Due to the fact that the Hands of Justice and Appeals Panel positions are not sought after with the same enthusiasm that other positions in the Brotherhood are, the Chamber of Justice has submitted, for approval by the Dark Council, an amendment to the following sections of the Dark Covenant.
Article VIII, Section 8.01a: The Chamber of Justice
and
Article VIII, Section 8.05a: Appeals Panel
Section 8.01a previously read:
The Justicar appoints to the Chamber members as he sees fit to assist in the work of the court. The Right Hand of Justice, serving as prosecutor, and The Left Hand of Justice, serving as defense counsel, will be appointed by the Justicar for non-consecutive, six-month terms.
The Chamber recommends that the section be amended to read as follows:
The Justicar appoints to the Chamber members as he sees fit to assist in the work of the court. The Right Hand of Justice, serving as prosecutor, and The Left Hand of Justice, serving as defense counsel, will be appointed by the Justicar for non-consecutive, twelve-month terms. Hands of Justice may return to serve in the same capacity after no less than eighteen months from the conclusion of their previous term. Hands of Justice may serve as counterpart Hand of Justice with no time restriction following the end of their previous term.
Section 8.05a previously read:
An Appeals Panel will exist to examine all issues brought by appellants. The Panel consists of three active members selected from amongst the Clans. The Justicar will have a brief application and investigation period to obtain members who wish to participate and will be positive additions to the Panel. After the selections are made, the three Panel members will serve for six months, after which time another trio will be selected.
The Chamber recommends that the section be amended to read as follows:
An Appeals Panel will exist to examine all issues brought by appellants. The Panel consists of three active members selected from amongst the Clans, Houses, and Dark Council. The Justicar will have a brief
application and investigation period to obtain members who wish to participate and will be positive additions to the Panel. After the selections are made, the three Panel members will serve for nine months, after
which time another trio will be selected. A Panelist may return to the Appeals Panel after no less than six months after the end of their previous term.These amendments were submitted to the Dark Council and have been ratified. They will go into effect immediately. Current Hands of Justice and Appeals Panel terms are subject to the amendments.
In summary,
Hand of Justice terms have been extended from six months to twelve months
Hands of Justice may return to a Hand of Justice position that they have held in the past after no less than eighteen months from the end of their previous term. Hands of Justice may apply for the counterpart Hand of Justice position immediately upon ending their term.
Appeals Panel terms are extended from six months to nine months.
In order to serve on the Appeals Panel an individual cannot be Rogue.
Appeals Panelists may return to serve as Panelists no less than six months from the end of their previous term.
Signed and sealed,
Taigikori Aybara
Justicar and High Protector of the Brotherhood
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This is JUST like what Astatine did. Beware!
OMG... I actually agree with Tarax on something. FEAR!
I was going to make some Vietnam-vet-esque "YOU WEREN'T THERE MAN" comment, but Dante actually was. :P
Also: 9 months? I didn't sign up for that. :P
Howie got stoplossed
How is increasing these positions' terms going to make them more desirous to potential candidates? Also, if finding candidates is difficult, why restrict the candidate pool? Just curious.
I think the idea is to make the positions longer, because there's already a restricted applicant pool. Longer terms means more interest generated when they do come available.
To the earlier comments: Overreaction much? :P
I agree with Troutrooper. Just seems like another way to keep the "liked" people in certain positions whilst not creating anything new for people who actually want to do something. Typical analogy of the rich getting richer.
no prob with extending the terms and such, but there should be some oversight in it, like whats to stop the justicar form keeping his/her buddy in a hand position, left hand today right hand tomorrow then left hand after that and so on. maybe have to returning hand require GM and DGM approvals as well as the JST?
I entirely agree with Ronovi. This is an overreaction. Changes to the Covenant have to be approved by the Dark Council before the Covenant may be amended. The basic principle of this change, from my perspective, was to enable those in the position enough time to fully apply their knowledge (many Hands, and many of the appeals panel never get to see an actual case), and to be able to consistently provide service. The necessity of turnover between the Hands and appeals panel is fundamental - it avoids bias - however, extending the terms only means that those in the position get to explore what it is, beyond just scratching beneath the surface of their own responsibilities, and it enables the JST to have a much more experienced staff.
Added to that, we have the decreasing reservoir of applicants. As Tra'an quite rightly states, it means that these positions become more desirable when they are opened up. It also means people have an ability to extend their knowledge, as opposed to be called upon to use it in the unlikely circumstance of a case.
Tarax was trolling...anyone who took is seriously should be smacked :P That being said, people really are overreacting. Not a lot of people apply for these positions or are not qualified to apply. Therefore it makes sense to both keep those qualified a bit longer, with the added benefit of making these positions a little more coveted since they will not be open nearly as often.
Concerning the "restriction of the pool"...the only true restriction from applying to the HoJ jobs at least is that you need to take a specific SA course. And this is really just to ensure people have some sort of idea of what they're getting into and have a foundation of knowledge. It's not a lot to ask, nor is it a lot to ask that people applying for jobs not be in Rogues. Rogues = inactive. If you're active you probably shouldn't be there? :P
Last, are people seriously throwing around accusations of favoritism and all that just for the hell of it? Unless someone has a basis of support for those statements, throwing them out there demeans the leaders of the club and do nothing for your point. Comments like that, with literally no basis in fact, make me upset. It's all well and good to discuss and ask questions about new "rules", but accusing people of hidden agendas and cronyism without any factual reason to? Yeah, no place for that
In practice, we have already been doing this due to Kir forgetting when he appointed people.. :) By the time the application process finally gets around to being completed, it usually is over the official six months anyways so I don't have that much of an issue with it as long as the term lengths are actually followed.
There were numerous applications for the positions based on the information in Taig's report so I'm not sure of the validity of that reason.
Wuntila's comments regarding the experience of some Hands is true, but an increase of three months in the term length would not always lead to more cases. Six months is more than adequate to learn the other responsibilities of the position as long as the Hand takes a vested interest in becoming involved in the more clandestine activities of the Chamber.
The apathy of the candidate once they are appointed is usually more of the issue than anything else in regards to the lack of a true "learning experience" as a Hand.
Woohoo for Halc... :)
...wait. You people thought Tarax was serious? Tarax? :P
Yeah... I find that amusing too.. :)
You were the one who said you agreed with him, Dante. :P
Gunna go back to Howie's point about people freaking out about Tarax being funny of... How the hell would you know what Ast was like anyways? Seriously. Nubs. :P
The real issue here, which all of you masterfully intelligent people have failed to notice, is...
"The Justicar appoints to the Chamber members as he sees fit to assist in the work of the court. The Right Hand of Justice, serving as prosecutor, and The Left Hand of Justice, serving as defense counsel, will be appointed by the Justicar for non-consecutive, twelve-month terms. Hands of Justice may return to serve in the same capacity after no less than eighteen months from the conclusion of their previous term. Hands of Justice may serve as counterpart Hand of Justice with no time restriction following the end of their previous term."
Why do you bother saying non-consecutive as well as "have to have 18 months in between". That's just needless flowery language Taig.
Great-Grandpa Yacks is disappointed in you.
Damnedable children. :P
Besides, Boyce wasn't even that bad.
All this obstrigillation seem unnecessary. Experienced officials are beneficial to the smooth running of an office and the reduction of bureaucracy. It seems that the only thing these reforms are really doing is nipping a potential administrative problem in the bud - something that can only be a good think for the DB as a whole. Does it really seem likely that this will compromise the CoJ, a mere lengthening of the tenure of office?
*thing. <-- embarrassing. :P
A good point to make here, for those who still harbor doubts - If the changes are approved, but turn out to be detrimental to the organization, they probably won't remain. Many of our members talk about remembering the Exodus and the times before, but so do our leaders; I refuse to believe that any current Dark Councillor is looking to weaken the club for their own gain.
These guys have made this club a pretty damn special place, folks. Let's have a little faith in them, eh?
I have to say, I am VERY happy to see people talking about this. This much interest in something so small as term lengthening is excellent.
Sam had it right. When I was RHoJ, I didn't see a case. Nor did the Hand after me, or the Hand after him. In fact, we haven't had a trial since 2010 (which is awesome, by the by).
Also, point Kal, DC already ratified it.
I am super serious!
Tarax, have you found Manbearpig?
I didn't have to find it, since I knew where it was the whole time!
All this discussion about the Covenant topic, and none of you have taken the Argumentation course? Shame on you. :P