Request for Court Opinion

[Eluvatar]

Spoiler: For the pdf-disapproving

On behalf of Grosseschnauzer, the Speaker pro Tempore designated automatically under Regional Assembly procedures, the Attorney General’s office requests a clarification on the application of TNP Law 28.

TNP Law 28 Article II Section One states:

The Speaker of the Assembly, or a deputy so appointed by the Speaker, shall be responsible for processing and confirming the Assembly membership of applicants.

The Speaker pro Tempore was not appointed by the Speaker, however, but was instead automatically designated by the Regional Assembly’s Rule 2:

Rule 2

Absence of Speaker; Acting Speaker; Speaker Pro Tempore

A. Whenever the Speaker is absent or unavailable for more than 24 hours (or when there is a vacancy in the office of Speaker), the Regional Assembly member who is available and who (1) is not holding an office and (2) has the longest period of seniority, shall take the chair of the Regional Assembly and preside as Speaker Pro Tempore.
B. In the event the Speaker has designated an Acting Speaker from among the membership of the Regional Assembly, this Rule shall apply with respect to any absence or unavailability of the Acting Speaker that extends beyond 24 hours. The authority of an Acting Speaker shall be stated by the Speaker when the designation is made for a specific absence of the Speaker from the Regional Assembly.
C. The Speaker Pro Tempore (or an Acting Speaker when designated by the Speaker) may perform any act previously noticed by the Speaker within the Regional Assembly, or which is deemed required or necessary for the timely conduct of the business of the Regional Assembly.
D. The Speaker (or Acting Speaker) shall take the chair and resume their duties upon their return to the Regional Assembly (or upon posting the oath of office when there has been a vacancy in the Office of Speaker.)
E. After each general, judicial, or special election, (or after the admission or removal of members under Law 28,) the incumbent Speaker shall post an updated list of Regional Assembly members, listed according to their seniority. This list shall determine which member may act as Speaker Pro Tempore when the need arises under this Rule.
F. As used in this Rule:
1. “Absent or unavailable for more than 24 hours” means that the Speaker has not logged onto the forums, or posted in a Regional Assembly thread within the preceding 24 hours; or that some anticipated act by the Speaker within the Regional Assembly is due to be taken, and has not been taken.
2. “Seniority” is determined by the amount of elapsed time since a member’s most recent admission to the Regional Assembly without an interruption, but no longer than the amount of time since the adoption of the current Constitution.
3. “Holding an office” refers to the Delegate, the Vice Delegate, the head of a Cabinet office, the Attorney General, and any Court justice, but does not include members of the Security Council.

The Regional Assembly is empowered to establish its own procedures by
the Constitution’s Article I Section 3 Clause 3:

3. All Government bodies are allowed to create rules for its own governance.

The Attorney General’s office asks the Court to clarify whether the procedurally defined Speaker Pro Tempore can be considered a deputy appointed by the speaker under TNP Law 28, and therefore empowered to process applications.

A Question which this office considers relevant is whether TNP Law can restrict the power of the Assembly to govern itself with its own procedures. The distinction between TNP Law and RA procedure is not meaningless as RA procedure cannot be vetoed by the Delegate and do not face a constitutional requirement of a quorum to be altered.

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As a Citizen of the North Pacific acting on behalf of another Citizen,
I present this request to the Court,

Eluvatar (Zemnaya Svoboda)
Attorney General of the North Pacific

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[Grimalkin]

The Court will consider this. (Due to a fairly important event coming up this Sunday that I need to prepare for, do not expect a ruling before this Monday.) The Court also welcomes any amicus curiae statements on this issue.

 

[Grosseschnauzer]

I would like to provide the links to the discussions in the Regional Assembly that led to the adoption of R.A. Rule 2, and the emphasis that discussion placed on the intent of assuring that someone would be entitled to act in the chair of the Speaker at all times (after a 24 hour absence) whether there was an announced absence, an unannounced absence, or a vacancy as to the Speaker, and whether an Acting Speaker was appointed by the Speaker or not.

Preliminary Discussion

Formal Discussion

In addition, I believe the request, insofar as it governs the Law 28 aspect of the matter, would focus on the meaning of the highlighted language in Rule 2C of the Regional Assembly:

C. The Speaker Pro Tempore (or an Acting Speaker when designated by the Speaker) may perform any act previously noticed by the Speaker within the Regional Assembly, or which is deemed required or necessary for the timely conduct of the business of the Regional Assembly.

In short, what acts are to be "deemed required or necessary for the timely conduct of the business of the Regional Assembly"? The discussion that led to the adoption of the Rule emphasized the problems and controversies that arose due to the absences of the Speaker and that led to paralysis within the Regional Assembly in general, and the draft language was phrased in that context.

The discussion then only suggested a limit to the role of an Acting Speaker or a Speaker Pro Tempore of the Rule with respect to the former Council of Legal Oversight, which was subsequently abolished. There was never any specific discussion of limitations as to the admission or removal of members in the Regional Assembly under the provisions of Law 28. Nor was there any specific reference made in that discussion to a limitation as to any other specific constitutional or statutory provision that places a power or a duty upon the Speaker.

Finally, Rule 2 is clear that the Speaker Pro Tempore acts as Speaker where there is a vacancy in the office of Speaker. (The discussion made reference to the provision in the prior constitution that made the Prime Minister the Acting Speaker in case of a vacancy.)

Law 28 does contain time limitations as to the admission (14 days) and as to verifying the continued eligibility of members that would require their removal. (continuous monitoring). Rule 2 requires that the seniority list be updated after every election, or after the admission or removal of members, in part to determine who is to act as Speaker Pro Tempore. Likewise, there are separate time frames in the Constitution as to the abandonment of office by the Delegate and the Chief Justice and the role of the Speaker in declaring vacancies in those offices and conducting special elections, as well as the role the Speaker may have in special elections under Law 26. The existence of these time elements may be relevant to determining the meaning of the previously referenced provision in Rule 2 C quoted above.

I am leaving the answers to these questions to the Court, but I felt I should provide a more explicit statement of the discussion in the Regional Assembly that led to the adoption of the Rule, of the interaction of the various legal provisions at play in this request, and the main factors I see that are involved in asking the Attorney General to request an opinion of the Court on this matter.

 

[Grimalkin]

(I apologize for this not being a rather long or indepth opinion, I received some bad news so I'm just keeping short and to the point so I can go on with my LoA)

The crux of this issue is that the Constitution allows the Regional Assembly to determine it's own procedures; however, those procedures cannot violate the Legal Code or the Constitution. Given that the relevant portion of TNP Law 28 deals specifically with the RA and was passed by the RA, does this count as the RA setting its own procedures? Yes, with the unfortunate side effect that it must be repealed in order to be changed.

However, given the intent behind TNP Law 28, this court rules that the Speaker Pro Tempore may be invested with the normal duties of the Speaker of the Assembly in accordance with TNP Law 28 and RA procedure.