[PASSED] The Clerk of the Corts Hat Restriction Act

[Dame Litz Cjantscheir, UrN]

The Clerk of the Corts Hat Restriction Act

WHEREAS under current arrangements the Attorney-General can simultaneously hold the position of Clerk of the Corts;

AND WHEREAS under same current arrangements a Deputy Clerk of the Corts cannot be appointed if s/he also hold the portfolio of Attorney General or Minister of Justice, due to the nature of these duties;

AND WHEREAS due to the nature of these duties it makes sense to also extend this prohibition to the Clerk of the Cort and not just their Deputies;

AND WHEREAS there is some duplication in 2 sections regarding Deputies that needs tidying up;

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

Section 4.8 of El Lexhatx G. Justice, which currently reads:

"The individual holding the office of Clerk of the Corts shall enjoy immunity from civil or criminal suit for any actions performed in the course of his or her official duties while holding this office. This immunity shall be lost upon leaving office. Due to the nature of the Clerk's responsibilities, an individual may not hold the office of Clerk of the Corts, or any deputy thereunder, while simultaneously holding office as a Justice[638] of the Uppermost Cort or any national inferior court."

Shall be amended to read as follows:

"4.8. The individual holding the office of Clerk of the Corts shall enjoy immunity from civil or criminal suit for any actions performed in the course of his or her official duties while holding this office. This immunity shall be lost upon leaving office. Due to the nature of the Clerk's responsibilities, an individual may not hold the office of Clerk of the Corts, or any deputy thereunder, while simultaneously holding office as a Justice of the Uppermost Cort or any national inferior court or the portfolio of Attorney General or Minister of Justice."

Furthermore, Section 5.4 of El Lexhatx G. Justice, which currently reads:

"5.4. Due to the nature of these duties, no deputy shall be appointed who is seated on the bench of the Uppermost Cort or any inferior cort. Nor shall any appointee hold the portfolio of Attorney General or Minister of Justice."

Is hereby repealed in full.

Ureu q'estadra så,

Dame Litz Cjantscheir, UrN (MC, TNC)

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

I'm getting detxa vista (Talossan déjà vu) here. The TNC have decided that a senior civil servant is impermissibly "double jobbing" and is trying to make it illegal. The funny thing is that this was not a problem when the current Clerk of Corts was named A-Xh by the TNC Seneschál not one month ago. What has changed - apart from the fact that the Clerk/A-Xh is no longer a TNC member?

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

This seems fine to me. It's a obvious conflict of interest. The only reason it still exists is a practical one: basically anyone interested in the law ends up doing double duty whenever possible.

I started doing the job of the Clerk because it was needed and no one else was around to really do it. I'm pretty proud of the new system that I put in place, transforming what was basically an unusable and incomplete set of opinions into a full records system. Still some improvements to be made and stuff to be entered, but I have left it better than I found it!

And of course I was the only member of the government who was really familiar with the law, which made me the obvious choice to be A-X.

I don't think I have acted corruptly in any way, but I'm incentivized to believe that! If it all possible, the two offices shouldn't be mingled.

I will resign whichever office the Seneschal chooses, either at his request or certainly should this bill pass.

[þerxh Sant-Enogat]

I'm getting detxa vista (Talossan déjà vu) here. The TNC have decided that a senior civil servant is impermissibly "double jobbing" and is trying to make it illegal. The funny thing is that this was not a problem when the current Clerk of Corts was named A-Xh by the TNC Seneschál not one month ago. What has changed - apart from the fact that the Clerk/A-Xh is no longer a TNC member?

The quoted (re)nomination was not contrary to any laws in force, and was - to my opinion - fully in line with the skills, the experience and the probity of the incumbent.
To make something illegal, you need first to be able to discuss a law ;-), and to then gather the necessary majority of votes.

[Dame Litz Cjantscheir, UrN]

As life got very hectic, I didn't get an opportunity to Clark this bill before the dissolution of the last Cosa - I would like to resubmit it back to the Hopper:


The Clerk of the Corts Hat Restriction Act

WHEREAS under current arrangements the Attorney-General can simultaneously hold the position of Clerk of the Corts;

AND WHEREAS under same current arrangements a Deputy Clerk of the Corts cannot be appointed if s/he also hold the portfolio of Attorney General or Minister of Justice, due to the nature of these duties;

AND WHEREAS due to the nature of these duties it makes sense to also extend this prohibition to the Clerk of the Cort and not just their Deputies;

AND WHEREAS there is some duplication in 2 sections regarding Deputies that needs tidying up;

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

Section 4.8 of El Lexhatx G. Justice, which currently reads:

"The individual holding the office of Clerk of the Corts shall enjoy immunity from civil or criminal suit for any actions performed in the course of his or her official duties while holding this office. This immunity shall be lost upon leaving office. Due to the nature of the Clerk's responsibilities, an individual may not hold the office of Clerk of the Corts, or any deputy thereunder, while simultaneously holding office as a Justice of the Uppermost Cort or any national inferior court."

Shall be amended to read as follows:

"4.8. The individual holding the office of Clerk of the Corts shall enjoy immunity from civil or criminal suit for any actions performed in the course of his or her official duties while holding this office. This immunity shall be lost upon leaving office. Due to the nature of the Clerk's responsibilities, an individual may not hold the office of Clerk of the Corts, or any deputy thereunder, while simultaneously holding office as a Justice of the Uppermost Cort or any national inferior court or the portfolio of Attorney General or Minister of Justice."

Furthermore, Section 5.4 of El Lexhatx G. Justice, which currently reads:

"5.4. Due to the nature of these duties, no deputy shall be appointed who is seated on the bench of the Uppermost Cort or any inferior cort. Nor shall any appointee hold the portfolio of Attorney General or Minister of Justice."

Is hereby repealed in full.

Ureu q'estadra så,

Dame Litz Cjantscheir, UrN (MC, IND, CZ)

 

[Dame Litz Cjantscheir, UrN]

Can this please be moved to the CRL/Committee? 

[Dame Litz Cjantscheir, UrN]

Can this please be moved to the CRL/Committee?

Bumping the above in case it was missed? 

[Sir Ian Plätschisch]

I see this language is present in the original, but I am not sure why both "Attorney General or Minister of Justice" are written out, since that's the same position.

[Dame Litz Cjantscheir, UrN]

I see this language is present in the original, but I am not sure why both "Attorney General or Minister of Justice" are written out, since that's the same position.

I have no idea - my assumption was there was a reasoning behind it when the bill was passed, so I just copied to text over.
 
Taking on that point and expanding on perhaps the rationale behind it - I have updated the text as follows:

The Clerk of the Corts Hat Restriction Act

WHEREAS under current arrangements the Attorney-General can simultaneously hold the position of Clerk of the Corts;

AND WHEREAS under same current arrangements a Deputy Clerk of the Corts cannot be appointed if s/he also hold the portfolio of Attorney General or Minister of Justice, due to the nature of these duties;

AND WHEREAS due to the nature of these duties it makes sense to also extend this prohibition to the Clerk of the Cort and not just their Deputies;

AND WHEREAS there is some duplication in 2 sections regarding Deputies that needs tidying up;

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

Section 4.8 of El Lexhatx G. Justice, which currently reads:

"The individual holding the office of Clerk of the Corts shall enjoy immunity from civil or criminal suit for any actions performed in the course of his or her official duties while holding this office. This immunity shall be lost upon leaving office. Due to the nature of the Clerk's responsibilities, an individual may not hold the office of Clerk of the Corts, or any deputy thereunder, while simultaneously holding office as a Justice of the Uppermost Cort or any national inferior court."

Shall be amended to read as follows:

"4.8. The individual holding the office of Clerk of the Corts shall enjoy immunity from civil or criminal suit for any actions performed in the course of his or her official duties while holding this office. This immunity shall be lost upon leaving office. Due to the nature of the Clerk's responsibilities, an individual may not hold the office of Clerk of the Corts, or any deputy thereunder, while simultaneously holding office as a Justice of the Uppermost Cort or any national inferior court or the portfolio of Attorney General or any office within the Ministry of Justice."

Furthermore, Section 5.4 of El Lexhatx G. Justice, which currently reads:

"5.4. Due to the nature of these duties, no deputy shall be appointed who is seated on the bench of the Uppermost Cort or any inferior cort. Nor shall any appointee hold the portfolio of Attorney General or Minister of Justice."

Is hereby repealed in full.

Ureu q'estadra så,

Dame Litz Cjantscheir, UrN (MC, IND, CZ)

It would be great if @þerxh Sant-Enogat/@Ian Plätschisch/ the CRL could approve this before the beginning of the First Clark!!

[Sir Ian Plätschisch]

Approved

[þerxh Sant-Enogat]

Approved. Sorry Dame Litz for the delay