Criminal Justice (Reform) Act
Following an extensive review of Criminal Justice statute and practice, the Department of Justice proposes a wholesale revision of Criminal Law in the Republic of Atlasia, so as to create a clear and comprehensible system of Law and also to better protect the rights of defendants.
Section 1: Housekeeping
1. The Re-Consolidated Criminal Justice Act is hereby repealed.
Section 2: Crimes Against Atlasia
A) The following shall be crimes against Atlasia:
1. Impersonation. This offence shall be defined as the impersonation of another Atlas Forum member (be they a citizen of the Republic of Atlasia or not) on the territory of the Republic of Atlasia.
2. Identity Theft. This offence shall be defined as the illicit taking of control by any means of another Atlas Forum member's person account (be they a citizen of the Republic or not) without explicit and provable consent.
3. Voter Fraud. This offence shall be defined as the creation of identities other than a citizen's primary identity in the Republic of Atlasia and subsequently entering this identity into the tally of registered voters. 3a. If a citizen no longer has access to their previous forum account and wishes to register and/or vote with a new forum account in Atlasia, then they shall be allowed to do so legally only if they make it clear in the registration thread who they are and which forum account they previously registered under so that the SoFA may appropriately update the registration without having any duplicate accounts on the voter roll. 3b. This shall exclude those who have had their previous account banned from the Atlas Forum.
4. Electoral Fraud. This offence shall be defined as the manipulation of of the Republic's electoral procedures and practices with the aim of fraudulently altering the results of a specific electoral contest.
5. Obscenity. This offence shall be defined as the posting of any threads, messages, images, videos, links or other media of a pornographic or sexually explicit nature on the territory of the Republic of Atlasia. In cases where the material posted is of a clearly pornographic nature, the offence shall be known as Gross Obscenity.
6. Electoral Intimidation. This offence shall be defined as the placing of undue pressure on a citizen of the Republic to cast a ballot in a particular way, to not cast a ballot at all, or to invalidate a ballot already cast. In those cases in which undue pressure has been applied in the form of credible threats to disclose personal information, the offence shall be known as Grievous Electoral Intimidation.
7. Ballot Tampering. This offence shall be defined as the deletion of a ballot during a period between vote was closed and elected officeholders sworn-in or soliciting to delete a ballot during the same period.
8. Impersonation of a Public Official. This offence shall be defined as the performance of the duties of a cabinet official or deputy cabinet official without proper promotion or appointment.
9. Misconduct in Public Office. This offence shall be defined as the abuse of office for provable personal gain by cabinet officials or deputy cabinet officials.
10. Perjury. This offence shall be defined as "any person who takes an oath before a competent tribunal or officer that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed, is true, wilfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter which he does not believe to be true."
11. Breach of the Peace. This offence shall be defined as the wilful undertaking of activities that though not treasonous nevertheless undermine the stability and security of the Republic of Atlasia by breaching the Peace as established by the Constitution of the Republic of Atlasia.
12. Malicious Editing of the Wiki. This offence shall be defined as the editing of the Atlasia Wiki with malicious intent.
13. Improper Behaviour on the Wiki. This offence shall be defined as the knowing violation or flagrant disregard of Senate-imposed Atlasia Wiki guidelines and standards.
14. Contempt of Court. See Section 5, Clause 4 of this Act.
B) Conspiracies and Attempted Crimes.
1. In those cases in which a Crime Against Atlasia has been attempted unsuccessfully, it shall nevertheless be possible to charge a citizen with the offence that they unsuccessfully attempted to commit. In such cases the official record of the charge shall be prefaced with 'Attempted', but no other alterations to procedure shall be made. This applies to all Crimes Against Atlasia with the exception of Obscenity (including Gross Obscenity), Misconduct in Public Office, Perjury, and Contempt of Court.
2. In those cases in which the perpetrator of a Crime Against Atlasia has been instructed, commissioned, mandated, or otherwise aided by other persons in the planning or execution of the offence in question, then those persons may also be charged with the offence that they conspired to commit. In such cases the record of the charge shall be prefaced with Conspiracy to Commit, but no other alterations to procedure shall be made. It shall not be necessary to charge an individual with a specific Crime Against Atlasia in order to charge other persons in this manner.
Section 3: Acts of Treason.
The following acts are hereby declared to be treasonous:
1. Rebellion. This shall be defined as the use of armed forces to overthrow the government of Republic of Atlasia or the government of any of its constituent Regions.
2. Aiding Rebellion. This shall be defined as the intentional direction of funds, military aid, or strategic advice to any person, persons, group or groups engaged in or seeking to engage in rebellion against the government of the Republic of Atlasia or the government of any of its constituent Regions.
3. Terrorism. This shall be defined as the use or threat of use of force or violence by a person, persons or organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating civilians and/or the government of the Republic of Atlasia or the government of any of its constituent Regions.
4. Destruction of a Voting Booth. This shall be defined as the deleting of the thread in which a voting booth or an absentee voting booth for an active election is contained.
5. Secession. This shall be defined as the declaration or threatened declaration of independence from the Republic of Atlasia by any territorial entity within the bounds of the Republic of Atlasia or by any group of persons within the bounds of the Republic of Atlasia.
6. Refutation of Federal Supremacy in Law. This shall be defined as the denial – whether by word, by deed, or by omission – by any serving officeholder in the Republic of Atlasia or any of its constituent Regions of the supremacy of federal law, or of the decision by any person to serve in a Regional government that denies that it is subject to federal law.