Interview conducted by Moronist Decisions.
In our series of interviews of the judiciary, The Venerable Pope Lexus X is another honored citizen who has served in all branches of the government - having been President and Senate Speaker. He currently serves as Chief Justice of the High Court of Europeia, and has given his precious time to the Europeian Broadcasting Corporation to give insight into his judicial activities.
What positions have you held in the Europeian legal system?
In Europeia I have served in most available positions I think.. Chief Justice is the most recent, I have been an Associate Justice twice as well as Attorney General. I also acted as a prosecutor in various trials though never as defence counsel sadly! I had the unfortunate privilege of being the accused in one trial.. See: Europeia v. Pope Lexus X and the more amusing commentary thread: State v. Lex.
Have you held any positions in the legal system outside of Europeia within NS and elsewhere?
To be honest, I can't remember. At the start of 2013 I briefly acted as a Justice-Prosecutor in Gatesville for a show trial/inquisition. I have a feeling I was Chief Justice somewhere else for a time..
What made you interested in participating in law within Europeia?
I suppose it always featured in my mind but I was too focused on the Executive and the Legislature to really consider what I could do in the Judiciary. Besides, it is a place you need the President to appoint you to and I was the President during my most active times! I did once run for the Chief Justice position and lost when it was electable. At that stage, the legal system here did not have the wealth of decisions that it has now nor had it yet received the benefit of so many brilliant minds passing through it. Even at that simpler time, I might have understood how the courts actually worked then but I couldn't possibly fathom how they should work or could change. It was definitely better I lost that one... That was roughly four years ago and I've only had minor bouts of activity since. When I came back to activity in Europeia this year, four years older and hopefully wiser, I spent a great deal of time contemplating my road less traveled by and found that the judicial system that existed now to be an exceptionally brilliant creation. Not every statute is flawless, not every judgment is a poem and not every legal mind is as sharp as we might like (I'm no exception..); but what we have is something unique and I was very eager to jump in.
What responsibilities/tasks do you perform as a Justice other than presiding over trials and delivering advisory opinions?
Justices aren't obliged to do more than that though, as Skizzy Grey J noted in his interview, assisting other Justices in their advisory opinions has become an important role and is now enshrined in the Judicature Act's recent amendment. I feel that the Judiciary now, more so than in the region's early days, owe a duty to the region to foster legal debate and thought.
What additional roles do you play in Europeia in your capacity as Chief Justice?
My principle role is in the administration of the courts - which includes accepting/rejecting case applications, designating presiding Justices and various procedural bits. Another element is the running of the Bar Association, which has received a wave of new members in recent weeks. The most interesting part of the job is not what I must do but what I could do. I always felt the Judiciary was synonymous with the University; it can be a brilliant place for our members to learn skills (both RL and IC) but is often under-used. The main difference, I suppose, is the Judiciary must exist for the region to make sense.. The role of the CJ is broad and my belief is that I have a duty to provide citizens a way to learn about our law (particularly as can be very complex) and a way to learn new personal skills (in debating, analysis, etc).
Has there been any evolution in the Europeian justice system as you see it over the years that it has operated?
The evolution has been huge! Just look at the change in HEM's spelling! In the beginning, our courts were more informal and uncertain and our earliest justices engaged in swift solutions to major issues. The statistics are interesting; in our first year, 2007, we had the greatest number of criminal trials, mostly treason in fact, while also the least number of advisory opinions. From this we can see on one hand that Europeia went through massive teething issues and took some time to settle into itself but also that interest in Europeian legal issues gradually grew. The influx of incredibly competent members over the years who helped develop the legal system - particularly the total overhaul of our statute law - has been the most important factor in the region's evolution. We owe a great deal to Swak, Hy, Noto, Skizzy and even Anumia to speak of just a few.
Do you perceive there being any tensions regarding OOC (admin) enforcement of the TOS versus IC (court) action? If cases end up where both IC and OOC jurisdiction exists, do you believe that one or the other should take precedence, or should the case be handled simultaneously and separately?
There is an overlap in a few places between the Terms of Use and the Criminal Code. The Forum Administration Act went some way towards solving this by giving the Administrators the discretion to enforce the ToU but the Administrators can be subject to the courts by virtue of the offence of Abuse of Administrative Powers and section 6 of the Act. Generally, the admins will act quickly if there's a glaringly obvious breach of the ToU and there isn't a right of access to the courts unless it involves post-moderation for repeated breaches or if the admin is prosecuted under the Code for the mentioned offence. There has been a lot of comment over the years about what the court should and shouldn't deal with in the OOC sphere. Generally the commentary notes a preference for admin intervention over a trial for serious matters involving RL or ToU issues and I can see no fault in that.
What advice would you have to give to newcomers to Europeia who wish to be involved in the legal system?
New members should feel free to jump in to any aspect of the legal system, particularly when they have some basic legal knowledge but that's not at all essential. A good starting place, for all new members, is the Citizen's Assembly and the Senate to see how some law is made and to engage in debate but the Judiciary is trying to make the Courts more newcomer-friendly as a place of debate, discussion and learning so they should get involved in the various projects where they can! Ultimately for all things in Europeia: Don't be afraid to make your opinion known or get upset about the responses and don't be afraid to ask for advice.
In our series of interviews of the judiciary, The Venerable Pope Lexus X is another honored citizen who has served in all branches of the government - having been President and Senate Speaker. He currently serves as Chief Justice of the High Court of Europeia, and has given his precious time to the Europeian Broadcasting Corporation to give insight into his judicial activities.
What positions have you held in the Europeian legal system?
In Europeia I have served in most available positions I think.. Chief Justice is the most recent, I have been an Associate Justice twice as well as Attorney General. I also acted as a prosecutor in various trials though never as defence counsel sadly! I had the unfortunate privilege of being the accused in one trial.. See: Europeia v. Pope Lexus X and the more amusing commentary thread: State v. Lex.
Have you held any positions in the legal system outside of Europeia within NS and elsewhere?
To be honest, I can't remember. At the start of 2013 I briefly acted as a Justice-Prosecutor in Gatesville for a show trial/inquisition. I have a feeling I was Chief Justice somewhere else for a time..
What made you interested in participating in law within Europeia?
I suppose it always featured in my mind but I was too focused on the Executive and the Legislature to really consider what I could do in the Judiciary. Besides, it is a place you need the President to appoint you to and I was the President during my most active times! I did once run for the Chief Justice position and lost when it was electable. At that stage, the legal system here did not have the wealth of decisions that it has now nor had it yet received the benefit of so many brilliant minds passing through it. Even at that simpler time, I might have understood how the courts actually worked then but I couldn't possibly fathom how they should work or could change. It was definitely better I lost that one... That was roughly four years ago and I've only had minor bouts of activity since. When I came back to activity in Europeia this year, four years older and hopefully wiser, I spent a great deal of time contemplating my road less traveled by and found that the judicial system that existed now to be an exceptionally brilliant creation. Not every statute is flawless, not every judgment is a poem and not every legal mind is as sharp as we might like (I'm no exception..); but what we have is something unique and I was very eager to jump in.
What responsibilities/tasks do you perform as a Justice other than presiding over trials and delivering advisory opinions?
Justices aren't obliged to do more than that though, as Skizzy Grey J noted in his interview, assisting other Justices in their advisory opinions has become an important role and is now enshrined in the Judicature Act's recent amendment. I feel that the Judiciary now, more so than in the region's early days, owe a duty to the region to foster legal debate and thought.
What additional roles do you play in Europeia in your capacity as Chief Justice?
My principle role is in the administration of the courts - which includes accepting/rejecting case applications, designating presiding Justices and various procedural bits. Another element is the running of the Bar Association, which has received a wave of new members in recent weeks. The most interesting part of the job is not what I must do but what I could do. I always felt the Judiciary was synonymous with the University; it can be a brilliant place for our members to learn skills (both RL and IC) but is often under-used. The main difference, I suppose, is the Judiciary must exist for the region to make sense.. The role of the CJ is broad and my belief is that I have a duty to provide citizens a way to learn about our law (particularly as can be very complex) and a way to learn new personal skills (in debating, analysis, etc).
Has there been any evolution in the Europeian justice system as you see it over the years that it has operated?
The evolution has been huge! Just look at the change in HEM's spelling! In the beginning, our courts were more informal and uncertain and our earliest justices engaged in swift solutions to major issues. The statistics are interesting; in our first year, 2007, we had the greatest number of criminal trials, mostly treason in fact, while also the least number of advisory opinions. From this we can see on one hand that Europeia went through massive teething issues and took some time to settle into itself but also that interest in Europeian legal issues gradually grew. The influx of incredibly competent members over the years who helped develop the legal system - particularly the total overhaul of our statute law - has been the most important factor in the region's evolution. We owe a great deal to Swak, Hy, Noto, Skizzy and even Anumia to speak of just a few.
Do you perceive there being any tensions regarding OOC (admin) enforcement of the TOS versus IC (court) action? If cases end up where both IC and OOC jurisdiction exists, do you believe that one or the other should take precedence, or should the case be handled simultaneously and separately?
There is an overlap in a few places between the Terms of Use and the Criminal Code. The Forum Administration Act went some way towards solving this by giving the Administrators the discretion to enforce the ToU but the Administrators can be subject to the courts by virtue of the offence of Abuse of Administrative Powers and section 6 of the Act. Generally, the admins will act quickly if there's a glaringly obvious breach of the ToU and there isn't a right of access to the courts unless it involves post-moderation for repeated breaches or if the admin is prosecuted under the Code for the mentioned offence. There has been a lot of comment over the years about what the court should and shouldn't deal with in the OOC sphere. Generally the commentary notes a preference for admin intervention over a trial for serious matters involving RL or ToU issues and I can see no fault in that.
What advice would you have to give to newcomers to Europeia who wish to be involved in the legal system?
New members should feel free to jump in to any aspect of the legal system, particularly when they have some basic legal knowledge but that's not at all essential. A good starting place, for all new members, is the Citizen's Assembly and the Senate to see how some law is made and to engage in debate but the Judiciary is trying to make the Courts more newcomer-friendly as a place of debate, discussion and learning so they should get involved in the various projects where they can! Ultimately for all things in Europeia: Don't be afraid to make your opinion known or get upset about the responses and don't be afraid to ask for advice.