Supreme Court of Selucia

The Supreme Court of Selucia (in Selucian: Iudicium Maximum) is the highest federal court of Selucia. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all regional courts and over state court cases involving issues of federal law, plus original jurisdiction over a small range of cases. In the legal system of Selucia, the Supreme Court is the final interpreter of federal constitutional law, although it may only act within the context of a case in which it has jurisdiction.

The Court consists of the Iudex Maximus (Supreme Judge) of Selucia and six Iudices Superiores (Superior Judges) who are nominated by the Caesar Senatus and confirmed by the Senate. Once appointed, justices have life tenure unless they resign, retire, or are removed after impeachment (though no justice has ever been removed). In modern discourse, the justices are often categorized as having conservative, moderate, or liberal philosophies of law and of judicial interpretation. Each justice has one vote, and while many cases are decided unanimously, the highest profile cases often expose ideological beliefs that track with those philosophical or political categories. The Iudicium meets in the Selucia Supreme Court Building in Victoria, Uleroth.

History
The Supreme Court was created in 4100 by Ethan Megalos and Kyrian Aetius Flavius, soon after their party In Marea Possumus Facere came to power after defeating Factio Conservativa in the 4100 elections, as part of their electoral program in order to separate the judicial and executive powers in Selucia.

In 4219, Anquiro Sorianus was the first Iudex from the Supreme Court suspended, after being accused of corruption.

In 4344, Article 100 was activated, which stablished: "If, in a period of more than ten years and with more than two vacant seats, the legislative branch of the nation has not been able to elect the members of the tribunal, the Supreme Court will be empowered to elect, by simple majority, the members that are considered more qualified to occupy the empty seats." After the governments of Pars Militum Petulantia and Conservative Liberal Party didnt present their candidates to replace the vacant seats.

In 4378, Judge Ariadna Pragmata was elected following Article 99, after no candidate was approved by the Senate.

In 4433, after a debate with all the Selucian political forces, Minister of Justice Zera Veli from In Marea-Civis Sinistram created a new law to formally stablish the rules to guide the Supreme Court, which included a change in the appointment of its members and the lenght of their mandates.

Size
At first the bill did not specified the number of justices. However, Athena Scudo in 4116 decided to limit the number to six and the Magni Iudex, in order to keep it regulated.

Appointment and confirmation
Until 4433, the Caesar Senatus shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Judges of the 'Supremum Iudicatorium." Most Caesares nominated candidates who broadly share their ideological views, although a justice's decisions may end up being contrary to a president's expectations. Because the Constitution sets no qualifications for service as a justice, a president may nominate anyone to serve, subject to Senate confirmation.

The Senate shall vote to approve the candidature or not. At least 2/3 of the Selucian parties and 2/3 of the Senators shall vote. The candidate would pass if a single majority is achieved, and would fail in the opposite scenario. If it failed, there was no second chance and Article 99 was immediately activated, which indicated that "if after all the candidates presented have been proposed to the Senate and no one has won the vote of confidence, the members of the Supreme Court shall be given the authority to elect a candidate by themselves".

However, after the Velian Law of the Supreme Court is approved, the process will be simplified. The most important section changed the appointment for life to a non-renewable 20-years period. Although the number of seats will be kept, they will correspond to different things: the Magni Iudex will change its name to Iudex Maximus, and will be appointed directly by the Minister of Justice at the time. Five of the other seats will be fulfilled by the candidates elected by the Praetors of the Selucian provinces at the time, and the last seat will be elected by the Leader of the Opposition at the time. Any member of the Supreme Court will be removed by a majority of 2/3 of the votes in the Senate, and shall receive the approval of the Iudex Maximus. If the one to be removed is the Iudex Maximus, the affirmative vote of at least 2 Iudex is required. Also, if no member is appointed by the legal forms in a period of 5 years after the vacancy of the previous judge, the Ministry of Justice shall be responsible of the new appointment.

In modern times, the confirmation process has attracted considerable attention from the press and advocacy groups, which lobby senators to confirm or to reject a nominee depending on whether their track record aligns with the group's views. The Senate Judiciary Committee conducts hearings and votes on whether the nomination should go to the full Senate with a positive, negative or neutral report. The committee's practice of personally interviewing nominees is relatively recent. Once the committee reports out the nomination, the full Senate considers it. Rejections are relatively uncommon;

Nevertheless, not every nominee has received a floor vote in the Senate. Although Senate rules do not necessarily allow a negative vote in committee to block a nomination, a nominee may be filibustered once debate has begun in the full Senate. A president may also withdraw a nomination before the actual confirmation vote occurs, typically because it is clear that the Senate will reject the nominee.

Once the Senate confirms a nomination, the president must prepare and sign a commission, to which the Seal of the Department of Justice must be affixed, before the new justice can take office. The seniority of an associate justice is based on the commissioning date, not the confirmation or swearing-in date.

Current Justices
Names in cursive correspond to Ministers of Justice, if the Head of Government did not appoint any.

Retired Justices
They may be designated for temporary assignments to sit on lower regional courts. Such assignments are formally made by the Magni Iudex, on request of the Iudex of the lower court and with the consent of the retired Justice.

At the moment there is no alive retired justices, after the suspension for corruption of Anquiro Sorianus in 4219

Justices sometimes strategically plan their decisions to leave the bench, with personal, institutional, and partisan factors playing a role. The fear of mental decline and death often motivates justices to step down. The desire to maximize the Court's strength and legitimacy through one retirement at a time, when the Court is in recess, and during non-presidential election years suggests a concern for institutional health. Finally, especially in recent decades, many justices have timed their departure to coincide with a philosophically compatible president holding office, to ensure that a like-minded successor would be appointed.

Statistics (as of 4433)

 * Magni Iudex: 3 men, 4 women.
 * Iudex 1: 3 men, 3 women.
 * Iudex 2: 5 men, 1 women.
 * Iudex 3: 2 men, 4 women.
 * Iudex 4: 2 men, 4 women.
 * Iudex 5: 5 men, 0 women.
 * Iudex 6: 5 men, 1 women.
 * Number of women: 17
 * Number of men: 23

Iudicum Conditores
The Iudicum Conditores (founder judges), were as follows:

September 4160
[http://forum.particracy.net/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1585&start=410#p110951 Resolution about the request of revision or withdrawal of the Istalian-Selucian Treaty of Cooperation. Result: 6-1 against.]

September 4237
[http://forum.particracy.net/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1585&p=117770#p117770 Resolution abouth the request of withdrawal the support to all nations in the Security Council. Result 5-2 against.] 

March 4399
[http://forum.particracy.net/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1585&p=134116#p134116 Resolution regarding the instauration of death penalty in all Selucian territories. Result: 6-1 against its illegality, 7-0 in favour of adjustements, 7-0 in favour of its paralization until adjustements.]