Public Consultation and Legislation Submissions
Filuwaúrdjan:
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 The Re-Consolidated Criminal Justice Act is hereby repealed.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.
Filuwaúrdjan:
Section 4: Criminal Liability.
1. In order for a criminal conviction in the Republic of Atlasia to stand it is necessary that the case against a defendant or against multiple defendants be proven beyond all reasonable doubt.
2. The basic standard of liability for cases concerning both Crimes Against Atlasia and Acts of Treason shall be as in the Common Law: actus reas non facit reum nisi mens sit rea.1 It must therefore be proven not only that a criminal act has taken place but that the citizen charged can be reasonably held to be fully responsible, whether by act or by omission, for that criminal act.
3. In cases in which it is certain that a criminal act has been committed by a member of a group of persons, but that it is not certain which of those persons has committed the criminal act, then it shall be possible to convict all said group of persons of the criminal charge in question, provided it can be demonstrated that there was no attempt by that group of persons to prevent the criminal act from taking place.
Section 5: Trial Rules.
1. Trial of all Crimes against Atlasia and Acts of Treason shall be performed in full compliance with the provisions of Article III, Section 2 of the Third Constitution of the Republic of Atlasia. Breach of these provisions shall render any conviction unsafe.
2. Defendants shall not be denied access to legal counsel from an active citizen of their choice, and also retain the right to waive their right to legal counsel. If a defendant has attempted without success to secure legal counsel or has, after a period of more than forty eight hours, declined to either seek or affirmatively waive legal representation, then the Department of Justice shall nominate an appropriately qualified citizen to act as Public Defendant for the duration of the trial. Said nominee must meet with the approval of the Presiding Judge in the trial in question and must be a person of upstanding moral character.
3. The Judiciary is hereby mandated to create and to uphold all rules with respect to trial procedure, up to and including the matter of personal conduct, so long as these rules do not contradict any part of this Act. In the event of a gross breach of trial procedure, the Presiding Judge may choose to charge the person or persons responsible with Contempt of Court which shall be treated as a Crime against Atlasia as per Section 2A of this Act.
Section 6: Admissibility of Evidence.
A) The Presiding Judge may admit the following as evidence at his own discretion:
1. Any actual statements, whether quoted in full or in part, made on the Atlas Forum that pertain to the trial. If these statements have been deleted from the Atlas Forum but a copy in the form of a screenshot has been made of them, then that copy in the form of a screenshot may be treated as equally admissible to an original quoted statement. If these statements have been deleted from the Atlas Forum, but survive – whether in full or in part – as quotations in the post of another Atlas Forum user, then these quoted fragments may also be treated as equally admissible to an original quoted statement.
2. The sworn testimony of a citizen of the Republic of Atlasia who has witnessed the alleged offence or its planning or preparation at first hand, or who has witnessed credible evidence of conspiracy.
3. An admission of guilt or culpability by the defendant in a thread on the Atlas Forum, or in a place viewed or heard by other persons, with recordings or testimony attributing to the same.
4. Evidence obtained through proper investigation of the IP address from which the offence was perpetrated.
5. Credible evidence presented to the Court by the Forum Moderators or by Dave Leip, the Forum Owner.
6. Other forms of evidence that are credible in nature and which do not contradict this Act or the Constitution of the Republic of Atlasia may additionally be considered.
B) The Presiding Judge has an absolute right to reject evidence (whether in whole or in part) that he or she feels to be tainted by procedural flaws, to be of dubious provenance or to wholly lack credibility.
Section 7: Sentencing.
In the event of a conviction, sentencing shall be carried out by the Presiding Judge in accordance with the following guidelines:
1. The standard punishment for both Crimes Against Atlasia and Acts of Treason shall be the removal of certain political rights – the right to hold office and the right to vote in federal or regional elections – of the guilty person or persons. The Presiding Judge may decide at his or her discretion on the exact combination of political rights to remove from the guilty person or persons. Subsequent references to sentence length refer to any and all combination of the above punishments.
2. For all Crimes Against Atlasia and even for Acts of Treason there shall be no minimum sentence. In such exceptional cases as the Presiding Judge sees fit, he or she may opt to issue a Discharge, which shall mean that the guilty person or persons shall suffer no punishment further than the acquisition of a criminal record.
3. The maximum sentence for all Crimes Against Atlasia other than Identity Theft or Electoral Intimidation shall be of two years in length.
4. The maximum sentence for Identity Theft and Electoral Intimidation shall be of five years in length.
5. The maximum sentence for all Acts of Treason shall be for the duration of the guilty person or persons natural life.
6. The Presiding Judge may decide, if there are adequate grounds, to suspend a sentence – in whole or in part – and instead place the guilty person or persons under a period of probation, the exact length of which shall be no longer and no shorter than the part of the sentence being suspended. Failure by the guilty person or persons to obey in full the terms of their probation shall result in the immediate imposition of their full sentence. Life Sentences may not be suspended.
Section 8: Appeals.
1. In addition to any Rights of Appeal the Supreme Court may find under the Constitution, the defendant retains a right to appeal against their conviction to the full Supreme Court provided that the possible existence of sufficient grounds are demonstrated in summary to the Court, and that the request for an appeal be lodged within one month of the cessation of the original trial.
2. In such cases there shall be three recognised grounds for appeal. The first shall be that the conviction is Wrongful due to errors in law or in fact made during the original trial. The second shall be that the conviction is Unjust due to procedural errors or other irregularities made during the original trial. The third shall be that new evidence has come to light that casts doubt on either the conviction or on the sentence imposed by the Presiding Judge at the original trial. In the matter of Unjust Convictions, the errors or irregularities must be of sufficient severity as to cast doubt on the safety of the conviction; minor errors do not render a conviction unsafe.
3. If the Supreme Court rules that a conviction is either Wrongful or Unjust then that conviction shall be quashed and the defendant shall leave the trial as a free citizen unblemished by the taint of guilt.
4. If the Supreme Court rules that new evidence casts doubt on the safety of the original conviction, then the Court may choose to order a Retrial of the original case with a new jury, it may reduce the sentence given in the original trial, or it may opt to quash the conviction.
1. 'The act is not culpable unless the mind is guilty.'
SUSAN CRUSHBONE:
Quote from: Cranberry on July 05, 2015, 10:41:06 AM
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Classic Conservative:
Do we have any laws regarding fireworks???
Classic Conservative:
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