The World Assembly

RECOGNIZES that those detained by police and judicial authorities either while awaiting adjudication or investigation, or while serving a penal sentence, may be vulnerable to abuse.

WORRIES that those members of society who have been accused but not yet found guilty may be forced to endure worse treatment than those whose guilt has been determined.

THE WORLD ASSEMBLY:

1. DEFINES:

1. "detainee" as a person who is in custody while subjected to questioning, criminal proceedings and/or trial, but for whom either (a) a verdict has not yet been determined at a trial, or (b) whose guilt is determined but is awaiting a punishment to be pronounced.

2. "convict" as a person who is serving a custodial sentence after guilt has been pronounced.

2. STIPULATES that all detainees must be presumed to be innocent until a formal verdict is determined at a trial.

3. REQUIRES all member nations to provide the following, at a minimum, to all detainees and convicts:

1. Sufficient and appropriate living space.

2. Regular access to physical activity.

3. A diet sufficient to sustain life.

4. Appropriate clothing for extant environmental conditions as deemed necessary for the inmate.

5. Prevention of abuse, with the proviso that effects that are directly due to the loss of freedom, such as isolation, shall not be considered abuse.

6. Access to correspondence and visitation with consenting family members and friends from the outside community on a regular, reasonably frequent basis, in a manner consistent with the safety and security of the institution, institutional staff and inmates.

4. PERMITS member nations to temporarily suspend the services detailed in clauses 3b and 3f above for a reasonably short period of time, as punishment for misbehavior after a reasonable judgment is made.

5. MANDATES that member nations shall each establish national standards jointly with the World Assembly Commission on Human Rights for all services listed in clause 3 above, and further requires member nations to meet or exceed such standards.

6. ALLOWS member nations to monitor inmates who are taking advantage of the services listed above in order to maintain institutional security and order, except as otherwise regulated by extant or future international law.

7. OBLIGATES all nations to additionally provide detainees with:

1. Conditions, privileges, and rights that are no worse than those accorded to convicts who pose a similar risk to institutional safety and security.

2. Notification of the reason for their detention.

3. Access to legal documentation relevant to their trial, in a form accessible to the detainee.

4. The right to prepare for their own defense.

8. OBLIGES member nations to provide oversight of convict and detainee care beyond that exercised by the direct management of the correctional institution

9. GRANTS all detainees and convicts the right to have appeals of conditions of detainment heard by oversight institutions specified in clause 8.

10. FORBIDS member nations from arranging to house their detainees and/or convicts at facilities in outside nations for the purposes of evading compliance with this resolution.

Legacy General Assembly Resolution #190 “Habeas Corpus Act” (Category: Civil Rights; Strength: Strong) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

THE WORLD ASSEMBLY:

APPLAUDS the aim of protecting individuals from unreasonable detainment practices.

REALIZES, however, that the specific time limits listed within the resolution's text may risk the safety and prosperity of WA member nations; for example:

1. Clause 1 may require WA member nations to criminalize otherwise non-criminal offenses for the purposes of public safety.

   1. Government-provided child protective services would be severely limited to a maximum of 6 hours per 7 day period, due to shortcomings in GAR#19, Child Protection Act, in combination with GAR#190. This limit would apply to, for example, children who are removed from their homes due to suspicions of parental/guardian abuse.

   2. Non-criminal detainment of intoxicated individuals is limited to a maximum of 6 hours per 7 day period. This may not be sufficient to allow individuals to be held for the duration of their intoxication.

   3. Six hours of administrative detainment for illegal immigrants may be insufficient to accurately determine where such individuals originated from prior to their deportation.

2. There are no exceptions granted for Clauses 1 & 2 with regards to “special circumstances.”

   1. Some suspects may be considered a “flight risk” if they are not detained while sufficient evidence is collected and compiled for the purposes of charging them with a crime. This process may take longer than the maximum time allowed.

   2. Some crimes, such as terrorist attacks or serial killings, may be especially complicated, which would require additional detainment time before charges can be formally filed. Such a circumstance is outlawed.

DETAILS that Clause 6 outlaws any detainment for criminal offenses that are only punishable by a fine, which may require WA member nations to change their penal code to include the possibility of jail time for such offenses.

QUOTES the following line in the resolution’s text, which reads: “CLARIFIES that nothing in this resolution shall be interpreted as prohibiting any of the following,” and

SPECIFIES that the aforementioned phrasing does not in any way exempt the following items from any of the preceding clauses of the resolution. Therefore, “Involuntary psychiatric commitment” and “Medical quarantines” are not prohibited but are limited, such that they are only allowed for up to 6 hours within 7 days in the absence of criminal suspicion. As a result:

1. Individuals who undergo “involuntary psychiatric commitment” must be treated and released after 6 hours. Most psychiatric treatments take multiple days, if not weeks or months, to be fully effective. This 6 hour limit prevents WA member nations from providing effective treatment to these individuals.

2. An individual cannot be “medical(ly) quarantine(d)” for more than 6 hours. This negates the quarantining efforts as, even with appropriate treatment, individuals will typically remain contagious after such a short period of time.

NOTES that Clause 12 unintentionally bans all medical quarantines for infections that are not at risk of causing a pandemic but do have the potential to cause widespread harm within a limited geographic area, even though such quarantines may be in the best interests of overall public health.

HOPES that an improved version of the Habeas Corpus protections will be considered by this Assembly.

REPEALS GAR#190, Habeas Corpus Act.

THIS WORLD ASSEMBLY,

RECOGNIZING the loophole in international law regarding human rights, a loophole which allows for human rights to be violated by member nations by the simple transfer of individuals outside of WA territory.

FURTHER RECOGNIZING the treaties, alliances, and other associations made between WA and non-WA nations that could provide the means and opportunity for such violations to occur.

HEREBY bans in all member nations the willful, knowledgeable transfer of any individual from a member nation to another jurisdiction by an individual, organization, or member state for the purposes of denying or violating any of the political or civil rights that are guaranteed to that individual in the jurisdiction of the member state by law.

URGES member nations to take action to, in a way compatible with national security interests, the interests of the individual(s) involved, applicable law, and practicality, restore those rights that were denied due to the transfer with the consent of the individual in cases in which such a transfer has taken place prior to the enactment of this resolution.

RECOGNIZING the significant financial and psychological burden that criminal trials cause to innocent defendants.

DEPLORING the practice of trying individuals repeatedly for a single offense without valid justification,

NOTING the potential for governments to use multiple trials as a means of harassing defendants.

SEEKING to create a balance between preventing unjustified multiple trials of individuals while allowing nations to ensure justice through fair retrial,

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1. DEFINES "retrial", for the purpose of this resolution, as a prosecution-initiated re-trial of a defendant after a final verdict was previously passed on a legal case based on substantially the same alleged actions as the previous verdict.

2. OUTLAWS retrials except where significant and compelling miscarriages of justice can result from allowing the verdict previously reached to stand, such as when proper legal procedure was not followed in the course of the previous trial.

3. MANDATES that each member nation shall independently determine, for their nation's legal system:

   1. Specific circumstances, which qualify as significant miscarriages of justice, under which retrials are allowed.

   2. A reasonably low limit on the number of such retrials.
      

4. FORBIDS retrials under all circumstances within a given nation except as allowed under clause 3.

5. REQUIRES defendants to be provided with

   1. Written notification of the decision to seek a retrial and the reasons for doing so; and

   2. the right to appeal, before an impartial judge, the decision to retry the case.
      

6. FORBIDS the filing of new criminal complaints on an individual based upon substantially the same facts as a previously concluded trial for the purpose of circumventing restrictions on retrials.

7. CLARIFIES that nothing in this resolution shall affect a defendant’s right to appeal their conviction or sentence.
   

Co-Authored by Ossitania