Cherub54321
Justice
Justice
Judge
Department of Internal Development
Lawyer
Mayor of Covington
Donator
Cherub54321
Justice
I propose that the presiding officer for impeachments is changed to an impartial role for all cases. I would personally suggest Chief Justice in the case of Executive and Legislative tribunals and the Prime Minister for judicial tribunals, however any senior government position that is not involved in the process in any other way (for example voting on the initial creation or presenting questions to the accused) would work provided that they are not in the same branch as the accused.
It is my opinion that having an impartial presiding officer is essential to ensuring that the process runs as smoothly as possible, with minimal distress for the accused whilst also allowing for complete and fair questioning by parliament, and ensuring that the public are given a clear picture prior to the public vote. It is the duty of our government to ensure that the accused is given a fair opportunity to answer parliaments questions and to present their reasoning for any actions they have taken, and having a presiding officer that is both asking questions and voted on the initial creation of the tribunal is not the way to achieve this.
An impeachment tribunal is going to be an extremely stressful experience for any accused government official, regardless of if they did anything wrong or not, or what their real life and in game priorities are. This is just part of the nature of having a public enquiry into your actions. However, having a presiding official that is completely impartial is going to help reduce some of this stress, and make it feel less like the whole government is against them. An impartial presiding officer also means that the accused has someone to talk to if they have any issues with the process, for example if they are unable to respond within a certain timeframe or feel that questions are being unfairly targeted towards them, without the concern that these issues could be used again them.
It is important to remember with our impeachment process that the final decision is made by public vote, and that the presiding officer and tribunal board cannot make a judgment on their own. Having a presiding officer that asks questions themselves not only makes it more confusing for the public to follow, but it could create the feeling for the accused that they are being judged by them directly which only adds to the stress of the process. With regards to an impartial presiding officer, I would like to take it one step further and suggest that they cannot vote on the public vote themselves to ensure complete impartialness.
The reason I suggest that the Chief Justice takes over the role of presiding officer for executive and legislative tribunals is because they should have a lot of experience with court room procedures and presiding over them. While an impeachment tribunal is not exactly the same as a court case, there are many similarities and I believe they can help bring both clarity to the proceedings and their impartiality that they should show during cases. I suggest the Prime Minister to take the role of presiding officer for judicial tribunals as they are the most senior government official not involved in the proceedings, and should be able to both be impartial and ensure that the proceedings run smoothly however I believe the Deputy Prime Minister or the Department of State Minister would also be able to fulfil this commitment if it is believed that it is too much for the Prime Minister to do.
In regards to actually making these changes, a constitutional amendment would obviously be required, however it should be pretty straightforward, and as far as I can see only the following changes would be needed to be made:
- Change 3.5(b) The Chief Justice shall sit as the presiding officer in the impeachment trial of the Prime Minister. to 3.5(b) The Chief Justice shall sit as the presiding officer in the impeachment trial of Executive and Legislative officials.
- Change 6.1(e) The Chief Justice shall preside in the impeachment trial of the Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament. to 6.1(e) The Chief Justice shall preside in the impeachment trial of Executive and Legislative officials.
- Add 6.1(e) The Prime Minister shall preside in the impeachment trial of Judicial officials.
- Remove 6.2(c) The Speaker of Parliament shall preside in all impeachment trials, except that of the Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament.
It is my opinion that having an impartial presiding officer is essential to ensuring that the process runs as smoothly as possible, with minimal distress for the accused whilst also allowing for complete and fair questioning by parliament, and ensuring that the public are given a clear picture prior to the public vote. It is the duty of our government to ensure that the accused is given a fair opportunity to answer parliaments questions and to present their reasoning for any actions they have taken, and having a presiding officer that is both asking questions and voted on the initial creation of the tribunal is not the way to achieve this.
An impeachment tribunal is going to be an extremely stressful experience for any accused government official, regardless of if they did anything wrong or not, or what their real life and in game priorities are. This is just part of the nature of having a public enquiry into your actions. However, having a presiding official that is completely impartial is going to help reduce some of this stress, and make it feel less like the whole government is against them. An impartial presiding officer also means that the accused has someone to talk to if they have any issues with the process, for example if they are unable to respond within a certain timeframe or feel that questions are being unfairly targeted towards them, without the concern that these issues could be used again them.
It is important to remember with our impeachment process that the final decision is made by public vote, and that the presiding officer and tribunal board cannot make a judgment on their own. Having a presiding officer that asks questions themselves not only makes it more confusing for the public to follow, but it could create the feeling for the accused that they are being judged by them directly which only adds to the stress of the process. With regards to an impartial presiding officer, I would like to take it one step further and suggest that they cannot vote on the public vote themselves to ensure complete impartialness.
The reason I suggest that the Chief Justice takes over the role of presiding officer for executive and legislative tribunals is because they should have a lot of experience with court room procedures and presiding over them. While an impeachment tribunal is not exactly the same as a court case, there are many similarities and I believe they can help bring both clarity to the proceedings and their impartiality that they should show during cases. I suggest the Prime Minister to take the role of presiding officer for judicial tribunals as they are the most senior government official not involved in the proceedings, and should be able to both be impartial and ensure that the proceedings run smoothly however I believe the Deputy Prime Minister or the Department of State Minister would also be able to fulfil this commitment if it is believed that it is too much for the Prime Minister to do.
In regards to actually making these changes, a constitutional amendment would obviously be required, however it should be pretty straightforward, and as far as I can see only the following changes would be needed to be made:
- Change 3.5(b) The Chief Justice shall sit as the presiding officer in the impeachment trial of the Prime Minister. to 3.5(b) The Chief Justice shall sit as the presiding officer in the impeachment trial of Executive and Legislative officials.
- Change 6.1(e) The Chief Justice shall preside in the impeachment trial of the Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament. to 6.1(e) The Chief Justice shall preside in the impeachment trial of Executive and Legislative officials.
- Add 6.1(e) The Prime Minister shall preside in the impeachment trial of Judicial officials.
- Remove 6.2(c) The Speaker of Parliament shall preside in all impeachment trials, except that of the Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament.