Department of Justice, The Migrendel Wing

[Peter]

Welcome to the new wing of the Department of Justice, named for perhaps our most insane Chief Justice to date, Migrendel.

The Migrendel Wing will house the Office of the Attorney General.

My initial priorities are clear and are much as outlined in my confirmation hearing. I will work to ensure that all areas where the Department of Justice and the trial system was shown to be lacking in Walterstein are corrected.

My second priority is to investigate the possibility of establishing a Supreme Court Bar in Atlasia. I will be entering discussions with Senators, the Supreme Court and the wider population on this matter in due course.

[Peter]

Moderator Role and Status Bill
Section 1: Findings
1. The role of Moderators with respect to the Atlasian legal system is not presently addressed at all in Atlasian Law
2. The recent Walterstein case has raised specific issues surrounding IP checks and warrants.
3. The Senate recognises it should not and cannot restrict the actions of moderators with respect to their role as agents of Dave Leip.
4. Article VI, Section 8 states: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, communications and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Section 2: Immunity
Moderators shall not be answerable in Atlasian Courts for actions consistent with directions and tasks given to them by Dave Leip.

Section 3: Warrants
1. Should the Attorney General wish to ask a moderator to investigate the IP of a particular poster or several posters, then he shall apply to the Supreme Court for a search warrant, stating his reasons for suspecting the poster(s).
2. The Court may decline or issue the search warrant with such conditions as it feels necessary.
3. If a warrant is issued, the Attorney General may approach a moderator or Dave Leip to perform the search. The moderator/Dave Leip are under no obligation to perfrom the check if they feel it is not appropriate.
4. Any information supplied by the moderator/Dave Leip is considered to be privileged information unless they specifically allow it to be released to the public domain.

Section 4: Retroactive Warrants
Should a moderator/Dave Leip in the performance of their other duties come to the realisation that Atlasian Law has been broken and then inform the Attorney General of this fact, then the Attorney General may apply for a retroactive warrant for an IP investigation from the Court.
I am launching a consultation on the above bill with the intention of having it introduced in the Senate. I would appreciate any feedback/suggestions.

[Peter]

Having received no comments desiring changes, I am happy that interested parties have had sufficient time to review it. I request a Senator introduce as soon as possible.
There being no Senate noticeboard, I would like to ask the PPT/VP if they would like me to maintain a noticeboard?

I'll maintain the below list for my own reference (apologies to Jas, whose previous format I have blattently plagiarised). Please notify me of corrections by PM.

Active Legislation
Slot 1 (General)
Constitutional Amendment to Allow Gun Control
Sponsor: Friz
Status: Debate open, since 1 April

Slot 2 (General)
Constitutional Amendment to Prohibit Conscription
Sponsor: Friz (Ebowed)
Status: Debate open, since 8 April

Slot 3 (General)
Empty

Slot 4 (General, exc. Constitutional Amendments)
Empty

Slot 5 (General, exc. Constitutional Amendments)
Network Neutrality Bill
Sponsor: Verily (Ebowed)
Status: Debate open, since 7 April

Slot 6 (Forum Affairs/Emergency)
Constitutional Amendment to Elect the Secretary of Forum Affairs
Sponsor:Meekermariner
Status: Debate open, since 7 April

Slot 7 (PPT's Discretion)
School Standards Reform Bill
Sponsor:Verily
Status: Debate Open, since 27 March

Slot 8 (Veto Override)
Sane Automobile Policy Bill
Sponsor: Verily
Status: Vetoed; Motion to override?

Statute Passed
Amendment to the National Energy Act
F-22 Catch 22 Bill

Resolutions Passed
Amendment to OSPR Article IV, Section 1, Clause 8

Constitutional Amendments Passed
Alignment with Territory Policy Bill (awaiting ratification)

Stuff that failed/withdrew
Comprehensive Drug Reform Bill of 2007
Abolition of the Penny Bill

Please notify me of corrections by PM.

[Peter]

Somebody (who isn't likely to leave office very soon), please propose this:

End to Districts Clarification Amendment
1. Article I, Section 4, Clause 5 is repealed
2. Any vacancy in a Class B Senate seats shall be filled in a manner that the Senate shall prescribe by Law.

[Peter]

Formal Consultation Launch - The Supreme Court Bar
Objectives
To form a body which will give formal status to the "legally minded" in Atlasia.
To create a pool of lawyers who can be called upon by criminal defendants in trials.

Proposals for Implementation
The Bar shall be governed by Statute, and my initial proposal is that the Supreme Court would administer the Bar with such assistance from the DoJ as they need.

The Court would be responsible for deciding upon applications to join the Bar and could appoint Bar members to represent criminal defendants in trials. This would necessitate a complete rewrite of Section 7 of the Consolidated Criminal Justice Act.

There would be some minimal requirements for membership of the bar - some activity, a reputation for vaguely knowing where to find the Constitution on the wiki, etc., and the Court would be empowered to make whatever other regulations it felt were necessary for the regulation of the Bar, including arrangements for expulsion.

Thoughts?

[Peter]

Supreme Court Bar Bill
Section 1: Findings
   1. The role of legal professionals needs formal recognition and a framework under Law.
   2. The system for providing state counsel to criminal defendants would not provide as competent counsel as is feasible.

Section 2: The Supreme Court Bar
   1. There shall be a Supreme Court Bar.
   2. Admittance to the Supreme Court Bar shall be at the discretion of the Supreme Court.
   3. The Supreme Court may make regulations pertaining to the Supreme Court Bar, including regulations regarding activity (posting frequency), expulsion and admittance.
   4. The Supreme Court may delegate administrative duties to the Attorney General as it sees fit.

Section 3: Representation of Criminal Defendants
   1. Section 7, Clauses 1 through 3 of the Consolidated Criminal Justice Act is repealed.
   2. Defendants in criminal trials shall not be denied access to legal counsel from an active Atlasian citizen. A defendant shall have the right to waive his right to legal counsel.
   3. If a defendant requests that a Federal Court appoint counsel for him, then the Court shall appoint a member of the Supreme Court Bar to represent the defendant.
   4. A Supreme Court Bar member shall be able to refuse to represent a defendant on grounds of conflict of interest, however, final determination of conflict of interest shall be made by the Supreme Court.
   5. Any member of the Supreme Court Bar who refuses to represent a state criminal defendant without proper excuse shall be expelled from the Supreme Court Bar.
   6. The Supreme Court may make regulations pertaining to the appointment of counsel in a trial, including systems for rotation between different counsel.
   7. No person shall be a member of the Supreme Court Bar without being a registered Atlasian citizen who has had at least one vote counted in the past two regular scheduled elections. The activity requirements of this clause shall not apply to new citizens, who may apply for membership within two months of first registration without reference to activity requirements.
   8. The Attorney General may nominate persons he deems fit for membership of the Supreme Court Bar to the Supreme Court.
This is my initial proposal. Any thoughts?

[Peter]

Supreme Court Bar Bill
Section 1: Findings
   1. The role of legal professionals needs formal recognition and a framework under Law.
   2. The system for providing state counsel to criminal defendants would not provide as competent counsel as is feasible.

Section 2: The Supreme Court Bar
   1. There shall be a Supreme Court Bar.
   2. Admittance to the Supreme Court Bar shall be at the discretion of the Supreme Court.
   3. The Supreme Court may make regulations pertaining to the Supreme Court Bar, including regulations regarding activity (posting frequency), expulsion and admittance.
   4. The Supreme Court may delegate administrative duties to the Attorney General as it sees fit.

Section 3: Representation of Criminal Defendants
   1. Section 7, Clauses 1 through 3 of the Consolidated Criminal Justice Act is repealed.
   2. Defendants in criminal trials shall not be denied access to legal counsel from an active Atlasian citizen. A defendant shall have the right to waive his right to legal counsel.
   3. If a defendant requests that a Federal Court appoint counsel for him, then the Court shall appoint a member of the Supreme Court Bar to represent the defendant.
   4. A Supreme Court Bar member shall be able to refuse to represent a defendant on grounds of conflict of interest, however, final determination of conflict of interest shall be made by the Supreme Court.
   5. Any member of the Supreme Court Bar who refuses to represent a state criminal defendant without proper excuse shall be expelled from the Supreme Court Bar.
   6. The Supreme Court may make regulations pertaining to the appointment of counsel in a trial, including systems for rotation between different counsel.
   7. No person shall be a member of the Supreme Court Bar without being a registered Atlasian citizen who has had at least one vote counted in the past two regular scheduled elections. If a person was not a registered voter at the time of the last scheduled election, then he shall be able to hold a provisional membership of the Bar until the next scheduled election at the discretion of the Supreme Court.
   8. The Attorney General may nominate persons he deems fit for membership of the Supreme Court Bar to the Supreme Court. Individual citizens may nominate themselves for membership of the Supreme Court Bar, but shall require the sponsorship of an existing member of the Bar.
I have updated Clauses 7 & 8 to clarify the intent of those sections. Please indicate if you think this is unclear. I am happy to submit the bill at this time and would ask a Senator to introduce it on the understanding that I may ask for a little bit of tinkering of it whilst it is in the queue.

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I would expect that the Court would actually have to excercise 2.3 and make regulations. 2.4 is there if the Court wants to take a backseat and leave it in the hands of the AG, however, there may be a particuarly active jurist who chooses to do all of the admin stuff, in which case, delegation to the AG is not necessary. As regards 3.6, the Court does not need to make regulations concerning a rotation, though it may choose to if trials become more common than at present. In the present circumstances it could appoint counsel on a case by case basis.

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My intention is that it is broader, but only on grounds of illness, and that it shall be for the Court to define other "proper excuse"s

[Peter]

I would appreciate it if a Senator would introduce this:

Amendment to 24 hour waiting period in the OSPR
Article 5, Section 2 of the OSPR is amended with the addition of a Clause 4:

4. Clauses 2 and 3 shall not apply in cases where no votes have been cast against a piece of legislation. In these cases, the PPT shall publicly declare the vote total to be final and shall apply said vote total to the legislation. All Senators shall be prohibited from changing their votes on the legislation after this time.
There is simply no need for a 24 hour waiting period where a vote is unanimous to that point. This hopefully will cut down on some of the waiting around for procedure that occurs when a bill has come to the end of congressional life.

[Peter]

[img alt=The Migrendel Wing width=100]http://blog.kir.com/archives/images/Department%20of%20Justice%20L.jpg[/img]

From the Office of the Attorney General

This is an official notice to confirm that I will remain in office as Attorney General until such time as President Moderate appoints a successor.

[Peter]

Cabinet officials have no explicit term of appointment, and there are a few examples of some Cabinet officers continuing in office on a permenant basis with a new President without a renewing confirmation.