The judiciary shall insure that children within the republic have
access to safe, modern schools which provide knowledge relevant to
their futures and useful as citizens.
The trial courts shall have the power to hear all civil and criminal
cases brought before them by the state or the citizenry, and to
decide such cases in light of precedent and the law, to decide any
controversy and to set new precedents for review by the appellate
courts, to enforce contracts, to try constitutional right suits,
and to decide wrongs which have failed arbitration.
Trial Judges must have a law degree and reside in the judicial
district which they are running in and shall be elected every
third year, rotating such that an equal number in each judicial
district will be subject to election in each year. The position of
judge shall be a non-partisan office elected by majority vote of the citizens, only
one candidate need run in a judicial election. The judge of the capitol district trial court shall be elected at large by all persons holding elective or appointed office under the national government except trial court judges.
The government shall provide that all criminal defendants unable
to afford an attorney may have one at state expense with reasonable
compensation for costs and fees.
The trial and appellate courts shall have the power to issue
injunctions and writs of all types.
The courts shall have the power to interpret contracts,
and bylaws of corporations, and set rules for their enforcement not
inconsistent with any other provision of this constitution.
The trial courts shall, in all cases except homicide and treason,
have the power to impose probation in lieu of jail time provided
the public is in no significant danger, the convict agrees to the
conditions, and the dictates of fairness can justify it. Sentences
of probation shall be appealable.
The supreme and appellate courts shall have the power to settle any
controversy of law arising in the lower courts or from the ministers
appointed by the Council (except those issues reserved to the Prime
Minister or the Council elsewhere) or their staff.
Each appellate court shall consist of 3 members elected by the
judges of the lower courts under that appellate court from their
ranks and confirmed by the people and judges every 10 years by a
majority vote of each. Appellate court judges must have served at
least 2 terms as a lower court judge.
The Council shall have the power to create additional courts of
general jurisdiction. A unanimous vote of the local appellate court
with the consent of a majority of Citizen's Advisory Boards in the
area of jurisdiction may also create additional courts of general
jurisdiction.
The Council shall have the power to pardon any case, after it has
finished its full cycle of appeals and the conviction appears final,
by a 2/3 majority vote. However, this shall not apply to treason,
acts of malfeasance of office, or in cases of impeachment, and this
shall apply only to the granting of a new trial or the commutation
of a sentence to time served plus some lesser number of years not
less than one except in cases of grave injustice.
The Supreme Court shall have the sole power to interpret this
constitution. The Supreme Court shall be bound permanently
by those decisions it makes which are affirmed in Parlaiment.
In any case before the Supreme Court requiring a determination on
reasonableness, morality, community standards, or such other issues
as the court may decide are amenable to jury determination, unless
precedent is clearly applicable, the Court shall call a jury to
determine the factor and be guided in their legal reasoning by
the result.
The general crime of Felony described in Article III chapter B
section 1 (III.B1) shall be chargeable only as a lesser included
offense of derived crimes as described in Article I, Chapter D,
section 6 (I.D6) and crimes at common law; and otherwise only for
the sole purpose of the establishment of new crimes within felony
at common law. The charging of any provision of article III may
similarly be used to establish specific new sub-crimes in the common
law.
In any charge of a new crime under section 12 (II.I12) the elements
to be charged shall be decided by the judge, the jury shall find
first whether the conduct described should be illegal, then decide
upon guilt or innocence. If the new crime is to be a lesser
included offense of a defined crime, the sentence range shall not
exceed that of the existing crime.
