These are the Constitutional terms that are supposed to govern SC proceedings:
Art III:
Section 6 – Ratification of bills passed by the Representative Assembly
Chairs of the SC will ratify bills passed by the Representative Assembly by simple majority vote and may resubmit the bill with modifications for vote.
The SC shall act as the Court of Common Jurisdiction, with the Dean of the SC appointing Chairs of the SC to hear specific trials, under the Code of Procedure previously passed by the RA, with any appeals heard by the full SC.
Section 7 – Hearings and Trials
Hearings and trials not involving government officials will be overseen by a single Professor. All impeachment hearings will be performed in the Philosophic branch by the Chairs without a jury. If a Chair is accused, that Chair will be excused for the duration of the hearing. A member of the branch which is not calling for the impeachment hearing will serve as Leader of the Philosophic branch during the hearing.
Note -- I don't know why the second sentence in 6 is not the first sentence in 7, as it probably should be.
The upshot -- other than impeachment proceedings, trials and hearings on Petitions are supposed to be tried to a single member of the SC. Then an appeal is supposed to be provided by requesting all members of the SC to consider the matter. The SC has been failing to follow this procedure and has instead truncated the trial and appeal process, with the result of denying any right of appeal.
The exception here is to impeachment (although the Constitution says "trials ... involving government officials" -- I believe that should be limited to matters of impeachment not merely matters involving the testing of the Constitutionality of some government action). In such case, the SC acts as a body and there is no appeal.
I note that the current SC procedures are incompatible with these Constitutional provisions and I call on the SC to revise its procedures such that they comply with the Constitution.
If not, I note that the Constitution provides that trials are to be conducted by the "Code of Procedure Previously passed by the RA". I interpret that as giving the RA authority to pass legislation governing the SC procedure, by amending or reinstating the previous statutes if in no other way. If the SC does not act, I expect the RA to do so, and will make that a legislative priority this term.
The relevant statute is NL 5-15, which, at section 6, provides the following procedure:
The Code of Procedure issued on December 5, 2006 is hereby replaced with the following:
Rule 1 - Initiating notecard
A case is be initiated by submitting a notecard containing (1) name of the Complainant, (2) name of the Respondent(s), and (3) a short and simple statement of the facts of the case. The notecard shall be dropped into the inventory of the Chair of the Judiciary Commission, who shall within 24 hours send the notecard and IM notice of the submission of the notecard to each defendant(s), and the Chair shall maintain a record of having done so.
Rule 2 - Reply notecard
A Respondent shall reply to the initiating notecard within ten days by submitting a reply notecard containing a short and simple statement of the facts of the case. The reply notecard shall be dropped into the inventory of the Chair of the Judiciary Commission, who shall within 24 hours send the notecard and IM notice of the submission of the notecard to the Complainant, and the Chair shall maintain a record of having done so.
Rule 3 - Pretrial hearing
Within ten days of service of the Rule 2 notecard on the Complainant(s), the court shall convene a meeting of the parties (either at the same time in world, via IM, or via email) to discuss any procedures required for handling the case. The parties may agree on a pretrial order setting forth the procedures and timetable by which the case will be handled, including any trial procedures. In the event that no agreement is reached, the court may issue a pretrial order.
Rule 4 - No costs, attorneys fees or other expenses
There shall be no court costs or attorneys fees assessed against any party, and all parties shall bear their own expenses, unless a contract between the parties or an Act passed by the RA provides otherwise.
Rule 5 - Judgments
The court may enter judgment following trial, or upon motion by a party as long as all parties have been given an opportunity to be heard on the motion. The court may enter judgment by default if a party fails to participate at any stage, so long as the party is given notice via notecard providing for at least ten days to show cause why default judgment should not be entered.
I note that NL 5-19 anticipated that the RA, in consultation with the SC and citizens, would consider revising the Code of Procedure. However, I see no subsequent statute doing so. Therefore, I think that the RA has retained its authority to revise the procedure, even if it did not have that inherent authority as the lawmaking body of the CDS.
Beathan