Judgement 42 (Wes) Tue Sep 28 20:13:10 GMT 1993 There is no Rule in the current Rule Set which would take precedence over the Rule which would be created by Proposal 537, should it pass. Judge: Chuck Carroll (accepted 28/9/93) Judgement: FALSE (made 30/9/93) ----- Justification: [Summary for those who don't want to read through my doctoral thesis in legal science: Rules 312 and 423 definitely take precedence; 406 and 446 probably do, too.] First, let me say that, by my reading of Rules 111 and 212, that the concept of "precedence" only applies when there is a conflict between rules. Otherwise, one might argue that rule 201 takes precedence over 537. (Throughout these "reasons and arguments" I refer to "the Rule which would be created by Proposal 537, should it pass" as "537.") (Fortunately, there are currently no rules which have blanket statements such as "this rule takes precedence over all other rules." Another reason I was opposed to 510.) Most rules which specify a change of points do not specify *when* that point change takes place. By game custom, they are applied when the event that caused them to occur happened. But this is not legislated, so in those cases 537 would be valid. However, there are some rules which *do* specify when a point change happens. These are rules 312, 385, 406, 423, and 446. Three of these five rules (385, 406, and 446) give points for actions which could not occur when a player is on hold. And 385 specifies only a loss of points, not a gain of points. For example, rule 406 specifies that the COTC gains eir salary every seven days after assuming office. But the COTC cannot be on hold. However, I would argue that this rule (as well as 446) does take precedence over 537, as nowhere *in 406* does it say that the COTC may not be on hold. Admittedly, though, this is debatable. But looking at rules 312 and 423, the case is quite clear. Both of these rules specify both a gain of points and the time at which these gains occur; and even under the current ruleset, a player on hold may gain points by these rules. (Indeed, Alexx has recently gained several points while on hold by these rules.) Rule 537 a) conflicts with these rules, by specifying a different time at which the points are to be gained; and b) does not claim precedence over 312 or 423. Therefore, by rule 212, rules 312 and 423 take precedence over 537. Chuck -------------- Proposals and rules referenced: PROPOSAL 537 (Wes) Winning while On Hold (Creates a Rule) If the Rules indicate that a Player should recieve enough Points to Win the Game while that Player is On Hold, e shall not actually recieve those Points until e is no longer On Hold. 111. In a conflict between a Mutable and an Immutable Rule, the immutable Rule takes precedence and the Mutable Rule shall be entirely void. For the purposes of this Rule a Proposal to Transmute an Immutable Rule does not "conflict" with that Immutable Rule. 212. If two or more Mutable Rules conflict with one another, or if two or more Immutable Rules conflict with one another, then the Rule with the lowest ordinal Number takes precedence. If at least one of the Rules in conflict explicitly says of itself that it defers to another Rule (or type of rule) or takes precedence over another Rule (or type of Rule), then such provisions shall supersede the numerical method for determining precedence. If two or more Rules claim to take precedence over one another or defer to one another, then the numerical method again governs. 312. If a Voter votes, he gets one (1) point at the end of the Voting Period. 385. Correcting Proposals At any time not less than 24 hours before the end of a Voting Period for a given Proposal, the originator of that Proposal (and no other Player) may issue a 'corrected' version of that Proposal to the Benevolent Speaker. This Proposal replaces the original Proposal. Any Votes cast on the original Proposal are discarded, as is the original Proposal itself; the voting for the original is never completed. The corrected version is issued as a new Proposal, with a new Number and a new Voting Period starting from its time of issuance. As a penalty for not getting things right the first time and bogging down the legislature, the correcting Player loses three Points upon the removal of the original Proposal. A Proposal may also simply be withdrawn by the originating Player during this time period, without any new Proposal replacing it, but the Player must still lose three Points. 406. Clerk of the Courts, Part I: Definition of Office: There shall exist an Office "Clerk of the Courts", who shall have general responsibility over administering Calls for Judgement, as outlined in the Rules. The active Clerk of the Court may never be selected as a Judge. As a salary for carrying out his duties, he will receive 5 points at the end of every seven days he is in Office, counting from his assumption of the Office. The initial holder of this Office shall be the Player who submitted this Proposal. 423. "Remove Vote-Based Point Awards": When the Voting Period for a Proposal is over, the proposer gets F-A Points, where F is the Number of Votes For, and A is the Number of Votes Against. The total gain or loss to the proposer for a single Proposal outcome is limited to plus or minus 10. No Points are awarded to or taken from Voters by this Rule. This Rule takes precedence over and completely nullifies Rule 308, 302, and 211, should any of these still be valid Rules. 446. WIN FABULOUS PRIZES IN THE E-NOMIC SECRET WORD SWEEPSTAKES! Prior to the beginning of each week beginning at Noon in the Zealous Speaker's time zone, a designated Sweepstakes Officer shall select a secret Word and add five Points to the Sweepstakes Jackpot. The Word must be defined in a standard English dictionary. The Sweepstakes Officer shall not divulge the secret Word to any other Player unless and until the first usage of that word by another Player in a message posted to the listserv during that week. At that time, the Word is made public and the Player who first used the word shall receive the Points in the Sweepstakes Jackpot and become the next Sweepstakes Officer. If no other Player uses the secret Word during the week, the Sweepstakes Officer shall select a new secret Word and any points in the Sweepstakes Jackpot remain to be won in subsequent weeks. The first week to which this Rule applies will be the first one beginning after adoption of this Rule, and the first Sweepstakes Officer shall be Jim Shea.