Osiris Fraternal Order

Rules of the Pschent
Article 1. Composition of the Pschent Section 1. The Pschent shall consist of the Trial Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeals.

Section 2. Elders shall oversee cases depending on the availability of members of the Court.

Section 3. The Court of Appeal shall consist of all the Elders of the Pschent at the time an appeal or a petition for Judicial Review is heard; provided, however, no Elder shall participate in the Court of Appeal on any matter if he/she participated in the Court of First Instance for that same matter, if he/she is (or was previously) a party to the matter, or if he/she has or has had some other substantial involvement in the matter.

Section 4. The Chief Elder shall be the most senior Elder of the Pschent; the seniority of other Elders shall be determined by whichever has served for the longest continuous period as Elder since their last appointment, or, if such determination results in two or more sharing seniority, whichever has held citizenship for the longest continuous period since their last grant of citizenship.
Article 2. Jurisdiction of Cases
Section 1. The Trial Court of First Instance shall have original jurisdiction over all Criminal Cases. A Criminal Case is an action brought before the Court by the Region of Osiris

Section 2. The Court of Appeals shall have jurisdiction over appeals of decisions rendered by the Court of First Instance, and petitions for Judicial Review. A petition for Judicial Review is a legal action which, if successful, would either result in an order by the Court commanding a public official to take (or refrain from taking) a particular action or actions, or would result in a Court declaration that a person is (or is not) the rightful holder of a particular office. Through judicial review, the Court may likewise strike down provisions of, or the entirety of a particular law for being null and void on the grounds of unconstitutionality.

Section 3. A Court of the Pschent automatically gains jurisdiction of a particular case the moment that a Presiding Elder or the Chief Elder as the case may be, an Elder approves a case application, and shall retain continuing jurisdiction over the case until dismissal,or resolution, or appeal.

Article 3. Procedure Section 1. Case Applications

1.1 The Pschent shall provide appropriate threads where citizens may apply to initiate a particular case before the relevant Court. The Court may, by a publicly announced rule or procedure, require certain information to be included in an application.

1.2 The Presiding Elder as determined by Section 2 of Article 1 of the Rules, or the Chief Elder for petitions for Judicial Review, shall expeditiously determine whether a case application will be granted or denied, and if granted, shall convene proceedings in the case.

The Pschent shall expeditiously determine whether a case application will be granted or dismissed, and if granted, shall convene proceedings in the case. Whichever Elder granted the application, in the case of the Court of First Instance, shall ordinarily preside over it, and, in the case of the Court of Appeal, whichever available Elder is most senior shall preside.

1.3 In any case where a charge is submitted outside of the appropriate time-frame identified in the Criminal Code: Statute of Limitations, the presiding Elder shall dismiss the case unless the prosecution can demonstrate that the charge could not have been reasonably submitted earlier and that allowing the case to proceed is in the public interest.

Section 2. Procedure for Criminal Cases

Preliminary Proceedings

Pleas & In Absentia Trials

2.1 At the commencement of a Criminal Case, the presiding Elder must notify the defendant of the charges he/she faces and must invite him/her to plead guilty or not guilty.

2.2 If the defendant pleads guilty, and the presiding Elder is satisfied that the defendant understands the implications of a guilty plea and has not acted out of coercion or ignorance, then the case shall proceed directly to sentencing.

2.3 If the defendant pleads not guilty, the case will proceed to trial.

2.4 If the defendant declines to enter a plea, or is being tried in absentia, the presiding Elder shall enter a plea of not guilty on the defendant's behalf. The presiding Elder may, in his discretion, order a defendant tried in absentia if the defendant fails to enter a plea within 72 hours and is not on a noticed leave of absence (or does not enter a plea within 72 hours following the end of such a noticed leave of absence).

The presiding Elder may, in his discretion, order a defendant on a noticed leave of absence to be tried in absentia if (1) the defendant will be absent for more than one week, and (2) delaying the defendant's trial until he/she returns from leave of absence is not in the interests of justice.

2.5 Plea bargains are acceptable, but sentencing remains at the discretion of the presiding Elder. The presiding Elder shall ascertain whether the parties intend for a plea bargain to be contingent upon the Court's entry of the agreed-upon sentence, or whether the agreed-upon sentence is purely advisory.

Exchange of Evidence

2.6 Prior to trial, both parties (or their counsel) shall provide by private message to the presiding Elder and to the other party (or its counsel) all evidence that the party intends to present at trial, as well as a list of witnesses that the party intends to call at trial.

2.6.1 A party does not have to present evidence or call a witness simply because of that evidence's or call's disclosure.

2.6.2 Listing a witness or providing a piece of evidence does not preclude another party from using that evidence or calling that witness.

2.6.3 The presiding Elder may order that presentations of evidence at trial be redacted to exclude material that might intrude on the reasonable expectations of privacy of an out-of-game person, violate the terms of service of Osiris' forum provider, or violate out-of-game laws.

Preparation for Trial

2.7 The presiding Elder may convene pre-trial conferences to determine the scope of any factual or legal disputes between the parties so that the trial may be tailored to resolving the relevant disputes between the parties.

2.8 If the presiding Elder determines there are no disputed material facts, he/she may order the parties to proceed directly to legal arguments in lieu of trial.

2.9 Following the presentation of evidence, but prior to trial, the defendant in a case may move for dismissal of the case, and the presiding Justice shall grant that motion if he/she determines that even if all factual disputes and reasonable inferences are drawn in favor of the prosecution, the defendant would not be guilty of any of the crimes with which he is charged or of any lesser included offense.

Trial and Judgment

General Order of Trial

2.10 In general, a trial must at least consist of the following stages, in order:

(1) opening statements -- first by the plaintiff or prosecution, then by the defendant or respondent
(2) presentation of plaintiff's or prosecution's evidence and witnesses
(3) presentation of defendant's or respondent's evidence and witnesses, if any
(4) closing statements -- first by the defendant or respondent, then by the plaintiff or prosecution.


2.11 The presiding Elder shall preside over the trial as he/she in her discretion determines is in the best interest of justice; provided, however, in no event shall a defendant in a case be denied the opportunity to (1) cross-examine the prosecution's witnesses, or (2) present relevant evidence.

2.12 During a trial, or in cases where no trial is held (for example, because there are no disputed facts), the Court must allow both parties to present legal arguments prior to the Court rendering its decision.

Judgment

2.13 Following the conclusion of the trial and legal arguments, if applicable, the presiding Elder shall expeditiously prepare and deliver a written opinion stating, in reasonable detail, the Court's resolution of all material questions of fact and law and articulating the Trial Court of First Instance's judgment based on the Court's resolution of those questions.

2.14 In a Criminal Case, the presiding Elder may, but need not, provide the parties an opportunity to make arguments regarding sentencing following the delivery of a guilty judgment, but prior to concluding the portion of that judgment consisting of the defendant's sentence.

Appeals

2.15 Appeals must be brought within seven days following the Court of First Instance's judgment (or if later, sentencing).

2.16 At the least, one Elder sitting in the Court of Appeal must vote to hear an appeal; otherwise, the Court of Appeal does not gain jurisdiction, and the case is settled res judicata.

2.17 Following the close of legal arguments, the the Court of Appeal shall deliberate in private and shall expeditiously prepare and deliver a written opinion stating, in reasonable detail, its resolution of all material questions of fact and law and articulating the Court of Appeal's judgment based on its resolution of those questions.

2.18 A majority of the Elders on the Court of Appeal must agree on each material aspect of a ruling; in the event of a tie vote among the Elders, the Court of Appeal shall be deemed to have affirmed the Court of First Instance's ruling with respect to that aspect of the Court of First Instance's ruling. The Elder holding the majority opinion shall deliver the judgment of the Court, without prejudice to the separate concurring or dissenting opinions of the other Elders.

2.19 The Court of Appeal's judgment shall be final and un-reviewable.

Section 3. Procedure for Petitions for Judicial Review

3.1 Upon accepting an application for Judicial Review, the Chief presiding Elder shall open a space to invite submissions from the Applicant and the Scribe of the Seshat or his duly assigned representative. If the Chief Elder is unavailable to preside over this stage, another Elder may be allocated the role.

3.2 The Court, may in its discretion, invite and appoint amicus curae, or legal experts to help discuss available and applicable law and jurisprudence. The pronouncements of these friends of the Court shall be persuasive but not controlling on the opinion of the Elders.

3.3 Following the close of submissions, the Elders shall deliberate in private and the Elder holding the majority opinion shall deliver the judgment of the Court, without prejudice to the separate concurring or dissenting opinions of the other Elders.
Article 4. Court Decorum and Discipline Section 1. Parties to an action before any Court of the Pschent shall, at all times, observe and maintain the respect due to the Courts, the Elders and other judicial officers.

Section 2. Parties shall punctually appear at Court hearings.

Section 3. Parties shall abstain from scandalous, offensive or menacing language or behavior before the Courts of the Pschent.

Section 4. Parties shall not unduly delay a case, impede the execution of a judgement or misuse Court procedures.

Section 5. Parties shall not make public statements regarding a pending case tending to arouse public opinion for or against a party. Article 5. Other Provisions Section 1. The Elders of the Pschent have the exclusive right to amend and or revise these Rules. A simple majority of the Elders is required to amend this document. Upon change, the amendments must be made public, unless they are of clerical nature and do not alter the interpretative value of an article.

Section 2. The Rules shall be kept within the Palace of the Pschent, at an area readily accessible by the public.