Representation and Ethical Integrity Act

[Natasi Fortan]

WHEREAS, the people of the Galactic Republic are entitled to choose their representatives;

WHEREAS, the Galactic Republic has a right and a duty to ensure the interests of the entire Galactic Republic are served by the Galactic Senate;

WHEREAS, the Galactic Senate should have the right to expel from its Chamber, Members who have egregiously violated the principles or laws of the Galactic Republic;

WHEREAS, the process by which a Member is expelled from the Senate Chamber is not yet codified and thus subject to abuses that accompany ambiguity.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED:

I. The Republic Senate shall establish procedures for the creation of a Senate Select Committee on Ethical Oversight who shall be tasked with investigating reports of ethical, legal, or other misconduct on the part of a sitting Member of the Senate, including voting and non-voting representatives, administrative staff, Speakers and Prime Ministers (or equivalent officers, for purposes of future reform).
A. The assembly of the Committee shall proceed in the general course of the assembly of any other Committee with the following exceptions:
i. The Prime Minister (or equivalent officers, for purposes of future reform) shall not sit on the Select Committee
ii. The Chairmanship of the Select Committee shall rotate, not less than twice per year, on a schedule to be determined by the Select Committee
iii. Investigations begun under a Chairmanship will continue under that Chairmanship until such investigation is concluded, with the following exceptions:
a. A majority vote may remove a Chair from an investigation if the Select Committee suspects bias, mishandling, or other just cause for his or her removal.
b. A Member who is the subject of an investigation may not Chair or vote on the Select Committee's findings.
II. The Republic Senate shall establish a mechanism by which complaints of ethical, legal, or other misconduct by a Member can be reported, anonymously or otherwise, to the office of the Prime Minister (or equivalent officers, for purposes of future reform). The Prime Minister shall immediately convey the complaint to the current Chair of the Select Committee above-referenced in Section I. The Prime Minister shall not exercise discretion as to communicating complaints.
III. The Select Committee shall investigate, to the best of its ability, the truth of such allegations made to it. To that end, the Select Committee may, at its discretion:
A. Convene public or private hearings to question involved parties, subject matter experts, etc.
B. Compel the production of testimony and/or documents through the power of subpoena.
C. Determine, by majority vote, whether a party compelled to testify has maintained or waived his or her right to silence. An individual waives his or her right to silence by appearing before the Select Committee, any other Senate Committee, the media or another public forum to speak on the matter at hand. An individual does not waive his or her right to silence by appearing before the Select Committee, any other Senate Committee, the media or another public forum and maintaining his or her right to silence.
D. Detain and prosecute any such witness compelled to testify who has been determined to have waived his or her right to silence on grounds of Contempt of the Senate.
E. Determine, by majority vote, whether a document is covered by any such privilege that would make its disclosure to the Select Committee privileged.
IV. The Select Committee shall at all times proceed with attention to Due Process, individual rights and the rights of Republic citizens to enjoy the representation they have elected. To that end, the Select Committee shall:
A. Allow a Member under investigation to represent himself, or to procure representation for himself
B. Allow a Member under investigation unfettered access to all such documents, testimony, or other information gathered during the course of the investigation.
C. Allow a Member under investigation to compel the production of testimony and/or documents through the power of subpoena
D. Operate from a position that the Member under investigation is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
V. Upon the finding of the Select Committee that a Member is in violation, the Chair under whom the investigation was conducted (or completed, in such time that Article I, Section A(iii)(a) or Article I, Section A(iii)( requires a Chair not conclude his or her investigation) shall provide all Members with access to the Select Committee record on the investigation, and prepare a report to the full Senate containing the following information:
A. Details of the allegation of misconduct and the nature of it (legal, ethical, etc.)
B. Key findings to support the guilty verdict of the Select Committee
C. The recommendation of the Committee for action to be taken by the Senate
D. For criminal violations discovered during the course of an investigation, the Chair shall alert the appropriate authorities in addition to taking the above-referenced steps.
VI. Upon receipt of the above-referenced report, the Galactic Senate shall convene to deliberate on the findings. Any such Member, excluding members of the Select Committee and the Member under investigation, shall have the right to pose questions to the Chair of the Select Committee or to the Member under investigation. Within ten days of a report from the Chair of the Select Committee, the Senate shall:
A. Convict or acquit the Member under investigation of the conduct alleged in the Select Committee's findings
B. If a Conviction is voted for, the Senate shall determine what, if any, consequences may follow. Such consequences may include:
i. Suspension of guilty Member's personal salary (majority vote)
ii. Formal and public denunciation of the Member (majority vote)
iii. Remove guilty Member's committee assignments (majority vote)
iv. Expel guilty Member from the Chamber (3/4 majority vote)
VII. Under no other method may a Member be expelled from the Chamber. No less than three quarters of the Chamber must approve of the Member's expulsion for it to have the force of law.

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

This bill was perhaps overdue. Quite overdue. As Gen scanned the presented document, nothing stood out immediately, but there was the fact that the drafted bill called for a Senate Select Committee but did not define its creation apart from restrictions and rotational obligations. "Senator Volcata," Lasedri began, standing up with datapad in hand. "I have yet to find anything outright egregious in this bill." The Prime Minister was always one to provide an underhanded compliment. It was an excellent tool to gauge another party's composure. The mind was her weapon of choice.

"However, I would like to better understand how you propose to select this 'Select Committee'. Am I to choose the initial set of members? I'm not fond of opening another opportunity for campaigning inside the Senate. The fewer 'special interests', the better."

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"], [member="Arcana Adasca"], [member="Ordon Trozky"], [member="Lanax Grayson"], [member="Danny Colen"], [member="Adrik Turov"], [member="Macharius Solaire"], [member="Lionel Roux"], [member="Persephone Callas"], [member="Jack Sparrow"], [member="Alyssa Onasi"], [member="Aliannah Sophia Filia"], [member="Volko Hydori"], [member="Max Rumor"], [member="Aurelia Volcata"], [member="Amelia Isadora"], [member="Cecily de Demici"], [member="Valen Cerezo"], [member="Ned Rostu"], [member="Mark Crassis"], [member="Ater Notechis"], [member="Kralossk"], [member="Carlos Castillo"], [member="Arthur d'Angele"]

 

[Cecily Demici]

"Madame Prime Minister," a cold clear voice rang out across the Senate hall as the delegation from Onderon soared out from its place, at its head was the radiant Cecily Demici. She was dressed today in a heavy blue gown embroidered with bright blue gems and diamonds and on her head was the comital tiara of her high office as Countess Regent.

"Senators," she now addressed the Senate en masse, "On behalf of the people and government of the planet Onderon, I pledge our full support for the... idea of this bill. However, Onderon must stress its hesitance to place too much authority over this select committee in the hands of a third party. If it exists, it must exist by the Republic and for the Republic through the power of its elected officials... the Senators."

"If oversight of this committee is granted to any other party besides the Senate as a whole, Onderon will not support its passage and will urge ALL systems with whom we share a common vision to do the same. That being said, my personal reservation is that the purpose of this committee may conflict with the purpose of Intelligence Ministry who, along with the Senatorial Committee that oversees them has typically dealt with Senator misconduct in the past... an idea I am wholly opposed to."

"I yield the floor!"

With that the delegation swooped back to its place among the other Senators.

 

[Faith Organa]

Faith was silently reading the bill before her. She could only imagine what had prompted this to come up at this time. A single committee to look at the ethical behaviors of the Senate. It was probably no worse than a single committee to handle intelligence but even they were accountable to someone, and their budget was redirected funds from the former intelligence bureau.

Faith did not want to stand up she thought carefully about her words..as always, Don't make a fool of yourself Faith.

Slowly she stood, "Many of you know me here, I represent Alderaan. I also am a member of the Intelligence Committee, I would say we would welcome working with a committee on Ethics to ensure that everyone is given due process." She swallowed hard, "As always I would ask how will this be funded, the work to be done by this Committee?" Faith smiled, "Is there another area that has faltered that the funds can be diverted?"

Silently she wondered would they seek the budget of the Intelligence Committee since the work was very similiar to what they did. "Thank you"

Faith sat down as quietly as she had stood up.

[member="Cecily de Demici"] [member="Geneviève Lasedri"] [member="Aurelia Volcata"]

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Aurelia rose and keyed her microphone on. "I thank my right honorable friend, the Prime Minister, for her kind words. I would ask the record to reflect that I return the compliment that her leadership of this august and dignified body has been, to our knowledge and to coin a phrase, not outright egregious." The Senator from New Holstice looked down at her notes, scribbled hastily during the questions brought by the Prime Minister (@Geneviève Lasedri) and the other Senators.

"As to the composition of the Select Committee, my intention with this legislation is to leave this at the discretion of the Senate as a whole. However current committees are established and maintained suffices for my purposes, though if my right honorable friend the Prime Minister is concerned about special interests treating this committee as something to be coveted, a cudgel to be used against political enemies, or a ladder to be used to gain political advantage, I share these concerns. I am amenable to an amendment to the bill to make the Select Committee's membership rotating and random. This would make gamesmanship impossible -- a goal I share with my right honorable friend the Prime Minister. However, I would like to hear more from my colleagues on this matter before beginning any amendments."

The Senator the turned to the concerns raised by [member="Cecily de Demici"]. "Mister Speaker, I turn now to my honorable friend, the Member for Onderon. Allow me, please, to put the concerns of the people of Onderon to rest. This bill does not imagine, nor does it entertain the notion, that any body but the Senate reigns supreme over the affairs of the Select Committee and its membership. The Senate shall maintain authority over the committee, as any other committee established by this great body."

Turning now to Alderaan, the Senator from New Holstice smiled across the chamber at [member="Faith Balor-Organa"], the Senator from Alderaan. "Mister Speaker, I thank my honorable friend, the Member for Alderaan, for her comments and questions. I believe that the cause of the Select Committee serves an important enough function that it should be funded by the Senate itself -- and surely the expenses are not very great. The administrative costs ought already to be covered, as we do not require separate appropriations for each of our staffs, nor for each flimsi printed. Surely the Senate budget can stretch to it."