[GA - PASSED] Repeal: “The Rule of Law”

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Hulldom

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Repeal: “The Rule of Law”
Category: Repeal | GA #374
Proposed by: Greater Cesnica | Co-authored by: Daarwyrth | Onsite Topic
Replacement: Onsite Drafting Thread​

General Assembly Resolution #374 “The Rule of Law”(Category: Civil Rights; Strength: Strong) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

The General Assembly,

Recognizing that GAR #374 “The Rule Of Law is a pivotal piece of legislation that upholds the concept of there being a “Rule of Law” that no entity in society is above, not even government institutions or the socioeconomic elite in a given nation,

Noting, however, that GAR #374 is fatally flawed due to Article 2(a), which “Declares that reasonable, good faith exceptions may be made in instances where... some form of immunity is necessary to ensure that government employees or institutions may carry out essential functions that would not otherwise be possible without the guarantee of immunity…”,

Unconvinced that any hazard, difficulty, or misplaced benefit of the doubt renders any extent of pre-determined or non-fact-based immunity "necessary" for government officials, other than in regards to legislative immunity,

Unsettled by the prospect that those individuals and institutions entrusted with the right and ability to use violence and force against civilian populations in the interest of keeping law and order, such as in the form of law enforcement forces, could be exempted from liability and responsibility for their actions; which in turn would breed an unjust and false sense of impunity in the abuse of their exclusive right to administer violence and force,

Believing that, with the exception of legislative immunity, it is preferable to ensure all government officials and institutions are answerable to the law and civil action for the consequences of actions taken in their respective capacities, regardless of their position or function as government officials and institutions, rather than to allow incompetence and malice from these entities to go unchecked,

Resolved that a replacement resolution is needed to truly enshrine the spirit of GAR #374 in law whilst eradicating baseless immunity for government officials and institutions,

Hereby repeals GAR #374 “The Rule Of Law”.

Co-authored with Daarwyrth.
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Note: Only votes from TNP WA nations and NPA personnel will be counted. If you do not meet these requirements, please add (non-WA) or something of that effect to your vote.
Voting Instructions:
  • Vote For if you want the Delegate to vote For the resolution.
  • Vote Against if you want the Delegate to vote Against the resolution.
  • Vote Abstain if you want the Delegate to abstain from voting on this resolution.
  • Vote Present if you are personally abstaining from this vote.
Detailed opinions with your vote are appreciated and encouraged!
[TR][TD] For [/TD][TD] Against [/TD][TD] Abstain [/TD][TD] Present [/TD][/TR][TR][TD]12[/TD][TD]3[/TD][TD]0[/TD][TD]1[/TD][/TR]


Repeal: "The Rule of Law" passed 11,573 votes (92.3%) to 964 (7.7%)
 
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IFV

Overview

This resolution seeks to repeal GA#374 "The Rule of Law" on two main grounds. First, the authors point out the fallacy of Article 2(a)'s "good faith exceptions" for activity by government officials such as law enforcement. Then they go on to point out the negative effects of such "good faith exception", noting that this would functionally act as a liability shield. Members of the government, including law enforcement, would no longer be accountable for their actions due to this exception since complainants could not reasonably disprove "good faith" except for in egregious circumstances. Thus, this resolution actually undermines, according to the authors, the rule of law.

Recommendation

We are thoroughly convinced by the one and only contention advanced by the authors of this resolution. Hearkening back to a situation in our own world, protesters in many American cities were pepper-gassed or tear-gassed during the protests which followed the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. The courts have often taken an exception to law enforcement activities such as these, even when the retaliation by police was egregious and unwarranted, on the grounds that these constitute, or could constitute, a threat to law and order. The authors are right in agreeing that this sort of thing should be reduced as much as reasonably possible and that complainants should point to their proof of no wrongdoing as evidence for liability on behalf of the government here rather than having to prove malice.

For the above reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly recommends a vote For the General Assembly Resolution at vote, "Repeal: 'The Rule of Law'".
 
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Against. I actually don't think the exception on good faith should be eliminated.

"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
 
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Greater Cesnica:
Could you elaborate?
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The proposed replacement grants immunity for government actions solely to legislators & adjacent (presumably), and specifically denies it to any other portion of the government. While restricting the ability for it to shield police (bad ones and such) is a worthy goal, replacing it with someone specifically allowing for lawsuits and the like against every other member of government (you incidentally also presently don’t protect judges rn, though I just realized that) is in my opinion far and away in the opposite direction of decent policy.

Given comments on both the repeal and replacement, I don’t believe the latter will meet my standards on this, hence my vote. However, further review of the repeal target has revealed that my concerns follow there as well. As such, my vote on this is now an abstain.
 
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