Introduction and Purpose:

This legislation aims to outline and define the powers both Judges and Justices have whilst acting in an official capacity. Judicial power until this point has been both nebulous and misconstrued, this legislation aims to provide a clear framework of the power that judges and justices are able to wield when acting in an official capacity.

Constitutional Justification:

The constitutional justification for the introduction of the Right to a Fair Trial and Due Process. With an ill-defined process, citizens interfacing with, or even being prosecuted under the Department Of Justice don’t always have the transparency of how processes are enacted or enforced. This legislation aims to make the department more transparent, defining the powers of the department as a whole.

Details:

Members of the judiciary have different powers depending on their position on the bench. Below aims to define a non-exhaustive list of those powers for both Elected and Appointed Judges, as well as Justices.

Elected Judicial Powers

The Elected Judicial Powers list is a description of powers all members of the judiciary have whilst acting in an official capacity within the State of San Andreas.

Granting or Denying motions: Once a filing has been appointed to a member of the judiciary, the ruling member may grant or deny any motions presented to them either on the docket, or in person as a matter for pre-trial, or any that may come up during trial. 

Judicial Discretion: Members of the judiciary have broad discretion in many aspects of a case, such as managing courtroom procedure, deciding on continuance, or resolving discovery disputes between parties. 

Contempt Of Court: A presiding member of the judiciary may find somebody in contempt of court, as per our state’s criminal penal code. This code defines what contempt is, and allows the presiding judge to set punishments.

Criminal Verdicts: A formal decision made by a member of the Judiciary determining whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty of the criminal charges brought against them, based on evidence presented to them. 

Summary Judgment: A legal ruling by the court to resolve a case without a full trial. To be issued when no material facts are in dispute and one party is entitled to a judgment.

Sentencing: A member of the Judiciary may determine the sentence of a defendant found guilty in a criminal trial, and sentence them based on statutory guidelines, circumstances surrounding the case, the nature of the crime, and any mitigating or aggravating factors. Judges have discretion when sentencing in terms of time and fines. In exceptional circumstances, this sentencing may require its own hearing. Also in exceptional circumstances, this sentence may be Life with or without parole, or even the death penalty; in these cases, a panel of judges, overseen by a justice, shall preside over the case and sentencing.

Civil Verdicts: A formal decision made by a member of the Judiciary regarding liability, and, if applicable, the damages awarded, determining whether the defendant is responsible for harm or breach of legal duty.

Expungements: Members of the Judiciary may expunge a person’s criminal record, but only when acting following The State’s specific Expungement Legislation.

Issuance of licenses: Members of the Judiciary may issue certain licenses, but only when specific legislation governing the license exists, and the legal requirement of that legislation is followed.

Other powers: Other legislation may grant elected members of the judiciary extraneous powers outside of this document. Those powers are subject to their implementation within that individual legislation. A Justice may also grant an elected judge additional responsibilities, however, this must be documented.

Appointed Judicial Powers

The Appointed Judicial Powers list is a list of powers all appointed members of the judiciary have whilst acting in an official capacity within the State of San Andreas. This also includes all Elected Judicial Powers.

Preliminary Injunction: Temporarily prevents a party from taking action until the case is resolved, maintaining the status quo to prevent irreparable harm.

No Contact Orders: A court order prohibiting an individual from contacting or approaching a specific person, typically issued in cases of harassment, domestic violence, or stalking to protect the safety of the victim.

Receivership: A court-appointed receiver takes control of an asset or property in a dispute, to ensure it is maintained and its value is preserved until the legal matter surrounding the asset or property is resolved.

Writ of Mandamus: Commands a public official or government entity to perform a specific act that is legally required.

Writ of Prohibition: Directs a governmental entity to stop doing something beyond its jurisdiction.

Sanctions: Penalties imposed by the court to address misconduct, non-compliance, or procedural violations by parties or attorneys during a case. These can include monetary fines, dismissal of claims, awarding attorney fees to the opposing party, limiting or excluding certain evidence, or even holding individuals in contempt of court, which may result in jail time or additional fines. Sanctions are used to ensure fairness and enforce the court’s authority.

Bail Decisions: Members of the Judiciary may conduct bail hearings, or rule on bail filings made to the docket. This member of the judiciary may grant bail, and set bond amounts, and restrictions on the accused, depending on the seriousness of the offense, and the likelihood of failing to appear.

Permanent Injunction: Issued after a final ruling, it permanently orders a party to take or refrain from a specific action.

Order for Specific Performance: A court order compelling one party to fulfill their contractual obligations or another fitting action in lieu of these contractual obligations. Primary to be used when monetary damages are inadequate, or the contract involves unique goods or property. 

Search Warrants: Members of the judiciary review and approve search warrants, ensuring there is probable cause before authorizing law enforcement to search a premises. Elected Judges are unable to engage with search warrants unless approved to do so by a Justice.

Subpoenas: Members of the judiciary review and approve subpoenas, which, depending on the type of subpoena, will be delivered directly from the signing member, or compel another individual to produce documents or testify in legal proceedings. Elected Judges are unable to engage with subpoenas unless approved to do so by a Justice.

Other powers: Other legislation may grant members of the judiciary extraneous powers outside of this document. Those powers are subject to their implementation within that individual legislation. A Justice may also grant an appointed judge additional responsibilities, however, this must be documented.

Justice Authority

The Justice Authority list is a list of powers Justices within the Department of Justice have whilst acting in an official capacity within the State of San Andreas. Any power afforded to a judicial member is afforded to a Justice. This includes Elected and Appointed Judge powers.

Control of the Department of Justice Bank Account: As part of their duties, the Justices may disburse funds from the DOJ account as needed for salaries, equipment, personnel, and any other official uses as deemed by the Justice accessing the account. All State Laws apply to any Justice that may access these funds, and they must strictly be used for official purposes only.

Judicial Appointment: A Justice may appoint a judge to the bench at any time, for any reason. 

Judicial Removal: A Justice may remove an appointed judge from the bench, with appropriate cause. This can only be done after the Justices have reached a majority vote on the Judge’s removal.

Enacting Legislation for the Department Of Justice: Justices within the San Andreas Department of Justice, may enact legislation. This legislation can only be enacted after receiving a majority vote from Justices within the department.

Enacting Legislation for third parties: Should a proposed legislation pass constitutional review and the general contest period, a Justice may enact the proposed legislation into law in its proposed county. If this is a county adopting another County’s legislation, the Justice may enact it into state law.

Legislation Constitutional Review: Legislation submitted to City Hall must first pass a constitutional review. A justice will rule on if the proposed legislation passes a constitutional review and, if it does, open the legislation up to general contest.

Representing Contested legislation: A justice, when needed, may represent and defend a piece of state legislation that they either helped author, or are intimately familiar with.

Overseeing Legislative Audit: A justice must oversee a hearing for a legislative audit. This justice, and this justice alone, may decide on their criteria and process for if the legislation needs amending, and if so, the process to amend the legislation. 

Conducting an Authority Conduct Review: A justice must confirm payment. The same, or another justice, must oversee the following an Audit Conduct Authority Review. It is up to this justice to bring the outcome of the hearing to the Department of Justice and deliver a verdict after conferring with the Department of Justice.

Conducting an Impeachment Hearing: A justice must confirm payment. The same, or another justice, must oversee the following an Impeachment hearing. It is up to this justice to bring the outcome of the hearing to the Department Of Justice and deliver a verdict after conferring with the Department of Justice.

Common Law: A body of law developed via decisions and court rulings, instead of law that has been entered into statute via legislation or charges. It is up to a Justice to declare when a verdict is being entered into our state’s Common Law.

Appellate Courts: Justices reserve the right and power to oversee cases brought to the docket in the instance that someone is contesting a ruling from a Judge in a previous case. (i.e. Someone isn’t happy with the outcome of a civil or criminal trial, so a Justice would sit on the Appeal).

Modification of the Penal Code: The Penal Code is a section in the MDT that contains all State and County Laws. The Justices are responsible for maintaining these laws and may change them as necessary. This includes modifying wording, fines, times, and accessory/accomplice definitions and penalties. They may modify this at will. They may only modify County Laws in the Penal Code to comply with any County Legislation and penalties defined in them.

Other powers: Other legislation may grant Justices extraneous powers outside of this document. Those powers are subject to their implementation within that individual legislation.

Penalties

The Justices serve as the oversight of the Department of Justice. They have the ability to censure, suspend, fire, and provide other punitive measures to members of the Appointed/Elected Judges as needed. Elected Judges may not be fired through Justice vote, and must be removed via the impeachment process. These penalties will be guided by internal guidelines that will be maintained by the Justices. In the event of Justices disagreeing with another Justices use of power or interpretations, they may have an internal panel to discuss and guide the issue to a natural conclusion. Any conflict between Justices that cannot be decided through mutual conversation must be decided by a panel of Justices, with the majority vote of the panel being the outcome that all must abide by.

Conclusion and Implementation Plan

This legislation is enacted upon its signing into law.

Signature

𝕵𝖚𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖈𝖊 𝕭𝖗𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖞 𝕬𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖑, 𝖘𝖎𝖌𝖓𝖊𝖉 10/20/2024

𝕵𝖚𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖈𝖊 𝕷𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖞 𝕳𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖔𝖜, 𝖘𝖎𝖌𝖓𝖊𝖉 10/20/2024

𝕵𝖚𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖈𝖊 𝕬𝖉𝖊𝖑𝖆𝖎𝖉𝖊 𝕳𝖆𝖗𝖙, 𝖘𝖎𝖌𝖓𝖊𝖉 10/20/2024

*Impeachment hearings, if determined to be valid and accepted by the Courts, will be handled by a Justice and consist of arguments placed against an individual who works as a Government Employed within the State of San Andreas. The State of San Andreas may take over an Impeachment Hearing from the presiding Justice with their own representative should they choose to do so. Government Employees include EMS, Police, Marshalls, Judges, Justices, Mayors, Deputy Mayors, and other government officials determined by legislation.