Version 10
APPROVED 5/5/2015
Article I: Organization
Section 1. The name of this organization shall be the Rensselaer Union Judicial Board, hereinafter referred to as the Judicial Board.
Section 2. The Judicial Board gains its authority from the Rensselaer Union Constitution.
Section 3. The Judicial Board shall be the primary court of judgment for cases in which student rights, responsibilities, or conduct is in question as defined by the Rensselaer Union Constitution.
Article II: Membership
Section 1. A Regular Member shall be defined as any person who has voting rights in the Judicial Board, as defined by the Rensselaer Union Constitution.
Section 2. Judicial Board membership shall consist of the Judicial Board Chairman, and Regular Members as defined by the Rensselaer Union Constitution.
Section 3. An Alternate Member shall be defined as an individual who has the capacity to serve in the stead of a Regular Member for a given case or meeting, and shall be selected through the same process as a Regular Member.
- The Alternate Member pool shall consist of a maximum of five members.
Article III: Officers
Section 1. The Judicial Board Chairman is the presiding officer of the Judicial Board, hereinafter referred to as the Chairman. Powers and duties of the Chairman shall include:
- The Chairman shall be responsible for the functioning of the Judicial Board, and shall preside over all meeting and hearings.
- The Chairman shall have the power to assign appropriate work to members.
- The Chairman shall have the power to recommend removal, for good cause, of any member or Alternate to the Student Senate. It shall require a 2/3 vote of the Senate to remove the member.
Section 2. The Chairman shall nominate a Vice Chairman from the voting membership of the Judicial Board. The Vice Chairman shall be confirmed by a 2/3 vote of the Judicial Board.
- The Vice Chairman shall assume the duties of the Chairman, if the Chairman is unable to fulfill those duties, or at the request of the Chairman.
Article IV: Selection
Section 1. Members of the Judicial Board shall be appointed by the process outlined in the Union Constitution.
Article V: Jurisdiction
Section 1. The Judicial Board shall have jurisdiction over the Union and all of its subordinate bodies as defined in the Union Constitution.
Article VI: Procedure
Section 1. The Judicial Board shall have two types of meetings.
- Hearings shall be those meetings held to consider cases. Quorum for hearings shall be four, and at least three of those present must be Regular Members. A 2/3 vote of those members present shall be required to approve any decision.
- Business meetings shall be those meetings called for any reason other than the hearing of a case. quorum for business meetings shall be four Regular Members. It shall require a 2/3 vote of those Regular Members present to approve any action.
Section 2. If in any case the Judicial Board cannot reach quorum to hear a case in the required period of time, or in which the Board as a whole has a conflict of interest, the Chair may refer the case to the Review Board without a hearing by the Judicial Board.
Section 3. A concise statement of each case, omitting names and other non-essential information, may be submitted to campus media at the conclusion of each case except when, at the discretion of the Chair and the Dean of Students, this would not be appropriate or would compromise confidentiality.
Section 4. The Judicial Board may set further rules for its own operation by a 2/3 vote.
Article VII: Subordinate Judicial Bodies
Section 1. If the Judicial Board shall find that an excessive number of cases of a routine or minor nature are arising within any area, it may establish a subordinate judicial body.
Section 2. The Judicial Board shall determine the jurisdiction, powers, and membership of subordinate judicial bodies.
Section 3. All subordinate judicial bodies shall be chaired by a Judicial Board member or Alternate, appointed by the Judicial Board Chair and approved by 2/3 of the Senate.
Section 4. Subordinate judicial bodies shall use the same procedures as Judicial Board, unless the Judicial Board explicitly provides otherwise.
Section 5. Any decision made by a subordinate judicial body may be appealed to the Judicial Board as a whole provided the Grounds for Appeal are met.
Section 6. The Student Motor Vehicle Court shall exist as a subordinate judicial body. Its Chair shall be a voting member of the Judicial Board. The Student Motor Vehicle Court Will be responsible for handling appeals for on -campus parking tickets.
Article VIII: Amendments
Amendments to these ByLaws shall require a 2/3 approval of the Judicial Board followed by a 2/3 approval of the Student Senate.