Since I made my [url=http://forums.neufreistadt.info/viewtop ... 9:ssofl0x0]original post[/url:ssofl0x0] on the development of our legal system, it has come to my attention that, in view of its length and complexity, people have found it a little overwhelming, and have hence refrained from commenting.
My initial plan was to elicit comments on my original proposal and then, in consultation with those who had commented, and those on the S. C. and R. A. who have the power to do these things, and based on those comments, jointly come up with a concrete way of implementing the product of those discussions. It seems, however, that I somewhat underestimated the amount of time and effort on the part of others that it would require to produce such a product, and so, partly in consequence of a suggestion to this effect made by Gwyneth yesterday, I shall now put forward an alternative plan.
My alternative plan is to post on this forum a draft [b:ssofl0x0]Judiciary Bill[/b:ssofl0x0] to be presented before the Representative Assembly on its next meeting. The Bill will contain all that is required (including constitutional amendments) to establish the legal system as I had proposed it. The constitutional amendments, however, will be by way of a skeletal framework; because (1) I propose a common law system, and (2) I propose that, subject to any Act of the R. A., the courts shall have inherent jurisdiction to govern their own proceedings, the rest of the details can be set out by non-legislative means (i.e., by a Code of Procedure issued by the Judiciary Commission (or a joint Code of Procedure issued by the Judiciary Commission and Scientific Council, making provisions for proceedings in the Court of Scientific Council as well as the Courts of Common Jurisdiction), and by Judges (or, to start with, the Judge) of Common Jurisdiction making binding precedents in individual cases), the details can be fixed by the Judiciary Commission/Judge(s) without the involvement of anybody else.
Nobody need worry, however, that the Judiciary Commission would be granted excess powers thereby, because, as in all common law jurisdictions, the Courts of Common Jurisdiction would always be subject to any act of the Representative Assembly, such that the Representative Assembly could pass any Act varying or abolishing any rule contained in the Code of Procedure, or abolishing or modifying (in respect of all future cases) any rule created by a precedent-setting decision of the courts. The Judiciary Commission would be able to provide technical advice on the drafting of the legislation, but the Representative Assembly would not be bound to follow or seek it, and the Judiciary Commission's advice should not encompass advice on the desirability policy ends sought to be achieved by any Act, but only the legal implications and technicalites of drafting.
I am posting this draft Bill here to elicit comments on it: if I receive comments, I will consider revising the Bill to reflect them. If I do not, I will submit this draft bill unaltered (unless I have thought of any amendments of my own) to the next session of the R. A.. The Bill would, if enacted, create the posts of Chair of the Judiciary Commission and Chief Judge of Common Jurisdiction (which are largely overlapping posts, although, if, in many years to come, the state becomes big enough, they could conceivably be filled by two separate people), to be appointed by the Scientific Council. It is to those two posts that I seek appointment in order to continue to develop the legal system as I had planned (subject, of course, to any Acts of the Representative Assembly).
[b:ssofl0x0]The Judiciary Bill
[i:ssofl0x0]DRAFT[/i:ssofl0x0][/b:ssofl0x0]
1. The following section shall be inserted at the end of the Constitution, but before the table of amendments:
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[b:ssofl0x0]Article VII - The Judiciary[/b:ssofl0x0]
1. There shall be a Judiciary Commission, the chair of which shall be appointed by simple majority vote in the Scientific Council, 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 appoint a Chief Judge of Common Jurisdiction, who shall hold office until resignation or successful impeachment, whichever is sooner;
(b) to determine the total number of Judges of Common Jurisdiction that shall hold office at any given time, who shall each hold office until resignation or successful impeachment, whichever is sooner;
(c) subject to any Act of the Representative Assembly, and the exercise of any authority delegated thereby, and subject to any contrary proclaimation of the Guildmeister, 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 Guild individually or between shall prohibit the commissioning, construction, maintenance and continued 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) 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 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 in the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, and elsewhere, the judicial sysetm 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;
(i) to maintain and publicise a record of all judicial proceedings, precedents and other public official judicial documents; and
(j) to bring impeachment proceedings against any Judge of Common Jurisdiction.
3. Even when not sitting as a Judge of Common Jurisdiction in an individual case, the Chief Judge of Common Jurisdiction shall have the power:
(a) to determine who other than her or himself shall be appointed to be a Judge of Common Jurisdiction;
(b) to determine which Judges of Common Jurisdiction shall hear which cases, or parts thereof;
(c) to issue general directions concerning procedure in Courts of Common Jurisdiction, which shall, subject to any contrary provision in the Constitution or any Act of the Representative Assembly, have the force of law;
(d) to determine which Courts of Common Jurisdiction shall be superior, and which inferior; and
(e) to bring impeachment proceedings against the Chair of the Judiciary Commission or any other Judge of Common Jurisdiction.
4. Nothing in this Constitution shall prevent a single person holding office both as the Chair of the Judiciary Commission and the Chief Judge of Common Jurisdiction simultaneously or in succession.
5. 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 may appeal to a Judge of Common Jurisdiction from any such administrative decision.
6. Only Judges of Common Jurisdiction or juries empanlled 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. 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, privilidges, 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 a jury of at least four citizens of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators finding in accordance with law a party to have acted culpably, to impose on that party any penalty, including, but not limited to, banishment from any or all terratory 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, either immediately or suspended on such conditions as the court may prescribe;
(d) to make any orders such as to give effect to the rights, duties, powers, privilidges, 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 on behalf of whom any party makes any claim, or to give effect to any penalty imposed by any Court of Common Jurisdiction; 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 to be removed, banished from the Confederation of Demcratic Simulators for the duration of that trial or other hearing on the ground that that person is disrupting court proceedings, improperly interfereing with the administration of justice, or attempting to do so.
8. All trials and other hearings in the Court of Common Jurisdiction, shall be held in public, and, subject to section 7(e) above, any person (whether or not a citizen of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators) shall be entitled to observe the entirety of such proceedings.
9. When making any binding determination of the rights, duties, powers, privilidges, 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;
(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 [b:ssofl0x0]Judiciary Act[/b:ssofl0x0]) that establishes a precedent;
(e) any judgment of any superior Court of Common Jurisdiction that establishes a precedent; and
(f) any judgment of any Court of Common Jurisdiction of equal superiority that establishes a precedent.
10. A judgment establishes a precedent where, in order to determine the outcome of the proceedings, or any part thereof, 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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, a member of the Representative Assembly, a member of the Scientific Council, a member of the Artisanal Collective, or other such body) cease to hold such public office, or be suspended therefrom, whether with or without pay.
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2. The following sections of the Constitution shall be repealed:
(a) Article III, Section 6, apart from the first sentence thereof (Scientific Council - Hearings, Trials and Ratifications);
(b) Article III, Section 7 (Scientific Council - Alternative Dispute Resolution);
(c) Article III, Section 8 before the beginning of the sentence that starts, "In regard to (sic) the Representative Branch" (Powers of the Scientific Council),
and the title of Article III, Section 6 shall be changed to "Ratification of bills passed by the Representative Assembly".
3. The following shall be inserted in the Constitution between Article III, Section 6 and Article III, Section 8:
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[b:ssofl0x0]Section 7 - The Court of Scientific Council[/b:ssofl0x0]
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. When sitting as a court, the Scientific Council shall be presided over by an odd number of judges greater 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. 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.
7. All trials and other hearings before the Scientific Council when sitting as a court, shall be held in public, and, subject to section 8 below, any person (whether or not a citizen of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators) shall be entitled to observe the entirety of such proceedings.
8. The Court of Scientific Council shall have the same powers as Courts of Common Jurisdiction as is conferred by Article VII, section 7(e) of this Constitution ([i:ssofl0x0]persons misbehaving in court[/i:ssofl0x0]).
9. The Court of Scientific Council shall sit without a jury.
10. 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.
11. 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.
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4. The following shall be added to the Constitution immediately at the end of Article III, Section 8 ([i:ssofl0x0]Powers of the Scientific Council[/i:ssofl0x0]):
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[i:ssofl0x0]With respect to the judiciary[/i:ssofl0x0]:
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 from which the appeal is made, but only on the grounds 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;
(c) that the Court of Common Jurisdiction wrongly interpreted or applied any 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.
[i:ssofl0x0]Impeachment proceedings[/i:ssofl0x0]
1. Impeachment is an order that a holder of public office cease to hold such public office, be disqualified from holding such office, or is suspended from such office for any time with or without pay, or any combination thereof.
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 Constiution shall have the power to commence impeachment proceedings.
4. 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.
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5. The following sections of the constitution shall be repealed:
(a) Article I, Section 7 (Powers of the Representative Assembly), the following text: (i) "The leader of the RA sits as the leader of the Artisanal branch if the Artisanal branch seeks to impeach a member of the Philosophic branch," and (ii) "The leader of the RA sits as the leader of the Philosophic branch if the Philosophic branch seeks to impeach a member of the Artisanal branch"; and
(b) Article II, Section 4 (Powers of the Artesanal Collective), the following text: (i) "The leader of the AC sits as the leader of the Representative branch if the Representative branch seeks to impeach a member of the Philosophic branch," and (ii) "The leader of the AC sits as the leader of the Philosophic branch if the Philosophic branch seeks to impeach a member of the Representative branch".
6. The following shall be added to the Constitution immediately at the end of Article II, Section 4 ([i:ssofl0x0]Powers of the Artisanal Collective[/i:ssofl0x0])
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With respect to the judiciary:
1. The Artisanal Collective may bring impeachment proceedings against the Chair of the Judiciary Commission on the ground that he or she has failed to act with due fiscal responsibility.
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7. The title of the Neufreistadt Constitution shall hereafter be, "The Constitution of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators".
8. Any reference in any Act of the Representative Assembly passed before the date on which this Act comes into force to "Neufreistadt" shall be taken to be a reference to the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, unless the context, or any duly ratified Act of the Representative Assembly passed after the date on which the [b:ssofl0x0]Judiciary Act[/b:ssofl0x0] was passed, otherwise so requires.
9. Article VI of the Constiution shall be replaced with the following text:
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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 power of any institution of government to subsitute, or empower another person, institution or group 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.
4. Section 2 above is subject 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 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 is subject 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 Act of the Representative Assembly (or, if no such form is specified, by notifying the Guild-Meister) one week in advance of the date on which that person is to cease to be a citizen.
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10. For the purposes of Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution, Sudane Erato and Rudeen Edo are empowered to issue summary banishments of up to fourteen days where, otherwise than in the course of judicial proceedings, there are substantial grounds for believing that the person in question, if not summarily banished:
(a) will interfere with the course of justice;
(b) will damage, delete or dissipate any public asset of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, or any private asset of any citizen thereof; or
(c) will cause substantial distress, harassment or annoyance to any citizen or citizens of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, or substantially interfere with any event held in any territory of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators.
9. Any person summarily banished pursant to section 8 above shall, within 48 hours of being so banished, be served with a written notice stating:
(a) that he or she has been summarily banished;
(b) the reason or reasons that he or she has been summarily banished;
(c) that the summary banishment shall expire fourteen days after it was imposed; and
(d) that the person banished has the right, upon submitting notice in writing to a Court of Common Jurisdiction, in any form that shall be prescribed by the Chief Judge of Common Jurisdiction (and, if such a form is prescribed, details thereof), to make representations to a Court of Common Jurisdiction as to why he or she should not be made the subject of an interim banishment until the trial, if any.
12. For the purposes of Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution, Sudane Erato and Rudeen Edo are empowered to issue summary banishments of up to fourteen days during the course of judicial proceedings when so ordered by any judge (whether of any Court of Common Jurisdiction or the Court of Scientific Council) presiding over those proceedings, provided always that such a banishment is revoked within one hour of the conclusion of such proceedings (or the end of fourteen days, whichever is sooner), unless one or more of the conditions in Seciton 8 above is met, in which case notice in the form prescribed in Section 9 above must be served on the person banished within 48 hours of it becoming known that one or more of the conditions in Section 8 above were met.
13. The following shall be inserted at the end of Section 8 of the Terms of Service:
[b:ssofl0x0]8.2 - Judicial Proceedings[/b:ssofl0x0]
By entering into this agreement, you hereby give your unqualified and irrevocable consent for any records of any conversations or other communication, in any form whatsoever conducted using the computer programme, "SecondLife", and any other communication concerning the use of that programme, whether made before or after this agreement was entered into, to be used in evidence in any in-world judicial proceedings, and for any records of such proceedings (incuding records of anything said by or to you during those proceedings) to be made available to the public in perpetuity.
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14. All citizens of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators shall consent to the variation in the Terms of Service provided for in Section 13 above on or before the 1st of September 2006.
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Please note that Sections 10 - 12 above are intended to be interim, transitional provisions, to be repealed by a future [b:ssofl0x0]Marshals of the Peace Act[/b:ssofl0x0], which should make more comprehensive provisions for temporary banishment (and relieve poor Sudane of the burden of being the only person able to banish (if such is technically feasable), or at least from having to be mentioned by name in a statute).
As stated above, any comments or questions are more than welcome, but, in case this bill is overwhelming, too, I will submit it as it is to the next session of the Representative Assembly if there are no comments, unless I think of anything that needs to be added or altered.