Bill: Draft BAR Petition Act

[EmeraldGuuy]

CONGRESS OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT​

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A BILL TO

CLARIFY BAR PETITIONS


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The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:​

PART I — PRELIMINARIES

1. Short Title and Enactment

(1) This Act may be cited as the ‘BAR Petition Act’

(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its assent.

(3) This Act has been authored by DPoS Grey Fontaine and BAR Chairperson Creeper Fontaine.

(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by Senator Grey Fontaine.

(5) This Act amends the following acts:

(a) Bar Association of Redmont Act


2. Reasons and Intent

(1) The current wording of the requirements for a referendum to remove a Councillor from the BAR Council is incredibly vague. This requires immediate fixing.

(2) In addition to changing the language of §5(1)(c) to create specific requirements for whose signatures count in a petition to create a referendum, the number of signatures required to get a councillor removed is increased, increasing the threshold for a referendum to be held that places a significant cost on the Redmont Government to facilitate.

(3) Because it never was stated before, it is now made clear that only those eligible to vote in BAR elections may vote in referendums to remove councillors.

(4) This Act also cleans up how BAR Councilors can be removed, automatically removing Councilors for not having the needed qualifications or simply being deported. There is also a transition period added to not enforce the automatic removal until Attorney exams open up again.

PART II — AMENDMENTS

3. Bar Association of Redmont Act

(1) Part IV, §3(4)(c) of the Bar Association of Redmont Act shall be amended as follows:

(c) Referendum Timeline. The Department of State shall open a referendum vote which shall last for 48 hours after the BAR Council has informed them of a petition meeting the requirements outlined in §5(1)(b).

(i) The BAR Council shall be required to inform the Department of State within 48 hours of receiving a petition meeting the requirements in §5(1)(b) of this act and the entirety of the Council having been notified of it.

(2) Part IV, §5 of the Bar Association of Redmont Act shall be amended as follows:

5. Removal of Councillors

(1) A Councillor can be removed by:

(a) A unanimous vote of the remaining Councillors, excepting any on leave of absence as defined in this act, where the Councillor has been found to have engaged in conduct warranting sanction under Part V of this Act; or

(b) If the councillor has failed to vote on motions for a period of 1 month without a formal leave of absence as defined in Part I §3(1)(f) of this act, a simple majority vote of the remaining councillors, excepting any on leave of absence; or

(c) A referendum voted on by at least the total number of voters in the last BAR Council election that was not a special election, which passed by a supermajority. The referendum shall be called for by a petition signed by at least 25% of the total voters in the prior Council election.

(2) A Councillor removed under subsection 1(b) or 1(c) may not stand for election to the Council for a period of one Council term following their removal.

(3) A Councillor removed under subsection (1)(b) shall not be subject to any restriction on standing for future Council elections by reason of their removal alone.

(1) There are a total of three ways, besides resignation, to remove a BAR Councilor. A Councilor can be removed by:

(a) Motion to Remove

(i) The BAR Council may motion to remove a Councilor at any time for any reason.

(ii) A Motion to Remove may only be made against a single individual at a time.

(iii) A Motion to Remove requires a unanimous vote of all the remaining Councilors, excluding any abstentions.

(iv) An individual removed through this method may not stand for an election to the Council for the remainder of the current term and the next term.

(v) If the individual has not voted on any motion for a period of 30 days or does not have the required playtime to vote in BAR Council elections, the motion to remove will only require a majority of the remaining councilors, excluding any abstentions.

(b) Petition & Referendum

(i) Any member of the BAR in good standing may propose a petition for a referendum to remove a BAR Councilor from their seat on the BAR Council.

(ii) The petition requires a number of signatures greater than 30% of the voters in the prior Council general election, and can only be signed by members of the BAR in good standing.

(iii) Upon the petition reaching the required signatures, the Department of State, open realization or notification of the petition, must put up the referendum within 48 hours.

(iv) The referendum will be open for 48 hours, and only BAR members can vote.

(v) The referendum should be phrased as a vote to keep the member in the BAR council, and will require a supermajority of all the BAR members voting to remove the individual. The two voting options should be “Retain” and “Remove”, with Retain always being the first option.

(vi) A petition may not seek to remove more than one Councilor at a time, and must clearly state the username of the BAR member, and what clause, under this Act, the individual broke.

(vii) Should an individual be removed via this method, they may not stand for the special election for their seat, but they may stand again for any other BAR Council election.

(c) Lack of Qualifications

(i) Should a BAR Councilor at any time be removed from the qualification of Attorney, or face a deportation of 30 days or longer, they shall be automatically removed from their position.

(ii) A vote will not be required for an automatic removal, and should be removed by the Chairperson or another role with the authority to remove them.

PART III - TRANSITION

4. Automatic Removal

(1) No individual who has been elected in the September 2026 BAR Council General Election shall be removed for lacking the required Attorney qualification until 72 hours after the Attorney exam opens again as announced by the Department of Education or the Department of Justice.

(a) Should an individual be on a leave of absence during this time as defined by Part I §3(f), they shall be granted 72 hours after their leave of absence ends to complete and pass the Attorney exam before automatic removal.