GL-2 - An Act On Regional Court Establishment

Passed with a 10-0 vote on
7/15/23 | 15/7/23
Authored by Yodle
Contributions from New United Common-lands

WHEREAS with the absence of an enforceable regional constitution, there is a pressing need for a functional judicial branch in The Region That Has No Big Banks to adjudicate criminal and civil laws; THEREFORE this piece of legislation intends to establish a Regional Court system in order to fulfill these functions without bias or conflicts of interest,

This Parliamentary Assembly hereby enacts in Regional Law,

Section I. Defining the following terminology for this legislation and any future legislation:

1. ‘TRTHNBB’ as an acronym for ‘The Region That Has No Big Banks,’ and may be used as a replacement for such,

2. ‘Justice of the Court,’ or ‘Justice,’ as a sitting, appointed member of the Regional Court,

3. ‘Chief Justice,’ as the lead Justice in the Regional Court,

4. ‘Judicial Nominee’ as a current resident of TRTHNBB who the Prime Minister has nominated to fill a seat on the Regional Court,

5. ‘Nomination Act,’ as a piece of legislation that introduces an appointment nominee to be voted on by the Parliament,

6. ‘Lifetime Appointment,’ as an appointment that lasts as long as the original nation exists in-game or until they are impeached or decide to retire,

7. ‘Residency,’ as not correlate directly to the Residency statistic, but rather the continual presence as a member of the community which is easily recognized as such by the general community,

8. ‘Intra-Regional Executive Office,’ as any elected position within the executive branch of the TRTHNBB government (does not cover Members of Parliament),

9. ‘Judicial Code of Conduct,’ as a set of rules or guidelines set by the acting Chief Justice,

10. ‘Subpoena,’ as a mandatory court order which seeks witness testimony or evidence in direct relation to an ongoing legal complaint or inquiry,

11. ‘Injunction,’ as a court order which requires an individual or organization to refrain from an activity, perform a necessary activity, or punish a party due to non-cooperation in official Court matters,

12. ‘Precedence,’ as previous decisions by the Court which, if similar occasions occur in the future, may result in the Court making a default ruling based on previous cases,

13. ‘Articles of Impeachment,’ as a piece of legislation that states, in appropriate detail, each act of wrongdoing or circumstantial situation which requires the removal of that Justice from the Court.

Section II. Nomination Process

In order for a future Justice, which will serve a lifetime appointment, to be nominated to the Regional Court, they must first satisfy the following criteria:

1. Held Residency in TRTHNBB for 365 days or longer,

2. Held a position in an elected intra-regional executive office for one full term or has served as a Member of Parliament and produced more than four successfully passed pieces of legislation,

3. Must relinquish any intra-regional executive office held if nominated mid-term, and will be barred from running for intra-regional elected office while still actively serving on the court,

4. Must attest that they will abide by the Judicial Code of Conduct as it stands at the time of nomination,

Once an eligible nominee has been identified and chosen, the Prime Minister must compose a Nomination Act and present it to the rest of Parliament. There must be an open discussion period of 72 hours in which public discussion of the nominee is designated. Should the waiting period pass and there is no retraction of the nomination, the Parliament shall take a week-long vote and must come back with a 3/4th majority (75%) in order for the nomination to be finalized and the Justice seated.

The nomination of a Chief Justice will go through the same legislative procedure and must be the first nominated position that the Parliament puts forward in order to establish the necessary structure and precedent going forward.

Section III. Structure of the Regional Court

The structure of the Regional Court shall consist of two (2) Justices and one (1) Chief Justice. The Chief Justice will be the head figure in charge of taking in new cases and overseeing that trials go through smoothly. Should the Chief Justice be on a leave of absence at any point, they may appoint one of the other Justices to fulfill their responsibilities until they return.

Should there only be one (1) Justice serving, they will automatically take the place of Chief Justice and will be in charge of unilateral decision-making in cases. Should there be two (2) or a maximum of three serving Justices, all must come to a unilateral or compromised agreement on the cases being covered. If no such a compromise can be reached, the decision will be kicked back down to the Administration to vote amongst themselves on.

All judicial records must be made public and available to residents and expatriates either through direct request or through the eventual publishing of dedicated judicial dispatches. It is the responsibility of the Chief Justice to collaborate with colleagues and the Executive Branch to accomplish this.

Section IV. Duties of the Regional Court

The Regional Court is tasked with the adjudication of all legal complaints regarding regional laws, civil and criminal. They must hear any complaint brought to them by a current resident of the region, any expatriate of the region, or by the Regional Government itself. Should a complaint have no basis in existing regional laws, norms, or legal precedent, the Court may dismiss it or choose to issue recommendations to the parties involved.

If no legal complaint is filed from any parties about a public transgression, the Court may issue an official inquiry into the matter. However, if no willing parties choose to file a legal complaint after such an inquiry is established, the Court shall not interfere further.

The Court must publish official documentation after the conclusion of all inquiries, trials, and other significant occurrences involving the business of the Court.

Apart from adjudicating legal complaints, over time the Court is tasked with creating an educational program to teach interested parties about existing regional legal codes and how to make a legal complaint. Such a program must be publicly advertised to the region and be available to residents and expatriates who seek it.

Section V. Powers of the Regional Court

The Regional Court, in an effort to accomplish the duties laid out, is granted the following powers to be used within legal justification, as needed:

1. May subpoena residents, government officials, and, in unique circumstances, expatriates or foreigners in regard to a public inquiry, trial, or other related legal matters which involve the business of the Court. The subpoena must detail the individual or organization in question, a time frame for the desired response, the general information which the Court is seeking from it, and the consequences if the subpoenaed individual or organization fails to respond in the time mandated. Consequences for defying a subpoena may include the use of Court Injunctions, default judgments in favor of the opposing party, and in extreme cases may warrant the barring of holding public office again in the region.

2. May issue injunctions during the course of an inquiry, trial, or other related legal matters in order to achieve a stated goal or prevent further actions which interfere with ongoing processes or related matters. Injunctions require a legal justification and must only be as severe as is reasonable within the ongoing circumstances. Failure to comply with a Court Injunction can result in a loss of the legal case, further injunctions, or simply losing credibility with the legal system in the region.

3. May require parties in ongoing legal matters to produce evidence, justifications for actions, and any other reasonable legal request which may come up during the course of Court business. Failure to comply with a reasonable request from the Court can result in the issuance of injunctions or the dismissal of the case, dependent upon the nature and circumstances of the legal complaint.

4. In an effort to streamline legal proceedings over time, may establish precedence in cases that are legally simple and commonplace. Once precedence has been established by the Court, future cases which are applicable will have default decisions made for them unless an argument is made which demonstrates that the case is not applicable.

5. May issue recommendations wherever applicable if the Court’s jurisdiction does not cover the issue being adjudicated. Such recommendations may be used as evidence for future legal complaints. May also defer decisions to the Executive Branch if the Court feels that such matters are better adjudicated with that branch of government.

6. May render active legislation unactionable if, during the course of a legal matter or as a result of a decision made in a trial, the legislation is shown to break established legal precedent, be ruled as unconstitutional, or if acting on the law would interfere with ongoing legal matters regarding that law.

Section VI. Impeachment of a Justice

In the event that a Justice of the Court ceases to exist in-game, becomes inactive long-term without prior notice given, or acts in a manner that is antithetical to the ideals stated in the Judicial Code of Conduct, they may be impeached by the Parliament. Such Impeachment must come in the form of Articles of Impeachment which must be passed with a 3/4th (75%) vote in favor. After such articles are passed with a satisfactory majority, another vote with all nations in the region allowed to vote must then pass with another 3/4th majority. If this proceeds and is successfully passed, then the Justice will be removed from the Court effective immediately.

The exception to this rule is if the Justice has Ceased to Exist, in which case no second vote with the entire region is required and they will be removed effective immediately after the Parliament passes the measure.