by Horatius Piscinus on Sat Nov 16, 2002 11:08 pm
Salvete Mus et omnes candidati
I agree on what praetores "should be responsible to maintain." And one may point to the consules' veto power over the praetores as one safeguard, and potentially the open Comitia where any member may stand up in the role of a Tribunus could be another safeguard. When considering potential situations as might arise, there was in Roma antiqua no greater guarantor of libertas than the Tribuni plebis. Therefore in developing procedures for our own legal system I think we should not forget this aspect of the mos maiorum or the Roman legal system.
Considering what you had said, and some of my concerns:
1. We do not want to overburden ourselves with much bureaucracy, and for that reason we eliminated some of the elective offices provided in our earlier Regula. As first Consul in SVR I was one that advocated we do something of that nature. That unfortuantely included elimination of the Tribuni, but at the time it was an unnecessary and extraneous position.
2. As you pointed out our magistrates, while in office, have certain obligations to protect the rights of our members, to investigate complaints of injustice, illegality, or irresponsibility,. and to maintain order and civility within our societas.
3. I would also point out that upon expiration of their term of office, our magistrates should be familiar with and experienced in our institutional system, our procedures, and the principles upon which these are based. I would further point out that former magistrates would likely have a vested interest to guarantee those same principles and procedures are followed after they leave office.
4. Where a Tribunus would be required would be in a situation between a magistrate and an individual member. By implication this would mean a potential allegation of an abuse of authority. We would like to see that such a hypothetical situation never arise in SVR, but as you and I both know, such a situation has already once threatened to develop in our societas. The collective action of our magistrates and Senate prevented it. The purpose of having a Tribunus is to allow for an advocate on behalf of an individual member against the collective weight of our magistrates and Senate. As we both know from our experiences elsewhere, that possibility is always present in any societas.
5. Having an elective office of a Tribunus is not necessarily the best solution to problems that have not arisen. Nor would an elective officer necessarily have the experience and knowledge of our system and its procedures as might be required to best ensure the rights of an individual member.
I would therefore like to propose for your consideration as one of our current consules, and potentially as a praetor who will work on designing procedures for our legal system, the following as a working idea:
All former, present, and future praetores and consules, upon expiration of their terms of office would become tribuni, with certain rights and powers outlined in the procedures of our legal system that will facilitate their acting as advocates of others. Should these former magistrates gain election to any other office of SVR, other than within a collegium or provincia, they would temporarily lose their tribunician authority and powers until such time as they would no longer be magistrates of the central organization.
In effect this would mean that individuals familar with and experienced in our legal system would become a body of advocates, lawyers, or solicitors, by whatever name you wish to call them, who could be called upon by individual members should they wish to seek assistance in dealing with sitting magistrates. Because of their experience and the working relationship we may assume they have had with sitting magistrates, they would represent the best our system might allow for the defense of an individual member.
Politically it may prove interesting as it would mean that standing magistrates would have their actions subject to scrutiny by former magistrates in a formal way. This may lend itself to our developing a legal tradition that passes on from one administration to the next. Also there is the potential, should political parties eventually develop in SVR, that we would be able to formalize a means of contending over issues in a civil manner. What I am suggesting is that those who fail to gain re-election would still be given a role to play in our political system, one that might provide for healthy contention rather than become disruptive to our political process.
I make this suggestion only as an issue of consideration when our first praetores do begin work on developing procedures for our legal system. Stipulating in those procedures that we have legal council available to our members in the form of a Tribunus from among a few that they may select, what authority and powers the Tribunus may have, and what procedures he or she would need to follow, I would think could provide for a more orderly and civil manner of resolving problems that could arise. You may wish to read Cicero in De Legibus on what he thought of the value of having Tribuni plebis. I might have a different view than his rather cynical presentation, but do not dismiss entirely the experience of an advocate such as Cicero was, nor would I dismiss the experience of our present day legal systems.
Valete optime
Moravius Piscinus
M Horatius Piscinus
Sapere aude!