question, or the laws location (IE: Article B. Section 2.). If after making reasonable efforts to identify the law in question the citizen is unable to do so, the court must assist the citizen by giving a reference.
b. The request will be included in the Courts Docket.
c. The Chief Justice has the right to dismiss a Judicial Review, if the Chief Justice deemes a Judicial Review to have "No Merit". Specific reasoning must be given by the Chief Justice for a judgement of "No Merit".
d. If the Judge Advocate and the Public Defender believe that the Judicial Review has merit, while the Chief Justice dismissed a Judicial Review, the Majority Opinion will be followed.
e. Anyone, including justices, may request the Judicial Review to receive a thread in the Citizen's Forum. This thread will be posted by the Chief Justice.
f. 2 of 3 Justices must agree on the interpretation or clarification, forming a Majority Opinion.
g. The interpretation/clarification is then entered into the Judicial Log for reference.
7. Citizen's Complaint
1. NO ANONYMOUS CCs will be filed.
2. If any citizen believes that someone has violated an Article of the Constitution or any other lower form of law, they can report this suspected violation for investigation and trial.
a. The allegation can be posted in the Judicial thread.
b. The allegation can be made privately to the Chief Justice via Private Message, however the accuser's identity will not be kept private if the matter proceeds to an investigation.
3. Allegations of misconduct must include:
a. Name of the defendant.
b. The Article(s) or lower Law(s) suspected of being violated.
c. When and where the suspected violation(s) occurred.
4. The Citizen's Complaint will be included in the Courts Docket.
5. The Judge Advocate notifies the Public Defender and the accused of the charge(s).
6. A brief Judicial Review of the charge(s) is done to determine if the charges have "No Merit".
7. If the charge(s) are found to have "Merit", the accused may then decide to work out an agreement with the accusing party. The Judge advocate and Public Defender act as a meditating party during this process. If not agreement is reached, then the Judge Advocate opens an Investigation thread detailing the alleged violation(s).
a. The first two replies to this thread are reserved for the Public Defender and the accused to respond publicly to the charge(s) (Defence). Either may post first, and both may say what they wish (within forum rules). If their replies/responses have not been posted within 24 hours of the thread's posting, they lose these reserved spots and anyone can post.
8. Citizens can post in this thread their opinions on the charge(s), whether they think the accused is guilty of the infraction or not, and if the case should go to Trial.
9. If the accused pleads guilty, the Trial is skipped and the case moves to the Sentencing Process. The Chief Justice may close the investigation thread early if this occurs.
10. When discussion has petered out and at least 72 hours have passed, the Judge Advocate will post a Trial poll.
a. The Trial poll will have the Options of Guilty, Innocent and Abstain and will remain open for 48 hours.
b. In the event the Trial poll ends in a tie, the members of the Judiciary will determine if the defendant is innocent or guilty by posting independent and clear Opinions at the end of the Trial poll.
11. If the accused is found guilty through the Trial poll, a Sentencing poll is posted by the Judge Advocate.
a. The Sentencing poll will remain open for 48 hours, and have the following Options: i. Impeachment from Office (if applicable) ii. Final Warning (whether or not a prior warning has been given) iii. Warning iv. No Punishment v. Abstain
b. If the guilty party has previously received a final warning or warning for the current offence, the Judge Advocate will post that in the Sentencing poll narrative.
c. Once the poll has been closed, the Chief Justice shall determine the sentence for the accused. i. Each vote shall be determined as a vote for the option selected, and all less-severe options. ii. 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.
d. In the event the Sentencing poll ends in a tie, the members of the Judiciary will determine the Sentence by posting independent and clear Opinions at the end of the Sentencing poll.
e. The guilty party must abide by the sentence as determined in the Poll by the Chief Justice.
12. The Judicial Log may be referenced for further interpretation or clarification, but may not be used for criteria for review of proposed legislation.
13. For any Judicial Review ruling or issue involved with a Citizen Complaint, each Justices must post independently their opinion on the matter. In essence, they must answer the question asked by the Judicial Review in a Yes or No fashion (have "Merit" or "No Merit" also applies here). Specifically, there will be no "fence-riding". Each Justice will come down on one side of the issue or the other, clearly.
