July 2023 Eluvatar for Justice

[Eluvatar]

I've been Justice before, several times. I've written about the nature and meaning of our laws. I've a deep commitment to democracy and justice in The North Pacific.

A pretty-complete list of my legal efforts in this region to date is included in my application for admission to the bar.

The most important text linked there, I think, are my thoughts from a few years back regarding fundamental legal theory in The North Pacific:

Legal Theory in The North Pacific

The North Pacific is a democratic region. Fundamentally, all law in The North Pacific derives from the principle of popular sovereignty: the nations of the region established a constitution through public debate and referenda, and have followed its democratic processes to alter and create constitutional and other law in the decade plus since.

Expectations nations held of the necessary legal principles to be and remain a democratic region were adopted (first as part of the Constitution itself and then as an attached document) as the Bill of Rights. This document has seen the least change of all the region’s laws since 2005 and can be understood as the expression of the basic regional legal identity.

The region is not, therefore, a system of common law as such. Judicial precedent is considered informative rather than part of the law of itself. It’s not turtles all the way down: there is no legal principle which does not derive from some aspect of positive (formally adopted) law.

That being said, the democratic nature of the regional government is more fundamental than any particular legal document. The very origin of our documents through referenda and subsequent votes delineate that.

That is my vision, still, of what TNP law is.

There is of course, the question of Justice. Our Bill of Rights is very concerned with democracy, but it is also concerned with justice:

6. No Nation shall be held to answer for a crime in a manner not prescribed by the Constitution or the Legal Code. No Nation shall be subjected to being twice put in jeopardy for the same offense. No Nation shall ever be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against itself.

7. When charged with criminal acts, Nations of The North Pacific and its territories shall have a fair, impartial, and public trial before a neutral and impartial judicial officer. In any criminal proceeding, a Nation is presumed innocent unless guilt is proven to the fact finder by reasonably certain evidence. A Nation may be represented by any counsel of the Nation's choosing. No Nation convicted of a crime shall be subject to a punishment disproportionate to that crime.

8. The regional power of ejection and banning may not be granted or exercised, nor forum bans imposed, unless expressly authorized pursuant to the Constitution or the Legal Code. Any ejected or banned nation is entitled to prompt judicial review of the matter.

9. Each Nation in The North Pacific and its territories is guaranteed the organization and operation of the governmental authorities of the region and its territories on fundamental principles of democracy, accountability, and transparency. No action by the governmental authorities of the region and its territories shall deny to any Nation of The North Pacific and its territories, due process of law, including prior notice and the opportunity to be heard, nor deny to any Nation of The North Pacific and its territories the equal and fair treatment and protection of the provisions of the Constitution. No governmental authority shall have power to adopt or impose an ex post facto law or a bill of attainder as to any act for purposes of criminal proceedings.

It is the Court's solemn duty to perform fair, impartial, and public trials and to guard the due process of law. I see that as an integral and inseparable part of our commitment to democracy. We seek the truth, through offering space for arguments, receiving evidence, and careful deliberation among the members of a judicial panel. That is the duty I have sought to perform, and am willing to continue.

Any questions?

 

[El Fiji Grande]

No. No questions.