Bar Association Act 2023
Article 1: The National Bar Association
§1. The National Bar Association shall be the official assembly of legal professionals of r/SimDemocracy.
§2. The National Bar Association shall take an active role in educating and informing the general public about the law and legal processes, and take an active role in ensuring the high standard of legal practice by its members and to promote discussion about the law and legal processes.
§3. The National Bar Association shall be led by the Bar Director who shall be responsible for running the day to day operations of the National Bar Association.
Repealed[1] §4. The Bar Director shall be appointed by the Attorney General and shall serve until resignation, impeachment, dismissal by the Chief Justice or recall by ⅔ majority vote of Bar membership.[1]
§4.[1] The members of the Bar shall elect the Bar Director in accordance with the bylaws of the Bar
Article 2: Certified Attorneys
§1. The Bar Director shall create, administer and maintain a certification exam to ensure a high standard of legal knowledge for certified attorneys.
- §1.1. The certification exam may only be taken once per person per day.
- §1.2. In the absence of a Bar Director, the exam shall be created, administered, and maintained by the Attorney General.
§2. Persons who achieve a score of eighty percent (80%) or higher on the certification exam shall pass; being granted the status of Certified Attorney.
- §2.1. Certified Attorney status shall last for a year (365 days) from the date of grading by the Bar Director, after which Certified Attorneys must retake the certification exam or lose their Certified Attorney status.
- §2.2. The certification exam may be taken while already being a Certified Attorney, at which point the year period shall count from the most recently passed certification exam.
- §2.3. (Repealed)
- §2.4. Senior Counsel shall be exempt from the requirement to take or retake the certification exam.
§3. Certified Attorneys shall have the right to use Certified Attorney as their Reddit flair and the Certified Attorney role on the Discord.
§4. All Certified Attorneys shall be members of the National Bar Association; losing Certified Attorney status shall always mean deprivation of membership to the National Bar Association and vice versa.
§5. Only Certified Attorneys may be appointed to the posts of Bar Director.
Article 3: Disbarment
§1. Disbarment is the deprivation of Certified Attorney status and membership of the National Bar Association for behavior which is prohibited or unacceptable for a Certified Attorney.
§2. Petitions for disbarment signed by the Bar Director, Attorney General, or at least five (5) National Bar Association members shall initiate the process of disbarment.
- §2.1. Petitions shall include the accused National Bar Association member and evidence of the behavior conducive to disbarment.
§3. The panel of National Bar Association members shall judge the petition, investigate the matter independently and listen to any testimonies by affected parties.
§4. After concluding their judging the panel shall vote whether to disbar the accused National Bar Association member or not.
- §4.1. The panel shall take into account whether the accused’s behavior is in line with that of the National Bar Association’s standards for legal practice, any previous cases of disbarment and any relevant bylaws.
- §4.2. Disbarment requires a two-thirds (2/3rds) vote in favor by the panel in order to be confirmed.
§5. A vote in favor of disbarment shall immediately strip the disbarred from their Certified Attorney status and membership of the National Bar Association and forbid them from reentering the National Bar Association for a period of One (1) month.
Article 4: Bylaws
§1. The National Bar Association may pass bylaws regulating matters under its administration, including but not limited to the certification exam, disbarment, votes on confirmation and revocation of Senior Counsel status, and administrative issues.
Repealed[1]
- §1.1. National Bar Association bylaws are subordinate to all other forms of legislation and precedent and may not regulate matters outside of the scope of the National Bar Association’s duties.[1]
- §1.1.[1] Bylaws may only regulate internal matters of the bar. In this context, bar bylaws will be superior to any other legislation unless a piece of legislation specifies that it takes precedence over bylaws.
- §1.2. The Bar Director shall be bound by the bylaws and execute its provisions, except in cases where they are in contradiction with a higher authority.
§2. The Bar Director, Attorney General, or a petition signed by at least five (5) National Bar Association members may petition a bylaw.
§3. Petitioned bylaws shall be put up for vote for all National Bar Association members in a vote that lasts twenty-four (24) hours.
§4. Bylaws require a two-thirds (2/3rds) majority of votes in favor to be ratified.[1]
§4.[1] Bylaws require a simple majority of votes in favor to be ratified.
Article 5: The Panel of National Bar Association Members
§1. This panel will be made up of at least 3 randomly chosen members of the Bar Association and these members will act as judges in disbarment cases. After the disbarment case they will go back to acting normally.
§2. It will be up to the Attorney General and The Director of the Bar Association to gather this group and run the panel although neither gets any votes. They are responsible for gathering the members, informing and organizing them and then disbanding them.
Article 6: Miscellaneous
§1. The Bar Association Act of 2022 is made null and void.
