Bill: Rejected Court Fees Act

[HKE101]

A
BILL
To

Institute Court Fees to improve the activity of lawyers and the Judiciary​

The people of Democracy Craft, 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:

1 - Short Title and Enactment
(1) This Act may be cited as the “Court Fees Act”.
(2) This Act shall be enacted two (2) weeks after receiving passage.
(3) The Act has been authored by: Senator Milqy
(4) This Act is Co-Sponsored by. Senator Milqy

2 - Reasons
(1) The activity of Redmont’s lawyers has suffered, especially in-game. Many lawyers like to play a game called Discordcraft, not Democracycraft. Lawyers are out of touch with the community in-game.
(2) Due to a lack of in-game court proceedings, the legal field of Redmont is not widely accessible to the community. The court subforum is very complicated and can last several weeks. In-game trials allow for public exposure to Redmont’s very developed legal field, especially to prospective lawyers.
(3) To prevent an excess of frivolous or court spamming.

3 - Supreme Court
(1)The Supreme Court may fix the fees to be charged by its clerk.
(2)The fees of the clerk, cost of serving process, and other necessary disbursements incidental to any case before the court, may be taxed against the litigants as the court directs.

4 - Federal Court
(1) The Federal Court may fix the fees to be charged by its clerk with the given consent of the Supreme Court.

5 - District Court
(1) The District Court may fix the fees to be charged by its clerk with the given consent of the Supreme Court

6 - Court Fee Limits
(1) No court fee shall be below $150 and exceed $1,000

7 - Proceedings in forma pauperis
(1)
(a) Unless subject to subsection (b), any Court in the Commonwealth of Redmont may authorize the commencement, prosecution or defense of any suit, action or proceeding, civil or criminal, or appeal therein, without prepayment of fees or security therefor, by a person who submits an affidavit that includes a statement of all assets of the person filing for forma pauperis.
(b) An appeal may not be taken in forma pauperis if the trial court certifies in writing that it is not taken in good faith.
(2)
(a) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of section (1), if a person brings a civil action or files an appeal in forma pauperis, the person shall be required to pay the full amount of a filing fee. The court shall assess and, when funds exist, collect, as a partial payment of any court fees required by law an initial partial filing fee of 20 percent of the person’s balance.
(b) After payment of the initial partial filing fee, the person shall be required to make monthly payments of 20 percent of the preceding month’s income credited to the person’s account.
(c) In no event shall the filing fee collected exceed the amount of fees permitted by statute for the commencement of a civil action or an appeal of a civil action or criminal judgment.
(d) In no event shall a person be prohibited from bringing a civil action or appealing a civil or criminal judgment for the reason that the person has no assets and no means by which to pay the initial partial filing fee.
(3) In order for forma pauperis to be applied to a person, they must file prior to any response, whether initial filing, answer to complaint, etc.
(4) Normal court procedure will be granted to those who have forma pauperis status.

8 - Court Fee Exemption
(1) All cases filed on application for a writ of habeas corpus shall have a filing fee of $5
(2) In cases that are held in-game, all court fees shall be reimbursed to their respective party.

9 - Witness Compensation
(1) A witness shall be paid an attendance fee of $10 per day for each day’s attendance.
(a) A witness shall not be paid over $80 for their time as a witness.
(b) If a witness is found guilty of perjury or is dismissed from a case due to irrelevance shall not receive financial compensation.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (b) paragraph (2), in the event of a witness at an in-game trial witnesses shall be compensated with $80 for their time
(2) Witness Compensation shall come out of the budget for the Judiciary of Redmont

10 - Lack of Jurisdiction
(1) Whenever any action or suit is dismissed for want of jurisdiction, such a court may order the payment of just costs.

11 - Allocation of Court Fees
(1) All court fees collected by the clerk of the court shall be put into the Government Balance.

12 - Definitions
(1) Affidavit shall be defined as a voluntarily sworn declaration of written facts.
(2) Assets shall be defined as all value of in a personal balance, bank account, and company value.

13 - Grandfather
(1) All current cases in the Courts of Redmont shall not have court fees applied to them.

 

[End]

Nay - on the grounds of legal accessibility