High Court

Seal of the High Court

## Legislature

General Assembly

General Assembly President CelestiamPresident pro Tempore Frellor

Secretariat • Executive agencies

## Judiciary

**High Court** of the New West Indies

Chief Justice Karteria

## Elections

Electoral History • SecGen Elections • Presidential Elections • Other Elections

## Foreign Relations

Department of Foreign AffairsSecretary of Foreign Affairs: Funky Goats

World Assembly

The **High Court of the New West Indies**, colloquially known as the **High Court** or the **Court**, is the highest (and only) court in the New West Indies' judicial branch. It has jurisdiction over criminal, state, and civil law, holds the power of judicial review, can issue declaratory judgements, and can invalidate unconstitutional statutes. It judges cases in first and final instance, though the State Court can hear appeals on the form.

The High Court was established by GAR021 "Establishment of a Judicial System" via amending the Constitution in November 2019. Previously, the New West Indies had no judicial branch, with judicial powers being exercised by the Secretary-General and Founder.

## Chief Justice

*Main Article: Chief Justice*

The Chief Justice presides over the High Court. They are the highest-ranking member of the New West Indies Judiciary.

Chapter VI of the Constitution affords the Chief Justice their powers. Under §27, they are established as the sole ruler on any case before the High Court. They are able to adjudicate on penal issues, determine culpability regarding disputes, remedy state missteps, and approve lawyers to the bar.

Each Chief Justice is elected by the General Assembly for a term of 6 months and is eligible for one more consecutive term. Each term begins either on the first day of May or the first day of November (excluding the first term following the High Court's establishment, which began on December 2, 2019). While serving, the Chief Justice is not able to hold any other office.

Since the High Court's establishment on November 18, 2019, two nations have served as Chief Justice, beginning with Twelve Titans (December 2, 2019 – October 31, 2020), who served as the acting justice on multiple ongoing cases until February 1, 2021. The current Chief Justice is Karteria (since November 1, 2020).

## Cases

The High Court of the New West Indies has had 8 total cases since November 2019; all of them have been in the Criminal Court Division. Five of those cases included misdemeanors, three included felonies, and none have included high crimes. All cases have resulted in convictions, suspensions, or are ongoing.

The first High Court case, *New West Indies v. The Greater Iran*, began on December 10th, 2019 and regarded an alleged Misdemeanor Abuse of Freedom of Expression on Discord. This offense would prove to be a common one amongst the populace. One post was summarily suppressed by the Executive. While the complaint hearing was scheduled to begin on December 12th, the defendant telegrammed the Court, utilizing rude language and expressing a disinterest in cooperating with the proceedings. A noncompliance order was issued by the Court on December 14th, resulting in an indefinite ban of The Greater Iran until they resume cooperation.

The most number of counts in one case (8) was in *New West Indies v. Yashou Japan,* in which the defendant was accused of six felonies and two misdemeanors. The case was marred by multiple rounds of NationStates Moderator action, in which the mods deleted multiple posts allegedly posted by the defendant's nations. The initial post by the moderators prompted many of the charges.

The largest sentence ordered by the Court was in *New West Indies v. The Patriotism States*, where the defendant was sentenced to, among other punishments, a three-month ban from the region.

## See Also

1. High Court Region
2. High Court Discord Server