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We’ve all seen the comments lately asking if the Supreme Court was needed, or if it was, how can it be improved. After seeing the most recent ruling by the Supreme Court in regards to TemujinBC, comments about how our court system needs to be in line, and specific laws made up that everyone can see and follow. It got me thinking about the Supreme Court and what it is all about and what could be improved.

Firstly, let me say that I think the Supreme Court is needed. Why you may ask. Well, I think it’s needed due to the fact that issues do arise that need to be discussed, and punishments need to be handed out. Looking at past event’s, it shows there is a need for a justice system. Having said that, our current justice system, just like everything, needs improvement.

What is the Supreme Court:



(Not exactly as shown. Our eJustices look cooler of course.)

Now what is the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is the highest level of law enforcement in eCanada. In our case, it is the only court system in eCanada. Our court system was, at one time, congress itself. But since the introduction of the Supreme Court over 1 year ago (the supreme court was created January 2009, by the Zanalan administration) congress does not reside over legal matters that pertain to citizens and breaking the law.

The current roles of the Supreme Court are:

Chief Justice of eCanada - Is the head judge of the Supreme Court. Acts as the moderator in the court, and decides if the case will go to trial. Also calls upon witnesses etc.

Justice - In our case there is a panel of Judges. I’d change the current number of justice’s to 8 judges total with 4 for each hearing. This gives you judges to pick from for each hearing in case their is a conflict of interest in instances one of the judges is friends or any relation to someone going to trial. This would also make it easier to find a replacement instead of the chief justice finding another suitable citizen to fill in. He/ she could pick from a list of suitable justices that have already been approved.

Note: The current roles, and definitions of the judicial system we currently have are located on our constitution. Section 3, Part 1.

Now one problem is the Supreme Court does not have jurisdiction over eRepublik, and cannot force citizens to pay, because we have no jails to send them to, nor do we have any way to force them to pay. So if they don’t want to pay, there is nothing that can be done. But the Supreme Court does have jurisdiction over the eCan forums, and can pass down punishments like not running for Country President, or other government position as long as other parties go along with it’s decision.


Here is what would help to fix the Supreme Court of eCanada.

All parties (or at least the top parties that can put forth congress members, or Country President‘s) need to be cooperative with the Supreme Court, and their decisions. For example: If Citizen X was found guilty of a crime, and was sentenced to not run for any government positions. The Supreme Court cannot do anything to stop Citizen X from running in his/ her party. Even though they would be banned from congress on the eCan forums, they would still be able to vote on issues in-game. So the parties need to cooperate and stop Citizen X from running in the first place.

The Court cannot enforce their decision’s on eRep, but with cooperation, it can extend it’s authority in-game to a certain degree.

There needs to be a clear-cut list of crimes that can be committed, and details about punishments that could be expected when those rules are broken.

For example:



Section 1. - eRepublik laws

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Article 1. Laws of eRepublik

Refer to the following site to view current laws within eRepublik.

Site - http://wiki.erepublik.com/index.php/Rules

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Article 2. Penalties for breaking the above rules.

Penalties for the above are determined by the eRepublik administration. If banned in-game, your account on the eCanada forums can remain active unless you create a new citizen account on eRepublik. If this is the case, your previous citizen account on the eCanada forums shall also be suspended or name changed to represent your new citizen account in-game.

If your citizen account is suspended on eRepublik, your account on the eCanada forums/ IRC shall remain active during your suspension.

Section 2. Rules within eCanada.

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Article 3. Rules with eCanada.

Taken from the Criminal Code of eCanada section 1. (Criminal Offences in eCanada.)

1.Any Canadian Citizen can be charged with the following offences:
a) Treason or any other acts directly endangering the country, or exposing it to foreign powers, espionage.
b) Terrorism
c) Blackmail.
…. More located on the actual Code of Conduct.
[link=http://ecanada.ws/forums/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=2132]Code of Conduct[/link]

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Article 4. Penalties for the above offences.

1. Citizen’s who break the above offences (1.a, through 3.d)
a) If found guilty of Treason or acts endangering the country. Citizen shall be banned from eCanada forums or sections of the eCanada forums which contain sensitive information. If citizen was in a position of government, they shall be immediately removed from said position, and unable to run for government positions in the future.
If citizen was a member of the general public, they will be given the chance to announce who gave them the sensitive information for a lesser punishment (to be determined by judges.) If they refuse to give up name. They will be sentenced to banning from eCanada forums, and unable to run for government position for life.
b) If found guilty of Terrorism. Citizen shall be banned from eCanada forums, and be unable to run in eCanada government positions for life.

Etc.

Section 3. Rules on the eCanadian Forums.

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Article 5. Rules for the eCanadian Forums.

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Would continue on in the manner above. It would look cleaner, and be a reference/ guide for judges to check in order to help them determine suitable punishments. Judges may also add to the punishment for more severe cases.

When there is a single point of reference, judges can refer to it to determine suitable punishments. Citizen’s can also refer to it, so there will be no surprises when their verdict is reached. There would also be no disagreement’s between the two.

Another aspect that could be changed is appeal’s. When a citizen decides to appeal, the same judge’s preside over the case that presided over the first. This makes no sense as the judges could still hold the same feelings no matter what proof is shown. This is where another group of judges would come in handy. If an appeal is brought up, another team of judges can be brought in, and if there is a shortage of judges due to conflict of interest’s etc. The judge may determine a temporary judge to fill in based on vote, and temp judge is in no way related to the citizen in court or any judges presiding over the case.

One of the main issues is that punishment’s don’t really fit the crime. If 1000 CAD is stolen, 1000 CAD should be returned. No more, no less. We do not need interest charges etc. Whatever is taken, the same thing should be returned.

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Short version

Supreme Court needs improvements just like everything else. But I think it is needed as a means to hand out punishments for crimes commited. It most likely would not be able to, nor should it cross over to the game as that is the admin's job. But it could cover the eCanada forums, and IRC as well as other sites that are controlled by the government of eCanada.

Thank you for reading,
- Emilio Sanchez