Bill: Vote P.B. 03-021 | Judicial Reform Act

Parliament notes:
(1) The current judicial structure has created challenges in maintaining consistent judicial operations in the courts due to limited judicial capacity.
(2) Consolidating original jurisdiction in the Magistrates Court, while establishing the Chancery as the appellate court, will ensure a more efficient judicial process.
(3) Requiring three-Magistrate panels for constitutional cases ensures important constitutional questions receive appropriate legitimacy.
(4) Providing sitting Chancellors with the option to transition to Magistrate positions retains experienced judicial officers while increasing the capacity of the Magistrates Court.
(5) Clarifying that the Judiciary may both interpret and apply the law ensures that courts have the constitutional authority to hear and resolve cases properly presented to them.

Based on this, Parliament decides:
(1) To restructure the Chancery as an exclusively appellate court with a single High Chancellor, ensuring appellate cases can continue regardless of the availability of other Chancellors.
(2) To establish the Magistrates Court with original jurisdiction over all matters under the Constitution, regardless of their nature.
(3) To require three-Magistrate panels for constitutional cases at the original jurisdiction level, ensuring these important matters receive thorough deliberation, while allowing single Magistrates to hear other matters efficiently.
(4) To provide a transition mechanism for current Chancellors to become Magistrates if they so choose.

To fulfil this, Parliament projects the following expenses:
(1) Expenses associated with conducting a constitutional referendum.

Further, Parliament projects the following administrative efforts:
(1) The Ministry of Internal Affairs must organize a constitutional referendum.

To implement the above, Parliament passes:
1 - About this Act
(1) This Act

2 - Amendments to the Constitution
(1) Article 14 of the Constitution shall be amended in the following manner:

“14. Judicial Power
Judicial power is vested in the courts, consisting‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ Chancery and the Magistrates Court. These institutions interpret‌ ‌the‌ ‌law‌ ‌as‌ ‌written‌ ‌by‌ ‌the‌ ‌legislature‌ ‌and‌ ‌administered‌ ‌by‌ ‌the‌ ‌Executive.‌ These institutions may hear cases within their jurisdiction, ‌interpret and apply the law in accordance with this Constitution, and decide controversies properly presented before them.”

(2) Article 15 of the Constitution shall be amended in the following manner:

"15. Chancery
The Chancery is the highest court of the nation, with exclusive jurisdiction over constitutional questions, including the interpretation and application of the Constitution, as well as disputed returns arising from elections, including challenges to election results and qualifications of elected members of Parliament.
The Chancery shall be the highest court of the nation, holding exclusive appellate jurisdiction over all matters arising from the Magistrates Court, and shall consist of a single High Chancellor with sole authority to adjudicate all cases properly before the Chancery.

The Chancery has appellate jurisdiction over all other matters from lower courts.”

(3) Article 16 of the Constitution shall be amended in the following manner:

“16. Magistrates Court
The Magistrates Court shall have jurisdiction over all criminal and civil matters, except those explicitly reserved for the Chancery by this Constitution or other specific laws. All cases shall initially be heard in the Magistrates Court, unless otherwise specified by law or granted special leave by the Chancery.
The Magistrates Court shall have original jurisdiction over all matters brought before it under this Constitution and shall serve as the Court of first instance.


(4) Article 17 of the Constitution shall be amended in the following manner:

“17. Judicial Officers
Judicial Officers of the Chancery and Magistrates Court shall serve for life, subject to removal by Parliament through impeachment.


3 - Transitional Measures
(1) Any sitting Chancellor at the time of this Act's passage may elect to become a Magistrate by notifying the High Chancellor within 14 days, whereupon they shall be deemed appointed as Magistrates.

AMENDMENT 01
Immediately following the submission of this Amendment, §2(4) of the Judicial Reform Act shall be replaced with the following text:

“(4) Article 17 of the Constitution shall be amended in the following manner:

“17. Judicial Officers
Judicial Officers of the Chancery and Magistrates Court shall serve for life, subject to removal by Parliament through impeachment.

AMENDMENT 02
Should the associated Motion to Amend pass, the following new subsection shall be inserted into §3 - Transitional Measures:

"(2) Any pending cases over which the Chancery had original jurisdiction prior to the enactment of this Act shall be remanded to the Magistrates Court."

AMENDMENT 03
Should the associated Motion to Amend pass, the following new section shall be inserted after §3 - Transitional Measures:

"4 - Mediation and Arbitration
(1) Recognizing that expediency and resolution of civil legal disputes is important and that the court wishes to reduce the number of cases that could be resolved outside of court, the Chancery and Magistrates Court shall offer free combined mediation and arbitration (Med-Arb) services as an alternative to a trial for dispute resolution.

(2) The following are definitions to be used for this section of the Judicial Reform Act:

(a) "Mediation" is a structured process whereby a dispute between parties is moderated by a neutral third-party called a mediator. The parties and mediator agree upon the rules, standards and procedure for the mediation and work towards a mutual resolution of the matter at hand. The results of mediation are non-binding and depend upon the mutual agreement of both parties.

(b) "Arbitration" is similar to mediation, with the difference being that the final result of the Arbitration is binding and the parties go into arbitration agreeing that the decision of the Arbitrator is final. The parties and arbitrator will agree to the rules, standards and procedures for the arbitration process and at the end of the process the Arbitrator will provide a final, binding agreement on the dispute at hand.

(c) "Med-Arb" is the combined process of Mediation and Arbitration, whereby both mediation and arbitration are considered, usually with mediation occurring first and moving to Arbitration if necessary.

(d) "Mediator" refers to the individual or organization that will provide Med-Arb services for the courts on a per-case basis. Mediators are a neutral third-party who provide conflict resolution. A mediator usually has legal experience or is a lawyer, but this is not a requirement. During arbitration, they are often referred to as an Arbitrator.

(e) "Court-managed list of available mediators" refers to a document that the courts maintain of active and willing mediators who are willing to provide Med-Arb services. This document should also contain regularly updated information regarding the mediator's conflict of interests so that judges can appoint a neutral mediator as necessary to a case.

(3) For all Civil Litigation filed in the Magistrates or Chancery, once all parties are present the presiding judge shall offer free Med-Arb services to resolve the matter at hand outside of a full legal proceeding.

(a) If both parties agree to Med-Arb, the presiding judge shall appoint and summon a mediator from a court-managed list of available meditators.
(i) The Judge shall stay the case until further updates are given by the mediator regarding the outcome of the Med-Arb process.

(b) If one or more parties do not agree to Med-Arb services, the trial will proceed as normal.

(4) The Med-Arb process will been done privately behind closed doors, and the rules and standards by which the mediation and arbitration happen and occur will be decided on mutually by both parties and the mediator, and enforced by the mediator.

(a) The rules and standards by which the parties and mediator agree to the Med-Arb process will constitute a legally binding agreement.
(i) If an agreement cannot be reached between the parties and mediator, the Med-Arb process will discontinue and the case will return to the courts.

(b) The mediator will provide weekly updates to the court regarding Med-Arb process, specifically if the process is continuing and if the parties are actively engaging in the process.
(i) The mediator may not disclose any other details of the Med-Arb process without the consent of both parties involved except as previously mentioned.

(c) If the parties come to an agreement through mediation, the mediator will report to the court that the case has been mutually settled by the parties and that the case can be dismissed with prejudice.

(d) If the parties come to an agreement through arbitration, the mediator will report to the court that the case has been settled by binding arbitration and that the case can be dismissed with prejudice.

(e) The parties involved waive all rights to appeal by going through with Med-Arb, unless there was fraud or the agreement established in part 4(a) of this section allows appeals.

(5) The courts shall institute and collect a civil court filing fee of no more than £50 to help pay for and fund the Mediation and Arbitration services.
(i) The courts reserve the right to lower or waive the court filing fee in cases where the fee would be an undue financial burden upon the filer.

(6) The courts shall provide compensation to mediators who provide their services, both for failed and successful Med-Arb services as the courts see fit."

AMENDMENT 04
Should the associated Motion to Amend pass, the text in §2(4) of the Judicial Reform Act which reads:

"1. Chancery Appointments. The Prime Minister, with consent of the Parliament shall appoint three Chancellors, including a High Chancellor, to the Chancery. The Prime Minister, with the consent of Parliament, shall appoint one High Chancellor to the Chancery.
2. Magistrates Court Appointments. The High Chancellor shall appoint up to three no less than three Magistrates to the Magistrates Court."

shall be replaced with the following text:

"1. Chancery Appointments. The Prime Minister, with consent of the Parliament shall appoint three Chancellors, including a High Chancellor, to the Chancery. There shall be one High Chancellor serving on the Chancery. The Prime Minister shall submit a nominee for the office of High Chancellor to Parliament in the event of a vacancy. The Prime Minister's nominee shall be appointed if Parliament votes to confirm them by supermajority.
2. Magistrates Court Appointments. High Chancellor shall appoint up to three Magistrates to the Magistrates Court. There shall be no less than three Magistrates serving on the Magistrates Court. Parliament may by law set additional constraints on the number of Magistrates. The High Chancellor shall appoint Magistrates to the Magistrates Court."

AMENDMENT 05
Should the associated Motion to Amend pass, and should the Motion to Amend associated with Amendment 04 pass, the Judicial Reform Act shall be amended in the manner described below.

First, the text in §2(4) which reads:

"2. Magistrates Court Appointments. High Chancellor shall appoint up to three Magistrates to the Magistrates Court. There shall be no less than three Magistrates serving on the Magistrates Court. Parliament may by law set additional constraints on the number of Magistrates. The High Chancellor shall appoint Magistrates as necessary."

shall be replaced with the following text:

"2. Magistrates Court Appointments. High Chancellor shall appoint up to three Magistrates to the Magistrates Court. There shall be no less than two Magistrates serving on the Magistrates Court. Parliament may by law set additional constraints on the number of Magistrates. The High Chancellor shall appoint Magistrates as necessary."

Then, the text in §2(3) which reads:

"1. When hearing constitutional cases, the Magistrates Court shall convene a panel of three Magistrates.
2. All other cases within this Court shall be heard by a single Magistrate or by the High Chancellor."

shall be replaced with the following text:

"1. When hearing cases concerning the application of this Constitution, the Magistrates Court shall convene a panel of three Magistrates. A panel of two Magistrates may hear such cases if and only if no third Magistrate is available.
2. All other cases within this Court shall be heard by a single Magistrate or by the High Chancellor."

MOTION TO EXTEND READING AND DEBATE
Parliament considered a motion to extend reading and debate for this bill.

Author: Capt11543
Floor Speech:

Mr. Speaker, I move to extend reading and debate on the Judicial Reform Act by 48 hours.

It's clear that we haven't quite reached a consensus on how this should work. I'm also hoping to have some more discussions with the High Chancellor on this bill. Accordingly, I ask my honorable colleagues to give this bill a bit more debate time.

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