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Bill: Compulsory Jury Service Act
Details
Submitted by[?]: Royal Conservative Party
Status[?]: passed
Votes: This bill is a resolution. It requires more yes votes than no votes. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: May 2093
Description[?]:
| 1) All adults between the ages of 18 and 65, being of sound mind, can be summoned by the government to sit on a jury in a criminal or civil court case. The following individuals are excused from jury service and are not compelled to sit on a jury if summoned: a) Those under 18 b) Those over 65 c) Blind or deaf people d) Serving members of the armed forces e) Serving members of the emergency services f) Serving members of the medical profession g) Members of the legal profession h) Persons with mental disabilities i) Any person connected with the case in discussion j) Those who do not speak the national language of Lodamun k) Foreign nationals living in the nation l) Those with a terminal illness 2) In certain circumstances, people who would normally be eligble may apply to the Justice Department to have their service deferred to a later date. Circumstances can include (but are not limited to): a) If the person has exams occuring during jury service b) If the person has a holiday booked prior to jury service being announced c) If a person is required to attend a wedding during jury service d) Pregnant and expecting to give birth e) On maternity/paternity leave f) Exceptional professional commitment. g) Ill health h) Recent bereavement 3) Local government shall select those citizens to participate via random selection done on a computer. 4) In connection with s1(j), it is a criminal offence for any person not to announce any connection (however minor) with the persons involved with the case at hand. 5) It is a criminal offence for an elligble person to evade jury service once selected. |
Proposals
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 01:31:41, August 08, 2005 CET | From | Adam Smith Party | To | Debating the Compulsory Jury Service Act |
| Message | Can you also exempt foreign nationals living in the nation. While they may speak the language, there is no guarantee that they have iuntegrated into the culture sufficiently well to be able to fairly judge and evaluate what may well be culturally linked actions. Other reasons for deferral: Bereavement Job seeking Pregnant and expecting to give birth On maternity/paternity leave Exceptional professional commitment. (Filming for actor/actress, Playoffs for sportsman, Election for politician etc.) Ill health |
| Date | 01:41:23, August 08, 2005 CET | From | Royal Conservative Party | To | Debating the Compulsory Jury Service Act |
| Message | In relation to your first point, I agree. Perhaps the limit should be that an individual must have held citizenship in the nation for at least 5 years before they are elligble. I agree to all of the later points too. |
| Date | 08:39:47, August 08, 2005 CET | From | Lodamun Centre-Left Coalition | To | Debating the Compulsory Jury Service Act |
| Message | Opposed, on grounds that the PCL do not feel that jury service needs to be compulsory. |
| Date | 12:11:43, August 08, 2005 CET | From | Royal Conservative Party | To | Debating the Compulsory Jury Service Act |
| Message | Then how, might I ask, do you suggest that jury service be enforced? A great deal of people would refuse jury service if offered the choice: this would be disasterous for justice as it would prevent trully random juries. If you prevent trully random juries, then you prevent the only fair way in which justice may be dispensed. |
| Date | 16:47:19, August 08, 2005 CET | From | Adam Smith Party | To | Debating the Compulsory Jury Service Act |
| Message | Jury service should be an voluntary action that all members of the nation undertake of their own free will, however this is not what happens in practice anywhere. To ensure that a fair and unbiased jury can be formed, there is a need to have a wide range of possible jurors. To achieve that, jury service has to be compulsory. |
| Date | 16:59:49, August 08, 2005 CET | From | Cooperative Commonwealth Federation | To | Debating the Compulsory Jury Service Act |
| Message | firstly, we would like to welcome the Conservative and Unionist Party, and look forward to the day when they will have members present in the House to present these bills in person. If this is anything to go by, the CUP will present thoughtful bills and be an asset to parliament. (OOC: What are you Unionist with? I know it's the historic name of the British party, but does it have a context here? Anti-separatism maybe?) secondly, the Greens are able to support this bill. Voluntary self-selecting juries are not necessarily fair juries. A random sample of the population, as provided by comulsory jury service, is far more fair: the good common sense of the people will shine through. However, we feel that the biggest trouble with the justice system is its adversarial nature, and there needs to be more provision for mediation, arbitration, community sentencing circles and so on. Is the CUP interested in adding some of that to this bill? If so we can make some suggestions. If not, we will offer our own parallel bill and be pleased to support this one. |
| Date | 21:30:29, August 08, 2005 CET | From | Royal Conservative Party | To | Debating the Compulsory Jury Service Act |
| Message | I thank GA for the warm welcome given and for the support they have pledged. The 'Unionist' title is generally there in reference to the British party. However I feel the additions they discussed would be better off in a seperate Bill as I feel those issues are much more complex than the one I have proposed and as such would require seperate discussion. |
| Date | 23:58:56, August 08, 2005 CET | From | Cooperative Commonwealth Federation | To | Debating the Compulsory Jury Service Act |
| Message | ok, i'll put a separate bill together. |
| Date | 05:52:36, August 10, 2005 CET | From | CNT/AFL | To | Debating the Compulsory Jury Service Act |
| Message | Whaaaa?! It must have been years (Maybe even leading back to the post-PACF reconciliation days) since a bill has received unanimous support. We congratulate the CUP on uniting all parties to some extent. |
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Voting
| Vote | Seats | ||||||||
| yes |
Total Seats: 450 | ||||||||
| no | Total Seats: 0 | ||||||||
| abstain | Total Seats: 0 |
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