Vetoed Court Reform Constitutional Amendment

[HugeBob]

A
BILL
To

Clearly Establish the Courts System​

The people of Democracy Craft, 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 “Court Reform Constitutional Amendment”.
(2) This Act shall be enacted once it receives supermajority support in both Houses, Presidential Assent, and is affirmed through simple majority in Public Referendum.
(3) Authored by Representative hugebob23456

2 - Reasons
(1) As it currently stands the Courts are very poorly defined and their powers range wildly depending who’s interpreting the Constitution.
(2) The new process is explained more simply in the following Google Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1M8M6GdGffwiyZYJu0h72jSS9igjPoZA9Bnhk2zy5DHY/edit?usp=sharing

3 - Constitutional Amendment
(1) “Judicial power is vested in the court.” is changed to “Judicial power is vested in the courts. There shall exist both a Supreme Court and a Circuit Court.”
(2) Section “Role of the Court” is renamed “Role of the Circuit Court”.
(3) “The Court shall consist of 3 Judges that are responsible for presiding over and delivering non-biased verdicts on all lawsuits. The Judges are to be nominated by the President and approved by the Senate.” is changed to “The Supreme Court shall consist of 3 Judges that are responsible for presiding over and delivering non-biased verdicts on the constitutionality of laws, executive action, general disputes between the other two branches of Government, and hearing appeals brought before them. In the event that the Supreme Court rules that a law or executive order is unconstitutional, its terms shall be voided and be moved to the appropriate place on the forums. The Circuit Court shall consist of any number of Judges who are responsible for presiding over all trials that do not involve the other branches of Government, unless the person filing the lawsuit requests that the Supreme Court hears the case and any one Supreme Court Justice accepts that the Supreme Court will hear the case. A person may become a Judge or Justice only if they are nominated by the President and approved by the Senate. When the Circuit Court is hearing a case, any one Circuit Court Judge may choose to take up the case, no more than one Judge may preside over a Circuit Court case simultaneously. In the event that there are no Circuit Court Judges, all matters will be considered by the Supreme Court. In the event that there are no Supreme Court Justices, any matter previously exclusive to the Supreme Court will instead be presided over by a Circuit Court Judge that the Circuit Court Judges choose amongst themselves and the verdict will be voted upon by all Circuit Court Judges. In the event that the Supreme Court lacks a quorum and there are no Circuit Court Judges, no verdict may be issued on any matter and all cases will be on hold pending the addition of more Judges and Justices.”
(4) “The court is responsible for resolving government disputes.” is moved to “Role of the Supreme Court”.
(5) “The court acts as a constitutional court, as a check on legislation and executive power.” is moved to “Role of the Supreme Court”.
(6) “Where a bill or law is challenged for constitutionality, all Judges must deliver a verdict.” is changed to “For all matters being considered by the Supreme Court, all sitting Justices will internally vote on the final verdict. In the case that fewer than a majority of the seats on the Supreme Court are occupied, the Supreme Court will internally elect a Justice to preside over the case while all Circuit Court Judges will vote on the verdict of the case. In the event of a tie vote, the default judgement shall be in favor of the defendant.”
(7) All currently serving Judges at the time of this bill’s passage shall become Supreme Court Justices.

 

[Westray]

This amendment has been vetoed.
​

Explanation:

• This amendment is limiting an already limited role for Judges. They do not have much caseload, and by integrating two different courts, it is further spreading their responsibilities.
• While I am usually in support of court reform of many kinds, this amendment simply isn't feasible for the time being. The server population and average amount of lawsuits do not warrant a need to expand the courts currently. I would implore Representative Hugebob to bring this bill before us in the future as the server grows and when the courts do meet the demand.