Ruling of the Court of the North Pacific
In regards to the Judicial Inquiry filed by Abstain on the definition of Government Officials
Opinion drafted by Punk D, joined by Gracius Maximus & Hileville
The Court took into consideration the Inquiry filed here by Abstain.
The inquiry asks the Court to determine whether the following positions are government officials as defined by The North Pacific Law:
- Delegate
- Vice-Delegate
- Speaker
- Justices and temporary hearing officers
- Security Council
- Ministers
- Dep. Ministers/AG’s
- Elections Commissioners
- Attorney General
Having made this determination, the court is then asked to determine the Constitutionality of former Security Council member Pasargad’s removal from office under the guidelines outlined under Article 2 of the Constitution.
The Court took into consideration the Relevant parts of the Legal Code of the North Pacific and past rulings on the subject:
Legal Code Section 3, 4, and 6
Legal Code Section 3.1.8 If there is a vacancy on the Court, or any Justice is unavailable or has a conflict of interest the remaining Justices will promptly appoint a hearing officer to participate as temporary Justices.
Legal Code 4.1.1 All government officials will take the Oath of Office below before assuming their role within the government of The North Pacific.
[snip]
Legal Code 4.1.2 All government officials will be required to take the Oath of Office within one week of the certification of election results by the Election Commissioner, or if appointed, within one week of their appointment being announced. The taking of the Oath constitutes assumption of the office. Failure to post the oath within the allotted time will result in the office being considered vacant, to be filled in accordance with all laws governing elections or appointments, as is appropriate for the office in question.
[snip]
Legal Code 4.2.6 "Election Commissioner" is an individual designated to supervise a given election. No one who may be a candidate in an election may serve as an Election Commissioner during it.
Legal Code 6.3.17 The Delegate and appointed government officials will be delegated the task of informing the Assembly of any governmental action not already disclosed by the respective officers of the Executive.
Bill of Rights Numbers 4, 5, and 8 -
4. No Nation of The North Pacific holding WA member status in NationStates shall be obligated to endorse any official of a government authority of the region. The right to add an endorsement or withdraw an endorsement is a sovereign right of that Nation as a WA member.
5. All Nations of The North Pacific have the right to be protected against the abuse of powers by any official of a government authority of the region. Any Nation of The North Pacific has the right to request the recall of any official of a government authority of the region in accordance with the Constitution, that is deemed to have participated in such acts
8. No Nation shall be ejected from the region, or banned from any forum, except as expressly authorized by the Constitution or the Legal Code. Should any official of a government authority of the region with authority to act, declare that the immediate ejection or banning of a Nation is an urgent matter of regional security they may order the ejection or banning of the nation. Any ejected or banned nation shall have prompt and immediate recourse to judicial review of the matter. The WA Delegate shall not exercise the power of ejection or banning unless expressly authorized by a specific action of a government authority of the region pursuant to the Constitution or to the Legal Code.
Constitution Articles 2, 4, 5, and 6
Article 2 -3The Regional Assembly may remove a government official from office by a two-thirds majority vote.
Article 4-4 The official opinion of the Court in any trial or review will be binding on all Government bodies and officials.
Article 5-4 The Security Council will monitor the region’s security and report on it to the public, and enforce decisions of the Regional Assembly to remove the Delegate.
Article 6-1 All government officials must maintain membership in the Regional Assembly. Candidates in any election must maintain membership in the Regional Assembly for the fifteen days before the opening of nominations.
Article 6-2 All government officials will swear an oath of office. The content of these oaths will be determined by law and be legally binding.
Ruling on Justices as Government officials
ruling on justices as government officials
Ruling on the powers of Election Commissioners
Ruling on the powers of Election Commissioners
The Court opines the following:
Opinion Part 1 - With respect to the Delegate, Vice-Delegate, Speaker, Attorney General, Appointed Ministers, Appointed Deputy Speaker/Ministers, and Appointed Deputy Attorney Generals
The positions of Delegate, Vice-Delegate, Speaker, Attorney General and their applicable deputies all have specific powers outlined by The North Pacific Constitution and Legal Code.
Article 6 of the Constitution notes that all government officials shall swear an oath of office. This oath is the requirement to assume a position giving the officeholder authority and powers beyond the ability to introduce legislation and vote in elections which are conferred to members of the Regional Assembly.
Furthermore, Bill of Rights numbers 4, 5, 8 describe the recourse methods for nations believing they have been aggrieved by government officials. This Court finds that the expressed and implicit intent of these rights are to ensure all named and appointed by named offices within TNP law be subject to the provisions of the Bill of Rights. The Court finds that these positions are government officials and are subject to this provision.
Opinion Part 2 - With respect to Security Council members, the court opines that members thereof are government officials as defined by TNP law and also subject to recall
Article 5-4 charges the Security Council with “monitor[ing] the region’s security and report on it to the public”. Additionally, members of the Security Council are approved by the entire Regional Assembly (Article 5-2) which signifies that the office of Security Council is not merely a designation resulting from length of service, having a nation within TNP, or the like but a position that must be approved by the RA with specific duties performed therein. Therefore, the Court finds that Security Council members are government officials because they are approved by the Regional Assembly, are tasked with monitoring the region's security, and also form a line of succession in an event the delegate and Vice-Delegate positions are vacated.
In Opinion Part 1, the Court found that government officials are subject to the recall provisions described within the Bill of Rights and having concluded that Security Council members are also government officials, the Court finds that Security Council members are also subject to the recall process and upholds any prior, present, or future recall votes administered in accordance with relevant recall guidelines and laws.
Opinion Part 3 – With respect to Election Commissioners, the Court opines that members thereof are government officials and charges all future appointees to take the oath of office taken by all government officials
The Court previously stated:
[T]he Court finds that requiring Candidates to post their declaration in a thread designated for such a purpose is a reasonable manifestation of the Election Commissioners' ability to oversee an election.
In its decision, the Court interpreted the “supervise” provision of the Legal Code (Section 4.2.6) endowed the Election Commissioners with the power to designate where nominations could be legally received. This court affirms the Election Commissioners’ authority in this respect and also opines that such authority establishes the members thereof as government officials.
In Opinion Part 1, the Court found that government officials are subject to the recall provisions described within the Bill of Rights and having concluded that Election Commissioners are also government officials, the Court finds that Election Commissioners are also subject to the recall process and upholds any prior, present, or future recall votes administered in accordance with relevant recall guidelines and laws.
Additionally, the Court found that no records existed with the forum thread for oaths of office (
Link) for Election Commissioners. The Court believes this to be a gross oversight and charges all future commissioners to state the oath in accordance with Legal Code Section 4.1.
Opinion Part 4 – With respect to Justices and Temporary Hearing Officers, the Court affirms its previous ruling on Justices that members thereof are government officials]
This Court affirms the previous ruling on Justices
Link. Given the authority that is given to Temporary Hearing Officers to perform the duties of a Justice, the Court opines that Temporary Hearing officers are also government officials.
In Opinion Part 1, the Court found that government officials are subject to the recall provisions described within the Bill of Rights and having concluded that Temporary Hearing Officers are also government officials, the Court finds that Temporary Hearing Officers are also subject to the recall process and upholds any prior, present, or future recall votes administered in accordance with relevant recall guidelines and laws.
NOTE: The court also discussed whether to include a ruling on whether or not Security Council members can run for office if they are government officials. In this ruling, the Court did not make a determination on that point since it was not specifically asked to address that point. However, the Court does recommend that someone put forth a request for review so that the Court can resolve that issue based upon the ruling issued today.
It should be noted that this court believes that Security Council members, while government officials, are able to hold office within one of the three other branches. Again, this court did not rule on this matter but does believe a ruling on this matter should be made and strongly urges a citizen, RA member or, other affected party to put forth a review request to resolve this matter.