huskinraider

RULING ON THE REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW: ARTICLE I OF THE NON-PARTISAN COURTS ACT Opinion of the Court as delivered by the Right Honorable Judge Valmoth The opinion of the Circuit Court, as delivered by the Right Honorable Judge Valmoth, is as follows; Joseph D. Adler, referred to by the court from this point as Mr. Adler, submitted a request for judicial review on the Non-Partisan Courts Act of 1768. This was in respect to Section I Article I which states: 1. Court justices are hereby to be barred from running for or holding a seat within the House of Commons. 2. Court justices are to be barred from publicly pledging support for, affirming membership of or endorsing any political party or faction. 1. House of Commons elections are entirely under the purview of the Crown, notwithstanding power delegated to Civil Affairs by it, and therefore the House of Commons may not legislate regarding electoral processes or eligibility. While the public holds the god given right to vote, it is unable to vote for those deemed ineligible by the Crown. However, the current law prohibiting judges from holding public office was put in place by the Imperial Diet. This is the issue brought to the court by Mr. Adler. In rationalizing the constitutionality of this issue, the court must consider the purpose of the Imperial Diet and where it derives its power from. The Amendment to the Edict of Reform, 1799 states: 'The Imperial Diet shall be a bicameral legislature concerned with matters of active governance when called to sit by the Crown. This shall primarily be exercised by enactment of legislative bills into law after passage by both houses (barring those limited in Section IV of this edict.)' 'When passed by both chambers, the bill proceeds to the Crown, which either grants, withholds or withholds conditionally imperial assent.' This court finds this language clear. The Imperial Diet is the arm of the Crown which is responsible for passing laws. In order for a law to be passed, it proceeds to the Crown which can either grant, withhold, or conditionally withhold imperial assent. When the Non-Partisan Courts Act of 1768 was passed, it was granted assent by the Crown. Should the Crown have found this an encroachment on its power, it could have withheld assent. In interpreting the Crown's intention, this court finds that the Imperial Diet could place restrictions on a judge's ability to hold public office. 2. Elections are to be run by the Director of Civil Affairs, who is not responsible to them in the execution of his duties as Director. Therefore any legislation which attempts to compel him to run them in a certain manner is unlawful. Mr. Adler asserts that the Director of Civil Affairs is not responsible to the Imperial Diet for the way in which they perform their duties. As brought to the court by Mr. Adler, Amendments to the Edict of Pompourelia, 1798 states: 'That the Director of the Department of Civil Affairs be appointed and dismissed solely at the prerogative of the Crown, subject to no confirmation or responsibility to the Imperial Diet, and be invested with tenure in their office.' This court agrees with Mr. Adler, and the law, that the Director of Civil Affairs should not be responsible to the Imperial Diet for the way in which they perform their duties. The Director of Civil Affairs is meant to act as a non-partisan arbiter of elections as a way for the Crown to execute elections without undue influence. The Director of Civil affairs is meant to be another extension of the Crown and, unless stated so by the Crown itself, should not have their duties questioned by the Imperial Diet. However, unless the laws regulate how the Director of Civil Affairs must conduct these elections, they are still subject to the laws of this land. Section I Article I of the Non-Partisan Courts Act of 1768, and the act as a whole, places no regulations on how the Director of Civil Affairs must conduct himself. This Act merely regulates who can participate, not how they are elected. For these reasons, this court finds no issue. 3. An unrestricted capability of the Diet to legislate who may be elected to it would place an undue burden on a citizen's right to vote. Mr. Adler finally seeks to found unconstitutionality on the grounds that placing such a restriction on judges places an undue burden on the right to vote; more specifically, the right of citizens to choose who they elect. The concern of the petitioner is that the Imperial Diet would gain unrestricted power to regulate who can be elected. To illustrate this, Mr. Adler provides an example of the Imperial Diet naming specific individuals as the only citizens eligible for election. Mr. Adler further asks for a constitutional limit to be placed as to who can be barred from election. To examine this, the court must consider when restrictions are constitutionally able to be placed on citizens. Mr. Adler provides reference to the ORC as follows, '301.041 - Citizens of the nation shall maintain the right to suffrage in national elections.' Every individual citizen has the right to vote. Any restriction placed on this is clearly unconstitutional and must be struck down by the courts. That is not the issue of this case, however. The issue here is one of checks and balances in government. The purpose of the Non-Partisan Courts Act of 1768 was to places checks and balances on the Imperial Courts and Diet. Each of these branches should remain separate from one another in order to maintain impartiality. Should a judge be allowed to hold both a court position as well as a position in the Imperial Diet, that individual would be able to both create an interpret the laws. This can not be allowed. As for Mr. Adler's concern on the Imperial Diet's ability to restrict others from being elected, this court cannot judge hypotheticals. Such cases must be judged on an individual basis when they are brought before the court. Therefore, the law shall remain unchanged.

In view of 'REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW: ARTICLE I OF THE NON-PARTISAN COURTS ACT'; Dear Joseph D. Adler, Your request for judicial review has been granted. The Central Circuit Court shall hereby accept amicus briefs from those willing for the next three months. After this time, the Court shall review the materials including the facts of the case, arguments in amicus briefs, and the original request by Mr. Adler. Until judgement has been rendered by this court, no injunction shall be granted. Signed, The Right Honourable Judge of the Central Circuit Relorin Valmoth

Name: Relorin Valmoth Age: 62 Race: High Elf Prior Relevant Experience: I like to drink and I know what a bow looks like.

NayM: Olgoth'Kurath (mc name: huskinraider)

What’s your Minecraft account name?: huskinraider What timezone are you in?: EST How old are you?: 18 Are you aware the online content on this server may not be appropriate for children under the age of 13? You won’t be denied for being under 13): Yes Have you read and agreed to the rules?: Yes What’s the rule you agree with the most?: Hacked clients cannot be used because it would be unfair to other players Are there any rule(s) that confuse you or don’t make sense? (if so we can help clear it up!): No, I’m fine How did you find out about Lord of the Craft?: A friend told me about it Link(s) to past Whitelist Applications (If applicable): None of the forums are around anymore Have you logged into the server yet? (You cannot be whitelisted without logging in at least once): Yes Definitions Feel free to Google the answers or browse our forums, but make sure that you write the reply in your own words, not those of another website or person! Plagiarizing will result in the automatic denial of your application! What is roleplaying?: Putting yourself into the shoes of a character you create and acting as you believe they would in situations presented to them. What is metagaming?: Using knowledge gained OOCly to impact what you do RPly. What is power-emoting (powergaming)?: Giving yourself powers or abilities that would be unfair to other players. In-Character Information Now you actually make your character - be creative but stay reasonable! Make sure they make sense and that they follow lore. Try to come up with a character that you actually want to play. Character’s name: Jonathan Deacon Character’s sex: Male Character’s race: Heartlander Character’s age: 19 Biography (Please make it a decent two paragraphs long. Remember to add three references to the server lore): Jonathan Deacon was born a port town in Sutica on the 7th of the Sunsmile, 1584. He was the son of a fisherman whose wife had died at childbirth. It was during his childhood that John learned to love the sea. He often went fishing on his father's boat, spending long days out in the sun. John was around to watch the Holy Orenian Empire fall to the Coalition. When he was fourteen, John enlisted in the Sutican navy, lying about his age to get in. He worked aboard a battleship as a deckhand, often scrubbing the floor below deck and mindless busy work, he rarely saw battle. However, the pay was good, so he put up with the dull work until he was sixteen. When his tour ended he was out looking for a job once again. He ended up joining a crew of "Mercenaries" with a few friends. They quickly realized that this was no simple mercenary crew, however, but rather a band of thieves that would prey on weary travelers. Not the kind of group you would want to be associated with. A great deal of John's friends abandoned the company during the dead of night, however, he remained on the crew because the coin was good and abundant. His days of thievery came to an end when the group he was with attempted to rob a caravan, and came to a crossing with the just before the Year of Four Emperors. Most of the people in his group were killed. Since then he has been roaming port to port and town to town making money any way possible. His fishing skills made him a bit of coin, but John quickly realized money can be made even more quickly through blacksmithing. The land and the people, being plagued with strife, will need weapons, and if John was making a profit off of it, all the better. He hopes to become a blacksmith’s apprentice to learn the trade while also building a real life for himself in the process. Personality Traits: John loves the sea, will do anything to satisfy his need for coin, and will put up a facade of whoever he needs to be to get it. Ambitions: John aspires to be a blacksmith’s apprentice and eventually open his own smithy. Strengths/Talents: John is adept at fishing and has some sembalence of talent with a sword, not that he’s looking to use one any time soon. Weaknesses/Inabilities: John does not like to be involved and will act solely on what will get him the most coin. Appearance: John is roughly 5’ 7” with brown messy hair and blue eyes. He also has a bit of stubble growing on his face. Skin: (please provide us a screenshot of your character’s skin; if you need help, see our screenshot guide here.)