Article 15: The Judiciary and Public Safety

The sole purpose of courts is to punish the guilty and protect the innocent.

1.     Every accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt by an impartial jury of their peers. No person shall be compelled to testify against himself, nor deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

2.     Mandatory minimum sentences shall apply to all violent crimes except child trafficking, child sexual abuse, and possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). For these offences the death penalty by firing squad applies as provided in Article 5 and this Article.

3.     No person convicted of the above offences may ever be released before serving the full term.

4.     The judiciary is independent.
      a)     Supreme-court judges are appointed by the Prime Minister from a shortlist of three candidates per vacancy proposed by a non-partisan Judicial Appointments Commission composed of five senior judges, three citizens chosen by lot from the National Registry of Citizens, and two members of the House chosen by lot. Judges serve until mandatory retirement at age 65 and may be removed only by a two-thirds vote of the House for proven misbehaviour or incapacity.
      b)     Appointments to the superior courts of each province remain within provincial jurisdiction. Each province must establish a non-partisan Judicial Appointments Commission for these appointments, structured to mirror the federal commission in composition and function: five senior provincial judges, three citizens selected by lot from the provincial electorate from the National Registry of Citizens, and two members of the provincial legislature selected by lot. For each vacancy, the commission shall propose a shortlist of three qualified candidates ranked by merit. The provincial premier shall appoint one from this shortlist. Provincial superior court judges serve until mandatory retirement at age 75. Removal occurs only by a two-thirds vote of the provincial legislature for proven misbehaviour or incapacity.
      c)     Members of the Judicial Appointments Commissions, whether federal or provincial, who serve in their capacity as senior judges or as members of the House or provincial legislature, receive no additional compensation beyond their existing salaries. Citizen members selected by lot receive full reimbursement of any wages lost during the period of service, plus a daily honorarium equal to twice the national median daily wage. Each commission convenes only for the time required to evaluate candidates and produce the mandated shortlist for the vacancy or vacancies under consideration, never to exceed four weeks.

5.     Any judge, parole board member, prosecutor, or official who orders or facilitates the early release (or imposes manifestly inadequate sentence) on a violent offender who then reoffends shall themselves be prosecuted as an accessory before the fact and imprisoned for a term no less than that of the subsequent crime.

6.     The death penalty is restored for premeditated murder, child rape, child trafficking, child sexual abuse, possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), rape, high treason, and for extreme, provably intentional financial, medical, religious, scientific or any other fraud that directly causes widespread death or irreversible ruin, upon unanimous jury verdict beyond reasonable doubt. Any person who makes a false accusation of any of these offences with premeditated intent to deceive or to cause harm shall, upon unanimous jury verdict proving that intent beyond reasonable doubt, suffer the exact same penalty that would have applied to the accused.

7.     All executions shall be carried out solely by firing squad with hand-held lethal arms within seven days of final sentencing. For convictions of child trafficking, child sexual abuse, or possession of child sexual abuse material, the timeline is mandatory and non-extendable.

8.     The criminal justice system of the Republic exists first to protect the innocent and second to restore the offender to lawful life wherever this is compatible with public safety.
      a)     Every person sentenced to imprisonment shall be offered intensive, evidence-based rehabilitation programmes (psychological, educational, vocational, moral, and, where appropriate, medical or pharmacological) chosen solely for proven efficacy in reducing recidivism. The state has a constitutional duty to research, develop, and implement the most effective methods available, without ideological preference or prohibition.
      b)     For offenders convicted of premeditated murder, child rape, or high treason, rehabilitation may be attempted only under the strictest conditions of permanent physical isolation from the general population and from any position of trust or authority.
      c)     The death penalty or irrevocable life imprisonment without parole remains mandatory when a special Rehabilitation Review Board (composed of three senior judges, three forensic psychologists, and three citizen members chosen by lot) unanimously determines, after no fewer than seven years of observed behaviour and treatment, that the offender remains an incurable danger to human life. Such determination must be reviewed and reaffirmed every five years thereafter.
      d)     No offender may ever be released if there exists any reasonable doubt about public safety. The protection of the innocent is the supreme law.

9.     Swift Justice for Child Crimes
      a)     Any person arrested for child trafficking, child sexual abuse, or possession of child sexual abuse material on substantial evidence shall be denied bail and held in solitary confinement pending trial.
      b)     Trial shall begin no later than thirty days after arrest and conclude no later than sixty days after arrest.
      c)     The proceedings shall be public, adversarial, and conducted before a jury of twelve citizens chosen by blind lot. Conviction requires a unanimous verdict.
      d)     Upon conviction, sentencing and execution by firing squad shall occur within seven days. No appeals shall stay the execution beyond the seven-day period except by unanimous order of the full Supreme Court on grounds of newly discovered irrefutable exculpatory evidence.

10.     No administrative tribunal, human rights commission, equity or inclusion board, diversity enforcement body, or any similar quasi-judicial or regulatory entity shall be created or maintained at the national, provincial, municipal, or any other level of government. All disputes involving alleged discrimination, expression, conscience, association, employment practices, housing, or public accommodations shall be adjudicated exclusively in the regular courts established under this Article, subject to the full protections of presumption of innocence, jury trial where applicable, and proof beyond reasonable doubt for any penalty or restriction.

Any pre-existing human rights codes, tribunals, commissions, or equivalent bodies are hereby dissolved. Their powers are nullified, all pending proceedings terminated, all prior orders and penalties vacated, and their records sealed except for historical archival purposes. No statute, regulation, or policy may recreate or replicate their functions under any name or justification.