View Topic

Okay you two, get a room so Moot can lock you both inside and have his way. 

No.

So I recently went through and changed some things...

So does anyone have any comments on this before I move forward with this and bring it to the UH for debate?

So I fixed grammar in the first spoiler and noted the changes in the second spoiler below. Also, in real life trials, the Plaintiff goes before the Defendant, and the title reflects such.

Edited Act

Title
1. This shall be titled the Judicial Procedures Act.

Procedure
2. Judicial Procedure shall be divided up into 4 phases: Selection of Justices, Pre-Trial, Trial, and Verdict.
3. All Procedure shall begin upon the Justices being selected.
4. All cases shall be Named to the following Procedure: [Plaintiff] v. [Defendant] - ([Justices]).
5. All cases regarding the legality of laws or actions taken by the government shall name Wintreath as the Defendant, and the Monarch, or his/her designee, shall represent Wintreath.

Selection of Justices
6. Justices shall be selected according to the procedure defined within the Fundamental Laws. Should there be no procedure, then the Monarch shall select at random a Peer of the Overhusen and two Skrifa of the Underhusen to serve as Justices in a judicial panel, provided the selected person is not the Plaintiff or Defendant. The Peer shall serve as Chief Justice, and the Skrifa shall serve as Associate Justices. The Monarch is ineligible to serve on judicial panels.

7. Upon all Justices being selected, each Justice shall state that they have been informed and are able to serve within three (3) days. Should said person not respond, a new Justice must be selected. Should a Justice have a conflict of interest, they must declare such. A Justice may recuse himself/herself if said Justice is unable or unwilling to serve impartially. Upon recusal, a new Justice shall be selected from the pool of remaining people. Should there be no one to fill the space, the Justice is still to serve on the case, but they are not allowed to vote in the final decision except to break a tie.

8. This phase shall end upon all Justices being selected and the completion of the procedure above.

Pre-Trial Phase
9. Upon the start of this phase, the Plaintiff and the Defendant shall be informed of the start of the trial. The Chief Justice must create an area for the Plaintiff and the Defendant to make any pre-trial motions and to declare any changes in legal counsel.

10. During this time, either party to the Case may petition the Court for the following motions, which shall have the effects prescribed:
   (a). Motion to Dismiss with Prejudice: Dismisses the Case and bars the Plaintiff to refile the case.
   (b). Motion to Dismiss without Prejudice: Dismisses the Case, but allows the Plaintiff to refile at a later date.
   (c). Motion to Amend Complaint: The Plaintiff, upon filing, must include the changes to be applied to the Complaint. Upon acceptance, the Complaint is officially amended to include the changes.
   (d). Motion to Dismiss Defendant: If there are multiple defendants named, then either the Plaintiff or Defense may file this motion to remove one or more Defendants from the Case. There must be at least one Defendant left upon the acceptance of this motion, otherwise a Motion to Dismiss must be filed.
   (e). Motion to Dismiss Justice: Dismisses a Justice, and a new one shall be selected, if possible, following the procedure within the Selection Phase. This shall only be accepted if the Justice is revealed to have a conflict of interest that they failed to disclose.
   (f). Motion to Dismiss Evidence: Renders certain evidence inadmissible. Shall be granted if the evidence is illegally obtained, not related to the case at hand, or too personal to be classified.
   (g). Motion to Classify Evidence: Renders certain evidence classified so that it shall be only given to the Justices and the parties to the Case. This shall only be granted if said information contains Extremely Private or Personal information such as IP addresses, images of a person that are not public, personal chat logs, actual names, and anything else the justices feel should be classified. Said evidence shall be considered classified and kept from the general public and may not be declassified except through an act of the Storting with the assent of the Monarch and the involved parties.
   (h). Motion to Extend: Extends the time of this period by twelve (12) hours.

11. Acceptance of motions shall follow the voting procedure necessary for the Verdict Phase.

12. This phase shall last for at least forty-eight (48) hours from the opening of the area, provided no extensions are granted, or until both the Plaintiff and the Defendant both state they are ready, whichever comes first.

Trial Phase
13. Upon the end of the Pre-Trial phase, the Trial Phase shall begin. This phase shall occur within the same open area as the Pre-Trial phase occurred in.

14. For cases involving Criminal Acts, as defined in the Criminal Code of Laws or any other law with an act explicitly deemed criminal, the Trial Phase shall have the following order:
   (a). Plaintiff's Opening Arguments
   (b). Defense's Opening Arguments
   (c). Plaintiff's Witnesses
   (d). Cross-Examination
   (e). Defense's Witnesses
   (f). Cross-Examination
   (g). Plaintiff's Closing Arguments
   (h). Defense's Closing Arguments

15. For all other cases, the Trial Phase shall have the following order:
   (a). Plaintiff's Opening Arguments
   (b). Defense's Opening Arguments
   (c). Response by Plaintiff
   (d). Response by Defense
   (f). Plaintiff's Closing Arguments
   (g). Defense's Closing Arguments

16. Each section of the phase must last at least twelve (12) hours and no more than forty-eight (48) hours.

17. Opening Arguments shall be used for that side to present evidence and to make their arguments.

18. Witnesses shall be called en-mass and may be questioned first by the side calling and then by the other side during cross-examination. Witnesses are to be considered on the stand until the calling of the opposing witnesses.

19. Closing Arguments shall be made to close a side's case.

20. Responses shall be used in order to rebut any arguments previously made by the opposing side.

21. The following motions are to be allowed at any time in this phase:
   (a). Motion to Strike Testimony from the Record: Said testimony or answer shall not be considered during the Verdict Phase.
   (b). Motion to Dismiss with Prejudice: See Section 12(a).
   (c). Motion to Change Counsel: Allows either side to change to a new legal counsel or to remove their legal counsel and represent themselves.
   (d). Motion to Extend: Extends the time of this period by twelve (12) hours unless the time limit would be exceeded.

22. Upon the conclusion of this phase, the Justices shall go into their chambers and deliberate.

Verdict Phase
23. Upon the start of this phase, the Justices shall consider in a private area the facts of the case, any evidence or testimony given, and any Amicus Briefs filed.

24. After forty-eight (48) hours since the start of this phase or upon the agreement of the Justices, a vote between the three Justices shall begin.

25. Criminal Cases shall have the following votes:
   (a). Guilty: The Defense is guilty of the charge or is guilty of a lesser charge. If there is a lesser charge, then the vote must be: Guilty of [lesser charge].
   (b). Not Guilty: The Defense is not guilty of the charge.
   (c). Abstain: The Justice either can not decide or has previously recused themselves.

26. Non-Criminal Cases shall have the following votes:
   (a). Side with Plaintiff: The Justice sides with the Plaintiff. This may be elaborated upon by the Justice.
   (b). Side with Defense: The Justice sides with the Defense. This may be elaborated upon by the Justice.
   (c). Abstain: The Judge either can not decide or has previously recused themselves.

27. For Motions, the following votes shall be done:
   (a). Accept Motion: If in the Majority, the motion shall be accepted.
   (b). Deny Motion: If in the Majority, the motion shall be denied.
   (c). Abstain: The Justice has previously recused themselves.

28. Upon the votes being counted, if two-thirds of the Justices voted the same way, then that shall be considered the verdict. Should a criminal case be the matter at hand, the Justices shall then debate and arrive at a sentence which shall be delivered by the Chief Justice if they are in the Majority or by one of the Associate Justices if the Chief Justice is in the Minority. Guilty votes and Guilty of a Lesser Charge votes shall be counted separately. The decision of a Motion shall be delivered by the Chief Justice.

29. After forty-eight (48) hours of voting, if all Justices have cast their vote and no majority is reached, the Chief Justice must declare a mistrial, and the trial shall begin anew with new Justices. No Justice that previously served on the case will be allowed to sit on the new judicial panel.

30. The discussions of the Justices during this phase shall be classified for one (1) year after the conclusion of this phase. This may be declassified upon the assent of all Justices and the assent of the Monarch.

Legal Counsel
31. Should either the Plaintiff or Defendant have legal counsel representing them, then for the purposes of procedure, the terms "Plaintiff" and "Defendant" shall refer to the counsel of that side.

Amicus Briefs
32. Filing of Amicus Briefs by interested parties shall be done in a separate area and shall be titled: Amicus Brief - [Case Name] - [Writer(s)].

Repeal
33. The Judicial Offices Act shall be considered repealed upon the passing of this legislation.

Change Notes

1. Added a period at the end.
4. Changed to "[Plaintiff] v. [Defendant]", and added a period.
5. Added a comma after "Defendant".
6. Added a comma after second "procedure", removed period after "select", removed comma after "random", changed "judges" to "justices", changed "plaintiff/defendant" to "Plaintiff or Defendant", made "Chief Justices" singular.
7. Capitalized "justice", added comma after "respond", added period after "selected", changed "the" to "a" in third sentence, added comma after "interest", changed "himself or herself" to "himself/herself", removed commas around "or unwilling", added comma after "recusal", added comma after "space", capitalized "justice", changed "is" to "they are", removed comma before "except".
8. Added a period.
9. Added comma after "phase". Switched "Plaintiff" and "Defendant" both times.
10. Added comma after "time", capitalized "Case", capitalized "Court", added comma before "which". Fixed indentation to match following sections.
10c. Added comma after "acceptance", added "t" to "Complain.
10d. Added comma after "named", switched "Plaintiff" and "Defense", removed commas around "or more", capitalized "case".
10e. Changed "Judge" to "Justice", changed "Shall dismiss a judge" to "Dismisses a Justice", changed "Judge to "Justice".
10f. Changed "Shall render" to "Renders", removed "if it is".
10g. Changed "Shall render" to "Renders", changed "and" to "so that it", capitalized "case".
11. Added period.
12. Switched "Plaintiff" and "Defendant", removed second "both", removed extra line after this section.
13. Changed "as" to "that", capitalized "Pre-trial" both times.
14. Capitalized "trial phase", switched Plaintiff and Defense all times.
15. Added comma after "cases", changed "this phase" to "the Trial Phase", switched Plaintiff and Defense all times, changed "Closing Arguments of the Plaintiff" to "Plaintiff's Closing Arguments" and same for Defense.
18. Removed commas.
19. Capitalized "Arguments".
20. Added period.
21b. Changed "12(a)" to "10(a)".
21c. Deapitalized "Counsel", changed colon to period.
21d. Changed "This shall extend a time period" to "Extends the time of this period" to match 10(h).
22. Decapitalized "Phase", added comma after "phase", changed "Judges" to "Justices", added period, added extra line after this section.
23. Added comma after "phase", changed "judges" to "Justices", removed commas around "in a private area", decapitalized "Filed".
24. Capitalized "Justices" both times, removed comma after "phase".
25 and 26. Changed hyphens to colons.
25a. Changed "actions" to "charge", removed comma after "actions", added comma after "charge", changed "the Judge must vote" to "the vote must be".
25b. Changed "actions" to "charge", added period.
25c. Changed "judge" to "Justice".
26. Capitalized "Non-criminal cases", switched sections a and b.
26a. Changed "judge" to "Justice" both times, changed "defense" to "the Defense".
26b. Changed "Judge" to "Justice" both times.
27. Capitalized "motions", added comma after "motions".
27a. Added period, capitalized "majority".
27b. Capitalized "majority".
27c. Changed "judge" to "Justice".
28. Added comma after "counted", changed "2/3rds" to "two-thirds", changed "vote" to "voted", added comma after "way", added comma after "hand", changed "should they be" to "if they are", removed commas after "Justice" and "Majority", added "by" after "or", changed "associate judges" to "Associate Justices", changed third sentence, capitalized "Motion" and "Justice".
29. Changed "judges" to "Justices", added comma after "reached", added comma after "mistrial", removed comma after "anew", added "judicial" before panel.
31. Switched "Plaintiff" and "Defendant" both times, removed second "the", added quotations around  "Plaintiff" and "Defendant".
32. Added period.
33. Made "repeal" past tense, added period.

Thanks-you

I've adopted the changes @Gerrick proposed. I've also gone ahead and introduced this into the Underhusen for debate.

I've adopted the changes @Gerrick proposed. I've also gone ahead and introduced this into the Underhusen for debate.

Your three acts, introduced separately, do not immediately appear maliciously intended, but viewed together, it would appear that your acts would discreetly transfer considerable power away from the monarchy and into the Underhusen.  Now, in the real world this may not be a bad thing, but in NationStates, I have observed that the more power a legislature has, the more drama there is in the region, now these two things may not have a causal effect, they certainly are correlated.  Now if we amend your acts to omit the pervasive anti-monarchy sentiments, I may feel more inclined to support these measures but presently, apart from the Judicial Procedure Act, which I don't believe is anything other than a judicial overhaul, I cannot support these acts and urge the Underhusen to strike the anti-monarchy passages before considering the new bills. 

I've adopted the changes @Gerrick proposed. I've also gone ahead and introduced this into the Underhusen for debate.

Your three acts, introduced separately, do not immediately appear maliciously intended, but viewed together, it would appear that your acts would discreetly transfer considerable power away from the monarchy and into the Underhusen.  Now, in the real world this may not be a bad thing, but in NationStates, I have observed that the more power a legislature has, the more drama there is in the region, now these two things may not have a causal effect, they certainly are correlated.  Now if we amend your acts to omit the pervasive anti-monarchy sentiments, I may feel more inclined to support these measures but presently, apart from the Judicial Procedure Act, which I don't believe is anything other than a judicial overhaul, I cannot support these acts and urge the Underhusen to strike the anti-monarchy passages before considering the new bills.

There aren't any explicit anti-monarchy sentiments here. Unless you are referring to the Judicial Selection Procedure, which is merely what is currently in the Fundamental Laws now, except with it's grammar and spelling mistakes fixed. Unless you are talking about 7.3, which is removed because it doesn't belong in that area of the law, and also because it doesn't fit with the procedures I have introduced.

The Fundamental Laws Amendment, merely moves some powers into the Judiciary from the Legislature itself. It doesn't touch the Monarch's powers at all.

The Revisions to the Code of Criminal Laws merely remove things that either shouldn't have been in there (anything covering Judicial Procedures should have gone in the Judicial Offices Act, where it would be much more appropriate.), or removed things that I just had issues with the original wording of and wanted to rewrite, but couldn't figure out a way to word it, in order to better address the intent of the section,  without being too broad (which it was, in my opinion).