Today, I interviewed our newest Chief Justice of the High Court, Writinglegend, only appointed yesterday. During the course of our discussion, we talk about his experience on the Court so far, his plans for the upcoming term, and his advice for those who wish to follow in his footsteps.
Interview said:Calvin Coolidge: Having the position of Chief Justice so soon after being appointed to the Court must be an interesting experience. How do you feel about the whole thing?
Writinglegend: It was definitely an interesting twist upon being nominated to the Court, I surely didn't expect to be Chief Justice in a couple weeks time. I knew that Drecq's term was going to end on the Court a couple weeks after I got on, thus creating a vacancy of the Chief Justice position, but I didn't think this would act as a catalyst for me to get the Chief Justice position. Overall, though, looking at the situation pragmatically this is an excellent Court to have a "newer" legal mind as the Chief Justice. You have Drecq and Malashaan, two of the arguably greatest legal minds in this region, and Jusduckria, someone who brings -years- of knowledge and experience to the table. At first I was shocked, but now that it is all over I'm only excited to get to work.
Calvin Coolidge: I assume part of the "newer" legal mind decision was made to make the Court more active. What do you feel is the mark of an “active Court”? It seems people always are clamoring for that, but there are frequently wildly different definitions.
Writinglegend: The problem with the Court is much like the problem the Ministry of Foreign Affairs faces in shaping foreign policy; you can do a whole lot but activity is dependent both on "external issues" and "visibility". The Court is active, it definitely is active, the problem that it is facing is what it is doing isn't very visible. External issues for the Court can be summed up by Advisory Opinions, Criminal Cases, etc. and this consists of the main scope of what the High Court does publicly. Due to the fact that stuff outside of the normality isn't very "visible" (legal training specifically), people tend to take an approach that, if we struggle to find a replacement for the Bench, the Court isn't active enough with judicial training. We also must acknowledge that a more "inactive" Court can also be better, and I don't mean inactive in the sense that everyone on the Bench dissapears but inactive in that there's a lack of Criminal Cases, Advisory Opinions, and other legal controversies within the region. I full well expect that most of what is done won't be very visible outside of AO's and the like, but what can be done for an active Court, what I'm shooting for, is to push the Judiciary Branch in a better position overall even if the work done isn't very visible. This means slowly crafting those interested legal minds, updating JTC material and adding onto it, and crafting further opportunities for citizens via mock trials while consistently pushing out AO's in a timely manner. Some of these are, of course, public facing, but other sections are more "private". More can certainly be done to make the Court more "public facing" but there is still a core of work, much like FA, that will be "private".
Calvin Coolidge: You bring up an interesting point about the Court, and the often hidden nature of its work. What's something you've learned on the Court, that Europeians who have never been on the Court might not know?
Writinglegend: It is far more difficult to reach a consensus of four people who have different ways to legal interpretation than one may think. On the outside, you see an AO signed off by all (or most) of the Justices at the time, but what isn't seen is the sheer debate that takes place and the difficulty of reaching some sort of consensus while crafting an AO. Remember, this is a Court of four very active, very competent people that have different takes to legal interpretation and, thus, may have differing viewpoints. When you mesh that together with a legal question you get some very interesting viewpoints, and at times can meet at a middle ground, however, other times you may just be totally divided on the issue. Overall, coming in I thought, "Oh, we get an AO, people will discuss it, but overall the Court as a whole will reach a middle ground," when, at times, that is simply not the case.
Calvin Coolidge: Definitely, I can see how our Court would like to debate. And perhaps that should be preferred. Back at the start of the interview we talked about how you had a very quick rise to become Chief Justice, but we also talked about how the Court often has trouble finding the right candidates to fill the bench. Being on both sides of the process (finding candidates as President, and now being a fellow Justice on the Court) what sort of potential Justice should the region be looking for? Further in your Senate confirmation, you talked about hyanygo's legal training being a large factor in preparing you for the Justice role. What sort of individual should the Court be looking to train, if the ideal candidate is not currently available?
Writinglegend: As for someone the Court should be looking to train, it should ideally be anyone that is is active and interested in learning in legal interpretation and gaining the skills necessary to be successful as a Justice. That's all it takes and that's all we need - when I started hyanygo's legal training I was totally ignorant of detailed law knowledge and other skills a Justice needs, but I was active (logged in daily) and was very interested in the aspect of law. And, quite simply, that's all it takes for someone to be able to train you as an individual. In addition, a big helper to kickstarting your way to the Bench is being in the Senate for a term or more, as it really progresses your skills towards interpreting and understanding Europeian law (how odd considering we have a Senate election soon....*whistles*). While it is not a pre-requisite, it definitely does help. As an aside, if you're interested in legal training do feel free to contact me, and/or join the Department of Justice as a Law Clerk. Now onto what the President should look for in a potential Justice, I've always found we place such high standards on the position that some feel it -must- be someone who has tons of experience with law in Europeia, however, those standards can be lowered. I like to think that any individual that is active (logs on daily), competent, understands and is familiar with Europeian law, and is trained by either a Justice/another legal mind or has read JTC materials and textbooks and understands them fully is enough for someone to begin as a Justice within the region. After all, that was the level of experience I had when nominated as Justice.
Calvin Coolidge: Potential Justices, take note. Thank you for taking the time to do this interview, Mr. Chief Justice. Best of luck in your new position, we're rooting for you.
Writinglegend: Thank you, Calvin, for interviewing me. I look forward to the future as Chief Justice of the region.
