A R T I C L E VIII

The Reformed United Sovereign Nations Code of

J U S T I C E

Preamble

With the power invested in the government by the free peoples of the United Sovereign Nations, I hereby create new legislation in order to ensure the speedy and just trial of those alleged to have committed a crime in the jurisdiction within this great alliance.

All alleged criminals have access to a fair and speedy trial, will be allotted one lawyer to defend him/herself, and are innocent until proven guilty.

ARTICLE I. OFFICES

Section I. Offices Defined

1. Minister of the Interior: The Minister of the Interior is the head of the Department of Justice within the Ministry of the Interior. He chooses his lawyers and District Attorney. The Minister of the Interior will be the prosecutor during trials. He can use lawyers or the District Attorney to find evidence and replace him when unavailable.

2. District Attorney: The DA is the chief defendant of the alliance government when crimes are brought upon them. When a crime is brought, the DA should try to help the government legally and resign his/her personal bonds with the MOI for the trial. The DA also is the right hand assistant of the MOI. The DA must carefully read this document and be approved by the MOI. If this DA is not doing his/her job, he/she can be removed by the MOI.

3. Lawyers: Lawyers are the staff to assist the Department of Justice in handling trials. They can also be hired for pay or no pay to defend an alleged criminal by telling him the laws and helping to find supportive evidence. They also can replace the MOI when he/she is missing and has chosen that lawyer to temporarily replace him/her. Lawyers are required to carefully read this document and must be approved by the MOI. If a lawyer is not doing his/her job, he/she can be removed by the MOI.

4. Jurors: Jurors are randomly selected through a stratified random sample chosen from active members of the General Assembly. The Minister of the Interior chooses this list, and them randomizes. A jury is comprised of 5 nations for high crimes and 3 nations for low crimes. When judging a group of high criminals of three or more, the Minster of Justice may allot a jury of 7 people for this specific case.

5. USN Police Department: The police can be used by the Department of Justice to help collect data when needed. The police department also can be the executors under the Security General when Infrastructure must be destroyed.

ARTICLE II. LOW CRIMES

Section I. Misdemeanors

1. Misdemeanors are the act of misrepresenting the USN as a foul and uncouth alliance. Freedom of speech is permitted in the alliance, but if deplorable behavior is present in such political or social discussion, the punishment of a locked thread, and/or a fine of no less than 10,000 CN dollars and no more than 6,000,000 CN dollars may be levied.

2. If the behavior goes as far as to tarnish the name or was intended to tarnish the name of the USN, then a jury will decide to either: Zero infrastructure, reduce infrastructure by half or some percentage, hold fines up to 15 million CN dollars, expel, temporarily expel, or temporarily prevent the criminal from getting a government position.

Section II. Aid Fraud

1. Aid Fraud is defined as joining the USN for the sole purpose of getting aid and then leaving as soon as you get the aid. A jury will determine the punishment, based on the amount of aid and other factors.

Section III. Donation and Deal Defaulting (Civil Cases)

1. Donation Defaulting is when a nation offers to pay another nation (aid) for receiving a CN official Donation with real life currency and doesn’t follow through with the contract, then the nation will be declared a rogue and set to zero infrastructure if he/she continues to refuse to pay. If the criminal is willing to pay, he will be required to pay four times the amount originally said to give in the contract.

2. Deal Defaulting is when a nation offers to make a deal of some sort and one party doesn’t follow through with the contract. If the criminal is willing to pay, there will be no charges; otherwise, the punishment is double the amount of original payment. If offender does not accept this, then he will be reduced to 75% of his current infrastructure.

ARTICLE III. HIGH CRIMES

Section I. Conspiracy/Treason and Sedition (respectively)

1. Conspiracy/Treason is the act of plotting against the Laws of CN, the Laws of the USN, USN Members (Treason), or outside entities (Treason)(alliances/groups to normally bring war) without the knowledge of the current government. Treason can also be defined as aiding a nation that the USN is at war with. If the current USN government is plotting something against the Laws of CN without the consent of the people, the people have the right to declare a crime against the government as sovereign and law-abiding nations.

a. Depending on the severity of the case, members may be expelled for a set amount of time (including forever), temporarily prevented from receiving a government position, required to pay a decided fine, or destroyed to the level of Zero Infrastructure or any percentage. A jury will define these levels of punishment.

2. Sedition is the act of inciting rebellion or criminal charges against the government without good reason. Inciting rebellion or the attempt to overthrow the government will be judged by a jury; however, the legitimacy of the accuser’s criminal charges against the government will only be assessed by the Minister of the Interior. If the criminal charges are false, a jury will then be in charge of the accuser’s fate. If these criminal charges against the government are true, then a trial may commence.

Section II. Espionage

1. First-degree espionage: Stealing or plotting to steal classified government information.

2. Second-degree espionage: Successfully stealing classified government information and giving it to other alliances or enemies of the USN.

3. In order to prevent confusion, all classified material must be placed in a special sub-forum entitled, “Classified Government Zone.”

4. A jury will decide the severity of each case and decide whether the criminal will be: set to Zero Infrastructure, Half Infrastructure, expelled for a set amount of time, fined, or temporarily prevented from gaining government office for a set amount of time.

Section III. Unauthorized War

1. Members responsible for declarations of opportunistic or otherwise aggressive wars without the consent of the Security General shall, for the purposes of retaliation against said member, automatically have their membership nullified by this Charter. Aid to such nullified members shall not be granted, and a return to full membership shall not be permitted until the expiration of all wars associated with the nullified member's initial act. Any actions taken by the defenders of such a war shall be permitted, including the enlisting of allies. Members aiding the nullified member may face trial, an order to pay reparations, and potentially expulsion if under conditions deemed necessary by the government

Section IV. Bribery

1. Bribery is the act of taking aid (Money, Technology or Soldiers) and in return either performing a certain act that possibly could harm the alliance. A jury will decide the fate of the criminal based on the severity of the case.

2. Bribery is also the act of giving aid for a favor that will not benefit the alliance, but rather potentially harm the alliance. A jury will decide the fate of the criminal based on the severity of the case.

Section V. Sabotage

1. Sabotage is the act of destroying, changing, rigging, or cheating (or the attempt to) government property or processes without the consent of the majority of the government, or ¾ of the General Assembly. A Minister or his/her ministry is allowed to change their ministry without these consents. Administrators also have the power to do things defined as administrators of the forum. A jury will decide the punishment.

ARTICLE IV. PROCEDURE

Section I. Detailed Procedural Steps for High Criminal Trials

1. The Minister of the Interior first should approve any case against the government. If the case is vetoed, the plaintiff can seek for approval by a majority of the Alliance Council and the High Council, or a majority of the general assembly. The General Assembly can cast its votes through a poll in this case with the time limit of three days.

2. Each High Council and Alliance Council member is allowed to call a case.

3. Each side is required to have at least 1 day to prepare evidence and a maximum of 3 days. If the jury is not ready by then, new available candidates will be chosen. Each side must ask the Minister of the Interior for the desired amount of time.

4. A high crimes jury (5 members) will then hear each case over two days. The first day will be for the prosecution; the second day will be for the defense. The beginning of each side’s case will begin with an opening statement.

5. Once each side is finished presenting evidence, or the time limit of three days of presenting evidence has been reached, they will give their one closing statement each.

6. The next one-day will be allotted for the jury to discuss and debate the innocence or guilt. If guilt is decided, a punishment will be chosen from the allowed punishments in this document. If setting the criminals infrastructure to zero is the desired punishment, a unanimous agreement must be met. All other punishments need only a majority to agree upon them. When destroying part of or all of a nation, the Security General will then take over with the power invested in him by the Minister of the Interior.

7. Each case will actively be visible to the General Assembly, except when the jury is deliberating. There will be a new topic started where only masked jurors can discuss and see. Once the jury has reached a verdict, they will post that verdict in the public court case topic.

Section II. Procedure for Low Criminal Trials

1. Any member will present his/her case to the Minister of the Interior to see if it has merit. If the Minister of the Interior feels it is not a crime, then the member can seek redress from the Senate by a majority vote. If this succeeds, the trial will proceed.

2. The jury for these trials will be comprised of 3 jurors.

3. The defense is given at most one day to prepare their defense. The evidence, opening statements, and closing statements, will engage over two days or less.

4. The jury is granted at most one day to deliberate. If destroying a certain amount of infrastructure is decided, a unanimous agreement must be met. The Security General will carry out all detrimental punishments.

5. Each case will actively be visible to the General Assembly, except when the jury is deliberating. There will be a new topic started where only masked jurors can discuss and see. Once the jury has reached a verdict, they will post that verdict in the public court case topic.

6. For anything undefined, refer to Article IV. Section I.

Section III. Trial Illegalities

1. If the length of a trial is longer than said in this document, then the defendant may address his/her grievances and request to do the trial over again in a maximum of 4 days.

2. If a member feels that the Minister of the Interior is not following trial rules, this case can be brought to the Alliance Council to have the District Attorney take the prosecution. If the District Attorney is already defending, the Alliance Council will choose a lawyer or an AC member to take the prosecution.

Section IV. Pardons

1. A nation may be pardoned of its crime and misdemeanors if the Alliance Council and High Council both unanimously agree to pardon that nation.

Section V. Amending

1. Any member of the United Sovereign Nations can propose a change in this document through legal amendments. This is defined as changing any part of it, adding anything to it, rewriting it, or destroying it. This requires at least a two-thirds majority vote in the Alliance Council, and a majority vote by the Senate.

Section VI. Judicial Review

1. The Minister of the Interior has the opportunity to select a piece of legislation and have it returned to the Senate to be redone or changed in some manner and then passed onto the Alliance Council for it to be voted upon. If the Senate feels (length of vote varies on importance) the proposal lacks any substance for the good of the alliance, then the legislation will stay the same before anything happens. This can be done to each piece of legislation only monthly. If the Senate and/or the Alliance council does not approve, then he can seek a ¾-majority vote from the active General Assembly (for example, for the case of suspension of habeas corpus or freedom of speech).

Section VII. Impeaching Senators and Convicting Government Officers

1. The Minister of the Interior is held responsible for the impeachment of a Senator. If a Senator is partaking in illegal activities, the MoI will notify him that he/she will be impeached. The impeachment process only requires the MoI to announce the Senator’s impeachment in the Courthouse and the Senator’s crimes. This is an accusation.

2. Any Government officer after being impeached can then be convicted of crimes. A trial will not commence until the impeachment has occurred. The trial follows the same process as Article IV. Section I. If the government officer is convicted, then the jury will decide in its punishment if the office will be stripped from the member and the length of its duration.

Section VIII. Collecting Evidence

1. Lawyers, the DA, the USNPD, and the MOI can all attain warrants by getting the approval of at least two AC members to search the entire forum or parts of the forum regarding a criminal case. If some things need to remain secret, then all the topics related to crime will be moved to a new sub-board titled, “Criminal Archives.” This board will only be visible to members of the Department of Justice, and the USNPD.

Section IX. Double Jeopardy and Mistrials

1. No member will be tried for the same particular offense twice if the trial was conducted properly or if the Judicial Code was followed.

2. If the defendant feels that he was misjudged and/or the defendant has found new evidence to support his case, then he may file a mistrial to the Minister of the Interior for a new trial to be created.

Section X. Holding an Individual in Contempt

1. If an individual is disrupting the process of a trial, at any stage, then the Minister of the Interior may hold someone in contempt. The District Attorney also has this ability.

2. The punishment of being held in contempt is to no longer be able to see the trial’s posts. That member can still see the normal posts regarding the trial, however.

3. If a juror is held in contempt, a new juror will be randomly selected. If a lawyer is held in contempt, then the using party can choose a new lawyer. If the DA is held in contempt, then the using party can choose a lawyer to replace the DA.

Section XI. Holding a trial against the Minister of the Interior

1. In this scenario, his staff could prosecute him. If a plaintiff doesn't trust a lawyer or DA, then the plaintiff (be him/her part of the government or not) can take up the prosecution.

2. The trial follows the same process as other trials – including asking the Minister of the Interior for permission.