OblivionObliviousness for Attorney General - July 2016 Judicial Election

Dear fellow-citizens,

I am running in the July 2016 Election for Attorney General for one reason and one reason only: to see that there is an Attorney General.

The past few months, two serious crimes against The North Pacific came to light:
  • Treason against the lawful government of The North Pacific.
  • Election fraud and Fraud by a candidate in the last election for Delegate.

In the first case, a citizen of the North Pacific fulfilled his civic duty by submitting evidence to the Offices of the Attorney General and the Vice-Delegate.

In the second case, which disturbed the region in general and the other candidate in the election in particular greatly, a citizen filed a complaint against the perpetrator and several other citizens volunteered to testify.

In both cases, citizens proved to have a greater sense of duty than the elected Attorney General. In both cases, justice could not be served as the elected Attorney General neglected to bring either case before the Court.

In effect, the elected Attorney General committed the crime of Gross Misconduct by abandoning his office.

I am convinced that I can do better. As for capability, I have to ask the electorate for a leap of faith as I cannot boast any judicial, legislative or executive experience. I can only offer that I would not run for this office if I weren't convinced that I could at least do a decent job.

But I am not running because I consider myself the best possible candidate. I am running because I want to see justice done in the North Pacific. I am running because I want to make sure all citizens and residents, be it plaignant, victim or alleged perpetrator, will have their day in Court.

Thank you,

OblivionObliviousness
Citizen of the North Pacific
 
Good to see you running, Oblivion!

You state in your campaign that you want to see justice brought in TNP, but I'm curious on what you specifically would like to improve on in the office of the Attorney General. Your predecessor, The Democratic Republic of Tomb, promised a rise in activity in this office and ultimately failed in that regard. Do you you also want to see a rise in activity, and if so, what measures will you take to secure that activity?
 
Bootsie:
You state in your campaign that you want to see justice brought in TNP, but I'm curious on what you specifically would like to improve on in the office of the Attorney General. Your predecessor, The Democratic Republic of Tomb, promised a rise in activity in this office and ultimately failed in that regard. Do you you also want to see a rise in activity, and if so, what measures will you take to secure that activity?
Thank you for your question.

I am not planning on bringing improvements to the office as such. I feel that the priorities for the upcoming term should not be to restructure the office or to broaden its scope, but to simultaneously (1) clean up the back log and (2) deal with new cases expediently. This lack of overambition can be considered as my first measure to see to it that the office performs its constitutional duties.

My first actual measure would be, of course, to search for one reliable deputy. While at this time I am not convinced that the office needs anything other than a diligent Attorney General, it seems wise to appoint a deputy to secure the continuity of the office, in case I should become physically or mentally incapable of performing the duties of the office. As for this possibility, I want to be completely open about the fact that I am currently unable to promise that I will be able to serve a full term. I can however promise that should I need to vacate the office, I will by that time have reactivated the pending cases and timely informed the Delegate to ensure that a successor can be elected or appointed by the time my resignation takes effect. For clarity: that I have a plan in case of resignation, does not mean I am planning to resign.

My second measure would be to efficiently deal with the backlog, for which I have a concrete plan of action:
  • Firstly, to evaluate the actual urgency of the pending cases, which is not to say that less pressing matters will not be dealt with eventually.
  • Secondly, to find the right person to treat the cases. That could be either one of the current deputies (if willing and provided that the deputy in question has at least reasonable knowledge of the case), a new deputy, or of course myself.
While I hope to get down to business as soon as possible, it could prove necessary to take on a more managerial capacity, at least in the beginning of the term. But again, I am fairly confident that the office only needs some actual work being done to clear its backlog and guarantee that it can take on new cases.

Of course, justice will not profit from under quality work from the Attorney General's Office, and I am well aware that my knowledge of the laws and procedures may not be sufficient to deal with the most complex issues. A measure I am considering to guarantee quality, is, should the need arise, to approach active members of the community with relevant legal experience to act as prosecutors or advisors on an ad hoc basis. I am disinclined to appoint a hoist of deputies right from the start, as they themselves might prove to have become inactive by the time their expertise is called upon.

As for a structural solution to secure the continuity of the office, it seems clear that a change to the legal code is in order. The logical solution for a vacancy in the office would be to allow the Delegate to appoint an Attorney General, or fill the position him/herself, pending a special election or the next judicial election should a special election be unable to conclude prior to two weeks before the beginning of the next judicial election.

Another void that needs to be filled is the situation in which the Office of the Attorney General neglects to respond to a criminal complaint. As it is, a complainant cannot proceed with the prosecution him/herself until the Attorney General has decided to not manage the prosecution. Again, there seems to be a logical solution: if the complainant has not received a decision, or at least an acknowledgement with a concrete timeframe for a decision, within a reasonable delay (I have 15 days in mind), the complainant may proceed with the prosecution him/herself. This would not solve the problem of inactivity of the Attorney General's Office itself, but would at least assure that any complainant can seek justice.

As stated above, structural solutions would not be my first priorities as Attorney General (as I am not planning on abandoning the office or neglecting my duties), and of course I need not be elected to propose changes to the legal code.
 
With reference to this discussion, I'd like to make clear that, if elected, I fully intend to prosecute thegemini for Fraud and Election fraud, unless of course there is information in the dusty files in the AG's office that I'm not privy to at this time.

The previous AG's inertia following thegemini's actions is the exact reason why I decided to renew my citizenship and run for the office in the next election.

EDIT to clarify that I obviously only read Lord Ravenclaw's post in the aforementioned thread after posting.
 
OblivionObliviousness:
I'd like to make clear that, if elected, I fully intend to prosecute thegemini for Fraud and Election fraud, unless of course there is information in the dusty files in the AG's office that I'm not privy to at this time.
Do you think it's at all inappropriate to use the threat of prosecution of an individual (regardless of their current status in NS and TNP) as a campaign promise? :eyebrow:
 
falapatorius:
Do you think it's at all inappropriate to use the threat of prosecution of an individual (regardless of their current status in NS and TNP) as a campaign promise? :eyebrow:
No. Because it wasn't a threat and it wasn't a promise. It was a statement of my position on a current debate, a debate not on whether there are grounds to prosecute the individual in question, but on whether it would be practical and useful to do so. I obviously find that practicality and usefulness should not be taken into account in deciding whether to apply the law or not.

Also, I stated my intent, judging by what is known to the general public, and reserved an actual decision until I would have had access to full information.

Of course, you are correct in that I could have made my position clear in more general terms. But it would have been obvious to anyone what I was referring to and the same comment could have been made. I wanted to make very clear where I stood on this, as to allow the electorate to know what they vote for (or not).

As far as campaign promises go, note that I am using the past tense. While there is no in-game reason to not have a trial, games should be fun, and the players are more important than the game. So, while I'll be happy to continue this discussion on an abstract level, I'm going to let this particular case rest, now and in any future capacity.
 
OblivionObliviousness:
No. Because it wasn't a threat and it wasn't a promise.
Not to be argumentative, but you did post (bolding mine):
OblivionObliviousness:
I'd like to make clear that, if elected, I fully intend to prosecute thegemini for Fraud and Election fraud, unless of course there is information in the dusty files in the AG's office that I'm not privy to at this time.
You may not have intended it as such, but it does come across as a campaign pledge (particularly as a response to calls for prosecutorial action from non-involved parties in the thread you linked to).
 
Was that intended to be serious or tongue-in-cheek? I'm assuming the latter, but just in case, lack of integrity and honesty is frowned upon in TNP.
 
OblivionObliviousness:
Yeraennus:
lack of integrity and honesty is frowned upon in TNP.
Is it appreciated elsewhere?
The US government probably :P

I am glad that you deiced to run, of course. Nice to see people interested in the legal section of our government.
 
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