Supreme Court of the Grand Unified Micronational

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The Supreme Court of the Grand Unified Micronational is the organisation's judicial branch. It is led by the supreme justice, and also consists of a number of associate justices (currently three). The Court is assisted by the registrar.

The court has jurisdiction over all cases of GUM law, and any case of international law where every party consents to the Court's jurisdiction. The supreme justice is elected by Quorum every six months. They then nominate associate justices, who must be confirmed by Quorum to take office.

The Court was previously known as the Justice Commission. Before August 2010, chair Robert Lethler was often seen as the man controlling its proceedings. Sometimes, this was with the collaboration of the supreme justices, who were often forced to follow him in the absence of any legal convention. The Justice Commission brought New Scientopia to trial over negligent disclosure of information regarding New Europe, offered possible trial to the Kingdom of Camuria, introduced the illegalisation of hacking, compiled a list of intermicronational legal terms with clear definitions, and declared official opinions regarding events such as the Rhodesian War.

The current Supreme Justice is Jonathan I of Austenasia, who took office on 19 August 2023.

Supreme Justice

The Supreme Justice's office is one of the most powerful and prestigious in the organisation. It is a post which can be seen a stepping-stone to becoming Chair, with nine supreme justices going on to become Chair immediately following their term. This is moreso the case than even the vice-Chair of the organisation.

When the Supreme Court was known as the Justice Commission, the Supreme Justice was formally known as the Chair of the Presidium of the Supreme Tribune of the Grand Unified Micronational Justice Commission, a title that had some notoriety on account of its length.

Timeline

James BornsteinSertor ValentinusHenry ClémensAbrams I of IkoniaNewton von UberquieAnthony R. ClarkHoratio EdenAdam I, Emperor of AdammiaArthur I, Emperor of WürdigelandTaeglan I Nihilus, Reylan EmperorBrooklyn KennedyBradley of DullahanQuentin I, Holy Roman EmperorAlex WhitmarshCiprianJacob TierneyJonathan I, Emperor of AustenasiaWilhelm of New EuropeJames StewartRobert Lethler

List of Supreme Justices

Picture Name Country Term start Term end Associate Justices Notes
Robert Lethler Democratic People's Republic of Erusia February 2009 13 April 2009 N/A De-facto Supreme Justice.
1 James Stewart Democratic Duchy of Francisville 13 April 2009 13 July 2009 N/A First official Supreme Justice.
2 Robert Lethler Democratic People's Republic of Erusia 13 July 2009 13 October 2009 N/A
3 James Stewart Democratic Duchy of Francisville 13 October 2009 13 January 2010 N/A
4 Wilhelm von Hartmann Empire of New Europe 13 January 2010 14 June 2010 N/A
Vacant 14 June 2010 13 July 2010
5 Jonathan Nobilissimus Caesar Empire of Austenasia 13 July 2010 13 September 2010 N/A
Vacant 13 September 2010 14 August 2011
6 Jonathan Nobilissimus Caesar Empire of Austenasia 14 August 2011 13 December 2011 N/A
7 Wilhelm von Hartmann Empire of New Europe 13 December 2011 13 March 2012 N/A
8 Jacob Tierney Free State of Renasia 13 March 2012 13 June 2012 N/A
9 Ciprian I Kingdom of Juclandia 13 June 2012 13 September 2012 N/A
10 Jonathan Nobilissimus Caesar Empire of Austenasia 13 September 2012 19 January 2013 N/A First Supreme Justice to become Acting Chair, after both the Chair and Vice-Chair resigned.
Alex Ulbricht Union of South London Soviet Socialist Republics 20 January 2013 13 March 2013 N/A Acting Supreme Justice. Took office after the previous Supreme Justice, in an unprecedented situation, became Acting Chair.
11 Quentin I Kingdom of Wyvern 13 March 2013 13 September 2013 N/A
12 Jacob Tierney Free State of Renasia 13 September 2013 27 October 2013 N/A
13 Ciprian I Kingdom of Juclandia 27 October 2013 13 December 2013 N/A
14 Bradley of Dullahan Kingdom of Wyvern 13 December 2013 13 March 2014 N/A
15 Brooklyn Hewitt Ashukov Federation 13 March 2014 13 June 2014 N/A
16 Taeglan I Nihilus Reylan Imperial Triumvirate 13 June 2014 13 December 2014 N/A
17 Arthur I Technocratic Capital of Würdigeland 13 December 2014 1 April 2015 N/A
18 Jonathan I Empire of Austenasia 1 April 2015 14 June 2015 N/A
Vacant 14 June 2015 5 June 2016 N/A
19 Taeglan I Nihilus Reylan Imperial Triumvirate 5 June 2016 2 January 2017 N/A
20 Bradley of Dullahan Kingdom of Wyvern 2 January 2017 3 December 2017  • Anthony Clark of Mcarthia
(2 Jan - 21 Oct)
 • Shiro of Zenrax
(2 Jan - 17 May)
 • Jonathan I of Austenasia
(from 8 May)
21 Bilal I Shorewell 3 December 2017 11 February 2018  • Jonathan I of Austenasia
 • Henry Clémens of Uber-Esse
(from 19 Jan)
Vacant 11 February 2018 14 April 2018  • Jonathan I of Austenasia
 • Henry Clémens of Uber-Esse
(to 16 Mar)
22 Adam I Empire of Adammia 14 April 2018 7 July 2018  • Jonathan I of Austenasia
Vacant 7 July 2018 8 September 2018  • Jonathan I of Austenasia
23 Horatio Eden Amissopian Federation 8 September 2018 25 August 2019  • Jonathan I of Austenasia
(to 7 Jul)
 • Bradley of Dullahan of Wyvern
(20 Jan - 7 Jul)
 • Shiro of Zenrax
(from 14 Jul)
 • Thomas I of Hrafnarfjall
(from 14 Jul)
Heard Quebec et al. v. Baustralia, the GUM's first court case since the Lethler era.
24 Shiro of Zenrax State of Zenrax 25 August 2019 11 January 2020  • Thomas I of Hrafnarfjall
(to 31 Dec)
 • Matthew S. of Essexia
(from 8 Sep)
25 Bradley of Dullahan Kingdom of Wyvern 11 January 2020 2 January 2021  • Jonathan I of Austenasia
(from 29 Feb)
 • Newton von Uberquie of Uber-Esse
(29 Feb - 30 Jun)
 • Henry Clémens of Uber-Esse
(from 4 Jul)
26 Anthony Clark New Florence 2 January 2021 11 July 2021  • Jonathan I of Austenasia
(to 9 Jan)
 • Newton von Uberquie of Uber-Esse
(from 2 Jan)
 • Brooklyn Hewitt of New Virginia
(9 Jan - 20 Mar)
 • Ashley Jaax of Iustus
(from 20 Mar)
 • James Frisch of the Serene Beaconite Republic
(from 29 Mar)
27 Newton von Uberquie Uber-Essian Union 11 July 2021 30 December 2021  • Ashley Jaax of Iustus
(to 22 Aug)
 • James Frisch of the Serene Beaconite Republic
 • Patrick Renwick of Paravia
(from 22 Jul)
 • Adam I of Adammia
(from 22 Jul)
Was declared incapacitated due to inactivity for the final few weeks of his term. Emperor Adam I briefly became Acting Supreme Justice, but stood down in order to contest the Chair election. James Frisch then served as Acting Supreme Justice until his suspension on 30 December. Von Uberquie resigned in protest at the suspension of Frisch.
28 Abrams I Serene Beaconite Republic[a] 4 January 2022 31 January 2022  • Newton von Uberquie of Uber-Esse
(from 25 Jan)
 • Bradley of Dullahan of Wyvern
(from 25 Jan)
 • Sander II of Revalia
(from 25 Jan)
Won immediate election called by Quorum after Von Uberquie's resignation, defeating Anthony Clark and Bradley of Dullahan after two rounds in perhaps the most closely-contested three-way GUM election ever. Served the shortest term of a GUM Supreme Judge in history, at 27 days. Became the first ever Supreme Judge to lose a vote of no confidence, as a result of causing widespread destruction to the MicroWiki@Discord server as part of wider protests against the MicroWiki administrators.
29 Bradley of Dullahan Kingdom of Wyvern 31 January 2022 4 July 2022  • Newton von Uberquie of Uber-Esse
(to 18 Jun)
 • Bradley of Dullahan of Wyvern
(to 9 Feb)
 • Sander II of Revalia
 • Jonathan I of Austenasia
(from 18 Jun)
Won the election that was held in the Quorum of Delegates after the removal of Abrams I due to a vote of no-confidence, with 22 votes against 7. Served as Acting Supreme Justice until his confirmation on 9 February. Became the longest serving Supreme Justice of the Grand Unified Micronational.
30 Anthony Clark New Florence 4 July 2022 8 January 2023  • Jonathan I of Austenasia
(26 Jul - 6 Sep)
 • Newton von Uberquie of Uber-Esse
(26 Jul - 6 Sep)
 • Horatio Eden of the Serene Beaconite Republic
(26 Jul - 31 Dec)
 • Shiro of Zenrax
(11 Sep - 31 Dec)
 • Patrick Renwick of Paravia
(from 11 Sep)
31 Henry Clémens Uber-Esse 8 January 2023 30 April 2023  • Patrick Renwick of Paravia
 • Sertor Valentinus of West Sayville
(from 22 Jan)
 • James Bornstein of Desert District
(from 22 Jan)
Sertor Valentinus West Sayville 30 April 2023 4 May 2023  • Sertor Valentinus of West Sayville
 • James Bornstein of Desert District
Became Acting Supreme Justice due to being the senior-most Associate Justice while waiting for James Bornstein to take office (see below).
32 James Bornstein Desert District 4 May 2023 30 June 2023  • Sertor Valentinus of West Sayville Delayed start to taking office due to a short-lived requirement that the Supreme Justice must pass a legal exam. Elected by Quorum to take office on 1 May, but could not do so until passing the exam.
Sertor Valentinus West Sayville 1 July 2023 19 August 2023  • Sertor Valentinus of West Sayville Served as Acting Supreme Justice during an abnormally long wait for a new Supreme Justice to be elected, due to being sole Associate Justice during this time.
33 Jonathan I Empire of Austenasia 19 August 2023 Incumbent  • Sertor Valentinus of West Sayville
(to 31 Dec)
 • Newton von Uberquie of Uber-Esse
(from 15 Jan)
 • Jon I of Northudankton
(from 15 Jan)

Associate Justices by seniority

Associate Justices - of which there are currently two - are ranked by the total number of days served in office. The chronological terms of different Associate Justices can be seen in the table above. There can be up to three Associate Justices.

Those currently in office are in bold; former office-holders are in ordinary type.

See also

Notes

  1. Cameron ran under the SBR as a full-delegate as Ikonia was not yet a full-member.