Interview: Skizzy Grey, Justice and Honoured Citizen
Skizzy Grey is a long-time jurist in Europeia, having served multiple times as a Justice of the High Court of Europeia, and has previously served as President, Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is a honoured citizen of Europeia, and currently serves in the court as primus inter pares (in lay language, deputy to the Chief Justice). He has graciously given us his time to answer a few questions regarding what the court and its justices do, as well as some general questions about the direction of the justice system
1. What positions have you held in the Europeian legal system?
I have lost count of how many terms I have served as Attorney General and as an Associate Justice -- at least four terms at each position.
2. Have you held any positions in the legal system outside of Europeia within NS? In real life?
I'm currently a justice in TNI (Editor's Note: The New Inquisition). In real life, I practice corporate law.
3. What made you interested in participating in law within Europeia?
Almost immediately after I arrived here, President PhDre asked me to serve as his Attorney General. I built a reputation for myself quickly in the legal system, both as Attorney General and as a Justice. Later, I stepped away from the legal scene to enter the political realm, but I have generally returned to the legal system when I have not been active politically. At this point, my political career in Europeia is likely over, so I see myself helping as I'm able in the legal system for the foreseeable future.
4. What responsibilities/tasks do you perform as Associate Justice other than presiding over trials and delivering advisory opinions?
Delivering opinions and participating in behind-the-scenes deliberations (and therefore helping my fellow Justices with their opinions) has been the principal part of the job recently. Chief Justice Lexus is working to restore the Court's role as a provider of legal education, and I look forward to assisting him with that.
5. Has there been any evolution in the Europeian justice system as you see it over the years that it has operated?
Yes, there has. One example would be the Judicature Act, which codified our region's judicial procedures -- prior to that, these things were done on an ad hoc basis, which mean that new citizens couldn't know what to expect in the Court (and even experienced hands could be surprised by the proclivities of a particular Justice). We still have debates about things like "specific stake," but at least there are written rules so we can talk about what the rules are, and what we think they ought to be.
Our legal system has also developed a more mature understanding of the line between RP and OOC matters. For example, one of the first cases I handled as a Justice involved a citizen (who has since left the region) accused of posting an indecent picture. This sort of matter is not appropriate for an RP court -- it should be handled by the forum's administrators. We've gotten better about drawing that line; for example, when the forum was struck by spammers in the summer of 2011, almost no one suggested that the region's RP courts should have a role in dealing with that. More recently, the administrators dealt with (a particular former citizen's) chronic misbehavior rather than referring the matter to the Court.
On a related note, the use of the Court to resolve interpersonal disputes between citizens has almost entirely disappeared. From time to time, there is consternation about the behavior of (various citizens) in the social forums, but this has been dealt with informally, without recourse to the Court. Again, I think this is a good thing.
Lastly, I think the Court has followed the region's lead in taking a harder line against forum crashers. If you compare the Rougiers case from 2010 to the more recent case against 94block, I think you'll see the difference -- 94block was dealt with much more harshly, even though Rougiers was probably the less sympathetic figure of the two, and even though the pertinent provisions of the law didn't change in the interim.
6. Do you believe this maturation of the legal system has led to the relatively lower number of criminal cases tried in recent years compared to 2010 and before?
I think it is a more mature citizenry. We don't tolerate the sort of people we once did ... (p)eople like that today tend to be shunned and leave on their own; the ones who can't take a hint are dealt with OOC by the administrators. That's as it should be.
7. From the perspective of criminal justice, do you believe that it is more important that sentences handed down by the court reflect judicial priorities rather than, say, that sentences are equitable between different cases? More generally, what principles of sentencing are most important in Europeia?
I don't think we have any "judicial priorities," but maybe I just don't know what you mean.
Because we have so few criminal cases, judgments tend to be based on the presiding Justice's interpretation of community standards, rather than analysis of precedents. As community standards shift, so too does sentencing practice. Again, forum crashing is a salient example -- as the community has adopted a zero-tolerance policy toward this behavior, we have seen judicial punishments evolve accordingly.
8. Having served in both the executive and judicial branches, do you believe that service in other branches of the government concurrently with a judicial post is a good idea? Explain.
I don't see a conflict between concurrent legislative and judicial service. Typically, the laws we are asked to interpret as Justices were written several terms ago -- most provisions in our current laws, for example, haven't been revisited by the Senate since the "law reforms" concluded in the Spring of 2012. There's no reason a sitting Senator can't interpret those laws.
Concurrent service in the executive and on the Court is a closer call. I have consistently chosen not to serve concurrently, except in one instance where there were a few days of overlap at the end of a term, and I felt resigning my ministerial post would have been inappropriate. That said, I don't think our laws should be changed to make the position I have taken mandatory for all. It would have been a great loss, for example, if we had forced Anumia to choose between the Court and the Navy during his recent, concurrent service as an Associate Justice and as Grand Admiral.
7. What advice would you have to give to newcomers to Europeia who wish to be involved in the legal system?
Read the laws. Read our cases. Ask questions. Participate in legal training matters when they are offered.
Also, get some experience writing laws, either in the Citizens Assembly or the Senate. Writing laws and interpreting them are two sides of the same coin, and as you can see with Drecq and malashaan, experienced legislators frequently ended up getting tapped for Associate Justice positions when they open up.
The EBC thanks Skizzy Grey for his time and insight into the justice system!
Skizzy Grey is a long-time jurist in Europeia, having served multiple times as a Justice of the High Court of Europeia, and has previously served as President, Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is a honoured citizen of Europeia, and currently serves in the court as primus inter pares (in lay language, deputy to the Chief Justice). He has graciously given us his time to answer a few questions regarding what the court and its justices do, as well as some general questions about the direction of the justice system
1. What positions have you held in the Europeian legal system?
I have lost count of how many terms I have served as Attorney General and as an Associate Justice -- at least four terms at each position.
2. Have you held any positions in the legal system outside of Europeia within NS? In real life?
I'm currently a justice in TNI (Editor's Note: The New Inquisition). In real life, I practice corporate law.
3. What made you interested in participating in law within Europeia?
Almost immediately after I arrived here, President PhDre asked me to serve as his Attorney General. I built a reputation for myself quickly in the legal system, both as Attorney General and as a Justice. Later, I stepped away from the legal scene to enter the political realm, but I have generally returned to the legal system when I have not been active politically. At this point, my political career in Europeia is likely over, so I see myself helping as I'm able in the legal system for the foreseeable future.
4. What responsibilities/tasks do you perform as Associate Justice other than presiding over trials and delivering advisory opinions?
Delivering opinions and participating in behind-the-scenes deliberations (and therefore helping my fellow Justices with their opinions) has been the principal part of the job recently. Chief Justice Lexus is working to restore the Court's role as a provider of legal education, and I look forward to assisting him with that.
5. Has there been any evolution in the Europeian justice system as you see it over the years that it has operated?
Yes, there has. One example would be the Judicature Act, which codified our region's judicial procedures -- prior to that, these things were done on an ad hoc basis, which mean that new citizens couldn't know what to expect in the Court (and even experienced hands could be surprised by the proclivities of a particular Justice). We still have debates about things like "specific stake," but at least there are written rules so we can talk about what the rules are, and what we think they ought to be.
Our legal system has also developed a more mature understanding of the line between RP and OOC matters. For example, one of the first cases I handled as a Justice involved a citizen (who has since left the region) accused of posting an indecent picture. This sort of matter is not appropriate for an RP court -- it should be handled by the forum's administrators. We've gotten better about drawing that line; for example, when the forum was struck by spammers in the summer of 2011, almost no one suggested that the region's RP courts should have a role in dealing with that. More recently, the administrators dealt with (a particular former citizen's) chronic misbehavior rather than referring the matter to the Court.
On a related note, the use of the Court to resolve interpersonal disputes between citizens has almost entirely disappeared. From time to time, there is consternation about the behavior of (various citizens) in the social forums, but this has been dealt with informally, without recourse to the Court. Again, I think this is a good thing.
Lastly, I think the Court has followed the region's lead in taking a harder line against forum crashers. If you compare the Rougiers case from 2010 to the more recent case against 94block, I think you'll see the difference -- 94block was dealt with much more harshly, even though Rougiers was probably the less sympathetic figure of the two, and even though the pertinent provisions of the law didn't change in the interim.
6. Do you believe this maturation of the legal system has led to the relatively lower number of criminal cases tried in recent years compared to 2010 and before?
I think it is a more mature citizenry. We don't tolerate the sort of people we once did ... (p)eople like that today tend to be shunned and leave on their own; the ones who can't take a hint are dealt with OOC by the administrators. That's as it should be.
7. From the perspective of criminal justice, do you believe that it is more important that sentences handed down by the court reflect judicial priorities rather than, say, that sentences are equitable between different cases? More generally, what principles of sentencing are most important in Europeia?
I don't think we have any "judicial priorities," but maybe I just don't know what you mean.
Because we have so few criminal cases, judgments tend to be based on the presiding Justice's interpretation of community standards, rather than analysis of precedents. As community standards shift, so too does sentencing practice. Again, forum crashing is a salient example -- as the community has adopted a zero-tolerance policy toward this behavior, we have seen judicial punishments evolve accordingly.
8. Having served in both the executive and judicial branches, do you believe that service in other branches of the government concurrently with a judicial post is a good idea? Explain.
I don't see a conflict between concurrent legislative and judicial service. Typically, the laws we are asked to interpret as Justices were written several terms ago -- most provisions in our current laws, for example, haven't been revisited by the Senate since the "law reforms" concluded in the Spring of 2012. There's no reason a sitting Senator can't interpret those laws.
Concurrent service in the executive and on the Court is a closer call. I have consistently chosen not to serve concurrently, except in one instance where there were a few days of overlap at the end of a term, and I felt resigning my ministerial post would have been inappropriate. That said, I don't think our laws should be changed to make the position I have taken mandatory for all. It would have been a great loss, for example, if we had forced Anumia to choose between the Court and the Navy during his recent, concurrent service as an Associate Justice and as Grand Admiral.
7. What advice would you have to give to newcomers to Europeia who wish to be involved in the legal system?
Read the laws. Read our cases. Ask questions. Participate in legal training matters when they are offered.
Also, get some experience writing laws, either in the Citizens Assembly or the Senate. Writing laws and interpreting them are two sides of the same coin, and as you can see with Drecq and malashaan, experienced legislators frequently ended up getting tapped for Associate Justice positions when they open up.
The EBC thanks Skizzy Grey for his time and insight into the justice system!
