Here are the procedures I propose for Term 3. Ravensfire's procedures are used in general, with some key changes. Substantive changes to those procedures will be
bolded, minor changes that do not affect how the Judiciary runs will be
italicized, and deletions will be
struck through. (note that the titles of each section are also bolded: those do not represent changes unless also italicized)
Common
Rights and Duties of all Citizens
- Participate in all Judicial discussions
- Request that any Judicial discussion be moved to its own thread in the Citizen's forum
- Post requests for Judicial Review of existing law. These requests should contain a specific question and the section of law in question
- Post requests for Judicial Review of proposed amendments. This request should contain the exact text to be reviewed and a link to the discussion thread
- Post requests for clarification. This is an unofficial question about the rules that does not create a finding, but may lead to a Judicial Review
- Post requests for Citizen Complaints. This is a request to determine if a citizen has violated a rule. This request must be posted in the Judicial thread. There are no anonymous requests
Shared duties and responsibilities of all Justices
- Conduct the business of the court in a fair, impartial, open and speedy manner unless otherwise required
- Review and discuss any questions about our laws
- Review all proposed Amendments to our laws
- Review all requested Citizen Complaints to determine if there is need
- Participate in all Citizen Complaints in a fair and impartial manner
- Post clear and decisive opinions on all questions. Abstentions are not allowed
- Notify the Judiciary during any Absence, and arrange for a Pro-Tem replacement
- Discuss and ratify these Judicial Procedures
- Recuse themself from any Citizen Complaints that they are involved in as either the citizen requesting the CC, or as the citizen under investigation.
Rights and Duties of the Chief Justice
- Post polls for amendments once they pass review
- Post any valid Recall poll
- Determine and post the official Census
- Oversee all Judicial Proceedings
- Maintain the Judicial Log
- Appoint all Pro-Tem justices and seek confirmation by the President
- Request that other justices post an opinion promptly
- Maintain the docket and decide the priority level of cases
Rights and Duties of the Judge Advocate
- Post any valid Recall poll if for the Chief Justice
- Serve as the Prosecution during any trial of a citizen. In this role, the Judge Advocate need not act impartial as they are arguing for a specific side
Rights and Duties of the Public Defender
- Serve as the Defense during as trial of a citizen, unless requested otherwise by the citizen. In this role, the Public Defender need not act impartial as they are arguing for a specific side
Judicial Reviews
Judicial Reviews are used to resolve questions of the law and to validate proposed amendments. The opinion of a majority of the Justices will be used to resolve the Judicial Review.
Reviews of existing laws may be requested by anyone. The Chief Justice shall review each request for merit. If the Chief Justice declines the request,
either of the other two Justices may
both accept the request and override the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice will post each accepted request, clearly denoting the questions. After at least 24 hours, each Justice may post their finding. This post should clearly answer the questions as posed by the Chief Justice.
The Chief Justice may request that the justices post their opinion promptly, requiring all justices to make a ruling within 72 hours. The Chief Justice may request clarification of these findings as needed.
Reviews of
a proposed law may be requested by anyone. The post must include the proposed law, and a link to the discussion thread. The proposed law must have been conspicuously posted as a proposed poll for at least 24 hours, and the discussion thread open for at least 48 hours. The Justices will review the law for any conflicts with current law, and post their findings. The Chief Justice will post the poll for all proposals that pass Judicial Review.
All reviews must be finished by the end of the term if at all possible. The Chief Justice may defer a Judicial Review to the next term if it is filed less than 72 hours before the end of this term.
Citizen Complaints
Citizen complaints are used to determine if a citizen has violated a rule. They may be requested by any citizen in a post in the Judicial thread. Except as noted, the Justices must act in a fair, impartial, open and speedy manner throughout the process. All citizens are innocent unless determined to be guilty.
Citizen Complaints shall be completed by the end of the term, unless the Judiciary finds this to be impossible, in which case the next terms court may finish the investigation. All evidence, except foreknowledge of the game, must be presented publicly. Evidence of foreknowledge of the game will be reviewed by the Judiciary, and a statement about that evidence posted. Once that evidence becomes irrelevant due to game progress, any citizen may request it to be posted.
At any time during a
citizen complaint, the citizen making the request may drop the request, ending the
citizen complaint unless another citizen wishes to continue the process. Likewise, the citizen under investigation may accept the charges, and move immediately to the Sentencing phase.
If a citizen has been found innocent of a charge or if the citizen has been found guilty and sentenced appropriately, the citizen may not be charged again with the same violation
Review
Each requested
Citizen Complaint will be reviewed by the Judiciary. Justices will gather and look through the evidence presented, including requests for statements from all citizens. If all three Justices determine the request to have No Merit, the basis for that finding will be posted by each Justice and the request is denied. If at least one Justice determines the request to have Merit, a trial on the facts will be conducted. The Judge Advocate will review the request and the relevant law, and determine the specific law the accused citizen is alleged to have violated.
Trial
The Judge Advocate will create a thread for the trial in the Citizen's forum. This initial post should contain the specific violations and the evidence for those accusations. The next two posts are reserved for the citizen accused and the Public Defender - until they post, or 24 hours from the initial post, no other citizen may post in the thread. All citizens are encouraged to post in this thread, but are reminded to respect the rights of all citizens.
Once the at least 48 hours have passed, and discussion has petered out, the Chief Justice can declare the discussion closed, and post a Trial poll.
The Trial poll will be a private poll, with the options Innocent, Guilty and Abstain. It will run for 48 hours. The option receiving the most votes will determine the result. In the event of a tie, the members of the Judiciary will determine the result by posting clear opinions in the Trial thread.
Sentencing
If a citizen under investigation
during a Citizen Complaint has accepted the charges, the citizen, the accuser and the Judiciary may determine and assign a sentence if they all unanimously agree to the arrangement. Failure to uphold that arrangement will result in full sentencing poll posted as if the citizen were found guilty in a Trial.
If an arrangement cannot be made, or the citizen was found Guilty, the sentence will be determined by the citizens through a poll. The Chief Justice will post the poll, marked as private with a duration of 48 hours. The options for the poll will include:
- Suspension from Demogame
- Removal from Office (if applicable)
- Public Apology
- Final Warning
- Warning
[*]No Punishment
- Abstain
Other options may be included through unanimous consent of the Judiciary.
Once the poll closes, the Chief Justice will determine the sentence imposed using cumulative voting. The most severe option that a majority of citizens support will be imposed.
If there is a tie, the Judiciary will break the tie through a majority vote of the options tied, with each vote, and the reasoning, posted in the sentencing poll thread. If a Warning is issued, a warning will be posted by the Chief Justice in the Judicial thread and may be reposted in that persons government thread, if they hold an office. If a citizen is given a Final Warning, the above procedure will be used, but with stronger language. Additionally, the options Warning and Final Warning will not appear on a sentencing poll if that citizen is charged with a similar offense in the future. If a citizen is sentenced to a Public Apology, a thread apologizing for the actions taken must be posted by the defendant within 48 hours of the close of the sentencing poll. If the citizen is removed from office, they are barred from holding that office for the remainder of the term. The length of a suspension is to be determined by the Judiciary, with the required consent of the moderators
This is another reason that we need to authenticate a national plan in our laws. Otherwise, our nation is no more than five disembodied fingers grasping at straws.
