We the Fools
This may or may not be the title of my upcoming book or the first of a "we the fools" series. This one would then have the subtitle:
On the self-appointment of groups of lawmakers and -adjudicators
The "Great Council" of Geneva appears to have decided, just like that, not to let people vote on "most of" the judges of Geneva anymore, letting these judges elect each other, in other words elect themselves.
"Le Grand Conseil a décidé que la majorité de la magistrature ne sera plus élue par le peuple, mais par lui-même, afin d’éviter le chaos électoral." https://lecourrier.ch/2025/01/23/moins-de-juges-elu%C2%B7es/ retrieved Jan 24, 2025.
Dear folks of Geneva, we are fooled folks.
It says "afin d’éviter le chaos électoral", that is "to prevent electoral chaos". Right...
The chaos that we globally have at the moment, as explained in my earlier post https://www.tumblr.com/alevemine/768655597427146752/the-current-state-of-humanity is about regulations. Judges thus become, as I there explained, lawmaking and adjudicating creatures on whom influence becomes paramount for anyone who wants their stakes to gain the upper hand in outcomes.
If We the Fools don't elect them, does the 'risk' that someone not shaped by this lobby-Ersatz would land in such a position get reduced? Does this steering then take less effort to perpetuate, aspiring entrants proactively shaping themselves to the ambient requirements? And We the Fools couldn't possibly elect any AIs that would replace judges, could we?
A similar problem exists in the International Law Commission and thus indirectly also at the International Court of Justice: "The statute provides for a different election procedure to fill a vacancy that occurs during the interval between the regular elections by the General Assembly (the so-called “casual vacancies”). In such a situation, the Commission itself elects the new member to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the term having due regard to the provisions contained in articles 2 and 8 of the statute (article 11).26 Vacancies in the membership of the Commission may occur for various reasons, such as death, serious illness, appointment to a new position or election to the International Court of Justice" https://legal.un.org/ilc/ilcmembe.shtml retrieved Jan 24, 2025.
As well as directly, at the ICJ: "Commissioners are selected by their peers", "each elected by their fellow Commissioners" https://www.icj.org/about/commission/ retrieved Jan 24, 2025.
Even when putting aside the agency problem, respectively the involved issue of the separation of powers, we are still...
We the fools.
