Report from the Court

As Chief Justice, I wish to report that the Court of The North Pacific has adopted Rules on Evidence and Procedure that will control all future proceedings and trials in the Court.
These Rules focus on what needs to be prepared before a trial or hearing so that trials will not be lengthy or time consuming. It places the burden of having all testimony and evidence ready for trial on the parties, and seek to have all questions of procedure and testimony resolved before a trial begins.
This will speed up the trial, assure a complete record in case of an appeal, and in general, assure that the Court's business will no longer be delayed, and delayed by absent witnesses or unprepared parties.

The Interim Court Rules, which in fact were only guidance and recommendations that dated back to the prior Constitution have been withdrawn.

Finally, these new rules, as well as the previously adopted rule on judicial hearing officers, are now posted in a single pinned thread in the main Court forum: Adopted Court Rules

Heh, the title rhymes.

Anyway, what are the estimates on how long the preparations will actually take? Also, will any of the trials that have been put into motion actually be dealt with, or is that a separate issue?

As far as I know, there are no cases currently pending.

As to how long, that totally depends on the case and the charges. The point here is that the parties will be responsible for getting the preparations done, and now that they know what can be used as evidence and testimony, and that those need to be ready beforehand, it should move cases along much more quickly -- if for no other reason than that there are now procedures that can be followed -- one of the biggest reasons used to drag out past trials.

Thank you Chief Justice Grosseschnauzer for the report. I believe I can speak on behalf of the entire Regional Assembly that we look forward to a more effective and efficient judicial process in our region.

Aye, thank you. I appreaciate having the Procedures defined and posted.