Abstain, as in I don't know which way to vote, but I read this.

A motion and a second have been received for the Criminal Procedures Act. This is a vote on a constitutional law. As such, it requires a three-quarters supermajority to pass. Citizens may vote "Aye," "Nay," or "Abstain."

The timing allotted for this vote is five days. Voting will end on Tuesday, August 7 at 12:30 a.m. EDT.

The discussion thread is here.

Quote:

Criminal Procedures Act

 

Proposed by: McChimp

Preamble

In order to allow the citizenry of Lazarus to pursue justice for criminal offences committed against them, this constitutional law lays down the procedures by which a fair conclusion might be brought about.

Section 1. Criminal Rights, Responsibilities and Powers

(1) Any citizen may petition the Court of Lazarus to begin a criminal case by posting a public accusation against another player. Public accusations must follow any requirements established by the Court of Lazarus by majority vote.

(2) The Court of Lazarus shall maintain a publically available Criminal Library of court procedures, amending it by majority vote.

a. Only court procedures which explicitly state as such within their text may result in a verdict.
b. The Criminal Library shall contain exactly one procedure for rehearing cases which have been appealed. This procedure must result in a verdict.
c. The Criminal Library may not be amended during a criminal case.

(3) The accuser and the defendant may each choose someone to act on their behalf during a criminal case. They may replace the person representing them at any time.

(4) The Justices serving on a criminal court may issue a verdict of "Guilty" or "Not Guilty" by majority vote.

(5) Having found a player guilty, the Justices serving on a criminal court must determine a lawful sentence by majority vote.

(6) Those who have been sentenced may make a public appeal to the Delegate to review their sentence. The Delegate may initiate a rehearing by a criminal court in order to obtain a new verdict and sentence should they see reasonable cause to do so.

a. Rehearings shall follow the procedure described within the Criminal Library.
b. Rehearings shall be conducted by three temporary Justices appointed by the Delegate. These Justices must not have handled on the case being appealed and shall have no other court responsibilities or powers. Their appointments shall not be subject to Assembly confirmation.
c. Rehearings shall be conducted publicly unless the Justices serving on them determine that their contents are sensitive by majority vote.

(7) Sentences will be implemented in-game by the Delegate and on the forum by one or more members of the admin team. Every government official in Lazarus is responsible for reporting any violation of a court-imposed sentence that they learn of.

Section 2. Criminal Procedure

(1) Criminal cases will be heard by the Court of Lazarus.

(2) Any Justice serving on the Court must recuse themselves from ruling on any case where they are the defendant, the accuser, a representative of either party, or where they are otherwise unable to rule in a fair and unbiased manner. Absent Justices will also be considered recused.

(3) If one or more Justices are recused from a case, the Delegate will appoint temporary Justices to serve in their place. These Justices shall have no other court responsibilities or powers. Their appointments shall not be subject to Assembly confirmation.

(4) The Court of Lazarus must notify the defendant that a case has been brought against them post-haste.

(5) The Justices handling the case shall decide by majority vote whether or not to dismiss it.

(6) Should the case not be dismissed, the Justices handling the case shall then select a court procedure described within the Criminal Library by majority vote and give notice that the Court will convene.

(7) A criminal court shall convene publicly unless the Justices serving on it determine that its contents are sensitive by majority vote.

Due to a currently un-fixable bug that relates to some computers and browsers, there will be a signature change requests form here.

Post your requested signature change below:

A motion and a second have been received for the Constitutional Resolution to Clarify Continuity with Past Governments. This is a vote on a constitutional resolution. As such, it requires a three-quarters supermajority to pass. Citizens may vote "Aye," "Nay," or "Abstain."

The timing allotted for this vote is five days. Voting will end on Friday, August 3 at 4:10 p.m. EDT.

The discussion thread is here.

Quote:

Constitutional Resolution to Clarify Continuity with Past Governments

 

Proposed by: Cormac

Whereas there has been some question as to whether the government established under Mandate 12 is a continuation or legal successor to the Celestial Union of Lazarus, the Undead Dominion of Lazarus, the Dominion of Lazarus, or the Khanate of Lazarus;

Whereas Mandate 12 does not include any provision regarding continuity with prior governments; and

Whereas it is important for the purpose of determining the status of laws established under prior governments, particularly the status of treaties, whether there is continuity between any of those prior governments and the government established under Mandate 12;

Therefore, the Assembly of Lazarus hereby resolves, as a matter of constitutional authority and as empowered by Article I, Section 10 of Mandate 12, as follows:

(1) The government established under Mandate 12, and any legal successor government, is not a continuation of or legal successor to any prior government of Lazarus.

(2) The government established under Mandate 12, and any legal successor government, is not bound by any law, treaty, or policy of any kind established under any prior government of Lazarus, and such laws, treaties, and policies have no legal effect whatsoever under Mandate 12.

(3) The government established under Mandate 12 takes no position on the legitimacy of any prior government of Lazarus.

A motion and a second have been received for the Assembly Procedure Act. This is a vote to establish the Assembly's procedural rules. As such, it requires a 50%+1 majority to pass. Citizens may vote "Aye," "Nay," or "Abstain."

The timing allotted for this vote is five days. Voting will end on Thursday, August 2 at 6:10 p.m. EDT.

The discussion thread is here.

Quote:

Assembly Procedure Act

 

Proposed by: Cormac

Section 1. Administration

(1) The Assembly will be administered according to all provisions mandated for the Assembly by Mandate 12 and according to the below procedures.

Section 2. Legislative Procedures

(1) A minimum discussion period of three days is required before any proposal may be brought to vote. The Speaker is not required to open a vote if they determine that the proposal has not had sufficient discussion, but they may not delay opening a vote for more than seven days from when the motion to vote on the proposal was seconded.

(2) In order for a proposal to be brought to vote, a citizen eligible to vote on that proposal must make a motion to vote, and another such citizen must second the motion. A motion to vote may only be made by the initial author of a proposal unless the initial author is no longer a citizen or has not posted on the off-site regional forum for more than seven days without posting a leave of absence.

(3) Only the Delegate may introduce a proposal to enact, amend, or repeal a treaty or declaration of war, and only the Delegate may make a motion to vote on such a proposal.

(4) In the event that there are multiple competing proposals regarding the same matter in the judgment of the Assembly Speaker, the Assembly Speaker will bring them to vote one at a time, in the order they were motioned to vote. If such a proposal is enacted, the subsequent competing proposals will not be brought to vote.

(5) All votes will take place for five days. Citizens eligible to vote may vote "Aye," "Nay," or "Abstain." Voters may not post any other content in a voting thread or embellish the format of their vote in any way, and votes that include additional content or embellishment will be discarded and split from the voting thread. Voters may cast their votes by posting in each voting thread.

(6) The Assembly Speaker will determine which discussions will take place publicly and which will take place privately, and may accordingly move discussions to and from the Assembly's private forum, except that the Delegate may determine whether proposals to enact, amend, or repeal treaties will be public or private. All votes will be conducted in public.

Section 3. Deputies to the Assembly Speaker

(1) The Assembly Speaker may appoint deputies to assist in presiding over the Assembly according to its procedural rules. Appointment of a deputy will be subject to confirmation by 50%+1 vote of the Assembly if the deputy-designate has previously been removed from office by the Assembly.

(2) Deputies to the Assembly Speaker will serve until resignation, removal from office by the Assembly or the Assembly Speaker, or automatic removal from office as defined by Mandate 12.

(3) Any powers or responsibilities assigned to the Assembly Speaker by these procedures, Mandate 12, or any other law, unless explicitly directed otherwise, may be delegated by the Assembly Speaker to their deputy or deputies, and rescinded by the Assembly Speaker. Deputies will not have the power to appoint or remove other deputies.

Section 4. Legislative Formatting

(1) Unless otherwise noted, legislation brought to vote in the Assembly will be formatted as follows:
 

Quote:

Example Title

 

Proposed by:

Preamble

This is an example of a preamble. It should not exceed 50 words. Preambles are optional.

Section 1. Example Section Title

(1) This is an example of a subsection.

(2) This is an example of another subsection.

a. This is an example of a subparagraph.
b. This is an example of another subparagraph.

(2) The forum name of the author will be provided in the "Proposed by:" section of a proposal. In the event that the author's forum name changes, the Assembly Speaker may amend a law to reflect the author's new forum name.

(3) Following enactment of a proposal, the Assembly Speaker will append the month and year of enactment to the proposal's title.

(4) An optional preamble for a proposal will not exceed fifty words.

(5) Unless otherwise noted, all amendments brought to vote in the Assembly will be formatted as legislation, and the amendments therein will be marked up so as to clearly delineate the changes being made.

(6) Only general laws and constitutional laws will be subject to formatting for legislation, but all amendments will be subject to mark-up.

(7) The Assembly Speaker will not open a vote on a proposal that has not been properly formatted and/or marked up in the judgment of the Assembly Speaker, and no motion to vote on such an unconforming bill will be recognized, until the proposal has been properly formatted and/or marked up.

Quote:

Constitutional Resolution to Clarify Continuity with Past Governments

Proposed by: Cormac

Whereas there has been some question as to whether the government established under Mandate 12 is a continuation or legal successor to the Celestial Union of Lazarus, the Undead Dominion of Lazarus, the Dominion of Lazarus, or the Khanate of Lazarus;

Whereas Mandate 12 does not include any provision regarding continuity with prior governments; and

Whereas it is important for the purpose of determining the status of laws established under prior governments, particularly the status of treaties, whether there is continuity between any of those prior governments and the government established under Mandate 12;

Therefore, the Assembly of Lazarus hereby resolves, as a matter of constitutional authority and as empowered by Article I, Section 10 of Mandate 12, as follows:

(1) The government established under Mandate 12, and any legal successor government, is not a continuation of or legal successor to any prior government of Lazarus.

(2) The government established under Mandate 12, and any legal successor government, is not bound by any law, treaty, or policy of any kind established under any prior government of Lazarus, and such laws, treaties, and policies have no legal effect whatsoever under Mandate 12.

(3) The government established under Mandate 12 takes no position on the legitimacy of any prior government of Lazarus.