Rogamark
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Chief Executive
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Gender: Male
Discord ID: Rogamark#1427
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Post by Rogamark on Mar 12, 2021 20:48:42 GMT -5
Petitioner figelnarage has asked the Court to interpret section 7 of the Citizenship Act, "The Chief Executive shall act on any application for citizenship within seven (7) days.", with regard to the question what "acting on" an application means in this context.
The question is now before the Chief Justice. Petitioner and the Attorney General are invited, though not required, to brief the issue until next Thursday, March 18. Anybody else who wishes to express their opinion may do so through an amicus curiae brief in the Courtroom Gallery.
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cianbrox
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Free Spirit
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Post by cianbrox on Mar 17, 2021 16:44:58 GMT -5
Considering that the haiku era has ended, my Brief shall be submitted in limerick form.
Thanks to the Court for accepting my brief! And thanks to the Court's commander-in-chief The following is my statement To address an issue so flagrant And remove the legal 'beef'.
Firstly, I believe that the wording's not specific Therefore to the Chief Exec prolific It shall be condoned (And acceptance may be postponed!) Not to accept or deny - only unspecific.
The words are quite ambiguous Therefore a definite citizenship issuance Within seven days isn't required When an election has transpired When the people are elected by constituents.
In conclusion, your honour, to act means not just to accept Due to the wording (which was quite inept) Therefore a simple 'application received' message suffices So new citizens don't fall into vote-rigging vices Until the election's over and checked.
TDLR: Wording is ambiguous. Acceptance or denial isn't specified specifically, thus a simple message saying that the application is being considered fulfills the 7-day requirement.
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Rogamark
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Chief Executive
Posts: 736
Likes: 73
Gender: Male
Discord ID: Rogamark#1427
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Post by Rogamark on Mar 20, 2021 13:36:57 GMT -5
Advisory request 006 - Citizenship Executive Processing Rogamark, Chief JusticeThe Court thanks Petitioner for the question, and the unusually poetic brief. We are asked to interpret section 7 of the Citizenship Act, which directs the Chief Executive to "act on any application for citizenship within seven (7) days." Petitioner suggests in the brief that the Citizenship Act fails to define "act upon", and thus any action taken within the seven-day window, including the decision not to act for the time being, will satisfy the requirement. At first glance this seems to be a tenable reading. It is a basic principle of statutory interpretation that words are to be understood in their ordinary, everyday meaning. And the everyday meaning of "to act upon" is simply "to do something with". However, this only applies when the statute in question does not provide a specific definition - the Citizenship Act does not - and when the context does not suggest a more specific legal or technical meaning. Finally, the canons of statutory interpretation urge me to construe unclear or ambiguous words or phrases in the context of the entire statute, rather than look at a single part in a vacuum. In this particular case, doing so bears fruit. Sections 4-7 are preceded by the heading "Procedure", and roughly follow the citizenship application process from requirements for the application process to the decision. Section 5 is of particular interest. It instructs the Chief Executive to either accept or deny an application, and creates a judicially reviewable standard for denial. Thus, in processing an application, the Chief Executive has a binary choice between two (2) options, and purposely delaying processing is not one of them. Reading section 7 before the backdrop of the preceding sections I hold that an application has been "acted upon" for section 7 purposes when it has been accepted or denied within seven (7) days.
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