Constitution as amended

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Publius Crabgrass
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Constitution as amended

Post by Publius Crabgrass »

I've been trying to compile the CDS Constitution as amended (no red obsolete text) and wanted to post what I have in case anyone wants to make corrections before I put this on the wiki.

[quote="CDS Constitution":1nwvcy6j]
Constitution of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators

[i:1nwvcy6j][ed. note: this version of the Constitution reflects all amendments except for Amendment 11 (as further amended by Amendments 12 and 14) which is included at the end of the document] [/i:1nwvcy6j]

Preamble

All branches of the government are bound to serve the public before themselves and to uphold the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, Founding Philosophy, Constitution, local laws, the SL ToS, and Community Standards without exception.

Article I - The Representative Branch

Section 1 - The Representative Assembly

The Representative Assembly (RA) is a body of democratically elected factions which represent different ideological views of its citizens. Its governmental role is to pass laws and its service role is to promote the city and perform long-term planning.

Section 2 - The Representative Assembly Body

Representative seats are chosen by means of the Sainte-Laguë method using scores generated by Borda-count ranked votes cast by citizens.

The number of representative seats in the RA is equal to the odd whole number nearest to 10% of the population, rounded down, with a minimum of five seats and a maximum of fourty seats.

Each faction controls their seats and may replace members or fill seats due to vacancies as they see fit. Each seat receives a single vote.
The Representative Assembly shall serve for a term of six months. New RAs shall take office on 1 February and 1 August. Elections shall be held over a 168 hour period beginning at noon SLT on the Saturday before the 16th of the month prior to the new RAs taking office. In the event of a server outage which prevents citizens from casting ballots and which lasts more than 12 hours, the Dean of the SC has the authority to adjust or extend the election schedule.

Section 3 - The Representative Assembly Leader

The Leader of the RA is the head of the faction which receives the highest Borda Count score. In the event of a Borda count tie between two or more factions, the tie will be broken by one (in the event of a two way tie) or more (in the case of a three or more way tie) best of three games of Rock,Paper, Scissors among the faction heads/founders. The games shall be overseen by the dean of the SC, who shall be the custodian of the official city RPS device.

Section 4 - Proceedings

The RA will convene at least once per fortnight. The RA may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior and with the concurrence of two-thirds expel a disruptive member from a session.

Section 5 - Journal

The RA shall keep and publish a journal of its proceedings. The individual votes of RA members shall be entered in the journal. Parts of the journal that are deemed secret by a 2/3 majority and
with concurrence of the Philosophic branch will not be published. Secret journal entries may only be deemed secret if they prevent the exploitation of the city and citizens from external threats. All secret journal entries will have an expiration date at which time they will be voted upon again by the RA and verified as constitutional by the Philosophic branch.

Section 6 - Legislative Process and Veto

A vote in the RA is a simple majority vote of representative seats. Constitutional amendments require a 2/3 vote.

Final ratification of law is performed by the Philosophic branch, which can veto a bill or resubmit a modified bill for vote, if it conflicts with the Constitution.

The Artisanal branch may veto a revenue bill or resubmit a modified revenue bill for vote.

Section 7 - Powers of the RA

In regards to the Artisanal branch:

The RA sets taxation rate and the city budget.

The RA can seek impeachment of members of the Artisanal branch for failing to support the city fiscally.

The RA can override an Artisanal veto with a 2/3 vote

In regards to the Philosophic branch:

The RA provides a vote of confidence on candidates to the Philosophic branch. This vote is in regards to their perceived likelihood to uphold the constitution.

The RA can amend the constitution with a 2/3 vote.

The RA can seek impeachment of members of the Philosophic branch by initiating an impeachment hearing.

The Representative Assembly may vote by simple majority: –

(a) to commence impeachment proceedings against the Chair of the Judiciary Commission or any Judge of Common Jurisdiction (including the Chief Judge of Common Jurisdiction) before the Court of Scientific Council, on any of the grounds on which the Chief Judge of Common Jurisdiction may do so; and

(b) to appoint a member of the Representative Assembly to conduct those proceedings on behalf of the Representative Assembly before the Court of Scientific Council.
Section 8 - Limits on the RA

No member of the RA may engage in what might be considered a conflict of interest such as accepting money or favors from individuals or special-interest groups.

All changes to the rate of compensation for the RA, SC, Chancellor or Guildmaster shall take effect at the start of the term of the Assembly subsequent to the term in which the determination is made.

Article II - The Artisanal Branch

Section 1 - Artisanal Collective

The Artisanal Collective (AC) is group of productive citizens who provide revenue through sales and infrastructure support. Its governmental role is to act as treasury and its service role
is to provide goods and infrastructure.

Section 2 - Artisanal Collective Body

The AC is open to all participant citizens provided they create goods and/or services for the city. The collective is a four-tier system of apprentices, journeymen, masters, and a guild master. Site specific names may be substituted provided roles remain the same.

Section 3 - Artisanal Collective Leader

Every election cycle the AC leader or guild master is chosen from the pool of masters. A vote using scores generated by Borda-count ranked votes are employed.

Section 4 - Powers of the AC

In regards to the Representative branch:

The leader of the AC may veto a revenue bill or resubmit a modified revenue bill for vote.

The leader of the AC can call an emergency session of the Representative branch.

The AC can seek impeachment of members of the Representative branch for failing to act with fiscal responsibility.

In regards to Philosophic branch:

The Leader of the AC provides a vote of confidence on candidates to the Philosophic branch. This vote is in regards to their perceived likelihood to uphold the constitution.

The Leader of the AC can seek impeachment of members of the Philosophic branch for failing to uphold the constitution.

With respect to the judiciary:

1. The Artisanal Collective may bring impeachment proceedings against the Chair of the Judiciary Commission on the ground of gross fiscal imprudence.

Section 5 - Limitations of the AC

All goods produced by members of the AC remain property of the citizens and must remain with them if a member departs.

Removal of an artisan of any rank can be achieved with a 2/3 vote of all members of the AC for any actions which endangers the goods or infrastructure of the organization.

Article III - The Philosophic Branch

Section 1 - The Scientific Council

The Scientific Council (SC) is a self-selected meritocracy. Its governmental role is to interpret and enforce the constitution. Its service roll [i:1nwvcy6j][ed. note: sic] [/i:1nwvcy6j]is to resolve citizen disputes and moderate user forums and events.

Section 2 - The Scientific Council Body

The SC is comprised of Professors, Chairs, and a single SC Dean. Professors are chosen at the recommendation of current members based on demonstrated skill and desire to uphold the constitution without bias. Chairs are nominated by the Dean and approved by a simple majority vote. There are a maximum of nine Chairs available, with the Dean receiving one. Members of the SC can be voted out with a 2/3 majority.

Section 3 - The Scientific Council Leader

The Dean is elected by a simple majority vote of all members.

Section 4 - Proceedings

The SC will convene at least once per month. The SC may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior and with the concurrence of two-thirds expel a member from a session.

Section 5 - Journal

The SC shall keep and publish a journal of its proceedings. All individual votes of the members of the SC on any question shall always be entered in the journal, along with a statement regarding
their personal philosophy on a given vote.

Section 6 - Ratification of bills passed by the Representative Assembly

Chairs of the SC will ratify bills passed by the Representative Assembly by simple majority vote and may resubmit the bill with modifications for vote.

Section 7 - The Court of Scientific Council

1. The Scientific Council shall sit as a court when it exercises, or is considering whether to exercise, its power: –

(a) to impeach any person; or

(b) to allow any appeal from any Court of Common Jurisdiction.

2. When the Scientific Council sits as a court, it shall be known as "The Court of Scientific Council".

3. Subject to Section 6 below, when sitting as a court, the Scientific Council shall be presided over by an odd number of judges greater in number than one, each of whom shall be members of the Scientific Council, not also being Judges of Common Jurisdiction or the Chair of the Judiciary Commission.

4. The Dean of the Scientific Council shall determine which members of the Scientific Council sit as judges in any trial or other hearing before the Court of Scientific Council.

5. Where not all Judges of the Court of Scientific Council agree on a judgment in any proceedings before it, the judgment of the Court shall be that agreed upon by a simple majority of those judges presiding over those proceedings.

6. When any person bringing impeachment proceedings against any member of the Scientific Council so requires, the impeachment proceedings shall be presided over by one or more (and if more, and odd number of) Judges of Common Jurisdiction, not being members of the Scientific Council, who shall, for the purposes only of those proceedings, exercise all and only the powers exercisable by judges of the Court of Scientific Council.

7. The Scientific Council, when sitting as a court, shall be bound to conclude that any duly ratified Act of the Representative Assembly is constitutional and has binding effect.

8. All trials and other hearings before the Scientific Council when sitting as a court shall be held in public, and, subject to sections 9 and 10 below, any person (whether or not a citizen of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators) shall be entitled to observe the entirety of such proceedings.

9. The Court of Scientific Council shall have the same powers as Courts of Common Jurisdiction as is conferred by Article VII, section 9(e) of this Constitution (persons misbehaving in court).

10. Section 8 above is subject to any rule of law whereby a person who is to be a witness in any judicial proceedings may be excluded from those proceedings, and prohibited from receiving information about the course of those proceedings, until he or she has completed giving her or his evidence, provided always that, at the conclusion of the proceedings, any such person shall have the opportunity to access a full transcript of the whole of the proceedings.

11. The Court of Scientific Council shall sit without a jury.

12. The Court of Scientific Council shall have the power to make such orders as is necessary for the exercise of the powers conferred upon it by this Constitution or any duly ratified Act of the Representative Assembly.

13. Subject to any provision in this Constitution, and any duly ratified Act of the Representative Assembly, the Court of Scientific Council shall have inherent jurisdiction to govern its own proceedings.

14. The Dean of the Scientific Council shall have the power to issue general directions concerning procedure in Scientific Council, when sitting as a court and otherwise, which shall, subject to any contrary provision in the Constitution or any duly ratified Act of the Representative Assembly, have the force of law.

Section 8 - Powers of the SC

Members of the Philosophic branch are not bound by a strict literal interpretation of the Bill of Rights, Founding Philosophy, Constitution, or the strict adherence to legal precedence. Rather members of the SC are required to draw upon their individual fields of expertise to solve complex social issues.

In regards to the Representative branch:

The Philosophic branch may veto or rewrite and resubmit a bill or constitutional amendment if it is in violation of any of the founding documents.

The SC can seek impeachment of members of the Representative branch for violating the constitution or acting illegally.

In regards to the Artisanal branch:

The SC can seek impeachment of members of the Artisanal branch for violating the constitution or acting illegally.

With respect to the judiciary:

1. The Scientific Council, when sitting as a court, may hear and determine an appeal from any superior Court of Common Jurisdiction (or any inferior Court of Common Jurisdiction if no superior Court of Common Jurisdiction will entertain an appeal on the matter), and either uphold or overturn the decision (or any part thereof) from which the appeal is made, but only on the grounds both that the Court of Common Jurisdiction from which the appeal is sought: –

(a) acted in the proceedings out of which the appeal arises outside its jurisdiction as conferred by the text of this Constitution; and

(b) that, by so doing, whether wholly or in part, incorrectly determined any issue in dispute between any parties to those proceedings (including any question of law necessary to resolve such a dispute).

2. Without prejudice to the specificity of the foregoing, the Scientific Council when sitting as a court shall not in any circumstances have the power to determine any appeal from any Court of Common Jurisdiction only on any or all of the following grounds: –

(a) that the Court of Common Jurisdiction reached the wrong conclusion on any question of fact;

(b) that the Court of Common Jurisdiction wrongly interpreted or applied the common law of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators (except the common law with respect to the jurisdiction of the Courts of Common Jurisdiction);

(c) that the Court of Common Jurisdiction wrongly interpreted or applied any duly ratified Act of the Representative Assembly (except where the Court of Common Jurisdiction expressly purports to disapply any Act of the Representative Assembly); or

(d) that the Court of Common Jurisdiction wrongly interpreted, applied, or disapplied any regulation (or similar) made by any person or body deriving its power to do so from the Representative Assembly, or any person or body who, in turn, derives her, his or its power to do so from the Representative Assembly,

nor shall any of those grounds have any bearing on the outcome of any appeal from any Court of Common Jurisdiction to the Court of Scientific Council.

3. The Scientific Council may vote by simple majority: –

(a) to commence impeachment proceedings against the Chair of the Judiciary Commission or any Judge of Common Jurisdiction (including the Chief Judge of Common Jurisdiction) before the Court of Scientific Council, on any of the grounds on which the Chief Judge of Common Jurisdiction may do so; and

(b) to appoint a member of the Scientific Council to conduct those proceedings on behalf of the Scientific Council before the Court of Scientific Council.

4. At any time when no Judges of Common Jurisdiction hold office in the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, the Scientific Council may determine and publish who shall be qualified to be a Judge of Common Jurisdiction, and that determination shall be deemed to be a determination in accordance with Article VII, Section 4, paragraphs (d) and (e).

Impeachment proceedings

1. Impeachment is an order that a holder of public office cease to hold such public office, or is suspended from such office for any time with or without pay, and/or is disqualified either permanently or for a term certain from holding any or all public office or offices.

2. A person may only be impeached by the Scientific Council, sitting as a court, following a trial in accordance with law.

3. Only persons (or persons acting on behalf of bodies) specified in the text of the Constitution shall have the power to commence impeachment proceedings.

4. Subject to Article IV, Sections 2 and 7 of this Constitution, nothing in this Constitution shall prevent a Court of Common Jurisdiction from banishing any person, even where that person is a holder of public office in the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, and banishment would preclude that person from continuing to hold such public office.

5. When a member of the Scientific Council brings impeachment proceedings, that person shall not sit as a judge of the Court of Scientific Council hearing those proceedings at any stage thereof.

Section 9 - Limitations of the SC

Any member can be voted out with a 2/3 majority.

Article IV - Factions

Section 1 - Requirements

All factions must provide platforms which state their general philosophy and list of goals for the current and next term. Factions exist to promote the discussion of issues. Faction platforms cannot violate or seek to violate the Constitution. Proposed Constitutional amendments may be listed.

Section 2 - The Faction Body

All faction members must be Neualtenburg citizens and must join a special SL group created for the sole purpose of running for seats in the RA. No citizen is required to be part of a faction
and cannot be a member of more than one faction at the same time.

The minimum faction size is equal to three. No later than 15 days prior to the opening of the polls, faction members will report to the SC Dean their willingness or unwillingness to serve in the RA. Members rank individuals in their own faction by means of the Borda count. Individuals will learn their ranks and those winning seats will have their ranks revealed, otherwise all ranks will remain secret. The faction vote will be taken at the same time citizens vote for factions. This ranking is used to select who will receive seats in the RA. If a member retires from the RA, a member with
the next highest ranking in the same faction is takes a seat on the RA.

In the event that a faction, via resignation or impeachment, exhausts its list of eligible RA members drawn up at the previous general election during the course of an RA term:

1) If the faction no longer meets the constitutional requirements or if no members of the faction are willing to serve, there shall be a special election to fill, for the remainder of the term, the seats left vacant.

2) If the faction the list of which is exhausted still meets constitutional requirements as spelled out in Article IV and there are members of that faction, who did not stand in the previous general election, willing to fill the vacated seats, members of the affected faction shall rank those candidates to fill the vacated seats as they do in the general election.

Section 3 - The Faction Leader

Factions are lead by the faction leader (SL group officer) who vouches for all members in public proceedings and is responsible for their proper ethical conduct. Faction leaders are those who
receive the highest ranking in the faction.

Section 4 - Campaigning

Campaigning for factions can be done in-world only by means of unscripted items that are placed in a predetermined central location or by discourse between two avatars directly. No spamming
of any kind is allowed, including the dropping of items on avatars without permission, sending messages by group IM, or by shouting messages to large groups. Only two emails are allowed in a given election by any faction or representative of a faction.

Article V - Election, Term, and Office

Section 1 - Voting Frequency

Officials in the Government are elected for a period of time according to the general principles of democratic rotativity to ensure proper representativity in a changing society, whose
duration will be fixed by the RA by passing appropriate laws. Elections for branches and factions are staggered equally throughout the term and held in the following order: Artisanal branch, Philosophic branch, factions, and Representative branch.

Section 2 - Exclusivity

Citizens may not serve simultaneously in the Representative and Philosophic branch. Members of the Representative Assembly and the Scientific Council may be members of the Artisanal Collective but may not vote nor hold elected positions in the Artisanal branch.

Section 3

No citizen shall be eligible to vote in any election for public office in the Confederation of Democratic Simulators unless he or she has been a citizen for not less than 28 consecutive days immediately before any such election.

Article VI - Citizenship

1. A citizen of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators is a resident of SecondLife who has been granted title to any land by the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, and who holds title under the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, for as long as he or she holds such title.

2. Without prejudice to any rule of law entitling any institution of government to substitute, or empower another person or body to substitute any land held by any citizen for any other land the holding of which would continue to entitle the person whose land has been substituted to be a citizen of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, no citizen shall be deprived of citizenship in the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, nor shall any person, whether a citizen or not, be banished from any public land in the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, without trial in accordance with law, or consent not to be so tried.

3. Section 2 above is subject to any rule of law whereby a person is deemed to have consented not to be tried by having failed within reasonable time to respond or respond fully to any notice sent to that person in respect of any such prospective trial, nor any rule that specifies what shall constitute a reasonable time.

4. Section 2 above shall be without prejudice to any rule of law whereby a person may summarily be banished by any citizen of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators appointed for such a purpose by any duly ratified Act of the Representative Assembly (or by any person or body deriving her his or its power to do so from any such Act), for up to fourteen consecutive days (but without revocation of citizenship or forfeiture of any asset).

5. Section 2 above shall be without prejudice to any rule of law whereby a person may be banished temporarily by Order of a Court of Common Jurisdiction pending such a trial as is mentioned therein (but without revocation of citizenship or forfeiture of any asset).

6. Any citizen may cease to become a citizen by submitting a notice in a form that may be prescribed by any duly ratified Act of the Representative Assembly (or, if no such form is specified, by notifying the Chancellor in writing) seven days in advance of the date on which that person is to cease to be a citizen.

Article VII - The Judiciary

1. There shall be a Judiciary Commission, the chair of which shall be appointed by simple majority vote in the Scientific Council as soon as is practicable after a vacancy arises, and who shall hold office until resignation or successful impeachment, whichever is sooner.

2. The chair of the Judiciary Commission shall have the power: –

(a) to determine procedures by which Judges of Common Jurisdiction may be elected to the Board of the Judiciary Commission;

(b) to determine the total number of Judges of Common Jurisdiction who shall hold office at any given time (which number shall be deemed to be one if no number is determined, or a number less than one is purportedly determined), who shall each hold office until resignation or successful impeachment, whichever is sooner;

(c) subject to any duly ratified Act of the Representative Assembly, and the exercise of any authority delegated thereby, and subject to any contrary proclamation of the Chancellor, to commission and, once commissioned, maintain and administer as many court-houses as the chair shall deem appropriate, for the purposes of holding trials and other judicial hearings, and any other purposes as the chair shall deem appropriate, provided always that neither the Representative Assembly or the Chancellor individually or between shall prohibit the commissioning, construction, maintenance and continued existence and use of at least one court-house;

(d) to expend any monies held by the Judiciary Commission for any purposes connected with the discharge of any of the functions of the Judiciary Commission;

(e) subject to Section 5 below, to employ, for valuable remuneration or otherwise, such deputies and officers, and to delegate to them such functions, as the chair shall deem appropriate;

(f) to provide, or arrange to have provided, advice to citizens who may submit bills to the Representative Assembly, or any official, or delegate of that official, charged with drafting or approving regulations under powers delegated to her or him by the Constitution or any duly ratified Act of the Representative Assembly, concerning the drafting of such legislation or regulations, provided always that the Judiciary Commission shall not provide advice as to the desirability of any policy objective of such legislation or regulations;

(g) to publicise, both within the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, and elsewhere, the judicial system of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, or publicise the Confederation of Democratic Simulators (or any geographic subset thereof) by publicising its judicial system;

(h) to provide, and oversee the provision by others of, education concerning the law and legal system of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, and to issue, or regulate the issue of, qualifications in respect thereof;

(i) to provide advice to other governments and similar institutions in SecondLife and other such virtual worlds concerning the establishment and development of judicial systems therein;

(j) to maintain and publicise a record of all judicial proceedings, precedents and other public official judicial documents, not being documents relating to judicial proceedings in the Scientific Council;

(k) to bring impeachment proceedings against any Judge of Common Jurisdiction, on the grounds only of either or both of (i) gross dereliction of duty, whether culpable or not, but, if not culpable, sustained for at least 28 days; or (ii) bias, corruption, insanity, serious breach of the Code for Judicial Ethics, or any other conduct tending to bring the judiciary of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators into serious disrepute; and

(l) to commence impeachment proceedings against any member of the Public Judiciary Scrutiny Panel before the Court of Scientific Council, on the grounds of gross incompetence, gross dereliction of duty, corruption, or conduct (arising at any time after the member publicly stated an intention to stand for election to the Public Judiciary Scrutiny Panel) tending to undermine the independence or impartiality of the judiciary of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, or appearing so to undermine, where “judicial independence” is the independence of the judiciary from external pressure as to how contested matters in individual cases are decided, or the procedure by which they are decided.

3. Even when not sitting as a Judge of Common Jurisdiction in an individual case or cases, the Chief Judge of Common Jurisdiction shall have the power: –

(a) to determine which Judges of Common Jurisdiction shall hear which cases, or parts thereof;

(b) to issue general directions concerning procedure in Courts of Common Jurisdiction;

(c) to determine which Courts of Common Jurisdiction shall be superior, and which inferior;

(d) to bring impeachment proceedings against the Chair of the Judiciary Commission or any other Judge of Common Jurisdiction, on the grounds only of either or both of (i) gross dereliction of duty, whether culpable or not, but, if not culpable, sustained for at least 28 days; or (ii) bias, corruption, insanity, serious breach of the Code for Judicial Ethics or any other conduct tending to bring the judiciary of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators into serious disrepute, or additionally, in the case of the Chair of the Judiciary Commission, either or both of (i) gross incompetence; or (ii) gross fiscal imprudence; and

(e) to commence impeachment proceedings against any member of the Public Judiciary Scrutiny Panel before the Court of Scientific Council, on the grounds of gross incompetence, gross dereliction of duty, corruption, or conduct (arising at any time after the member publicly stated an intention to stand for election to the Public Judiciary Scrutiny Panel) tending to undermine the independence or impartiality of the judiciary of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, where “judicial independence” is the independence of the judiciary from external pressure as to how contested matters in individual cases are decided, or the procedure by which they are decided, or appearing so to undermine.

4. There shall be a Board of the Judiciary Commission, which shall consist of seven or fewer Judges of Common Jurisdiction (to be appointed by election amongst all Judges of Common Jurisdiction in accordance with any procedure determined in accordance with Section 2 (a) above if there are more than seven Judges of Common Jurisdiction), and which shall have the power: –

(a) to draft and publish a Code of Judicial Ethics, by which all Judges of Common Jurisdiction must abide;

(b) to determine the procedures by which the Code of Judicial Ethics may be enforced;

(c) (i) to commence impeachment proceedings against the Chair of the Judiciary Commission or any Judge of Common Jurisdiction before the Court of Scientific Council, on any of the grounds on which the Chief Judge of Common Jurisdiction may do so, and (ii) to appoint a member of the Board of the Judiciary Commission to conduct those proceedings on behalf of the Board of the Judiciary Commission before the Court of Scientific Council;

(d) (i) to commence impeachment proceedings against any member of the Public Judiciary Scrutiny Panel before the Court of Scientific Council, on the grounds on the grounds of gross incompetence, gross dereliction of duty, corruption, or conduct (arising at any time after the member publicly stated an intention to stand for election to the Public Judiciary Scrutiny Panel) tending to undermine the independence or impartiality of the judiciary of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, where judicial independence is the independence of the judiciary from external pressure as to how contested matters in individual cases are decided, or the procedure by which they are decided, and (ii) to appoint a member of the Board of the Judiciary Commission to conduct those proceedings on behalf of the Board of the Judiciary Commission before the Court of Scientific Council;

(e) to determine and publish a set of requirements of professional judicial ability that any person must meet before he or she may be appointed as a Judge of Common Jurisdiction;

(f) to determine and administer (or delegate the administration of) procedures whereby whether any applicant for judicial office meets the requirements determined in accordance with paragraph (b) above meets those requirements is determined, and publish the results of such determinations;

(g) to determine which Judge of Common Jurisdiction shall be the Chief Judge of Common Jurisdiction (who, once appointed as Chief Judge, shall remain as Chief Judge until resignation, successful impeachment or a formal declaration that he or she no longer wishes to be the Chief Judge); and

(h) to determine and publish internal procedures for discharging any of its powers.

5. Subject to Section 8 below, only Judges of Common Jurisdiction shall preside over proceedings in any trial or other hearing, or deliver any judgment as to the law in any Court of Common Jurisdiction, or otherwise exercise any of the powers of any Court of Common Jurisdiction, save for those powers exercisable by juries, and any power, not exercised during the course of a trial or other hearing, deemed by any Judge of Common Jurisdiction to be administrative in nature, providing always that any party to such proceedings may appeal to a Judge of Common Jurisdiction from any such administrative decision.

6. Subject to Section 8 below, only Judges of Common Jurisdiction or juries empanelled in accordance with law shall deliver any judgment or verdict as to any question of fact in any trial or hearing in any Court of Common Jurisdiction.

7. A person who is a party to any proceedings before any Court of Common Jurisdiction shall not preside over those proceedings as judge or juror, or over any part thereof, or deliver any judgment or verdict in respect of those proceedings.

8. If no Judge of Common Jurisdiction is available to preside over any proceedings in any Court of Common Jurisdiction, either by virtue of Section 7 above, or because there is no Judge of Common Jurisdiction at all who holds office at a time at which a Judge of Common Jurisdiction is required to preside over such proceedings, the Dean of the Scientific Council shall appoint a member of the Scientific Council to act as judge in those proceedings, and that person shall, for the purposes only of the particular proceedings for which he or she is appointed, have all and only the powers in respect of those proceedings as a Judge of Common Jurisdiction.

9. Subject to any powers of the Scientific Council when sitting as a court expressly stated in the text of this Constitution, Courts of Common Jurisdiction, and only Courts of Common Jurisdiction, shall have the power when giving judgment on a disputed matter between two or more parties (who must be residents of SecondLife or bodies corporate, including states, recognised as such by the law of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, but who need not be citizens of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators): –

(a) to make binding determinations of the rights, duties, powers, privileges, immunities, liabilities and disabilities of any or all such parties according to the law of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators;

(b) to make binding determinations of any facts in dispute between any or all such parties, provided that making such determinations are necessary in order to make such a determination as mentioned in paragraph (a) above, or (c) below;

(c) subject to either (i) a party formally accepting, or (ii) a court finding as a fact at a trial held in accordance with law that a party's conduct is culpable, to impose upon that party in respect of that conduct any penalty, including, but not limited to, banishment from any or all territory of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, either permanently or for such shorter period as shall be specified by the court, and forfeiture of any SecondLife asset (including debts and other such duties owed thereto), either immediately or suspended on such conditions as the court may prescribe;

(d) to make any non-penal orders such as to give effect to the rights, duties, powers, privileges, immunities, liabilities and disabilities of any party according to the law of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, including any law relating to judicial procedure, or any other person or body on behalf of whom any party makes any claim, or to give effect to any penalty imposed by any Court of Common Jurisdiction in accordance with paragraph (c) above; and

(e) to order that any person be removed from the court-house at which any trial or any other hearing is being held, or, if he or she refuses so to be removed, banished from the Confederation of Democratic Simulators for the duration of that trial or other hearing (and for up to one hour thereafter) on the ground that that person is disrupting court proceedings, improperly interfering with the administration of justice, or attempting to do so.

10. All trials and other hearings in any Court of Common Jurisdiction shall be held in public, and, subject to section 9(e) above and 11 below, any person (whether or not a citizen of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators) shall be entitled to observe the entirety of such proceedings, a full transcript of which shall be made available to the public at large in perpetuity and without charge.

11. Section 10 above is subject to any rule of law whereby a person who is to be a witness in any judicial proceedings may be excluded from those proceedings, and prohibited from receiving information about the course of those proceedings, until he or she has completed giving her or his evidence, provided always that, at the conclusion of the proceedings, any such person shall have the opportunity to access a full transcript of the whole of the proceedings.

12. When making any binding determination of the rights, duties, powers, privileges, immunities, liabilities and disabilities according to the law of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators of any parties in any proceedings in any Court of Common Jurisdiction, Judges of Common Jurisdiction shall be bound by the following sources of law, each item in the following list
taking precedence over each subsequent item: –

(a) the Constitution (as interpreted by any judgment of the Scientific Council sitting as a court, or of the Scientific Council in any capacity before the passing of the Judiciary Act that sets a precedent);

(b) any duly ratified Act of the Representative Assembly;

(c) any regulations made under any powers delegated, whether directly or indirectly, by any duly ratified Act of the Representative Assembly;

(d) any judgment of the Scientific Council sitting as a court (or of the Scientific Council in any capacity before the passing of the Judiciary Act) that establishes a precedent;

(e) any judgment of any superior Court of Common Jurisdiction that establishes a precedent;

(f) any judgment of any Court of Common Jurisdiction of equal superiority that establishes a precedent; and

(g) any directions or rules issued under Section 3 (c) above,

and where a judgment of the Scientific Council sitting as a court, or any Court of Common Jurisdiction, establishes a precedent as to whether any regulations of the sort mentioned in paragraph (c) above are made in accordance with, or conflict with, any duly ratified Act of the Representative Assembly, that shall take precedence over any contrary regulations.

13. A judgment establishes a precedent where, in order to determine the outcome of the proceedings in respect of which the judgment, or any part thereof, was given the judge or judges who determined such an outcome (and, if, where more than one judge so determines, they disagree, a simple majority of them) reach any conclusion or conclusions regarding the law of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, that conclusion, and the reasoning used in reaching that conclusion, being the precedent set thereby.

14. A Judge of Common Jurisdiction, when delivering any judgment in any proceedings, or part thereof, in any Court of Common Jurisdiction, shall be bound to conclude that any duly ratified Act of the Representative Assembly is constitutional and has binding effect.

15. Nothing in this Constitution shall preclude any procedure whereby a party to proceedings in any inferior Court of Common Jurisdiction may appeal the outcome of such proceedings to any superior Court of Common Jurisdiction, which may allow or dismiss such an appeal in whole or in part.

16. Any Resident of SecondLife, or any body corporate (including any state) recognised by the law of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, whether or not a citizen of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, shall be entitled to commence proceedings to resolve any dispute capable of being resolved in accordance with the law of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, in a Court of Common Jurisdiction.

17. Subject to any provision in this Constitution, and any duly ratified Act of the Representative Assembly, Courts of Common Jurisdiction shall have inherent jurisdiction to govern their own proceedings.

18. The Court of Common Jurisdiction shall not have the power to hold any impeachment hearing, or to order that any public official who holds office in the Confederation of Democratic Simulators (whether a Judge of Common Jurisdiction, the Chancellor, a member of the Representative Assembly, a member of the Scientific Council, a member of the Artisanal Collective, or other such body, or otherwise) cease to hold or be disqualified from holding such public office, or be suspended therefrom, whether with or without pay.

19. There shall be a Public Judicial Scrutiny Panel consisting of between three and five members, who shall be appointed by popular election at the same time as elections for the Representative Assembly are held, and, additionally, whenever there are fewer than three members, which shall have the power: –

(a) to determine who, of those persons whom the Board of the Judiciary Commission determines as qualified to hold office as Judge of Common Jurisdiction in accordance with Section 4(d) and (e) above, shall be appointed as Judges of Common Jurisdiction;

(b) to investigate any complaint made by any citizen of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, or any litigant in any court in the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, about the quality of service provided by that court and publish findings and recommendations (if any) in respect of such complaints;

(c) to investigate, other than in response to a complaint, the performance and quality of service of the Courts of Common Jurisdiction and Court of Scientific Council, and to publish the findings of such an investigation, and recommendations (if any) in respect thereof;

(d) in pursuance of its powers under paragraphs (b) and (c) above, to call before it in open session the Chair of the Judiciary Commission or any Judge of Common Jurisdiction to answer questions about the quality of service provided in any Court of Common Jurisdiction, provided that no question shall be asked, and, if asked, no Judge of Common Jurisdiction shall be required to answer any question, concerning a decision of any contested question of law or fact in any case before any Court of Common Jurisdiction;

(e) in pursuance of its powers under paragraph (b) above, to call before it any member of the Scientific Council to answer questions about the quality of service provided in the Court of Scientific Council, provided that no question shall be asked, and, if asked, no member of the Scientific Council shall be required to answer any question, concerning a decision of any contested question of law or fact in any case before the Court of Scientific Council;

(f) (i) to commence impeachment proceedings against the Chair of the Judiciary Commission or any Judge of Common Jurisdiction before the Court of Scientific Council, on any of the grounds on which the Chief Judge of Common Jurisdiction may do so, and (ii) to appoint a member of the Public Judiciary Scrutiny Panel to conduct those proceedings on behalf of the Board of the Judiciary Commission before the Court of Scientific Council;

(g) (i) to commence impeachment proceedings against the any member of the Scientific Council before the Court of Scientific Council, on the grounds of (i) gross dereliction of duty, whether culpable or not, but, if not culpable, sustained for at least 28 days; or (ii) bias, corruption, insanity, or any other conduct tending to bring the Scientific Council into serious disrepute, but only, in respect of each of those grounds, where they relate to proceedings before the Court of Scientific Council, and (ii) to appoint a member of the Public Judiciary Scrutiny Panel to conduct those proceedings on behalf of the Board of the Judiciary Commission before the Court of Scientific Council;

(h) to provide or procure from any suitable provider alternative dispute resolution services for litigants or prospective litigants in any court in the Confederation of Democratic Simulators; and

(i) to regulate its own internal procedures for the purposes of discharging its powers.

20. When there are fewer than three members of the Public Judiciary Scrutiny Panel, and a vacancy for a Judge of Common Jurisdiction arises, the Representative Assembly may exercise, in lieu of the Public Judiciary Scrutiny Panel, the power set out under Section 19, paragraph (a) above.

21. When there are fewer than three members of the Public Judiciary Scrutiny Panel, the Representative Assembly may exercise the power set out under Section 19, paragraph (h) above (but only in respect of procurement and not provision of alternative dispute resolution services) if there are no existing arrangements for alternative dispute resolution in place, or the existing arrangements are inadequate.

22. A person may not simultaneously serve as the Chair of the Judiciary Commission and: –

(a) the Chief Judge of Common Jurisdiction;

(b) a member of the Representative Assembly;

(c) the Chancellor, or any person to whom the Chancellor delegates any of her or his powers;

(d) the Guildmeister; or

(e) a member of the Public Judiciary Scrutiny Panel.

23. A person may not simultaneously serve as a Judge of Common Jurisdiction and: –

(a) a member of the Representative Assembly;

(b) the Chancellor, or any person to whom the Chancellor delegates any of her or his powers;

(c) the Guildmeister; or

(d) a member of the Public Judiciary Scrutiny Panel.

24. A person may not simultaneously serve as a member of the Public Judiciary Scrutiny Panel and: –

(a) a Judge of Common Jurisdiction

(b) the Chair of the Judiciary Commission, or any person to whom the Chair delegates any of her or his powers;

(c) a member of the Representative Assembly;

(d) the Chancellor, or any person to whom the Chancellor delegates any of her or his powers; or

(e) the Guildmeister.

AMENDMENTS

[i:1nwvcy6j][Ed. note: Amendments 1 through 10, 13, 15, 16, 17, and the Judiciary Act Amendments have been incorporated into the text of this version; Amendment 11 does not add to or amend any specific Article, and by its terms expires at the end of two legislative terms][/i:1nwvcy6j]

Amendment 11 [i:1nwvcy6j][Ed. note: as amended by Amendment 12 and 14][/i:1nwvcy6j]

Preamble

This amendment establishes an Executive Branch in Neufreistadt-CDS headed by a Chancellor. The aim of this amendment is to:

a) clearly define the nature of the executive power in Neufreistadt-CDS, and to unambiguously assign it to the Chancellor;

b) define the scope and the limits of the Chancellor's powers;

c) define the procedure for the appointment of a Chancellor; and

d) establish the checks and balances of the executive in relation to other branches.

Historically executive power in Neufreistadt-CDS has been shared by all three branches. As Neufreistadt-CDS prepares to expand this arrangement will be less effective than is required to establish and run the larger community.

This amendment responds to the suggestions and concerns raised in the public discussion of this issue, and includes a sunset clause to promote further evaluation of the proposed organization.

Amendment
1. The Chancellor will serve as the executive of Neufreistadt-CDS, working to coordinate and plan community projects.

2. The Chancellor of Neufreistadt-CDS shall, subject to the laws of Neufreistadt-CDS, have the power:

(a) to determine the use to which any and all land in Neufriestadt shall be put;

(b) to expend monies held by the Office of the Chancellor of Neufreistadt-CDS for the administration and management of public facilities (including, but not limited to, roadways, signage, public buildings, public events and similar), and to discharge any other duties or powers of the Office of the Chancellor conferred by this Act or any other Act of the Representative Assembly;

(c) to publicise Neufreistadt-CDS;

(d) to appoint and pay deputies or other staff to hold office in the Office of the Chancellor of Neufreistadt-CDS to facilitate the discharge of any function of the Office of the Chancellor conferred by this Act or any other Act of the Representative Assembly;

(e) subject to the payment of adequate compensation to any citizen or citizens thereby affected, reclaim or swap any land held by any citizen of Neufreistadt-CDS for the purposes of discharging any function of the Office of the Chancellor conferred by this Act or any other Act of the Representative Assembly, provided always that no citizen of Neufreistadt-CDS shall not be caused to have no holding in Neufriestadt at all thereby;

(f) to make regulations pursuant to the above; and

(g) to enforce such regulations in accordance with law.

3. The Chancellor must provide for regular and active citizen participation and public review of any decision concerning land use or the aesthetic or functional environment.

4. Nothing in this Act shall give the Chancellor of Neufriestadt any power to change the overall theme of Neufriestadt.

5. The Chancellor of Neufreistadt-CDS shall be selected by the Representative Assembly from among any Neufreistadt-CDS citizen who shall make application to the RA within ten (10) days of the passage of this amendment. The Chancellor will serve a term ending with the
election of a new Representative Assembly.

The Chancellor may not be elected to or serve on the Representative Assembly, nor serve on the Scientific Council. The Chancellor may hold a position in the Artisanal Collective but may not vote therein.

The Chancellor may not be elected to or serve on the Representative Assembly, nor serve on the Scientific Council. The Chancellor may hold a position in the Artisanal Collective but may not vote therein

6. The Chancellor shall have the power to veto any act of the Representative Assembly, except any bill to remove the Chancellor from office. The Representative Assembly may override a veto with a vote by at least a two-thirds majority. In order to exercise the power of veto, the Chancellor shall post a public declaration of her or his intention to exercise that power, together with the name of the the Act in respect of which he or she seeks so to exercise, and the reasons for exercising it in respect of that Act, on the Confederation of Democratic Simulators web forums or wiki within seven days of the posting to the wiki of the Act in respect of which he or she seeks to exercise that power.

7. The Chancellor may be removed from office prior to the expiration of the term of office by at least a two thirds vote of the Representative Assembly.

8. Each month the Chancellor shall attend a meeting of the Representative Assembly, and fully and truthfully answer there any questions posed by any citizen about any aspect of the affairs of
Neufreistadt-CDS or of the Office of the Chancellor. The Chancellor will also attend upon three days notice at the written request from any member of the Representative Assembly.

9. Any power or responsibility assigned to the Artisan's Collective by the constitution and precedent that overlaps those provided to the Chancellor in this amendment will be assigned to the Chancellor.

10. This amendment shall be shall be reviewed by the Representative Assembly after a Chancellor has been in office for two terms, and will continue in force only if re-approved at that time.

[/quote:1nwvcy6j]

Beathan
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Post by Beathan »

Yeah --

Publius, thank you for this difficult, important task. I want you to know that it is not a thankless one.

Beathan

Let's keep things simple enough to be fair, substantive enough to be effective, and insightful enough to be good.
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Post by Publius Crabgrass »

[quote="Beathan":1wtvvud8]Yeah --

Publius, thank you for this difficult, important task. I want you to know that it is not a thankless one.

Beathan[/quote:1wtvvud8]
You are quite welcome. Now you and the other lawyers -- reasonable and unreasonable ones alike -- should flyspeck it to find any errors or omissions.

The great US Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black used to carry around a copy of the US Constitution in his pocket everywhere. My goal is to create a copy of ours that anyone can wear. :D

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Post by Beathan »

Publius --

True. Black also used to pull out his Constitution and tell Justice Brennan, "Privacy? I don't see the word privacy anywhere in MY Constitution." I don't know that Black was on the right track.

That said, I would wear your wearable Constitution.

Beathan

Let's keep things simple enough to be fair, substantive enough to be effective, and insightful enough to be good.
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Post by Dexter Leopold »

I would echo Beathan's sentiments, thank you Publius.

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Post by Flyingroc Chung »

Yay! *claps*

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Post by Patroklus Murakami »

Thanks for stepping up and performing this vital task Publius. I shall go over it with a fine-tooth comb!

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Post by Fernando Book »

A great work, Publius. :)

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Post by Publius Crabgrass »

Thanks to help from Aliasi and others, I have been able to post the "Constitution as Amended" on the wiki, http://www.aliasi.us/nburgwiki/tiki-ind ... as+amended I have not added any formatting (bold, headings, etc.) yet, but intend to do so soon. Meanwhile, please let me know of any errors or omissions.

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Post by Patroklus Murakami »

[quote="Publius Crabgrass":3scl049x]Thanks to help from Aliasi and others, I have been able to post the "Constitution as Amended" on the wiki, http://www.aliasi.us/nburgwiki/tiki-ind ... as+amended I have not added any formatting (bold, headings, etc.) yet, but intend to do so soon. Meanwhile, please let me know of any errors or omissions.[/quote:3scl049x]Do we have a 'before' version to compare with 'after'? I have a copy printed off from the wiki somewhere but it would be good to have an electronic copy for proofreading and checking amendments.

Thanks once again for your work in taking on this important task.

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Post by Publius Crabgrass »

[quote="Patroklus Murakami":3dm9ag80][quote="Publius Crabgrass":3dm9ag80]Thanks to help from Aliasi and others, I have been able to post the "Constitution as Amended" on the wiki, http://www.aliasi.us/nburgwiki/tiki-ind ... as+amended I have not added any formatting (bold, headings, etc.) yet, but intend to do so soon. Meanwhile, please let me know of any errors or omissions.[/quote:3dm9ag80]Do we have a 'before' version to compare with 'after'? I have a copy printed off from the wiki somewhere but it would be good to have an electronic copy for proofreading and checking amendments.

Thanks once again for your work in taking on this important task.[/quote:3dm9ag80]
Good question. The constitution with the text of all amendments (but for the Judiciary Act) is at http://www.aliasi.us/nburgwiki/tiki-ind ... nstitution (note that some obsolete material is indicated there in red), and the Judiciary Act is found at http://forums.neufreistadt.info/viewtopic.php?t=584 (the final version as passed after two remands from the SC). I have tried to incorporate all of the amendments and the constitutional amending parts of the Judiciary Act into the "as amended" document.

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Post by Aliasi Stonebender »

[quote="Patroklus Murakami":22v7v676][quote="Publius Crabgrass":22v7v676]Thanks to help from Aliasi and others, I have been able to post the "Constitution as Amended" on the wiki, http://www.aliasi.us/nburgwiki/tiki-ind ... as+amended I have not added any formatting (bold, headings, etc.) yet, but intend to do so soon. Meanwhile, please let me know of any errors or omissions.[/quote:22v7v676]Do we have a 'before' version to compare with 'after'? I have a copy printed off from the wiki somewhere but it would be good to have an electronic copy for proofreading and checking amendments.

Thanks once again for your work in taking on this important task.[/quote:22v7v676]

The wiki stores previous revisions of a page.

Member of the Scientific Council and board moderator.
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Patroklus Murakami
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Post by Patroklus Murakami »

[quote="Aliasi Stonebender":2vf2zl87]The wiki stores previous revisions of a page.[/quote:2vf2zl87]Aaaah! This must be the 'tekkie-wiki' magic of which I have heard :)

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Post by Oni Jiutai »

Tekkie-wiki magic or not, a complete constitution is a very good thing.

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Post by Publius Crabgrass »

Ashcroft has correctly pointed out that the Judiciary Act deleted this clause from Article III of the Constitution:

[quote="previous version":3jp4n65j]Members of the Philosophic branch are not bound by a strict literal interpretation of the Bill of Rights, Founding Philosophy, Constitution, or the strict adherence to legal precedence. Rather members of the SC are required to draw upon their individual fields of expertise to solve complex social issues. [/quote:3jp4n65j]

Chapter I, Section 2(c) of the Judiciary Act provides that "Article III, Section 8 before the beginning of the sentence that starts, "In regard to (sic) the Representative Branch" (Powers of the Scientific Council)" be repealed.

I have made the appropriate correction on the wiki. Please notify me of any other errors or omissions.

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