1. I am right that under the 2017 Organic Law, the CpI has the authority to recognize crimes at common law (Seventh Covenant) and has the sole right to impose the sentence of revocation (Twelfth Covenant).  Neither the Seventh Covenant nor Twelfth Covenant contain any provision akin to "The Ziu Shall have the power to enforce this Covenant by appropriate legislation." Which is the very line that moron Tärfă hangs his hat on.  Tärfă entire argument that the Ziu somehow gets to interpret what is cruel and unusual punishment to claim that this includes revocation of citizenship is not only stupid, it's laughable—the Org Law already allows that punishment, it is not subject to the whims of the Ziu. But keep thinking this is a wilder legal theory, Meistra. Let us not forget that you flunked out of law school. I graduated at the top of class.
 
2. The reality is that the 1997 Organic Law required a citizen to participate in an election to avoid the two-strikes rule.  Abstention counted as participation. The referendum was tied into the election. Therefore, abstaining counted as the overall number of people participating in the referendum.

3. Why did I not raise the referendum sooner? Because Miestra expressly told me not to.  She said, "but leave out the issue of the referendum[.]" If she were so confident in her position, why did she tell me to leave that out?

4. How did I handle the Fifth Covenant? I got the Fifth Covenant fixed.

5. None of you really want to take Talossa seriously.  This is akin to Model UN in school. It's a low-level larp.  The mere fact that you're all ostensibly okay with trashing civil liberties and steamrolling of a defendant because you don't like his macronational level crime is disgusting.

6. Miestra, this is at you—you're a disgusting excuse for a person. How quickly you cycle through political allies based on whether they're useful to you tells me the character of your person.  I wish nothing but the worst possible future for you.

7. Tärfă, you're just an idiot.

8. Gluc, you're also a moron. 

9. FreeDems, good luck EVER winning an election again.


I resign my seat on the Uppermost Cort, and I resign my citizenship. Talossa doesn't deserve me. Good luck playing your game. There, you can all celebrate my departure from this shitshow.

For too long Members of the Ziu have taken a laissez faire approach to the provisions of the Organic Law.  We have allowed this culture of enacting legislation for whatever the Ziu thinks is appropriate without virtually any consideration of the actual text of the Organic Law.   The Ziu acts like Talossa is a system of parliamentary sovereignty without a co-equal branch.  This is simply not the case. 

Therefore, I am announcing the Organic Law Party.  The primary goal of the Organic Law Party is to restore the Ziu to its proper place and Members of the Ziu when they steamroll over the Organic Law.  The Organic Law Party will fiercely and relentlessly defend the Organic Law and ensure that every transgression by a state institution is publicly known.

If you value civil liberties, constitutional order, and the rule of law, join the Organic Law Party.

On issues related to the monarchy, the Organic Law Party will be agnostic and defer to the individual members to vote and advocate their conscience. 

I am sharing correspondence that I had with the general cort, prosecutor, and public defender about certain concerns and misgivings I have about the Cort accepting a plea that Talossan law does not recognize, and accepting a plea that will impose criminal liability without the consent of the defendant.

My reasons for doing this by private correspondence, or "in chambers" if you will, are stated therein.

Screenshot 1

Screenshot 2

Also stated therein is that I will recuse myself from this matter should it get to the CpI. 

Colleagues:

The Grand Session XV of the Estats Xhenerais of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg is now in session and comprised of the following councillors: Viteu Marcianüs, Tric'hard Lenxheir,  Chirbi Scherpa-Carriedo,  Chirbi Scherpa-Carriedo, Adam Grigoriu, and Eðo Grischun.

Let us know now electing a Premier and Presiding Office as constitutionally mandated.

Councillors of the Thirteenth Grand Session of the Estats Xhenerais of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg and all adult citizens of these United Provinces:

It has long been the tradition of our province that Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg operates above any other provision in that "Grand Sessions of the Estats Xhenerais are instantly convened and dissolved with those of the national Ziu."   Moreover, that any adult citizen of the United Provinces claimed their constitutional right to sit as Councillor in the Grand Session of the Estats Xhenerais, provided such occurred during a national election and through publicly announcing the requisite declaration, according to Article III, Sections 2 and 5, has always served as the basis of, and been recognized as constitutionally permissive for, the composition of the Estats Xhenerais.  In sum, the referenced-provisions have, through practice, obviated the role of the Cunstaval or other ceremonial circumstance, such as swearing in each member or dissolving each Grand Session, otherwise set forth in our great constitution, and any required oath or swearing in is widely accepted as implicit in the assumption of responsibility in claiming one's seat as Councillor.

Against that backdrop, and in strict adherence to the traditions of these United Provinces in applying their constitution, let it hereby be known that the Thirteenth Grand Session of the Estats Xhenerais was dissolved with the national Ziu, and that, from this point onward and in this thread, any adult citizen of these United Provinces may lay claim to their seat as Councillor in the Fourteenth Grand Session of the Estats Xhenerais by making the public declaration set forth in Article III, Section 5 of the Constitution of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg, which is:

"I, [NAME], hereby claim my right to be seated in the next Grand Session of the Estats Xhenerais"

And let it be known that having made such declaration, and in accord with all other provisions therewith, upon the conclusion of the national election, all adult citizens of these United Provinces having laid such claim, be recognized through operation of law as Councillors to the Fourteenth Session of the Estats Xhenerais, and that such having been deemed immediately commenced.   

May all adult citizens of these United Provinces come forth and lay claim to constitutional seat as Councillor in the Fourteenth Grand Session of the Estats Xhenerais of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg.

The issue of a provincial merger involving the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg ("Vuode") has once more arisen. 

The Expedition of the Thousand Act, presently before the Assembly of Benito, proposes that Vuode, Florencia, and Benito merge into a new province named Garibaldi (the "Benito Scheme")

Separately, Maritiimi-Maxhestic ("M-M") is gauging local interest in reviving a proposed scheme that would have M-M and Vuode remain separate provinces at the national level, each maintaining their own Cunstaval and Senator, while forming a joint legislature for provincial-level matters (the "M-M Scheme").  I understand that Senator Grischun had drafted a proposed constitution to this effect in 2015. 

First, Vuode, at present, does not have an active government and therefore cannot pass legislation for either proposal.  This can be remedied following the next national election should Vuodians elect to claim their seats in the Estats Xhenerais. 

Second, I take this opportunity to reiterate my opposition to any formal merger at this time.  Therefore, I do not support the Benito Scheme

Third, I am unfamiliar with the M-M Scheme as it originated in my time away from Talossa and, in my estimation, has not come up since my return. My preliminary impression is one of intrigue, and I am happy to consider it in good faith. 

I invite all citizens of Vuode to make their wishes known and indicate if they are open to discussion/debate. 

I intend to take my seat in the E-X at the next election.  While the Benito Scheme is dead-on-arrival for me, the M-M Scheme seems promising. 

-V

Edits: typos

I began to write this as a summary but went off on a tangent.  I think it's topical for us to discuss. So here it is. 
I invite @Eðo Grischun to comment on my thoughts.   

The most controversial law we have tends to be the Senate National Election Byelaw.  The law's intent stemmed from a concern that non-active citizens were representing Vuode in the Senate, and getting that seat through "pocket votes" without any real activity here or concern for those in the province.  The law was enacted to ensure the Senator was active, available to the people, and chosen by Vuodians. Prior to that, for many terms, the seat was held by a party that did not represent the active members of the province, or seem to have any sustained interest in Talossan life outside of maintaining citizenship to vote for their friends who were active. 

The law is quite simple:

(1) a prospective senator must openly declare their intention to sit as a candidate ten days prior to the end of the last Cosa preceding an election; (2) all votes are public in Vuode's sub-forum; (3) the E-X retains authority to appoint a new Senator within 10 days of vacancy, and if it fails to do so, the premier may do so; and if after 5 days fails to do so, the Crown gets to do so.  This has been criticized by many outside of Vuode. 

From what I know, Eðo does not hate the law but thinks it can be tweaked because there are obvious holes in the law (e.g. an early dissolution of the Cosa).  We debated an amendment, which I think we should revisit, that would address the situation of no candidate declaring their intent to run within the requisite period or a snap election.  But I think, for the most part, we like the law because it really keeps our Senators close to home. It requires them to be at least partially active to national politics, etc.  At least I do.

On the issue of the time window to declare a seat, allow me to offer a different perspective: Vuode's Senate seat will be up for election with the 58th Cosa.  We control our election by way of the Claiming Our Autonomy Byelaw.  According to the National Senate Election Byelaw, a "prospective Senator must openly declare their intention to sit as a candidate for Senate no later than ten (10) days prior to the end of the last Cosâ preceding an election." The idea behind this law was that only people who pay attention to Vuode and elections would represent Vuode--as opposed to the old system where party votes and write-in candidates for non-active citizens meant more than campaigning.  There was a long period when our Senator never posted to Vuode and won by pocket votes.  So we have this. 

This problem, however, has been identified: What happens in a snap election? There is occasional debate to tweak the law appropriately. The failure to enact clarifying language stems from inactivity or forgetfulness, not outright disagreement. On the other hand, it occurs to me that the wording of the statute is a bit more expansive than we thought. We've been operating under a notion that the prospective Senator waits till the last Clark preceding an election, but that's not what the wording says, and it largely has been tactical.  The law says, "no later than 10 days prior to the end of the last Cosa preceding an election."  Given that this is about the Senate, I read it as "no later than 10 days prior to the last Cosa preceding an election involving a Vuode senate seat."  So the earliest a person could declare is literally day one of the last Cosa preceding an election (Clark 1, Day 1 to be exact), and this lasts up to 10 days prior to the last Clark.  I do think there's been some evidence of a candidate waiting until the last possible day to declare their intent to run, so as to not remind others, and secure a seat by default. But, really, all of this is public info and even that tactic serves the law's purpose--to ensure that people are paying attention and our Senators pay attention. So in practice, on Clark 1, Day 1 of the 57th Cosa, Eðo and any other eligible Vuodian may declare their intention to sit as a candidate for the Vuode seat.  Another boon for this is that the electorate can ask questions directly and note when nonresponses are given. The requirement for voting on Witt had more to do with ensuring that active people came on and voted as well as preventing the SOS from applying national law in counting votes. 

Thoughts? Should we proceed with revisiting the amendments? I'm not opposed to a provision in the event of a snap election when no senator has declared, like a special "10-day grace period from the writ of dissolution" but only if we have no candidates.

The Wiki Page for the United Provinces has not been updated in some time to reflect our Digest of Byelaws and Decrees, and we had created a thread for this purpose on old Witt. I am taking a moment to move some of those over.


Table of Contents

PART ONE: Provincial Byelaws
1: The Claiming Our Autonomy Byelaw
2: The National Senate Election Byelaw

PART TWO:  United Provinces Decrees (UPDs)
1: The Parishes and Townships Decree





1.1 - The Estats Xhenerais, as authorized under articles III and IV of the Constitution of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg, RESOLVES to hereby invoke its right under Section 7 of Article IV of the Organic Law of the Kingdom of Talossa and rescinds any prior grants of permission for the Chancery to conduct its Senatorial elections.



2.1 - A prospective Senator must openly declare their intention to sit as a candidate for Senate no later than ten (10) days prior to the end of the last Cosâ preceding an election.

2.2 - All votes must be publicly recorded through a post on the established national forum known as Wittenburg within Vuode's sub-forum prior to the close of the national election, and no votes made elsewhere shall be recorded or counted.

2.3 - Notwithstanding any national law to the contrary, in the event a sitting Senator vacates his or her seat, the Estats Xehenerais shall immediately vote to appoint a new Senator.  In the event the Estats Xhenerais fails to vote to appoint a new Senator within 10 days of a vacancy occurring, then the Premier of the province shall have the emergency power to immediately make such appointment sans vote; if a further 5 days pass without an appointment being made then the emergency power to appoint shall fall to the Crown.

Councillors of the Eleventh Grand Session of the Estats Xhenerais of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg and all adult citizens of these United Provinces:

It has long been the tradition of our province that Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg operates above any other provision in that "Grand Sessions of the Estats Xhenerais are instantly convened and dissolved with those of the national Ziu."   Moreover, that any adult citizen of the United Provinces claimed their constitutional right to sit as Councillor in the Grand Session of the Estats Xhenerais, provided such occured during a national election and through publicly announcing the requisite declaration, according to Article III, Sections 2 and 5, has always served as the basis of, and been recognized as constitutionally permissive for, the composition of the Estats Xhenerais.  In sum, the referenced-provisions have, through practice, obviated the role of the Cunstaval or other ceremonial circumstance, such as swearing in each member or dissolving each Grand Session, otherwise set forth in our great constitution, and any required oath or swearing in is widely accepted as implicit in the assumption of responsibility in claiming one's seat as Councillor. 

Against that backdrop, and in strict adherence to the traditions of these United Provinces in applying their constitution, let it hereby be known that the Eleventh Grand Session of the Estats Xhenerais was dissolved with the national Ziu, and that, from this point onward and in this thread, any adult citizen of these United Provinces may lay claim to their seat as Councillor in the Twelfth Grand Session of the Estats Xhenerais by making the public declaration set forth in Article III, Section 5 of the Constitution of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg, which is:

"I, [NAME], hereby claim my right to be seated in the next Grand Session of the Estats Xhenerais"

And let it be known that having made such declaration, and in accord with the all other provisions therewith, upon the conclusion of the national election, all adult citizens of these United Provinces having laid such claim, be recognized through operation of law as Councillors to the Twelfth Session of the Estats Xhenerais, and that such having been deemed immediately commenced.   

May all adult citizens of these United Provinces come forth and lay claim to constitutional seat as Councillor in the Twelfth Grand Session of the Estats Xehenrais of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg.

So overdue, but this is the act I propose to fix the issue identified here.

WHEREAS, the Fifth Covenant to the Covenants of Rights and Freedoms once read as follows:

Any person charged with an offence shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty, and has the right to request information on his legal rights. No accused person shall be twice put in jeopardy of life, liberty, or property for the same offence, or without due process of law; nor shall any citizen be compelled in any criminal case to bear witness against himself. Excessive fines, and cruel and bizarre punishments, shall not be inflicted.


WHEREAS, the Due Process Amendment, 50RZ26, received sufficient support in the Ziu and the requisite majority during referendum to modify that language;

WHEREAS, the Still Into This Amendment, 53RZ18, inadvertently reverted this covenant to the foregoing language;

WHEREAS, said omission from 53RZ18 appears entirely accidental and unintentional.

WHEREAS, the Ziu desires to remedy this mistake by re-adopting, without modification, the Fifth Covenant as enumerated in 50RZ26.

THEREFORE, the Fifth Covenant to the Covenants of Rights and Freedoms, Article XI of the Organic Law, is repealed in its entirety.

FURTHERMORE, the following language is adopted as the Fifth Covenant, Organic Law, Article XI.5:

No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor denied equal protection of law. Any person charged with an offense must be informed of their legal rights upon seizure by the government, and must be presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. No person shall be subject to answer to the same criminal offense after the criminal charge has been properly adjudicated in a court of law, nor shall any person be compelled in any criminal case to bear witness against himself, nor shall any person be subjected to excessive fines, nor shall any person be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. The Ziu shall have the power to enforce this Covenant by appropriate legislation.

Noi urent q'estadra så:

I wanted to bring the following to the Ziu's attention.  I went to check a covenant while preparing a response to Meistra in the Legal Committee thread, and it occurred to me that we accidentally overrode a covenant when adopting the 2017 Organic Law.

The Fifth Covenant, pre-50RZ26, read as follows:

Any person charged with an offence shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty, and has the right to request information on his legal rights. No accused person shall be twice put in jeopardy of life, liberty, or property for the same offence, or without due process of law; nor shall any citizen be compelled in any criminal case to bear witness against himself. Excessive fines, and cruel and bizarre punishments, shall not be inflicted.

The Due Process Amendment, 50RZ26, modified that language to:

No person shall be deprived life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor denied equal protection of law. Any person charged with an offense must be informed of their legal rights upon seizure by the government, and must be presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. No person shall be subject to answer to the same criminal offense after the criminal charge has been properly adjudicated in a court of law, nor shall any person be compelled in any criminal case to bear witness against himself, nor shall any person be subjected to excessive fines, nor shall any person be subjected cruel and unusual punishment. The Ziu shall have the power to enforce this Covenant by appropriate legislation.

The Still Into This Amendment, 53RZ18, reverted this back to the pre-Due Process Amendment language.  Hence, the old Covenant appears to have been replaced upon adoption of the 2017 Org Law, and is current recorded in same.    I'm assuming this was inadvertent because Ian P. co-sponsored 50RZ26.  Hence, it appears we overlooked this and, I'd wager, it was intended for the 2017 Org Law to not change this Covenant. 

Although I encourage another to do so, I will draft a bill to fix this, which I hope should not be controversial, in a week or so.

My apologies to the Ziu, I realized after the fact that the Committee of Legal Reforms thread is in the Lobby and not in Wittenberg.   I posted based on the "new posts" feed.  Having realized my mistake, the post has been removed.  But I do think there is a conversation that should be open to Talossa-at-large.  So I'm reproducing my commentary here.  The original thread can be found here. 
______


I want to chime in regarding the alcohol analogy.  Although there is a shared minimum alcohol consumption/purchasing age of 21 among the States, it is not the same law across the Country.  In Wisconsin, someone under the age of 21 can certainly be served an alcoholic beverage in a public establishment by their parent or guardian, while in North Carolina they cannot.  Even assuming Wisconsin did have an outright ban on underage alcohol consumption, it only applies to committing the offense if present in Wisconsin, an 18-year-old who consumes alcohol in Cezembre would not have broken a Wisconsin law because they did not consume alcohol in Wisconsin.  By way of example, my first trip to Europe at age 20, I purchased and consumed a beer in Schwedenplatz (public place) in Vienna.  Did I break New York law? No. New York has a similar law to Wisconsin, but even so, I purchased and consumed alcohol publicly in another country where the conduct was permissible. So I did not have to worry about facing criminal charges when I returned home.

The US, federal and State, rarely imposes criminal liability for conduct that occurs outside of a jurisdiction.  Where it does, it's very limited circumstance--think sex tourism.  So this is not the best analogy.

Regarding the merit of the Regent's thoughts, I generally find them agreeable.  I see the value is removing Wisconsin law from our criminal law, but we cannot possibly address every instance of criminal conduct that may present itself given our resources and needs.  I like the idea of a carefully regulated special counsel, but I would add that a tenant of criminal law is that a person must be able to know what they're doing is illegal.  There must be a benchmark.  Also, Talossa is unique in that we're seeking to hold someone criminally liable for conduct outside of Talossa for general crime.  I'd say further narrowing--only those crimes of such magnitude as to impact the wellness and health of Talossa, should be permissible for consideration of judicial incorporation (I'm thinking of murder or statutory rape as opposed to a speeding ticket).

WHEREAS El Lexhatx intends to provide a single code of law for the Kingdom of Talossa as enacted by the Ziu;

AND WHEREAS the foregoing admirable intention must be honored through constant scrutiny to ensure consistency and ease of access;

AND WHEREAS it has come to the attention that, through several amendments since adoption, El Lexhatx G. Justice has become cumbersome to follow;

AND WHEREAS someone finally took the time to scrutinize this statute to remove repetition, conflicting provisions, and to clarify certain procedure regarding criminal offenses;

AND WHEREAS absolutely no statute drafted by Alexandreu Davinescu, specifically the ex parte communications subsection, has been changed in any way, except to be recodified and moved for consistency.

BE IT ENACTED by the King, Cosâ and Senäts of Talossa in Ziu assembled as follows:

That El Lexhatx G. is absolished in its entirety. 

BE IT FURTHER ENACTED that the following shall be codified into El Lexhatx as section G. Justice:

G. Justice.

1. The General Cort of Talossa

1.1.    The Ziu enlarges the number of Puisne Judges to a total of three in accord with Section 3 of Article VIII of the Organic Law.

1.2.    The Ziu establishes the General Cort of Talossa, which shall be an inferior nisi prius cort, cort of first instance, and of general jurisdiction consistent with Article VIII of the Organic Law.

1.2.1. Any citizen of Talossa who has satisfied the Ministry of Justice of their knowledge of Talossan law and jurisprudence, and of their good character, may be recommended to the King or to the Cort pü Inalt to be named as a Community Jurist (CJ).

1.2.2. Community Jurists may be deprived of this designation by the Cort pü Înalt, upon presentation of a preponderance of evidence by the Ministry of Justice that their good character or their legal knowledge is no longer satisfactory.

1.2.3. The Clerk of the Corts shall appoint, by random selection, a single Community Jurist to preside over the General Cort for any case arising under this section.

1.2.3.1. If no qualified CJ is available to hear a given case, the Clerk of the Corts shall appoint a single Judge of the Cort pü Inalt to preside over the General Cort for that case.

1.2.4. The judicial official presiding over a matter in the General Cort of Talossa shall be styled as "Magistrate" for the purposes of that proceeding.

1.2.5. Unless an appeal lies as of right, an aggrieved party to an action may seek leave to appeal any determination of the General Cort to the Cort pü Inalt.

1.2.6. A Magistrate may not sit as a Judge on the Cort pü Inalt for any appeal related to a proceeding over which they presided as a magistrate.

1.2.7. A Magistrate must recuse themselves from a matter upon a real or apparent conflict of interest.

2. The Practice of Law in the National Corts of Talossa. 

The following guidelines shall exist for the practice of law within the realm:

2.1. The practice of law shall be defined as the representation of individuals, corporations and government bodies before the Uppermost Cort, Military Cort, or any inferior court established by the Ziu; or the professional discussion or advice on matters of a legal nature.

2.2. Practice before the Uppermost Cort or any inferior National Court established by the Ziu shall be limited to members in good standing of the National Talossan Bar.

2.3. Practice before Military Courts shall be restricted to members of the National Talossan Bar or to any commissioned officer granted waiver by the Minister of Defence to serve as a legal representative, pursuant to Ministry of Defence guidelines.

2.4. Practice before Provincial Courts shall be governed by Provincial Law.

2.5. No part of this law shall limit an individual's ability to represent themselves before any court of the realm.

2.6. Provincial Premiers (or the provincial equivalent thereto) shall have the authority to represent their Province, in actions brought before a National Court, as a function of their office. This responsibility may be delegated only to a member of the National Talossan Bar.

2.7. The use of titles such as lawyer, attorney, barrister, solicitor, or councillor/counselor-at-law or any other title reserved by guidelines of the National Talossan bar shall be restricted to those who are licensed to engage in the practice of law within the realm.

2.8. Individuals who are party to an action brought before a Cort of the realm and cannot find suitable legal representation due to a shortage of qualified practitioners of law, conflicts of interest or for personal reasons to be outlined in a petition presented before the cort, may apply for a waiver to permit any adult Talossan citizen to represent them before the Cort in a specified legal action serving as a legal proxy.

2.9. Individuals operating under waiver shall not be entitled to present themselves as attorneys, lawyers, barristers, solicitors, or councillor/counselor-at-law, nor shall approval of such waiver imply membership in the National Talossan Bar.

2.10. Petitions for waiver shall be made to the Cort in which the action is to be brought. All waivers shall expire upon the final disposition of the case and shall remain in force through any appeal. Waivers granted by a lower court need not be renewed or reissued if the action is brought before the Uppermost Cort in appeal. Waivers may be terminated by the petitioner or the proxy at any time during court proceedings and shall notify the Court of said termination within 48 hours of its effective date. Waivers may be withdrawn through judicial order in the event of misconduct or inadequate representation.

2.11. Corts shall grant petitioned waivers unless the designated proxy has been convicted of a felony, has presented themselves unlawfully to be an attorney, lawyer, barrister, solicitor or councillor/counselor of law, has falsely claimed Bar membership or other official standing within the National Talossan Bar or has received monetary compensation or other financial consideration in exchange for his/her representational duties or when a suitable member of the bar is available for representation in the matter, unencumbered by conflicts of interest or personal disputes.

2.12. Admission to the National Bar of Talossa.

2.12.1. The National Bar of Talossa shall be governed by the Uppermost Cort, which shall establish the procedure, ethics, and
standards for those seeking admission to the National Bar of Talossa.

2.12.2. The National Bar of Talossa shall possess the sole authority to admit new individuals to practice law in the Corts of Talossa established under Article VIII of the Organic Law.

2.12.2.1. Admission to the Bar shall be limited to those who are eligible to vote in National Elections, and who satisfy any reasonable requirement set forth by the National Bar of Talossa.

2.12.2.2. The National Bar of Talossa shall set the standards, character, and other requirements for admission.

2.12.2.3. The National Bar of Talossa shall accept the application of any individual claiming to have satisfied the requirements for admission, and, if satisfied that the applicant does meet the criteria for admission after careful review and consideration, shall refer the applicant with supporting documentation to the Uppermost Cort for admission.

2.12.2.4. The Uppermost Cort of Talossan shall accept or deny all referred applications within a timely manner. An individual is not authorized to practice law until the Uppermost Cort of Talossa admits the application to the National Bar of Talossa, and an individual may not refer to themselves as "pending admission."

2.12.3. An individual who has earned a degree in the practice of law in another country, or who has been admitted to practice law in another country, or who has completed one year of legal education as well as legal training in another country, may seek a waiver for admission to the National Bar of Talossa by petitioning the Uppermost Cort of Talossa for such a waiver, provided proof for the basis of waiver is attached to the petition.  The Uppermost Cort may grant said waiver with no less than the consent of two Judges of the Uppermost Cort.  The Uppermost Cort may increase the number of Judges required to give consent as it deems necessary but may only decrease the number to the statutory limits with the same number of Judges required to give consent.

2.12.4. It shall be a criminal offense for any person to knowingly or recklessly practice law in Talossa without express statutory permission.

2.12.4.1. The above provision is not applicable to an individual who represent themselves, known as pro se party, or to any individual who is a member of or has received authority by the Ministry of Justice to represent the Government in any Cort throughout Talossa.

2.12.4.2. The following office holders may, at the discretion of the Chancery, be exempt from the above requirements and shall be granted full membership to the bar while they hold such office, for the purpose of performing their official duties: the Prime Minister, the Distain, Judges of the Uppermost Cort, and Judges of any inferior Cort.

2.12.4.3. An Attorney General, as head of the Ministry of Justice, or Deputy Attorney General as authorized by the Ministry of Justice, who is not admitted to their bar in their own right, is a de facto and de jure member of the bar for the duration that they hold that office.

2.12.5. The National Bar of Talossa shall set, as it deems necessary, the Code of Conduct to govern attorneys.

2.12.5.1. An individual admitted may have their admission revoked for cause with the consent of no less than a majority of the Judges of the Uppermost Cort of Talossa; in such a circumstance, the individual is no longer permitted to practice law in the national courts of Talossa.

2.12.5.2. All members of the bar admitted prior to the adoption of this statute shall continue to be deemed automatically admitted and may continue to practice law

2.12.6. Any rules, regulations or code of conduct not set by a statute, Talossan Law or by the Organic Law, shall be a matter for the Bar to set itself as far as permissible by the aforementioned Laws.

3. Appeals and Tribunals.

3.1 It shall be understood that any provincial court decision may be appealed at the National level before the lowest inferior court and that any decision by this court may be appealed to the Uppermost Cort. No Cunstaval shall proclaim any new provincial constitution that fails to provide a right to appeal decisions of the provincial court or courts (if any) to the Cort pü Înalt or such other national courts as may be created by the Ziu. National courts shall not interpret or rule on matters of provincial law unless the province has no system of courts, has not proclaimed a constitution or has standing law that matters of provincial law be handled through National Courts. Rather, the decisions of these courts will ensure no provincial court decision runs contrary to the Organic or Statutory Laws of the Kingdom, and that the rights of all involves parties, as guaranteed by the Rights and Covenants of the Organic Law, are protected.

3.1.1 All appeals, as with other court actions, shall be filed with the Clerk of the Corts. Upon official judicial assignment, the cort may either dismiss the case, by declining to hear it, or begin hearing opening arguments in the matter as presented by all relevant parties.

3.1.2 Appeals or other actions brought before any national court shall be heard within 90 calendar days from the date of assignment by the Clerk of the Corts.

3.1.3. The court, if it decides not to hear the case or appeal, shall issue a written statement justifying its decision within the time frame given in 3.2.

3.1.4. If a court does not comply with 3.2. or 3.2.1., it may be subject to an investigation for non-feasance conducted by the Ministry of Justice.

3.2. Under the principle of reformatio in peius, the worsening change of a verdict, no appellate court shall be allowed to change an appealed ruling in such a manner that would be disadvantageous to the petitioner.

3.2.1. In civil actions, appeals may be ruled in a detrimental manner to the appellant (reformationes in peius) only when both parties submit appeals.

3.2.2. In criminal procedures, reformationes in peius are forbidden whenever the appeal is lodged by the convict or in favour of the convict. In case of appeals from both parties, reformationes in peius detrimental to the convict shall be forbidden.

Ruth Bader Ginburg, an Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court, passed away today of cancer. She was 87 and a fierce advocate for women, minorities, queer people, and marginalized groups. She will be missed.

This loss also petrifies many Americans, and we fear that the eventually slip into authoritarian is almost complete. I ask all Talossans to take a moment to consider the amazing accomplishments of one of the world's best jurist, take a moment of respect, and maybe pause the current flamewars waging through Witt for 24 hours as our small but Talossan way of paying respect.

Councilors of the Tenth Grand Session of the Estats Xhenerais of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg:
In my role as Presiding Officer of this tenth Grand Session of the Estats Xehenerias, I decree the following:

Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg compels the Cunstaval to dissolve each Grand Session of the Estats Xhenerais. 

Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg instructs that the Estat Xhenerais is instantly dissolved with those of the national Ziu. 

On or about June 30, 2020, His Majesty Ian Lupul issued the Writ of Dissolution for the 54th Cosa of the Kingdom of Talossa.  Having received no formal dissolution decree from the Cunstaval, it is my view that this tenth Grand Session of the Estats Xhenerais was dissolved by operation of law upon the dissolution of the 54th Cosa of the Kingdom of Talossa.

Accordingly, I issue my resignation as Presiding Officer nunc pro tunc to the dissolution of the tenth Grand Session of the Estats Xhenerais.

In my role as Premier of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg, adhering to the tradition established following the adoption of our Constitution, it falls to me to open the forum in which every citizen of the United Provinces may declare their intent to sit as a Councilor in the Eleventh Grand Session of the Estats Xhenerais.  As set forth in Article III, Section 4, every person seeking such seat must publicly declare the following:

I, [YOUR NAME], hereby claim my right to be seated in the next Grand Session of the Estats Xhenerais.

Only during that period of time in which the national election is taking place.  Hence, this declaration can only be made between July 15, 2020 and August 1, 2020.  Any declaration received before that cannot be counted, although I will reach out to any individual that makes an early declaration to reiterate such on the proper date. PLEASE MAKE ALL DECLARATIONS IN THIS THREAD.

In accord with the national Constitution and codified law, the senatorial seat for the United Provinces shall be decided in this election. Pursuant to the Claiming Our Autonomy Byelaw (see Byelaws 1.1), the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg invoked its organic right to choose a Senator under its own laws and without the aid of the Chancery.  Pursuant to the section 2.1 of the National Senate Election Byelaw, a prospective candidate must openly declare their intention no later than 10 days prior to the end of the last Cosa preceding an election.  On or about June 7, 2020, the Right Honorable Senator Eðo Grischun did so timely declare such intent.  No other person publicly declared their intent.  As such, Senator Grischun shall proceed to election unchallenged. 

Pursuant to Section 2.2 of the National Senate Election Byelaw, all votes for Senator must be made publicly on a sub-forum dedicated to the United Provinces on the national forum.  Thus, PLEASE RECORD YOUR VOTE FOR SENATOR, IF YOU SO CHOOSE, IN THIS THREAD. As previously noted, the votes must be recorded during the period corresponding with the national election.

It has been an honor and privilege to serve all of you, and I look forward to working with all of you and for all of your in the next Estats Xhenerais.

Citizens of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg,

On March 1, 2020, I posted a Notice of Intent to Appoint a Senator, which you can find at https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=154.msg884#msg884. 

As Premier of the United Provinces, and in accord with Organic Law article III § 7 (former article IV § 10), I appoint @Eðo Grischun to fill the vacant seat of Senator for the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg for the remainder of its term to the fullest extent permitted under the Organic Law.

My congratulations to @Eðo Grischun. 

On another note, I am excited to have done this under the new Organic Law, which only came into force in the last few days.

Sincerely,

Viteu Marcianüs

Citizens of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg,

In accord with the proscription in the Organic Law, yesterday I resigned as your Senator on account of my elevation as a Justice to the Uppermost Cort of Talossa.  This tracks with my commitment to retire from public life on the national stage.  However, I intend to continue my services in the Estats Xhenerais and as your Premier. 

As Premier, Org.L.IV.10 requires that I appoint a Senator for the United Provinces to serve the remainder of my term, which expires at the end of the 54th Cosa, within a fortnight of the vacancy (i.e. until March 14, 2020) lest the mandate falls to King John or his appointed Custaval. 

I have informed @Eðo Grischun of my intent to appoint him Senator, which is not all that unexpected.  However, the Rt. Hon. Grischun expressed to me that he needs to wrap up some issues in his role as head of the PNP party in the Cosa.  As such, I am merely stating my intent to appoint the Rt. Hon. Grischun but am not formalizing the appointment quite yet.  I imagine that formal appointment will be made and transmitted to the national government within the next week.

In the interim, I ask all citizens of the United Provinces to come forward and help us figure out what we can do to get you active, to get you wanting and committed to helping the United Provinces, and to ensure that you remain active.  I understand extra-Talossa life happens, but Talossa and the United Provinces will be more fun with your contribution. 

Thank you.

Senators,

A short time ago, I noticed the citizens of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg that I intended to resign my seat their Senator effective immediately due to my appointment to fill the vacant seat as a Justice to the Uppermost Cort of Talossa. I have transmitted my resignation to King John, the Prime Minister, the Lord President, the Secretary of State, and the Premier of Vuode accordingly. 

Perhaps I did that out of order because I wanted to formally address this Chamber.  I hope the Lord President will afford me some latitude in this one instance and allow me to briefly state the following.

I have enjoyed working with each and every one of you, even when we have disagreed.  I want to acknowledge the hard work of the Lord President.  It should be obvious to all that the Lord President values this Chamber, its work, and its Organic mandate. There are few, in my estimation, that strive to protect an institution in the way that he does, and that is something admirable and should be a lesson to many of us.

I depart with one final observation--we all have personal issues with others, but do not let those personal issues get in the way of your Organic mandate as Senators.  You must continue to listen to ideas, even from those you may personally dislike. You must continue to set aside your egos and vote for the best interests of your constituents and Talossa as a whole.  And you must realize that your commitment to your constituents and Talossa will, at times, be in conflict, and you must balance how you will vote but what will do the overall good. I realize that I have not always lived up to this, but I have, even if not obvious, tried to, notwithstanding my hyperbole.

With that said, thank you all for your hard work, and thank you for keeping the Senate above the partisan fray.

Sincerely,

Viteu Marcianus

Citizens of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg,

It has been my distinct pleasure and privilege to serve as your Senator. But, as you know, the Ziu nominated me to fill the vacant seat on the Uppermost Cort.

By operation of law, my appointment occurred when King John did not exercise his veto prior to today. This requires me to resign my seat as your Senator.

In my time as your Senator, I sought to serve everyone in Talossa, and to vote in what I viewed would be the best interests of all of you and for Talossa as a whole. I have no doubt our next Senator will do the same. Of course I will continue to serve the United Provinces on a local level.

With that said, with the posting of this notice, I shall transmit my resignation to the Lord President of the Senate, the Seneschal, the Crown, the Secretary of State, and the Premier of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg.

I have it on good authority that the Premier will appoint my replacement within a few days so that our province will continue to be fully represented in the Senate.

Thank you all for your trust in me as your Senator.

Best Regards,

Viteu Marcianüs

All,

I've finished up the Judiciary Amendment of 2020.  Please see the FIRST post at https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=98.msg543#msg543.  Apparently there is 20k character limit on new Witt, so I removed the prior version with strikethrough and posted it below for posterity.

In any event, changes are as follows:

• All subsections were removed; it still is easy to follow


• I removed references to 1997 Organic Law because the actual UC will not change so there's continuity


• Justices will no longer be known as Justices; they will be Judges.  On the federal side in the United States, our lower and intermediate courts use the title Judge, and only the Supreme Court has Justices.  In practice, the titles are somewhat honorific without any distinction as to function.  New York we reverse, our lower and intermediate courts have justices, and our Court of Appeals has Judges.  New York is actually closer to the older approach because Justices were elected and Judges were appointed.  But then again, our family courts, also elected, has Judge.  So my point is, there's no meaningful distinction really.  A quick review at other common-law counties suggests there's different approaches lacking consensus on distinction. In any event, some here don't seem to realize this and think the title "Justice" means something other than it does, so I thought it simpler to remove "Justice" altogether.

Next, I included an accompanying statute that would only come into effect if the amendment is implemented.

• The statute increases the number of Pusine Judges by two, for a total of five UC Judges, and keeps all present Justices but restyles them as Judges appropriately--continuity achieved


• The statute abolishes, in its entirety, the Justice of the Peace, which is a decent idea but I think maybe some of us would prefer to avoid


• The General Cort of Talossa, an inferior nisi prius cort of general jurisdiction and first instance is established in its stead
• For now, and because a UC panel only requires three judges, a case will be assigned to a UC judge, who will sit as a Magistrate (not a magistrate judge), and who cannot on a panel reviewing an appeal from one of their decisions in that case.  This is somewhat inspired by an old US approach called "riding circuit" (although not a perfect analogy).


• I added some language to G.14 in that the Clerk is now required to inform the Seneshchal if a Judge/Magistrate fails to respond to an assignment or timely issue decisions in a matter. I think this is important so the Government can take appropriate action for missing Judges (there is a provision that the Clerk reaches out to the Magistrate and has discretion to determine if this is warranted, like if the Magistrate says, "hey sorry work was crazy this last week, will post tomorrow" then it can be overlooked, but if the Magistrate never responds and the Clerk has to reassign the matter, they must inform the Senechshal.


• Finally, I added a new section to el Lex (Ian is going to maim me to the fullest extent permitted by the law I'm sure) under G.15, which calls for the UC to either set up its own official reporter or ask the Scribe or Government to do it. However, because the General Cort is a statutory cort created by the Ziu, it can dictate who does it. I'm leaving it up to the Scribe or Government for now.

As many of you know, it's an open question how much time I have left in the Senate (or if I'm not going anywhere at all!), so i intend to Clark this for March, even if the Fates determine that I cannot vote for it in March.  If, however, I am appointed, I will need to resign and adhere to my commitment to retire from public/political life.  I do hope, in that event, to see this adopted and ratified.