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Court Terms

Vocabulary Used

Attire

The ASUCM Court suggests that all parties involved in the case as well as the Justices hearing the case dress in a business casual or business professional fashion. Professional attire is not a requirement, however, any attire that is disruptive to the case will not be permitted and Court reserves the right to remove anyone with disruptive attire. 

Objection

Objections may only be heard when recognized by the ASUCM Court.  In the event that the Petitioner or Respondent believes that the information brought forward is not in accordance with the evidence or issue brought forth, the opposite party may object.  Should the objection be recognized, the objector and the respondent will each have (30) seconds to explain their objection and provide clarification as to why the objection should be sustained or overruled.  Objections are only permitted during the argument and witness portion of the hearing procedure. Interaction between the Petitioner and Respondent is not allowed during this time.  Time used for objections will not come out of the time allotted to the individual arguing prior to the objection. The Justice running the hearing will determine if the objections shall be sustained or denied.   

Witness  

The witness name must be submitted with the P1 or R1 form submissions. 

Majority Opinion

The Majority Opinion shall give background regarding all arguments, explain what actions shall take place due to this case, and explain the reasoning behind the decision that was made on the official document with the court’s decision.  This document shall be made public within one week of the date that the hearing was held.  All decisions can be found on the ASUCM website.  One Majority Opinion will be released at the conclusion of each court case.     

Minority Opinion

Minority opinions may be released by the ASUCM Court if the decision made was not unanimously agreed upon on the official document with the court’s decision.  This document will explain the reasoning behind the decision of the justices that did not agree with the decision that was made.  If the ASUCM Court chooses to write a Minority Opinion it will be made public within one week of the hearing. 

Expedited Case

Any Petition filed after the last two weeks (prior Finals week) of the semester shall be considered to be an expedited case.