Bill: Draft Hire an Attorney Act

[greymc]

CONGRESS OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT
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A BILL TO

AMEND THE CONSTITUTION




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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:


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PART I — PRELIMINARIES

1. Short Title and Enactment

(1) This Act may be cited as the ‘Hire an Attorney Act’

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

(3) This Act has been authored by Deputy Speaker of the House Grey Fontaine with input from President Theory Fontaine.

(4) This Act has been sponsored by Deputy Speaker of the House Grey Minecraft.

(5) This Act has been cosponsored by Representative Sophie Frostshade.

(6) This Act amends the Constitution.

2. Reasons and Intent

(1) The job of a public defender is to defend someone from criminal offenses when they cannot hire an attorney, including for purposes of inactivity.

(2) This should not extend to other cases, with few exceptions where the Judge will grant one.

(3) Combined with the recent BAR change to add suggested pro bono (free counsel) work to the legal code of conduct and the Pay the Attorney Act (yes, vetoed, but it will return), which gives the Defense’s counsel legal fees instead of the Defendant, private lawyers are encouraged to take civil lawsuits for free.

(4) This is no longer a quick fix, and input has been given by President Theory so this can finally pass & be legitimate, as the Constitution should not have simple quick fixes.

PART II — AMENDMENTS

3. Amendments to the Constitution

(1) Part II, Section §14 of the Constitution shall be amended as follows:

The‌ ‌Judicial‌ ‌arm‌ ‌of‌ ‌Government,‌ ‌consisting‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌District‌ ‌Court,‌ ‌Federal Court,‌ ‌and‌ ‌Supreme‌ ‌Court,‌ ‌ interpret‌ ‌the‌ ‌law‌ ‌as‌ ‌written‌ ‌by‌ ‌the‌ ‌legislature‌ ‌and‌ ‌administered‌ ‌by‌ ‌the‌ ‌Executive.‌ The Judicial arm of Government shall also establish and maintain a Public Defender program to provide the assistance of legal counsel.The Judicial arm of Government shall also establish and maintain a Public Defender program to provide the assistance of legal counsel in criminal proceedings, and in any other proceeding where the presiding Judicial Officer determines that a party would otherwise be unable to obtain representation.

(2) Part V, Section §35(9) of the Constitution shall be amended as follows:

(9) Any citizen, criminal or otherwise will have the right to a speedy and fair trial presided over by an impartial Judicial Officer, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, and to be confronted with the evidence against them, and, in accordance with §14, to have the assistance of legally qualified counsel for their defence.