Rescinded Judicial Reform Act (10th Amendment)

Dusty_3

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Amend the Constitution

The Parliament of Stratham enacts:

Section 1. Short Title

(1) This Act is the Judicial Reform Act.

Section 2. Commencement

(1) All provisions shall come into effect upon passage of the bill.

Section 3. Reasoning

(1) The constitution is in need of reform and updating. This bill will amend the Judicial and Legislative section of the constitution to improve efficiency, professionalism and establish clear rules for both Branches.

Section 4. Constitutional Change | Judicial Branch
(I) The Judicial Branch is composed of Judges which all Judicial power is vested in. The courts consist of 3 appointed members. Judges are nominated by the Prime Minister and approved by the Parliament with a 50% rounded up majority vote.

(II) The Judicial Branch is responsible for presiding over court cases which include;
(A) Civil cases (a dispute between two private parties)
(B) Criminal cases (state prosecution against an individual's violation of a criminal law)
(C) Constitutional cases (where a Government's decision is disputed)
(D) Appeal cases (where a Judges decision is disputed)​

(III) The Judicial Branch interprets laws passed by Parliament, and may determine the meaning of laws through case verdicts. Those verdicts are then followed as precedent in future cases, and can be codified into law by Parliament. This is known as common law.
(A) Parliament may choose to abrogate common law set by judges through the passage of an Act of Parliament.
(B) The Judicial Branch may indicate in case verdicts that they think a law should be changed by Parliament. This can be preferable to establishing common law as Parliament could be in a better position to make the change. Parliament chooses whether or not to change the law.​

(IV) During a case, either the plaintiff or the defendant can choose to file a motion to recuse the presiding Judge. The motion requires evidence that the Judge has a conflict of interest or cannot provide a fair trial. Following the motion, the Judge can choose whether or not to recuse themself, or a majority (50%, rounded up) support from all Judges would forcibly recuse a presiding Judge.

(V) In the event a Judge is recused from a case, that Judge will be replaced by another judge. In the event none of the appointed judges can preside over a case, the case will be presided over by a Magistrate in Tempore. A Magistrate in Tempore is nominated by the Prime Minister with the majority approval of Parliament (50%, rounded up), and a majority approval from the Judges (50%, rounded up).
(A) This position, once confirmed, will have all discretionary powers of a member of the Judiciary but may only preside over the case they were appointed for.
(B) Once the Case has come to a close, the Magistrate in Tempore will automatically resign their position.​

(VI) When presiding over a case, the Judicial Branch has the power of Judicial Review. Any citizen can choose to sue the Government for a Government decision that conflicts with the constitution. Judicial Review allows the Judicial Branch to determine whether or not the Government has indeed violated the constitution. If a decision was deemed a violation of the constitution, the decision is to be reversed and invalidated. If the decision was in effect before the Judicial Review any affected parties are entitled to compensation.
(A) The use of Judicial Review requires a majority (50%, rounded up) support from the presiding judges.
(B) Judicial Review can only be used when delivering a verdict on the Court Case.​


(VII) Following a verdict, either the plaintiff or defendant may choose to file an appeal. An appeal is where either the plaintiff or defendant challenge the court's verdict, and it is not a retrial. In an appeal case, the original cases’ Judge cannot preside over the appeal case nor have a say in the proceedings of the case. Arguments on the appeal will be submitted by the appellant, and the appellee can choose to argue against the appeal. Once the appeals case is heard, the presiding judge can deliver a verdict. Either party can proceed to challenge the appealed decision, which would follow the process as above, however the key difference is that the courts can choose to not hear the appeal of an appeal verdict through an absolute vote (100%).
(A) Appellant is the party that filed an appeal, and the appellee is the opposite party in the original case.
(B) In the event there is an appeal, and all appointed Judges have heard the original case, the Magistrate in Tempore would preside.
Section 5. Constitutional Change | Legislative Branch

Section 1. Powers of Parliament

(I) The Legislative Branch is composed of the Parliament which all legislative power is
vested in.
(A) Parliament consists of 9 elected members referred to as Members of Parliament, commonly abbreviated PM.​
(B) Members of Parliament are elected to serve for 3 months. Collectively, Members of Parliament are tasked with representing the will of the people.

(II) The Parliament;
(A) Is responsible for creating, amending, and removing laws as well as server rules that fall under the Government’s oversight,​
(B) Is responsible for confirming or denying Prime Ministerial nominations for Cabinet and Judicial Positions,
(C) May amend the constitution through a Constitutional Amendment,
(D) May create, amend and remove departments & their powers as well as the positions within them. This can only be done through a constitutional amendment,
(E) May override an Executive Order, commonly abbreviated EO, made by the Prime Minister with a supermajority (2/3rds, rounded up) vote in favour of overriding,
(F) May override a veto with a supermajority (2/3rds, rounded up) vote if the vetoed bill is a simple change (Simple change meaning anything that isn't a Constitutional Amendment),
(G) May remove Ministers, Judges & The Speaker of Parliament via a vote of no confidence, which requires a supermajority (2/3rds, rounded up) to pass,
(H) May remove the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister & Members Of Parliament via a supermajority (3/4ths, rounded up) vote of no confidence,
(I) May appropriate Government funds to be allocated for specific purposes which can be done through a bill,
(J) May not give itself power over or take powers away from other branches of government,
(K) May not override a Government Change Veto.

Section 2. Election and Replacement of Members of Parliament

(III) Any citizen may run for Parliament as long as they meet the baseline requirements of;
(A) Having joined the server at least 4 weeks prior to the start of the election.
(B) Having a playtime of at least 5 days.
(C) Being active in-game, forums, and discord. Inactivity is defined as being off of the server for at least 2 weeks.​

(IV) The Parliament election process;
(A) is to be held every 3 months,
(B) is to last 7 days, beginning on the first Thursday and finishing on the second
Thursday of every election month.
(C) is where citizens are to have 4 days from the start of the election period to
declare their candidacy to run for Office on the forums and after the
declaration period has concluded, no more candidates may run,
(D) is where once the declaration period to run has concluded, all citizens will then have 3 days to vote for up to 9 candidates of their choosing.
(E) is where after the polls have been open for 3 days, they will close and the 9 candidates with the most votes will be sworn in as newly elected Members of Parliament.

(1) In the event of a tie between candidates, a second vote will commence between the tied candidates and the electorate will vote again for a period of 48 hours.
(2) Once this 48 hour voting period has concluded, The Candidate(s) with the most votes will win the remaining seat(s) and be sworn in as a newly elected Member of Parliament.​
(V) In the event, a Member of Parliament resigns from Office or is removed and the Parliamentary seat then becomes vacant, the following process is to be followed;
(A) The Speaker of Parliament will begin the process to fill the vacancy by posting a Member of Parliament expression of interest form in Government
Announcements, which the general public may fill in to nominate themselves to fill the vacancy.
(B) After at least 24 hours have passed, the Speaker of Parliament will close the expression of interest document.
(C) A nominee pool will then be created consisting of everyone that received at least 2 nominations in the expression of interest document.
(D) Parliament will then convene to discuss and vote on the candidates to fill the vacancy from the nomination pool.
(E) After Parliament has chosen their preferred candidate, the SoP will inform the chosen nominee of their candidacy.
(1) Note that if the Parliament term is 21 days out from the next Parliament election, the seat does not have to be filled.​

Section 3. Speaker of Parliament

(VI) The Speaker of the Parliament, commonly abbreviated as SoP, is the Chairperson of Parliament and is responsible for maintaining order in Parliament and for the facilitating of voting on bills, motions and Prime Ministerial nominations.

(VII) The Speaker of the Parliament;
(A) Is responsible for informing the Prime Minister of pending bills that have passed Parliament and require the Prime Minister's assent.​
(B) Is responsible for updating the Rules & Laws thread as well as the Constitution.
(C) May issue infractions to Members of Parliament for failing to fulfil their constitutional obligations or for behaviour unbecoming of a Member of Parliament. After an MP has accrued 3 infractions, they may be removed from Parliament at the SoP’s discretion. An MP may also be removed, for breaking laws, through a majority vote at SoP’s discretion.

(VIII) If the Speakership becomes vacant, parliament will be obligated with electing a new Speaker of Parliament before continuing other Parliamentary tasks. The process for electing a new Speaker is overseen by the Department of State, and is as follows;
(A) The Department of State will begin the process by posting in in the #speaker-election channel stating that any Member wishing to put themselves or another Member of Parliament forward for Speaker of Parliament may do so by nominating themselves or another member: “I hereby nominate [Candidates Name] for Speaker of Parliament.”​
(B) The nomination period will last for 24 hours, or until all Members of Parliament have acknowledged the Speaker election post, after which the candidates will be voted on by Parliament.
(C) The candidate with the most support from Parliament will be elected as the new Speaker of Parliament.

(IX) The Speaker of Parliament can be removed via a vote of no confidence that receives the support of a supermajority of Parliament.
(A) In the event that the Speaker of Parliament resigns or is removed through a Vote of No Confidence, they will be removed from Speaker of Parliament but retain their position as a member of Parliament. Furthermore, the Deputy Speaker shall be removed from their respective position following the Speakers VoNC.​

(X) The Speaker of Parliament may appoint an MP as the Deputy Speaker of Parliament. The Deputy Speaker of Parliament serves at the pleasure of the Speaker, meaning they can be appointed and dismissed at the Speaker's discretion. The Speaker may assign the Deputy Speaker powers and responsibilities that the Speaker holds at their discretion.

Section 4. Process of Legislature

(XI) Only Members of Parliament (MPs) can officially propose a bill to the Parliament.

(XII) Every MP has the right to take a suggestion from citizens and other government officials and make it into a bill.

(XIII) To introduce a bill to the Parliament, MPs need to go on the Parliament board and compose a new thread. The “Bill: Draft” prefix needs to be applied and the name of the thread needs to fit the idea. This format needs to be copied, pasted and filled in:

[Title of Bill]

A
Bill
To

[Purpose of Bill]

The Parliament of Stratham enacts:

Section 1. Short Title

(1) This Act is the [Title of Bill].

Section 2. Commencement

(1) Provision(s) [Section Number(s)] shall come into effect [number of days, upon passage, etc]

(2) [More sections can be added with commencement like before.]

Section 3. Reasoning

(1) Reasons for the bill

Section 4. [Title of Section 4]

(1) This is a subsection. [Main provisions of the section]

(a) This is a sub-sub section [Used to clarify or elaborate on subsections]

Section 5. [Title of Section 5]

More sections can be added like before.


Authored by [Name] on behalf of [the Government, Party Name, themselves].

(XIV) The process of a bill becoming an Act of Parliament is as follows;
(A) Bills will be proposed on discord under #bill-creation and on the forums.
(B) 24 hours after the proposal, which can be extended or shortened at the discretion of the Speaker, the bill will be voted on by the Members of Parliament.
(C) Voting will close after 24 hours have passed, which can be extended or shortened at the discretion of the Speaker. In order for a bill to pass, majority support is required. If the bill fails to achieve a majority, it will be rejected.
(D) Once passed, the bill will be put to Prime Minister assent or veto. If given assent the bill becomes an Act of Parliament
(E) The process of Constitutional Amendments will follow the same process outlined above, with the key difference of requiring a supermajority (2/3rds rounded up) vote to pass.​


Authored by Dusty_3 on behalf of myself.
 
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Krix

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This bill has received Prime Ministerial assent and is hereby signed into law.
 
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