Act of Congress 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.

 

[xXTheoryXx]

Presidential Assent

PRESIDENTIAL ASSENT
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The Hire an Attorney Act amends section 14 of the Constitution to confine the Public Defender program to criminal proceedings and to any other proceeding in which the presiding Judicial Officer determines that a party would otherwise be unable to obtain representation, and amends section 35(9) so that the right to counsel is read with section 14. Its purpose is to stop the Commonwealth being the default litigator for every civil defendant while keeping counsel available wherever its absence would deny a fair trial. I assent to it.

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First, the Bill answers the veto.

I vetoed the earlier version of this Bill on five grounds, and each is met. It left section 14's unqualified mandate standing; section 14 is now the provision amended. It confined the right to "a criminal case", which excluded arrests, wrongful seizure and public official misconduct under section 16(1); those proceedings now fall within the Judicial Officer's determination. It gave the courts a power to require representation under sections 18(3)(b) and 20(3)(b) with no matching power to provide it; the determination now supplies one. It left a party who could find no counsel to a default judgment; the determination reaches that party too. And it called itself a quick fix; section 2(4) records that it no longer is.

Second, the limit now sits where a limit on a right belongs.

The Charter permits reasonable limits prescribed by law, but a limit on state-provided counsel written into ordinary statute would have invited the argument that section 35(9) overrides it. This Bill writes the limit into the Constitution, in the section that creates the program, and leaves the judgment to the officer who has the party in front of them. That is the right place for it.

Third, the Bill is constitutionally sound in form.

It is titled as section 51 requires, amends nothing but the Constitution, and touches no jurisdiction of the Towns.

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I record the following for Congress and for the courts.

These are not conditions of my assent.

(1) How section 35(9) is to be read. The words "in accordance with §14" qualify the Commonwealth's duty to provide counsel. They do not qualify a party's right to retain counsel of their own, which section 14 does not address and which sections 18(3)(b) and 20(3)(b) presume. I record that reading so that no court is invited to the other one, and I would ask Congress to make it explicit the next time Part V is open.

(2) Required representation. Where a court requires representation under section 18(3)(b) or 20(3)(b) of a party who cannot obtain it, the determination under section 14 should follow as a matter of course. A court that requires counsel and then withholds it has denied the trial section 35(9) guarantees.

(3) Impeachment. Section 4(3) lets the Senate appoint a presiding officer from outside the chamber, who need not be a Judicial Officer, so an impeachment trial may have no one to make the determination section 14 now requires. Whether the Senate's presiding officer should carry that power is a question for Congress.

(4) Commencement. Section 1(2) enacts the Act "immediately upon assent". A constitutional amendment takes effect under section 36 when the referendum passes, and not before. The Executive will hold the referendum within seven days as section 36(3) requires.

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My thanks to Deputy Speaker _GreyMC for authoring and sponsoring this Bill, twice, and to Representative Sophie Frostshade for co-sponsoring it.

Accordingly, I assent to this Bill, and it proceeds to referendum under section 36 of the Constitution.

Theory Fontaine
30th President of the Commonwealth of Redmont
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[Dept. State]

Following a succesful referendum, the Hire an Attorney Act has become law.

Act of Congress Thread 'Hire an Attorney Act'

Aug 25, 2026

CONGRESS OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT
​

---

A BILL TO

AMEND THE CONSTITUTION




​

---

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 ‘Hire an Attorney Act’

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

(3) This Act has been authored by...

• greymc
• Replies: 2
• Forum: Constitutional Law

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