Act of Congress Standardized Criminal Code Act

The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:

1 - Short Title and Enactment
(1) This Act may be cited as the ‘Standardized Criminal Code Act'
(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.
(3) This Act has been authored by: The_Donuticus
(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by: VanillaChai79

2 - Reasons
Our criminal system has become woefully chaotic and burdened. This act would seek to establish a master Criminal Code by which all crimes can be sorted and made uniform. Furthermore other things, such as the Public Indecency Act or the Anti-Graffiti Act, are actually Rules so have no place being an Act of Congress. Even furthermore some acts just state ‘this is illegal’ but provide no basis for punishment. Evenmore furthermore many laws are redundant.

This Act will in no way be a comprehensive list at the time of its filling, it will form the basis on which a further system can be built.

3 - Repeals the follow acts:

4 - Legal Principles
(1) Civil Damages
(a) In civil lawsuits, crimes may be used to seek damages, although damages are not presumed.
(b) Conviction is not a requirement for a crime to be regarded as a fact in a civil lawsuit; the default standard of proof for civil cases shall be used.
(c) Law regarding legal damages shall also apply to damages caused by crimes.

(2) Criminal Jurisdiction (Original: 218218Consumer - Jan 11, 2021)
(a) The standard of proof for criminal cases is beyond reasonable doubt.
(b) The Court shall have jurisdiction over all indictable offenses, alongside all DOC offenses.
(c) If an individual is found to be not guilty of a crime after punishment has been imposed, they shall be compensated $50 per minute spent in jail for offenses found unproven, alongside a reimbursement of any fine paid for unproven offences.
(d) The prosecuting authority must be represented by a Prosecutor. The defendant must have representation or have declared they are representing themselves.

(3) Criminal Offense Classification (Original: hugebob23456 - Dec 15, 2020)
(a) All criminal offenses must carry the classification of either: Indictable or Summary.
(b) Punishments for a Summary Criminal Offense can be carried out by the relevant Government Department without a trial, subject to Criminal Jurisdiction rules.
(c) Punishments for an Indictable Criminal Offense must be proven in a trial.
(d) If a criminal offense fails to be specified as an Indictable or Summary Offense, then its classification shall be decided by the following:
(i) If a crime has a first offense fine of over $2,000 and/or a first offense jail time of over 30 minutes, then it shall be classified as an Indictable Criminal Offense.
(ii) If a crime does not meet the requirements to be an Indictable Criminal Offense as outlined above, then it shall be classified as a Summary Criminal Offense.
(iii) Classification shall not be changed by the cumulation of the same and/or other charges.
(iv) Classification shall not be changed by clauses, such as 5(1)(a) of this Act, that change the punishment of a crime under special circumstances.

(4) Ex-Post Facto (Original: Pacman - May 26, 2020)
(a) Individuals cannot be subject to punishments for criminal actions if it was not illegal at the time it was committed.
(b) Any legislation that has passed after a lawsuit has been filed, will not be considered in that lawsuit, nor in the appeal of that lawsuit and the case that takes place if the appeal for that lawsuit has been accepted. Congress may override Ex-Post Facto, however such a bill will require supermajority in both chambers.

(5) Expungement (Original: Westray - Mar 22, 2021)
(a) Expungement is defined as the process in which a good behavior citizen may request to have a criminal record removed.
(b) Any citizen may file for their criminal records to be removed via expungement, provided it has been at least 2 months since they have been charged with a crime.
(c) Any citizen who qualifies may bring their request to the courts, following such process:
(i) The citizen will file an Expungement Request to the Federal Court, to be presided over by a Judge or Justice.
(ii) The Attorney General, or State’s legal equivalency, will then be called to answer as to whether they meet the criteria or not.
(iii) The Judge or Justice will then determine a verdict on such a request with the State’s consent.
(d) If the respective Judge or Justice agrees with the request of the citizen, and has the consent of the State, they may order the Department of Homeland Security to delete such criminal record(s).

(6) Statute of Limitations (Original: Pacman - May 24, 2020)
(a) All legal action must be commenced within four months of the date of the alleged offense OR within 2 months of becoming aware of the offence, if outside the Statute of Limitations 4 Month timeframe.
(b) High Crimes excepted from the time constraints of the Statute of Limitations include:
(i) Corruption
(ii) Violating a Whistleblower's Anonymity
(iii) Electoral Fraud
(iv) Treason
(v) Political Espionage
(vi) Breach of Integrity
(vii) Bribery

5 - Legal Processes
(1) Government Disruption (Original: LilDigiVert - Feb 27, 2021)
(a) Punishments to those who commit crimes shall be doubled if they are at an official session or event.
(b) Proof must be provided for the punishment to be doubled, otherwise standard punishment procedures will be enacted.

(2) Proceeds of Crime (Original: xEndeavour - Jun 2, 2021)
(a) The funds or assets acquired from criminal acts can be sized by the Government in court proceedings:
(i) Fine or civil recovery of an amount up to and equal to the total proceeds of the offense committed.