01-22-2020, 08:38 AM
Quote:Recognizing that the current IDU laws and By laws, though short, cover a lot of ground and form an excellent foundation for regional law,Resolutions don't generally include much fluff. This isn't directly pertinent to the subject matter of the resolution and could be cut. However, traditionally people don't make much of a fuss over pre-ambulatory clauses as they don't really do anything. If you do choose to keep this clause, I would suggest rewording it to express your cognizance of pre-existing judicial law (primarily from the Regional Charter) instead of general laws and bylaws.
Quote:Noting that, even though the Charter mentions the creation of a Judicial Committee, it doesn't set many specifics on said committee, and leaves that up to further legislation,This is a fundamentally fine clause, I might reword it to leave out adjectives like "many", this comment applies to all of your pre-ambulatory clauses.
Quote:Believing that a Judicial Branch of the IDU is crucial to grant member stations a fair trial and ensure due process of Justice,Did you mean "member-states"? I might also add in the words "the establishment of" so that the clause reads something like, "Believing that the establishment of a Judicial Branch of the IDU is a crucial step towards ensuring that all member states are granted due process..." My example isn't great but I am certain you can come up with something far better.
Quote:Grateful for all of the help I have received to write this document, my first contribution to IDU law, and thank them for their time and dedication.This is the only perambulatory clause that I would highly you to omit in it's entirety. It goes back to my comment about fluff in the first clause. While I appreciate the thanks, a personal comment should never be included in a resolution.
Quote:Hereby Resovles the Following:Watch out for unnecessary capitalization. I like to do it too but words like "Trial Would" (Section 1- Clause 4) do not need to be capitalized. The same thing goes for "Confirmed" (1-2) and at least a half-dozen other words in Section 1, clauses 2-4.
§1: The Judicial Committee
1. Establishes the Judicial Committee, comprised of three equal Judges, each tasked with upholding the laws and by-laws of the IDU to the intent of which they were written.
2. As stated in the second section of the IDU Charter, The Judges shall be nominated by the Delegate, and Confirmed in the State Assembly via a majority vote. Judges should have a calm demeanor, as well as being active participants in regional affairs and Roleplay and must also have the ability to fairly see both sides of an argument.
3. Each Judge, if appointed, shall have a seat for life, Until they either cease to exist in NS and the IDU forums, Resign, or are Impeached.
3A. If a Judge Ceases to Exist, but reappears within two weeks, they shall retain their position.
4. A Judge can be Impeached, in which case, a motion of impeachment must be brought up to the Delegate, and the Delegate may decide if the Motion has merit. If so, a Trial Would be held(Trial Details in Section 3).
Regarding 3a (which should actually be its own clause, if I am not mistaken), I would add a defining clause at the front part of this resolution. "Cease to Exist" can theoretically have a lot of meanings. For example, if I was to be a judge and delete my forum account, I would be unable to continue carrying out my duty as a judge. My nation might be totally fine and operational but it doesn't make me any less incapable of carrying out my duty. Alternatively (In this hypothetical scenario), I could accidentally let my nation cease to exist on NationStates while carrying out my duty just fine on the forums. You may want to address this potential conundrum.
I might also suggest rewording clause 4 so that the reasons for impeachment are listed first. I.E. "In the event that a Judiciary Committee judge is to... , they may be impeached by..."
This just improves the flow of the sentence.
Quote:§2: Court Proceedings and Judicial Jurisdiction:
1. The Judicial Committee's primary purpose is to uphold the law of the IDU. To do so, the Committee may hold a trial if the IDUSA has voted to accuse a nation of breaking one of said laws. The Speaker, or a Proxy, would serve as the prosecutor, with the Defendant either representing themselves or having a Proxy represent them.
That whole first sentence should be a perambulatory clause (Noting that the Judicial Committee's primary purpose...). Remember, no clause should be included in the operative section (the "body" of the resolution) if it doesn't actively DO something.
You worded the end section of this clause oddly. You haven't really mentioned any specific regulations that can be violated by name so I am not sure "said laws" is the appropriate term.
Quote:1A. After the Trial, the judges will adjourn to discuss and to come up with a verdict, which is reached with a vote between the Judges.
A trial is, by definition, still "open" until a verdict has been reached. As such, I might suggest changing "After the trial" to "Upon the conclusion of the testimonies of the plaintiff and defendant..." (or something of that ilk). I might also reword "discuss and to come up with a verdict" so that it sounds less choppy. Maybe, "Deliberate over the aforementioned testimonies and reach a verdict." Again though, don't feel like you actually have to use any of mu suggestions. Most of them are lame.
I might make the final piece of the clause its own sub-clause.
Quote:1B. The Judiciary Committee, In Conjunction with the IDUSA, is obligated to come up with Penalties for breaking IDU regulations.My interpretation of the Regional Charter holds that it is not the Judiciary Committee's responsibility to impose or invent actually penalties for individuals found guilty. It is my belief that this clause is, regrettably, illegal.
Quote:2. If a Judge faces a conflict of interest that would interfere with their duty to fairly judge a trial, they have a duty to relinquish themselves from that case.In clause 3 I might say "unnanimous consensus" or "unanimous verdict" instead of compromise. You may also want to consider removing the parentheses, and their contained clause, from this resolution as they are generally not needed.
3. If a tie occurs(Which could only happen if a Judge relinquishes themselves from a case), it falls to the remaining Judges to come up with a compromise.
Quote:4. As stated in the Charter, Additional Trial Law and Procedure shall be regulated by the Judicial Committee.This is fine aside from the excessive capitalization. I might also add that it is just procedure that the JC may regulate. The judiciary branch doesn't make or regulate law.
Quote:§3: Trials of Elected OfficialsYou don't need "Declaring that" at the beginning. I would also simplify this clause by only explaining what is different than regular proceedings. What actually is different for the delegate? How would a situation where the delegate was put on trial be handled?
1. Declaring that, If a Trial of an Elected official occurs, most of Section 2 is the same, with the Speaker serving as the prosecutor (If the Speaker is the Defendant, the Judges must choose a Proxy), the Defendant representing themselves or having a Proxy, and the Judges presiding.
Quote:2. If the Accused Elected official Is a Judge, and the Motion for an Impeachment Trial has been approved by the Delegate, The Accusing party will serve as the Prosecutor, the Judge or a Proxy as the defendant, and the Delegate as the Judge, with the Delegate and other two Judges reaching a verdict.I'll have to sleep on this clause. It has some flaws but I want to get my thoughts in order before I get back to you.
Quote:§4: Appropriate Court ConductSolidly a pre-ambulatory clause.
1.Stating that the Court of The IDU is a place where respect is Paramount, resulting in the need for a code of conduct that clarifies what is acceptable in Court Chambers.
Quote:2. Anyone, While In Court, is expected to politely listen to everyone, especially the judge. Any attempts to protest out of turn, outside of an objection, will result in a warning.Try sprucing this clause up to make it a bit more succinct and professional sounding. I would also encourage you to change "Anyone" to "Everyone" or "All involved parties" if that word makes it into the updated draft.
Quote:3. While in Court, everyone is also required to refrain from swearing, making obscene comments, or threatening any other court attendees.It's not really court so much as it is an official trial. This clause isn't really worded correctly. I might suggest looking through some RL bylaws (they are available online for most states in the US) and seeing how they would word a similar clause. This entire section is basically about maintaining decorum so you may even be able to get way with condensing this down to "It is expected that all involved parties will exhibit proper decorum throughout the course of the trial" or something of that ilk.
Quote:3A. Any of these actions will result in a warning as well.I have the same comments for this clause that I had for clause 3 (main) for the most part.
Quote:4. If you have been warned by a judge once and continue to behave inappropriately, the judge may hold you in contempt, and may result in a minor punishment. The Judge also may spare you a punishment, but still hold you in contempt on record.You suddenly jumped to the wrong voice. You aren't talking to someone, it's a bylaw. Words like "You, my, your, you'll" should never come up. This is also waaaay more than a single clause. I'll bet you can condense it pretty easily though. You also may need to break it down into more clauses.

