It is no secret that our justice system needs a lot of work to be done. The Ministry of Law and Justice is in charge of administering justice to victims, to plaintiffs, to all those who reside under the flag of our Republic. The most important pillar of social order is justice. As a municipal judge of Pahrump, I work to administer justice to the victims. I see the Ministry of Justice lacks leadership and a vision for it.
Here I propose various projects that will ensure justice for our citizens and the Republic.
Section 1: Jurisdiction of Courts
I propose that our Court system have general jurisdiction meaning we can hear all types of cases. The term general jurisdiction means having the power to hear any particular case for the first time. Our Republic isn’t huge and frankly our court system is pretty new. Which is why I think we need courts to have general jurisdiction. For example: Small claims, lawsuits, malpractice, etc.
I believe we need a separate court to hear appeals as well. Without a doubt, justice isn’t always clear. People would want to appeal to a court on the other court's decision. There would be 2 types of court then. A Superior Court of general jurisdiction and a Court of Appeals. Ideally, we would have a supreme court too. We need a high court to take on any cases that need to be reviewed or if there is a Writ of Certiorari.
It is recommended that the Prosecution file the Indictment Form which will be listed in order to formally charge the individual with a crime or wrongdoing. It is strongly recommended the Indictment Form is filled out. Both parties will receive this form. This is used both for civil and criminal litigations. Any individual can fill out this form to sue anyone not just attorneys although it is recommend they fill it out.
Copy of Indictment Form PDOJ
Part of having a fair judicial system is having a tight and very organized form of practicing justice. I propose adopting an official document of Rules of Court Procedures to lay out the form of having a trial. I’ve been to 1 court trial and I saw how there was no official order or way of knowing what is said. I propose the following:
Trial How Conducted
Plea hearing
Defendant plead the following:
Guilty
Not Guilty
No Contest; Subject takes the punishment but does not accept or deny responsibility
Discovery Phase
Plaintiff or Prosecutor present evidence, witnesses, documents, etc to be added into the case. The defense can add witnesses or evidence but they can just use the plaintiffs evidence or witness
During this phase, the defendant will either wave his right to a trial by jury or not. Either jury trial or bench trial is permitted.
If a jury trial is requested, the Court will call upon the citizens of RoP to be jurors and be questioned about their knowledge of the case and relationship to the defendant. The lawyers of both parties will conduct the voir dire along with the Judge to screen the jurors. Afterwards both will select 1 or 2 jurors.
IV. Pretrial Motions
If any party finds certain evidence, witnesses, or any item related to the case questionable, they would motion to dismiss said piece of evidence.
If both parties agree on an out of court settlement, they are to inform the Court.
V. Trial
Upon the commence of the trial, the Judge or magistrate will ask the Plaintiff or Prosecutor to begin with a short opening statement. Once completed the defendant's attorney will begin his opening statement.
Afterwards the Prosecutor will present evidence on the case. He will have 25 minutes to present his case and then the prosecutor will go next.
Then direct examination will begin, which is when witnesses will be called up to testify. And then cross examination which is when the opponent's witness is questioned. Then Re-direct examination and finally re-cross examination.
FInally, closing statements will be said which can be waived but not recommended.
Trials will either be in game, vc or chat.
Under threat of disbarment, any judge that knows there is a conflict of interest or any good reason to not judge over the matter must recuse himself from the case. No judge may show prejudice or be biased towards anyone. Any form of corruption will be punished by disbarment and a 30k fee. Any case of corruption would require the Indictment Form be filled out and filed with a Judge. Which then would be reviewed.
These are just my ideas and vision for the future of Courts in Pahrump. I would love to see justice administered properly with a proper criminal code to enforce. Meanwhile we are just going off common law verdicts and practices. Constitutionally we as judges cannot sentence anyone more than 25 minutes per §4 of the Constitution of the Republic. I’ve seen some people incarcerated for a week. What bothers me is that there is no form of appealing this at the moment. I believe the Ministry of Law and Justice has great potential and needs a lot of work done to it.
The Future of Pahrump's Department of Justice.mp3