Difference between revisions of "Justice"

Revision as of 21:05, 19 March 2008

A Justice is the name for a judge of the Taijitan Supreme Court. Justices preside over cases brought before the Supreme Court, and hand down verdicts based on the will of the simple majority of the Justices presiding over a given case.

Current Justices

• Pragmia

Appointment and Removal

Justices are appointed by the delegate. The delegate can appoint any citizen of Taijitu to sit in the Supreme Court, provided they have been a citizen for over 90 days upon taking up their place on the bench, and have accumulated over 300 posts on the forum.

Once appointed, the delegate must submit their candidate to be scrutinized by the Senate, as all judicial appointments are subject to review and confirmation by the senate. This stage consists of a seven day period for Senators to put questions to the prospective justice, followed by a seven day voting period, the result of which determines whether a prospective justice may take up the post or not.

While the delegate appoints justices, they may not remove them. A justice may only be removed by the senate. In such a case, a senator would motion for the removal of a given justice and a vote would be started, the result of which would determine whether the justice would be allowed to remain or removed from their post. Two thirds of the current active senate must vote in favor of the motion in order for it to be binding.

The Constitution of Taijitu provides that the senate may only remove justices from the Supreme Court if in the opinion of the Senate they have violated the laws and Constitution of Taijitu, violated their oath or failed to fulfill their duties

Job

Justices have a clear role as the guardians of Taijitu law. They may investigate both the government and citizens, either by having cases brought to them by members of the region or by setting up an investigation on their own initiative. This means that justices must be active members of the community, aware, for example, of the nature of the laws which the senate is passing to ensure that they are constitutional.

Oath

I, [forum name], do swear that I shall hold by and not abuse powers of my office enumerated by the Constituion, shall rule on and uphold the laws and Constitution of Taijitu with due efficacy and impartiality, lay down sentences with good reason and without bias, and recognize that should I fail to comply to this oath that my office and its powers may be by a vote of the Senate forfeit.

Constitutional Position

The constitution limits the Supreme Court to nine justices. While justices may act as roaming guardians of law by bringing their own cases against citizens or the other two arms of government, they may not force a citizen to testify against themselves. Citizens are also protected by double jeapordy.

The procedure for appointing judges, as well as the conditions for removing them, is laid down by the constituton as is, as a result, entrenched.

Relationship with Senate

Justices are subject to the senate removing them from their post. This has never happened, and it is convention that the independence of the judiciary is guaranteed.

Relationship with Executive

Justices do not change with each new delegate. While some may owe their job to the incumbent, they are not liable to removal by any delegate and so may be considered to be free from political influence by fear of their job.

There is an issue with a lack of seperation of powers. The constitution does not prevent members of the executive other than the Delegate or Vice Delegate from sitting as judges. Some have raised concerns that this has the potential to bring pro-government bias into decisions made by the Supreme Court.