Vetoed Marshals Act

[ColonelKai]

Marshals Act

A
Bill
To

make possible the effective undertaking of the task handed to the Attorney General & Department of Justice, being the criminal investigation of suspected entities, and create standards, rights and similar to ensure the rights of the citizens pertaining to the investigations thereof.


Section I, Act Name
Section II, Commencement
Section IV, Marshals
Section V, Marshal Warrants
Section VI, Warrantless Seizure of Evidence
Section VII, Preventative Detention
Section VIII, Investigative Detention
Section IX, Warrantless Search



The Parliament of Stratham Enacts;

Section I, Act Name​

1. This act is the Marshals Act.

Section II, Commencement​

1. All provisions of this act are to be effective immediately after passage by the Parliament of Stratham.
2. In cases of conflicts with previous legislation regarding the topics covered by this Act, this Act is to take precedence.

Section III, Definition​

1. Law Enforcement Organisation, is the Department of Justice or other organisations authorised by the Department of Justice such as its subdivisions tasked with investigating and enforcing the law and keeping the peace and safety.
2. Law Enforcement Officer, is any member of Law Enforcement Organisations.

Section IV, Marshals​

1. The Republic of Stratham Marshals Service, or simply the Marshals Service, or R.S. Marshals Service is a subdivision of the Department of Justice that seeks to hold investigations on any high-level, planned, organisational or similar crimes, and violations.
2. The Marshals Service is headed by the Attorney General, and is operated by the Office of the Attorney General due to the legally technical nature of its work, and its members are referred to as Marshals, though the Marshals Service and the Attorney General are free to decide on more specified ranking systems.

Section V, Marshal Warrants​

1. Marshals and Marshals Services, have access to a series of warrants that must be requested and either granted or denied by the courts of stratham, where the reasons for the warrants and the rights granted by them are as follows;
   1. Investigative Property Search Warrant (RSMS.Warrant-A), must be for the purposes where there is a reasonable suspicion of illegal items and/or [documents/media which would be incriminating either through their existence, their contents or their contextual qualities] being in a property, and the seizure of the said items and/or documents/media would be relevant to an investigation. The Investigative Property Search Warrant allows the Marshals or Marshals Services the ability to enter and search the stated property.
   2. Investigative Information Disclosure Warrant (RSMS.Warrant-B), must be for purposes where information otherwise private is required to assist in the criminal investigation. The Investigative Information Disclosure Warrant allows the Marshals and Marshals Services the ability to demand information to be delivered to the Marshals truthfully and intact. Information includes documents, previous conversations, deals (verbal), contracts (written), testimonies and any other information pertaining to the investigation. However, the Investigative Information Disclosure Warrant cannot be used to force a citizen to give a self-incriminating testimony.
2. Any Law Enforcement Officers from other departments, at the request or permission of the Marshal undertaking the execution of a warrant or the Attorney General may assist in the execution of the aforementioned warrant.
3. After the execution of a warrant, a form detailing the undertaking, and what has been seized or disclosed is to be filled and put in RSMS Archives.

Section VI, Warrantless Seizure of Evidence​

1. Marshals and Marshals Services, are allowed to seize assets which they believe is valuable to an investigation either through its existence, their contents or their contextual qualities, if they believe that if not seized in a timely manner before a warrant can be issued, the assets will be modified or destroyed in a manner that will affect the investigation. In any case of a Warrantless Seizure of Evidence, a form, detailing what has been seized for what reasons, is to be filed and handed to a judge for examination.

Section VII, Preventative Detention​

1. Preventive Detention, or a ‘Terry Stop’, is the ability of a Law Enforcement Officer to temporarily put an individual under detention in cases where a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity can be seen.
2. If the results of the Preventive Detention are disruptive, and the suspected criminal activity is one of a non-violent nature, the detainment may not be undertaken.
3. The Law Enforcement Officer is allowed to, as long as the reaction by the Officer in regards to the reasonable suspicion and the following detention is reasonable, keep the individual under detention until;
   1. Reasonable inquiry reveals facts which cause the reasonable suspicion to no longer apply,
   2. The circumstances in which the reasonably suspected criminal activity would have been brought into existence is no longer viable,
   3. The existence of a criminal activity is confirmed and the detention is stepped up to an arrest.
4. During a Preventive Detention, the Officer MUST;
   1. Partake in reasonable inquiries regarding the situation,
   2. If applicable to the crime in which the individual was detained for, check the detained individual for signs and tools of aggression,
   3. Actively ensure the safety of the detained individual and attempt to always bring the detained individual out of harm's way for the length of the detainment.

Section VIII, Investigative Detention​

1. Investigative Detention, is the ability of a Law Enforcement Officer to temporarily put an individual under detention in cases where the timely inquiry of a matter is crucial to prevention of another crime. The officer detaining the individual must have at least a reasonable suspicion that a person has connections to the crime at hand.
2. The detention may only last as long as it is necessary to hold a reasonable inquiry of information pertaining to the reason of detainment, where if applicable, the route of least interference and the fastest to a reasonable degree of action must be taken by the officer and the associates thereof.

Section IX, Warrantless Search​

1. Warrantless Search, is the ability of a Law Enforcement Officer to conduct a search on an individual or an area without a warrant if;
   1. they have a reasonable suspicion that there is evidence within the aforementioned individuals or areas which if not retrieved in a timely manner, may be altered or destroyed, OR
   2. they are currently undertaking a preventative or investigative detention and the reasonable search of the individual is a key element to the detention at hand.

 

[Taps230]

Username: Tippytaps230
Vote: Aye
Reason for late vote: I was tired from work and forgot xD

 

[Tracefais]

This bill is hereby VETOED and not granted Prime Ministerial Assent.


While I think it is a good idea to have a position with these powers, I do not see the need to create a new subdivision inside the DOJ. Essentially this will be spreading the department even thinner than it is now. AG is able to be handled as a one man job at the moment, and I see no reason why they need specialized jobs working directly for them. Until more cases of high crime appear in court, I see this to be inefficient. Instead, I would recommend giving these powers to current PO. One possibility when AG asks for help, the DoJ minister can assign POs to a temporary task force to do the investigation as needed.​