From: To: agora-off Subject: OFF: CFJ 1187 Judged TRUE Date: Wednesday, December 08, 1999 6:48 PM ====================================================================== CFJ 1187 A Judge is considered to be assigned to Judge a particular CFJ at the time that the Clerk of the Courts announces the identity of the Judge, and no sooner. ====================================================================== Motion 1187.1 by Wes: We also Move that Rules 408 and 1868 be Annotated with the above Statement. Granted by Elysion with: I also grant motion 1187.1 ====================================================================== Called by: Wes Judge: Elysion Judgement: TRUE Judge selection: Eligible: Elysion, harvel, Kolja, Lee, Michael, Murphy, Palnatoke, Peekee, Steve, t Not eligible: Caller: Wes Barred: - Had their turn: Blob, Chuck, Crito Already served: - Defaulted: - By request: - On Hold: elJefe ====================================================================== History: Called by Wes: 07 Dec 1999 23:58:52 -0800 Assigned to Elysion: 08 Dec 1999 00:34:12 -0800 Judged TRUE by Elysion: 08 Dec 1999 21:36:46 -0500 Motion 1187.1 Granted: 08 Dec 1999 21:37:47 -0500 Judgement Distributed: As of this message ===================================================================== Caller's Arguments: Rule 1868 reads, in part: Whenever there is an open Call for Judgement to which no Player has been assigned as its Judge, the Clerk of the Court shall, as soon as possible after being made aware of this condition, select a Player to be assigned as its Judge. This selection shall be made from amongst all those Players eligible to serve as the Judge of that CFJ. [snip] The Clerk shall announce the identity of the Player who is assigned to Judge a CFJ as soon as possible after the selection is made. Rule 408 reads, in part: The Player assigned to Judge a Call for Judgement is required to either return a Judgement upon that CFJ or dismiss that CFJ within the assigned deliberation period, which ends seven days after e is assigned to Judge it. Although the actual act of "assigning" a Judge is never defined in the Rules (or at least we cannot find it), the Rules do make mention of several other actions regarding the process of choosing a Judge and causing em to be responsible for the execution of eir duties. Rules 1868 and 408 describe the process quite well, in fact. First, the Clerk of the Courts must select a Judge. This appears to be an internal process, private to the Clerk, governed by a few guidelines but with a great deal of flexibility on the part of the Clerk of the Courts. This action must be performed As Soon as Possible after the Clerk is made aware of the fact that there is an outstanding Statement to be Judged. As Soon as Possible after the selection has been completed, the Clerk must then notify the public of that selection. The use of the word "announce" causes this notification to fall under the jurisdiction of Rule 478, mandating a notice to be sent to the Public Forum. At some point, the Judge then returns a Judgement on the Statement, and returns decisions on whatever Motions may be pending with regards to that CFJ. This is where things get just a bit murky. There is a timing requirement placed upon the Judge to do this, which begins ticking the clock when the Judge is "assigned" to Judge the Statement. The Rules, while explicitly defining when the Judge is selected, and defining when the public is notified of that selection, do not actually define when the Judge is "assigned". Simple common sense, combined with basic judgement regarding the best interests of the Game, tell us that it would be quite against the spirit of the Game to require actions of a Player without informing that Player of said requirements. In fact, Rule 1513 would prohibit any entity (including bodies of text, and including the Clerk of the Courts, or perhaps even the Rules) from requiring a Player to perform any action without that Player first being notified. These factors when combined would form a rather strong argument in favor against considering the selection of a Judge to be the time at which the Judge is "assigned". Simple common sense again tells us that some event must be defined as "assigning" the Judge to the Statement, however. The Rules require it. At some point, a Judge is "assigned" and there is very little to be gained by disputing this. The only matter in question (a relative statement, in no way indicating that any Agoran actually thinks anything other than what this CFJ alleges) is exactly when this occurs. Since the only other discrete event with a verifiable time is the actual notification (sent to the Public Forum) of the selection of the Judge, it would seem quite reasonable to consider this to be the actual "assignment" of the Judge to the case. The best interests of the Game would support such a decision, and Game Tradition certainly supports it quite heavily. We would therefore encourage the Judge rather strongly to return a Judgement of TRUE to this Statement, and grant the Annotation so that any further murkiness can be avoided. ====================================================================== Evidence attached by the Caller: ====================================================================== Judge's Arguments: Common sense alone suggests that the statement is true. Prior to the CotC's decision, there are usually several possible outcomes. It makes no sense to say a judge is picked before the CotC makes eir decision, and it seem that after the CotC's decision the judge is indeed chosen. The moment of the decision thus is the moment when the judge is first assigned to be a judge. ======================================================================