Term I - Judiciary

Black_Hole

Deity
Joined
Jan 4, 2004
Messages
3,424
Welcome to the Court! You may find the rock chairs to be a little uncomfortable, I do apologize, but please try to make yourselves at home if you have any concerns or questions regarding the laws of this great nation.

Members
Chief Justice - Black_Hole
Judge Advocate - Lord Civius
Public Defender - Nobody

Laws
Constitution
Code of Laws
Judicial Procedures

Census
The term 1 census is: 16.
This means a poll for amending the constitution requires at least 9 votes with 67% of those (ignoring abstain) voting for the amendment.
A poll for amending the code of laws has no dependence on the census.
 
Judicial Procedures
Became official on 3/6/09.

Rights of the Citizens
  • The right to the presumption of innocence
  • The right to a fair and speedy trial
  • The right to inquire into possible violations of the law (Official Investigation)
  • The right to ask for a review of the law
  • The right to ask for clarification of the law
  • The right to publicly comment on judicial reviews of the law
Responsibilities of the Chief Justice
  • Act with impartiality and fairness while conducting official court functions
  • Recuse self when the subject of an Official Investigation
  • Make rulings in judicial reviews, official investigations, absence investigations, and amendment reviews in a speedy manner
  • Organize and conduct the affairs of the judiciary
  • Maintain order and procedure in the court
  • Maintain the judicial log and court docket
  • Appoint pro-tem justices, with presidential approval, in case of absence of another justice
  • Propose and maintain judicial procedures
Responsibilities of the Judge Advocate
  • Act with impartiality and fairness while conducting official court functions
  • Recuse self when the subject of an Official Investigation
  • Make rulings in judicial reviews, official investigations, absence investigations, and amendment reviews in a speedy manner
  • Appoint pro-tem chief justice, with presidential approval, in case of absence of the chief justice
  • Act as the prosecutor in an Official Investigation; the Judge Advocate is not required to act impartially in this role
Responsibilities of the Public Defender
  • Act with impartiality and fairness while conducting official court functions
  • Recuse self when the subject of an Official Investigation
  • Make rulings in judicial reviews, official investigations, absence investigations, and amendment reviews in a speedy manner
  • Appoint pro-tem justices, with presidential approval, in case of absence of both other justices
  • Act as the attorney for a citizen accused in an Official Investigation; the Public Defender is not required to act impartially in this role
Judicial Reviews
  • Any citizen may request a judicial review into questions or conflicts of the law
  • A request may be posted in judiciary thread or private messaged to a justice
  • The Chief Justice shall rule as to whether the proposed review has merit
  • If the Chief Justice rules the judicial review to have no merit, unanimous consent of the other justices can override his/her decision
  • If a judicial review is declared to have merit then the justices will allow time for citizen comments
  • If any citizen publicly or privately requests for a discussion thread, the Chief Justice shall post a discussion thread in the Citizens' Sub forum
Legal Clarifications
  • This is a non-binding request for clarification of any law
  • If another justice disagrees with the clarification of the justice answering the citizen, a judicial review shall be called for
Official Investigations
  • Any citizen may request an investigation into violations of the law by posting in the judiciary thread or sending a private message to both the Chief Justice and Judge Advocate
  • Once a citizen has requested an investigation the judiciary shall determine whether reasonable evidence occurs that indicates the possibility of a violation of law
  • If a at least one justice believes reasonable evidence exists into violations of the law the Chief Justice will open a discussion thread detailing the allegations and evidence against the accused
  • The accused shall be notified of the investigation and shall have the option to choose their own attorney or use the services of the Public Defender
  • For 24 hours no person may post in the official discussion thread until both the attorney and the accused have posted defenses in the discussion thread
  • The defendant shall ensure that their first post contains a plea of innocence or guilt
  • If the defendant pleads guilty the trial will skip to the sentencing phase
  • If the defendant pleads innocence the discussion thread will remain open for at least 48 hours and longer at the discretion of the Chief Justice
  • After the discussion the Chief Justice will post a private poll with the options Innocent, Guilty, and Abstain. This poll will have a link to the trial thread and brief summaries of the prosecutor's argument and accused's defense. The poll will be open for 48 hours
  • In the event of a tie, the judiciary members will vote again to break it
  • If the defendant is determined to be guilty the Chief Justice will open a sentencing poll containing punishments the Chief Justice deems reasonable ranked in order of severity
  • The sentencing poll, will contain at a minimum, the options No Punishment, Public Apology, Impeachment from Office, and Abstain. This poll shall run for 48 hours and be private
  • After the poll closes the Chief Justice will determine the most severe punishment that a majority of citizens approved (A citizen voting for the most severe punishment approves of all other punishments and so on down the line).
  • The results of this poll will become valid immediately and the Chief Justice will close the trial
Amendment Review
  • A discussion thread must be created for either a Constitutional or Code of Laws amendment
  • The discussion must have lasted at least 48 hours before a proposed poll can be posted
  • After sufficient discussion, a proposed poll should be posted in the discussion thread
  • After at least 24 hours have passed the proposed poll should be submitted to the judiciary for review
  • For constitutional amendments the justices shall ensure the proposed poll is formatted properly and the changes are clear
  • For amendments to the code of laws the judiciary shall ensure a correct poll format and they shall ensure that the proposed amendment does not contradict with the constitution
  • At least two justices must approve of the proposed poll before it shall be polled
  • Upon approval the Chief Justice shall post the proposed poll, in his/her absence another member of the judiciary will post the poll
Recalls
  • Any citizen may post a thread calling for the recall of an elected official
  • If two additional citizens concur with the recall within 24 hours a recall poll will be posted
  • The Chief Justice, or in his recall or absence the Judge Advocate, shall post a recall poll in accordance with the constitution
  • A 2/3rds vote, ignoring abstains, shall be required to remove the official from office with half the census voting
  • An official may not be recalled more than once per seven days
Absence Investigation
  • If an elected official has not posted in the Demo Game forums for 7 days any citizen may request that the judiciary investigate
  • A request to investigate may be posted in the judiciary thread or private messaged to a justice of the court
  • The justices will send a private message to the individual
  • If the justices do not receive a response from the official within a reasonable time a majority vote of the justices will suffice to declare the office vacant
  • If the elected official in question is required for time sensitive items the judiciary may skip the private message and declare the office vacant if the official has not posted in the Demo Game forums in seven days
 
Court Docket
JR1
Requested By: Lord Civius
Pertaining: Constitution Article A
Question: Does the AADP constitute a political party and therefore be banned?
Status: The AADP does not constitute a political party.

AR1
Requested By: Cyc
Pertaining: CoL Amendment Review
Status: Proposed poll found valid
 
My proposed judicial procedures have been posted. Please take a look through them and let me know what you think because I drafted these from scratch.
 
Wow! They are quite detailed and very well worded. On reading them once I also find them sensible and convincing. I was just wondering whether we need all these precautions. In the last demogame I played, we had nothing of the sort IIRC. But that was a little more than six years ago.

Good work, Black_Hole! :goodjob:
 
Yes, excellent work, Black_Hole. We might want to mention here that the procedures are in limbo until the Public Defener and the Judge Advocate approve them. Well two of three of the Judiciary anyway. You might find a better way to word that. :)
 
Well I believe we have waited long enough for public comment, so I will vote for approval of these judicial procedures. We have now reached a 2/3rds quorum and the above procedures are now official.
 
Hmm. As Chief Justice, when would you say the Judge Advocate is absent from the position? I'd hate to bounce anyone so quickly, but rules are rules.
 
Hmm. As Chief Justice, when would you say the Judge Advocate is absent from the position? I'd hate to bounce anyone so quickly, but rules are rules.
Constitutionally his office cannot be declared vacant unless he has not posted in the demogame forums for seven days. His last post in these forums was March 2nd (5 days ago). I will make another attempt to contact him and then we will determine the next course of action in two days.

However there appears to be a constitutional difference between absence and vacant, in his absence I am allowed to appoint (with presidential approval) a pro tem justice, however at the current time there is no need to do so, since there are no issues before the court.
 
I think as a precaution we elect (or choose) some one else. He might just come back when the game starts. If so then he should become the JA when he returns. Otherwise the other person chosen should take over. He seems to be famed for long absenses- He joined in 2005, and has only posted 15 times :D
 
Absence Investigation of Darkwish
By a 2-0 vote, Darkwish has been declared vacant from his office of Judge Advocate.
 
Can I get a reclarifiction, please. That would either be declaring Darkwish absent from his office, or declaring the office of the Judge Advocate vacant. Or is this a morphing decision.
 
Can I get a reclarifiction, please. That would either be declaring Darkwish absent from his office, or declaring the office of the Judge Advocate vacant. Or is this a morphing decision.
The office of judge advocate has been ruled vacant.
 
Top Bottom