San Andreas Judicial Branch Introduction of Docket Trials, A Change of Venue "EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW" |
- Citizens of San Andreas,
Over the past year, the San Andreas Judicial Branch has introduced a number of new policies and procedures in an effort to reduce our current criminal court backlog. As many are aware, it currently takes several months from the time a case is submitted to the time a judge assigns themselves to the case and activates it. Even from there, it will still likely be several more weeks before the case is ultimately concluded. In order to help cut down on the excessive wait time that cases coming through the Superior Court experience, we are introducing the new procedure of docket trials as the most drastic step to reduce this backlog to date.
This new system will allow for an alternative trial procedure to be undertaken based on certain case criteria. Instead of an in-person trial taking place, which present numerous scheduling concerns and a first-come, first-served process for reserving the courtroom, the docket trial will allow for evidence and arguments to be reviewed entirely on the public docket so that cases can be resolved in a swift and quick fashion. Once the case gets to the point of a trial being scheduled the judge will decide if this case meets the criteria for an in-person trial as we have always done, or a docket trial. We believe this new system will assist us in reducing our backlog and hopefully within the next couple of months, eliminate it completely.
While we understand that this new system will take away some of the public's opportunity to see firsthand the work of our court system through the use of public trials, we believe this system will be crucial to the success of our judiciary - as the Constitution of San Andreas states, "In all criminal trials brought forth by or too the San Andreas Judicial Branch, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial." Aligning with the sentiment of this article of the Constitution, we intend to ensure that the accused shall enjoy the right to have their trial in a timely manner, and this system aims to observe these rights and ensure justice is administered in a timely fashion.
Chief Justice Judith Mason wrote:When it comes to the procedure of how a docket trial works as compared to a traditional in-person trial, the two main differences are the location where the arguments are made and the timeline that each party has to respond in each step of the procedure.
Chief Justice Judith Mason
For a docket trial, instead of having the proceeding take place in person, arguments are submitted directly to the docket for review by the presiding judge. With this change of venue, we must account for the amount of time that it takes each successive posting to ensure all evidence has been properly examined and all arguments have been properly presented.
Ultimately, the trial procedure itself will remain the same in terms of the step-by-step process, but parties are instead permitted two days to submit the next required response in order to account for availability. Though this may initially appear to prolong the proceeding for many days as compared to the several hour event of a traditional in-person trial, this procedure will allow cases to continue regardless of the specific individual availability of the parties involved.
We are looking forward to putting this new procedure in place and aim to heavily reduce the amount of time it takes for a citizen to have their case heard within our justice system.
Associate Justice
San Andreas Judicial Branch
(909) 402-9713 — [email protected]
Public Relations Division
San Andreas Judicial Branch
Rockford Hills City Hall, Carcer Way,
Metro Los Santos, SA