Consent And Release Of Liability Form Regarding Training: Fill & Download for Free

Here's how officers will typically respond to and investigate given call types, and what you need to know about them:Assault CasesCommon Assault. This is what you likely think of when you hear the word ‘assault’ – offensive action taken by one person against another. In most cases this will be a misdemeanor unless there are aggravating circumstances (weapon used, serious injury, etc.). What you may not realize is that this goes beyond hitting and kicking; depending on the ordinance language in your jurisdiction, it may include things like being spit on or even being put in apprehension of imminent harm by something a person says. Common assaults can typically be cleared with a citation unless there is a threat of continued violence, in which the aggressor may be taken to jail (note that this is probably a book and release charge, however).Affray. This is essentially a physical fight in which each (or all) of the participants are more or less equally culpable. The most common way this played out was two guys getting into a fistfight, each getting some blows in, and a bystander (usually) calling 911. I would arrive and hear, “I want to press charges on him for assault!!” The other would then say, “No, I want to press charges on him for assault!!” I guess the assumption was that I would stand out there and have street court about who started it and who got the worst of it, but that’s not my job. Here’s my old affray speech:“Well, if you were both into it and you both want to press charges, you can both go to jail for affray tonight, and you’ll both get tickets for court dates which will each be set for mid-morning on a weekday. The judge will have discretion in how the cases are handled, but given that you each have opposing stories with no impartial third parties, you’ll both probably be found guilty, which will cost each of you I don’t know how much in fines and court costs. Or, you could both just get the hell away from each other and we can all call it a night. Ya’lls call.”As you might surmise, I never wrote an affray ticket. Both guys would usually say something along the lines of, “Forget it, you’re not worth it” while their girlfriend nursed their bruised ego and then walk away.Domestic Disturbance/AssaultThere’s no way I’m going to do this subject any justice in the space I’m working in; the Domestic Violence handbook I got during my police academy was literally a ream thick. Hopefully I can elaborate on some points that bred a bit of confusion about this area:Domestics are probably broader than you think. The classic paradigm is the beer-gutted husband in a stained undershirt smacking his perpetual victim of a wife around the house; while that definitely happens, many more relationships fall under the scope of “domestic violence.” In Missouri, the Adult Abuse Act covers spouses, former spouses, adults related by blood or marriage, adults who have co-habitated at any time (that means present and former roommates, no matter the gender), adults in a “continuing intimate relationship,” adults with a child in common, and adults involved in stalking cases.Having a verbal argument is not a crime. Just because you are having a verbal disagreement with someone, even a heated one, does not necessarily mean you need to involve law enforcement. Now, if the situation seems to be on the cusp of deteriorating into physical violence, then by all means you can involve law enforcement to defuse the situation – however, this should be a last resort and not a default knee-jerk reaction. I worked scads of “domestics” in which I fielded complaints like, “He had my keys and wouldn’t give them back,” or “My roommate wouldn’t turn the TV down while I was trying to sleep,” or any number of other petty disagreements that I would expect anyone over the age of seven to be able to adjudicate amongst themselves. Calls like that were a massive waste of time and resources.If your arguments in a relationship are turning physical, see your way out. Abusers don't typically have life-changing epiphanies about what they're doing and turn into caring, giving partners. You cannot “win them over” by attempting to love or respect them into a healthy relationship, and the level of abuse typically only gets worse as time goes on. The behavior of an abuser, despite their excuses, is not impulsive or a product of their “just losing it” or “getting their buttons pushed.” They may say that they “just lost control,” but they're controlling themselves very well – toward you. Are they hitting their friends or boss? No? Then what they're doing is systematic. Now, I know as well as anyone that the dynamics here are complicated, and extremely so if combined finances or children are in the mix. But I also know that upwards of three women are killed by their partners every day, just in the United States – and I guarantee the vast majority of those killings began with an act that the eventual victim wrote off as minor or a one-time mistake.If police are called to a conflict between two related parties, a report and/or arrest may be mandatory. In Missouri (where I worked), state statute required that all “domestic incidents” be “documented.” The command staff of my department at the time interpreted that to mean that a formal police needed to be filed for anything classified as a “domestic” in the reporting system. If this is the case in your jurisdiction, you cannot decline a report once officers respond to the scene. Also, if there is a sign that violence was involved, officers may be mandated by department policy or (more likely) state law to arrest the 'primary physical aggressor.' Officers have discretion in some enforcement, but they typically don't here.Isolating your partner could meet the elements for domestic assault. Some domestic statutes trigger if you prohibit them from meeting with other people, or deny them access to a phone or a vehicle. That means if you get into an argument with your partner and smash their cell phone in anger, you could potentially technically go to jail for domestic assault. The purpose of this is to prevent abusers from locking victims away from the assistance of friends, family and police.Aggravating factors can quickly change a domestic assault from a misdemeanor to a felony. For instance, choking was one of the elements of felony domestic assault. Many prosecutors are very keen on this, and will charge for Second Degree Domestic Assault at the slightest whisper of a hint that an attempt to choke or throttle was made. Also, any use of a weapon during the altercation will likely bring felony charges into the mix.Demonstrated domestic assault is typically a mandatory arrest. If there was a physical altercation, someone is, with very few exceptions, going to jail. Officers are trained to arrest the “primary” or “most significant” physical aggressor. Not the one who supposedly started it or most “deserved” it, but the one who inflicted the most significant harm upon the other. In Missouri, a domestic assault arrest results in a mandatory five hour hold; you cannot bail or bond out of this hold. In the case of felony assault, holds are typically 24 hours or until conference with a judge, depending on the circumstances.Sexual AssaultLike other areas, sexual assault is probably broader than you think. One’s mind typically jumps to situations involving forcible rape, which isn’t incorrect, but sexual assault encompasses much more than that. A good rule of thumb is that intentionally initiating unwanted contact with an area typically covered by someone’s underwear could be considered sexual assault or sexual misconduct. That means tweaking that woman’s butt on her way out of the elevator or forcing someone into a situation in which she’s forced to graze you with her breasts could be a sexual offense.Being married is not an affirmative defense to rape or sexual assault. There is no longer a spousal exception in cases of rape; husbands and wives have the same right of refusal to sexual contact as anybody else. (Shockingly to me, this actually wasn’t the case in Missouri until 1990, and the last state to remove the spousal exception did so in 1993.)Either party in a sexual encounter can retract consent at any time. It doesn’t matter where you are in the process – if your partner withdraws consent at any time, you cannot legally continue. Withdrawal of consent needn’t be explicitly verbal, either – if your partner is struggling against you, you can bet that a court is going to consider that a clear refusal (unless, of course, it’s part of a roleplaying scenario you’ve each agreed upon in advance). Also, you’re treading on thin ice if your partner is saying something like, “I don’t know if we should be doing this,” or, “Maybe we should stop.” There is no objective threshold for how resolute or unequivocal a refusal has to be, and your continuing after something like this has been said puts you in a decidedly gray legal area should accusations arise later.A person who is not lucid and alert cannot consent to sex. It doesn’t matter if that person consented to sex before losing consciousness, passing out, or becoming highly intoxicated – they can no longer consent after that point, and sexual contact should not be initiated or continued.A man can, in fact, be raped by a woman. The male physiological response cannot alone be construed as consent. Courts recognize the fact that a man can have an erection without being sexually aroused.If you’re the parent of a teen, ensure they’re cognizant of laws regarding sexual activity. Age of consent and other related laws vary (sometimes wildly) by state, and some states don’t even allow defenses as to honest mistakes regarding a victim’s age. In Florida, it’s apparently legal for a seventeen year old to have vaginal sex with a twelve year old; in Georgia, on the other hand, a seventeen year old got sentenced to ten years in prison for having consensual oral sex with a fifteen year old. On a related note, while many teens seem to think oral sex isn’t really even sex at all, legal systems often view it more harshly than vaginal sex; oral and anal sex are often referred to in legal statutes as “deviant sexual intercourse,” and penalties can be harsher as a result.Finally, standing pornography statutes seldom take current technology into account, which means if your teenager gets a sexually suggestive text from a boyfriend or girlfriend, they could suddenly be in possession of child pornography depending on the circumstances. Don’t assume they know better or think that discussing this topic is tantamount to sanctioning such behavior – it’d be a shame for someone with great potential to enter adulthood on a sex offender registry or in prison just because the dangers weren’t addressed.Noise Complaints and Party CallsIf officers are called to a noise or party call but nobody answers the door at the target address, there really isn’t a whole lot that can be done. Officers cannot enter a residence without a warrant or exigent circumstances, and this doesn’t count.Noise ordinances usually trigger any time noise can be heard past your property line – and remember, if you live in an apartment, your apartment walls constitute your property line.Officers will not tell you who called if you’re the target of a complaint – don’t even bother asking.If you’re making a noise complaint against someone, you’ll likely be asked if you want to “sign a summons.” What dispatch or the officer wants to know is whether you’re willing to file a criminal complaint against the person producing the noise, in which case you’ll need to be willing to appear in court and testify as a witness for the prosecution. If you’re not willing to appear as a witness, do not sign the summons. When you do so, you’re agreeing to press charges, the officer has to issue the citation you signed and then write a report, the citation must be transferred to the prosecutor’s office which then issues subpoenas for court appearances, and the case gets put on a judge’s docket. Please don’t make a string of people process all of this paperwork if you were never going to show anyway. Officers can still attempt contact and make this request of the person in question absent a citation being issued.Municipalities may or may not have “noise ordinance hours” – where I worked, these hours were between 2300 hours and 0700 hours. During that time, if I as an officer observed loud noise coming from a residence, I could unilaterally issue a citation on behalf of the city (not myself – legally speaking, police officers’ peace cannot be disturbed).Some cities have ordinances limiting the distance from which a car’s stereo can legally be heard. Contrary to a clever retort I once heard through a car window, enforcement of this is not “a violation of freedom of expression.”Motor Vehicle AccidentsIf you’re involved in a motor vehicle accident, please try to move to a safe location off of the roadway, unless a vehicle is immobilized, someone is injured, or you are otherwise unable to safely do so. Officers will still be able to put the facts together based on vehicle damage, driver accounts and witness accounts – moving vehicles isn’t “destroying evidence” and won’t affect the report.You typically aren’t legally obligated to make a police report if you have a minor accident (less than a few hundred dollars of total damage, nobody injured, both vehicles mobile) – if none of the involved parties wish to do so, everyone can write it off and leave without involving police. However, it usually behooves someone involved to do so with regard to civil liability.If there is no discernible damage to any vehicle involved in an incident, it is not a motor vehicle accident. That means a bumper tap with no structural or paint damage cannot be reported as such. It also means that if someone bumps your vehicle as they’re leaving a parking lot and leave without having caused any damage, it is not “leaving the scene of an accident,” because legally there was no accident. You can file an informational report at some point if you absolutely insist on documentation here for some reason, but an officer cannot fill out a standardized accident form because it does not meet the elements of a motor vehicle accident.Officers on scene do not determine who is “at fault” in an MVA. This is a hallmark of civil liability as it relates to insurance coverage, and is not a criminal designation. The insurance companies involved make that determination, and can even assign “percentages of fault” to the involved drivers based on the facts at hand. The officer’s job is to dispassionately report on his or her observations at the scene. One or more drivers may be issued citations in response to the accident; this simply means that the officer has probable cause to believe the driver(s) committed a traffic violation prior to the accident, and does not automatically infer that the cited drivers are at fault.The responding officer will want driver’s licenses and insurance information for all drivers involved, and identifying information for all passengers, including children; having this ready upon their arrival will expedite the process. Once on scene, the officer will ask if there are any injuries and whether the occupant(s) in your vehicle were wearing safety belts or were in car seats – please answer all of this truthfully. Don’t claim a non-existent injury thinking you might be able to leverage it down the road, because you’re filing an official police report, and falsifying information on it to any degree is a crime.The officer will ask you for a statement about what happened. Make it concise – start your account immediately before the accident and note your actions and observations. Don’t presume anything about the other driver unless you directly observed it. Again, you’re making a legal attestation as to the facts of the incident, and it’s disingenuous of you to say something like “I think they might have been on their cell phone” unless you’re willing to say it later under oath in a courtroom – because it may come to that.The officer will typically not be at liberty to disclose whether other drivers were issued citations.You shouldn’t need to worry about harvesting a bunch of information at the scene; if a police report is filed, your insurance agent should be able to access it. It will contain everything that the agent needs to process the claim; the officer should provide the report number to you, but if not, just ask for it before you leave the scene.If your vehicle is immobilized and is on a public roadway, it will have to be towed as soon as possible. Officers will not be able to recommend a towing company, and can’t “just call whoever everybody else uses,” because that would constitute an endorsement of a particular company by that officer’s agency. If you have no idea, different agencies have different policies; mine had a rotating tow list that companies could sign up to be on, and if a driver had no idea or no preference, the officer would have dispatch call the next company on the list to respond. If you do that you’re at the mercy of a random tow company, so you might do a little research in advance in your neck of the woods to know which company you’d want.Unless there are serious injuries involved, the responding officer typically will not be taking pictures to attach to the report. As long as you're not impeding the officer's investigation, he or she should be fine with your taking your own pictures on scene.If you suspect another driver is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, don't confront them about it on scene – all you're doing is inviting them to fight you or flee the scene. If you find this out before you call for police, mention this to the call taker; if you find out after you've called, once an officer arrives, find a discreet way of alerting them to this fact.If another driver pleads with you to not call police or offers you cash to keep you from doing so, there is a significant likelihood that they have a warrant for their arrest or have other compelling reasons for not wanting contact with police – call anyway. You can always lie and say it's a company car or that you don't own it if you're worried about their reaction; you never know who you're letting go.If another driver leaves the scene of an accident, be observant. The single best piece of information you can get is accurate license plate information; after that, an accurate description of the car (color, make, model, and a good guess at the year) and its direction of travel. Do not attempt to follow or chase the individual. There may be reasons for their flight beyond their simply having been in an accident, and you're putting yourself in considerable risk by trying to corner them. By giving the 911 call taker the direction of travel, officers can go to that area in an attempt to intercept the driver, and as long as the right plate is on the right car, officers can pull up the owner's address with the plate information in seconds.Officers typically cannot investigate MVAs which occurred on private property, unless 1) one or more drivers are under the influence, 2) an involved driver left the scene of the accident, and/or 3) there are injuries involved to a party in one of the vehicles.Civil DisputesMany to most officers will be unable to resolve civil disputes on scene. Police officers generally enforce criminal law, and have no authority in civil matters (which includes any dispute over the ownership of property, residency disagreements, or custody matters involving children, among other things). If you get into it with your roommate and she tries to leave with your property or property you have in common, officers on scene are unlikely to be able to prevent this – that’s a pure judgment call if ownership is in dispute, and we’re not paid enough to be judges. This is exactly what arbitration and small claims court is for. Same dynamic with disagreements about lease terms in a shared residence. With custody issues, in the absence of signs that the child would be unsafe or a crystal clear, signed court order to the contrary, officers are not going to take a child out of the arms of one parent and put them in the arms of the other. Again, that’s a call for a judge to make with all the facts on the bench, not for officers to make snap decisions about on scene.Be extremely cautious about who you allow to linger at your residence. This point is likely to vary from place to place, but in Missouri the tenancy laws made it extremely easy to establish legal residency: If a person had been living somewhere for more than a handful of days, and had objective signs of established habitation (clothes in a closet, toiletries in the bathroom, and so on), they were for all intents and purposes legal residents of that address. How does that affect you? Police officers cannot compel someone to leave their own residence absent probable cause they’d committed a crime, which can make for some ugly headaches.Case in point: One night I was dispatched to a call logged as trespassing. I responded to a mobile home park and met a trailer owner in his front yard who said, “There’s a guy in my house, and I want you to make him leave.” After playing twenty questions with him (I’ll spare you the transcript), I finally found out that the male in question was homeless, and that the owner had either been playing Good Samaritan (his version) or leveraging the situation for sex (my suspicion) for two weeks. Everything the homeless male owned was in the house. In that situation, he had established legal residency – it was, from a legal standpoint, his home.Upon making contact with the male, I asked him what his name was. The response? “I am the incarnation of Jesus Christ sent to a broken and dying world!” I’ll grant that he had the hair for it, but other than that everything he said made it fairly clear he was reality challenged. One of the few coherent things he said was a refusal to leave, which I had to honor. I had sympathy for the homeowner – really, I did – but at that point he had to go through the process of evicting his newfound companion, which had to be done through the sheriff’s office and took a minimum of thirty days. My hands were completely tied.The takeaway here is that, if you decide to do someone a solid and let them crash on your couch or whatever the case may be, ensure that you’ve got an exit plan in place lest you get into a similar situation. Once residency becomes established, officers can attempt to persuade someone to leave, but they cannot compel them to do so; it matters not whether they’re on the lease or whether they pay rent if the parameters for residency in your jurisdiction have otherwise been met. It also doesn't matter what their state of mind is if they're not an imminent danger to themselves or others; having schizophrenia, reality issues, or other psychological conditions is not a crime, and officers cannot whisk people suffering from them out of your life just because they're bothersome to you, because they have the same rights you do.Missing Person CasesAs a general rule, report people as missing as soon as their whereabouts cannot be determined. The time frame this occurs within will obviously fluctuate based on who we're talking about – you obviously don't need to call the police if you can't raise your spouse after two tries to their cell phone. However, if someone is actually missing, your reporting it to police puts the person's name in law enforcement computer systems, meaning that if someone stumbles upon them and runs their name, there will be a 'hit' that alerts dispatch or the officer that they have been reported missing.This is especially important for children, those with special needs, and the elderly. I once stumbled upon an 86 year old man in the middle of a multiple lane highway who was out of gas and confused; to make a very long story short, he had gotten disoriented while driving and drove aimlessly for hours across the state until he ran out of gas, thankfully right in front of me (as opposed to in a ditch down a country road). His family couldn't find him, and just looked around their city for him all day long; if they'd reported him missing instead, I'd have been alerted as soon as I pulled his information up. As it stood, I had to do over an hour of research to figure out who he was and how to get him home.Keep accurate and current information about your children on hand. This includes a recent photograph of them, and preferably a hard copy. Keep tabs on their height and weight as best you can – accurate information is invaluable on missing person reports, and all of this gets plugged into the computer system that can be searched in the event they are contacted after having gone missing.If you have a volatile relationship with a teenager, try to establish a safe place for them to retreat to. I realize this is not ideal, but if they're prone to leaving the house out of anger and they're mobile, try to negotiate a place they can go in advance, whether that's with a relative or a friend's house whose parents you know. I worked several repeat 'missing person' cases in which the teen in question left any time she got in a fight with her mother, who called police the minute she got out of sight. I'd come and take the time-consuming report, only to get called back a few hours later after she cooled off and returned home. If mom had just known where her daughter was going, there would have been no need to involve me at all, and no need to make a computer operator at headquarters enter worthless information in the state system that just had to be redacted later.Someone's failure to return a child from visitation on time is not a “parental abduction.” Someone not abiding by the terms of a custody agreement is a civil issue, not a criminal one, and needs to be taken up with your attorney. Reporting this as a parental abduction (perhaps in hopes of using officers to harass your ex by proxy) is a needless waste of resources.Traffic Stops, Vehicle Searches, and DUI/DWIIf a police vehicle activates red and blue lights behind your vehicle, the officer has developed probable cause that you have committed a traffic violation and is initiating a vehicle stop on your vehicle. By law, you must pull your vehicle off of the roadway as soon as it is practical to do so; that means you should neither panic and jerk your car onto the shoulder nor cruise along until you get to wherever you were going.At night, the officer will illuminate your cabin with a powerful spotlight on their car. This is standard practice and is done on every car stop conducted at night – don’t let this alarm you. Officers need to be able to see you and the interior of your vehicle for their safety.Most officers will wait to initiate a car stop until you’re around safe areas to pull over or exit the roadway. However, if he or she initiates the car stop where it’s difficult or impossible to pull over for some reason, activate your turn signal or hazard lights to give the officer assurance that you’re in the process of complying with the stop – if you just keep driving without such acknowledgment, at some point the officer may treat the situation as a low speed pursuit.The vast, vast majority of vehicle stops you’re likely to be subject to will be initiated by a marked patrol unit (that is, a police vehicle that is marked as such, often with a lightbar on top). If this is the case, you shouldn’t have many concerns about legitimacy – no vinyl company would outfit a private vehicle to look like a police cruiser. However, in certain instances you may be stopped by an unmarked unit.If something about the circumstances of the stop makes you question its legitimacy, activate your hazard lights (‘flashers’) and call 911 or your local emergency number. Tell the call taker, “I have a vehicle attempting to make a car stop on me [your direction of travel] on [street name] at [nearest intersecting street]; can you confirm this is legitimate?” If the unit behind you has “called in” the car stop over the radio, the call taker will immediately be able to see the log on the officer status screen and will ask you to comply with the stop.If it hasn’t been called in yet, the call taker will have dispatch poll officers in the field to inquire: “Dispatch to any [agency] unit attempting a car stop at [intersection], your radio number?” Sometimes a unit is delayed in calling a stop in for any number of reasons – this gives them an opening on the radio to do so. Once they confirm, dispatch will inform the call taker, who will have you stop. In this instance, officers will know that you were checking the legitimacy of the stop and that this is why you were delayed in stopping.If dispatch polls officers and there is no response, you will probably be instructed to either stay your present course or to drive toward a police station; an officer will likely be dispatched to intercept you and investigate. It’s possible in this case that the unit didn’t hear their radio or is having radio trouble; if so, the intercepting unit will inform dispatch and attempt contact with the unit stopping you. However, if the officer finds it’s a fraudulent stop, officers will conduct a “felony car stop” on the fake unit, which is a bit complicated to explain at length here, but involves ordering occupants out one at a time at gunpoint (you have to assume someone pretending to be a police officer is armed). Dispatch will be giving you instructions as all of this happens – follow all of their directions.Officers will always prefer you exit the roadway during a car stop if possible (for instance, into a parking lot); every year, officers are injured or killed by vehicles hitting them and/or their patrol vehicle at the side of the road. Sometimes you don’t have an opportunity to do so – in that case, just pull as far off the road as you safely can given the circumstances.There may be a delay between the time you get stopped and when the officer exits his vehicle to approach you. There are several things that the officer could be doing – running your license plate information, waiting for another unit, and so on – so don’t read too much into it. In the meantime, you can get your driver’s license and insurance information out, because the officer will want this information every time. However, if this documentation isn’t easily accessible, don’t dig around for it, because the officer may interpret this movement as your trying to hide something or access a weapon.Car stops are a vital component of law enforcement – they go way beyond traffic enforcement, because police have found rapists, murderers, and even terrorists by conducting car stops (Timothy McVeigh was caught during a car stop for a license plate infraction). However, they are a very high risk proposition for officers, since they have no idea who they just stopped (as opposed to 911 call response, in which they have at least some idea of what they’re getting into). Every officer has seen training videos of vehicle stops during which the driver exited with a weapon or armed themselves as the officer approached. There are several things that you can do to put the officer at ease:Activate the dome light in your cabin if it’s after dark.Keep your hands in plain view, whether in your lap or on the steering wheel.Do not under any circumstances exit your vehicle at any point unless explicitly instructed to do so. If you exit without clearance to do so, you’re likely to be ordered back into your vehicle or to the ground for handcuffing (depending on the agency’s training and policies), potentially at gunpoint. If you have a compelling reason to exit the vehicle while the officer is in his or her vehicle, get their attention by summoning them with an empty hand out the window.Don’t make any sudden movements, whether before or during contact with the officer.Most ordinances and/or statutes dictate that a stopped driver must obey any “lawful and reasonable request” made by a police officer during a traffic stop. This does not mean that you have to let an officer search, because absent probable cause or a warrant such a search would not be lawful. However, if an officer asks you to exit your vehicle, you must do so; if you refuse, you will likely be forcibly removed and charged with obstructing or resisting an officer.If you are driving a vehicle, you are in legal control of it. That means if you get pulled over and the officer asks for consent to search the vehicle, you can consent or refuse no matter whether or not you own the vehicle. Conversely, if you allow someone to drive your vehicle, they can grant full consent to search it – so make sure you're loaning it to someone you're on the same page with here.Officers typically will not allow you to use your cell phone during a traffic stop – there should be no need for it, given most stops take on the order of a few minutes to complete.Some advice on the Internet says that upon police contact, you should ask something along the lines of “Am I under arrest, or am I free to leave?” This for the most part does not have bearing on a traffic stop, because legally speaking a traffic stop is a “detention” during which you are neither free to leave nor under arrest. Now, courts have asserted that traffic stops lasting beyond a reasonable amount of time can turn the situation into what is called a “de facto arrest;” however, a car stop would need to stretch to between thirty minutes and an hour, depending on the circumstances, for this to even be in the conversation. This applies to everyone in the vehicle, not just the driver. This means passengers cannot ask this “magic question” and claim to have been arrested if they’re not allowed to leave.Passengers may or may not be asked to identify themselves during a stop; I cannot give an all-encompassing answer as to whether they are compelled by law to do so. Technically, in most places witnesses to a crime are required to identify themselves to law enforcement officers, and since passengers witnessed the infraction, the officer may have some legal standing to request identification – but that depends on case law where you live. If you are adamant about not identifying yourself as the passenger of a vehicle, you need to research your locally applicable laws to ascertain whether you can legally refuse to do so.The officer will check the information from your driver’s license either on his in-car computer or over the radio with dispatch. He or she will be able to see the status of your driver’s license (valid, suspended, revoked, expired, or no driving privilege); if you’re suspended, revoked, or no privilege you’re almost certainly getting a citation. You could get a citation if you’re expired – it typically depends on the officer and on how far expired your license is. In some places, officers can seize suspended or revoked licenses. Also, if your license is not valid, the officer may or may not let you drive away from the scene; that’s up to their discretion. If not, you’ll have to arrange for transportation from the scene.Despite apparently widespread belief to the contrary, officers cannot look up your insurance information if you don’t have proof of insurance in your vehicle; it is not paired with your driving record, and officers do not have access to insurance company databases. [Edit: Christopher Hawk has alerted me to the fact that some states are beginning to pair insurance information with vehicle registrations; however, this is not a widespread practice, and information systems can fail - I'm of the opinion that you should still keep a hard copy of proof of your being insured.] Always keep this information at hand, preferably with information both in your wallet and in the vehicle. If you don’t have proof of insurance, the officer will probably write a citation (which is permissible even if you’re actually insured, since most ordinances are for “failure to show proof” as opposed to “failure to have”). If so, judges will typically dismiss these tickets if you can prove you were covered when the citation was issued – but you must still appear at your court date unless cleared by the court or the prosecutor’s office.Officers have wide latitude in what citations they issue during a traffic stop. Based on their discretion, they can choose to write for every observed violation, selected violations, or none at all and instead issue a warning. That said, most officers will typically write the most serious violation if there is more than one (or perhaps two if there are several). This was my personal policy, unless it was a DWI, in which case I wrote every defensible citation applicable; I typically wrote over five citations to DWI drivers (in addition to arrest, of course).There is no hard and fast number of miles per hour over the limit at which officers start writing tickets. Legally, they can start at one over, but in practice the minimum is usually five (though again, an officer has every right to write for a 56 in a 55 – it’s a bright line threshold). Speeding tickets under five miles per hour over the limit are unlikely to add any points to your license.Officers do not have a “quota” for tickets during a particular time frame, because quotas are illegal. Whether a particular supervisor encourages a given general level of ticketing or for particular types of tickets to be written is another thing, but they cannot legally compel officers to write a particular number of tickets. Certain types of tickets, however, may be mandatory; I believe citations for failure to show proof of insurance were in this category for me based on statute language at the time I was an officer. Every officer has their own philosophy for different types of tickets – where I usually gave a month or two of leeway on license plate expirations, some officers started writing tickets the minute they expired, and so on.Officers cannot search a vehicle simply because they want to or they’re curious – they have to pass legal thresholds to be able to do so. Some of these thresholds (but not all – this topic is constantly changing due to judicial rulings and case law):“Plain sight” and/or “plain smell.” In simple terms, this means if an officer plainly sees or smells contraband (most typically drugs or drug paraphernalia) in your vehicle, he or she can seize it (or, in the case of plain smell, search and seize it) without consent and without a warrant. In this situation, the officer will likely have clearance to search the rest of the cabin of the vehicle, but probably not the trunk (research the term “Chimel circle” if you want the legal backstory as to why).Probable Cause. If you admit to a crime that would involve an item in the vehicle (or officers otherwise develop probable cause that you committed a crime), officers can detain you and search your vehicle’s interior for the item in question.Consent. If an officer asks for consent to search the vehicle and you grant it, the search is legal.http://...Exigent Circumstances. This is rare, but there may be a circumstance in which life or limb is in jeopardy and officers are compelled to search without consent or a warrant. In this situation, the need to protect life will have trumped any desire to bring charges, because a search like this will likely be in danger of being thrown out of judicial proceedings.If the officer suspects you are intoxicated, he or she will ask you to exit your vehicle, tell you of their suspicions, and likely ask you to perform Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs). This is the stuff you’ve probably seen on TV – looking at your eyes, walking heel to toe, and standing on one leg. It’s likely you can legally refuse to submit to these tests; however, be aware that officers will take such refusal into account as they’re developing probable cause. Given there was suspicion already, there’s a high probability that you’ll be arrested for DWI/DUI upon refusing to submit to SFSTs. The officer may also ask you to submit a breath sample to a small handheld unit called a Portable Breath Tester (PBT). Again, it’s likely that you’re not legally required to do so but, again, refusals play into the metrics of whether the officer has probable cause to arrest. In practice, officers tend to use these devices if your test results are ambiguous and they’re trying to develop a better picture of your impairment level. In Missouri as of my tenure in law enforcement, PBT results are not admissible in court unless you provide a breath sample to a PBT and later refuse to submit a breath sample to the testing equipment at the police station or jail. However, this will be dynamic based on your location.Every state in the union has some form of what are called “implied consent” laws. This means your acceptance of a driver’s license automatically implies you will consent to testing connected to a DUI/DWI arrest. As a result, if you’re arrested for DUI/DWI and an officer asks you to submit a sample of your breath or blood, you must do so – refusing to will result in your license being seized and immediately revoked for an extended period of time (in Missouri, for a year).It is illegal to drive while impaired by anything, not just alcohol. You can be arrested, charged, and convicted of DUI for driving while under the influence of marijuana (even if it is legal in your jurisdiction), illicit drugs, over the counter medication, or medication that is legally prescribed to you. You will not duck the charge just because you blow a .000 reading on the breath testing machine at the station or jail; if you exhibit impairment without an alcohol reading registering, the arresting officer will page a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) – an officer with special training in recognizing impairment by drugs other than alcohol. He or she will likely subject you to a battery of tests to either ascertain or confirm your method of impairment; these tests are likely covered by implied consent.Property CrimesThe terms for property crimes are often interchanged erroneously:A robbery is the forcible taking of property from someone’s person, whether by physical force or by coercion. The term “mugging” is just slang for a street robbery. Residences cannot be “robbed,” and you cannot be “robbed” if you’re not present.A burglary is the taking of property by unlawfully entering or remaining in a building.Embezzlement is the misappropriation of assets by means of conversion (typically corporate to private).Stealing/Theft/Larceny are somewhat interchangeable, and involve willfully depriving another of their property by means other than those listed above. Intangible things can also be stolen; if you stiff a cab driver on fare or throw your garbage in someone else’s dumpster, you’re committing what we refer to as “theft of service.”Here’s the number one piece of advice I can give you to reduce your chance of being a victim of property crime: Lock the things that hold your stuff. Lock those things every time you are not entering or exiting those things. Thieves typically look for low-hanging fruit when they’re looking to steal something.For example, stealing from a vehicle: A thief would much rather wander through a lot surreptitiously checking door handles than he would to break a car window. Breaking a window carries a risk of injury, risk of tripping an alarm, and a risk that a passerby will be alerted to his presence. If you see someone bash a window in, you’ll immediately be suspicious; if you see someone nonchalantly open the driver’s side door of a vehicle, though, you won’t give it a second thought. That’s what the thief is counting on. You can greatly increase the likelihood your vehicle will be passed over simply by locking your doors. It’s not hard – it involves pushing a button. You wouldn’t believe the number of people who just don’t, though. We worked so many thefts from vehicles involving entry through unlocked doors that our police department started taking out PSAs in local media just to beg people to start locking their doors.Same holds for your residence – keep your doors locked. For sure keep them locked when it is unoccupied, but I keep my doors perpetually locked if I’m not in the process of walking through them. A family in a neighboring community recently had an incident during which the mother woke up to a sound in the hallway and found an unknown male standing at her daughter’s bedroom door. The male was drunk and had wandered into their unlocked house by mistake; he fled after being assaulted by the woman’s husband and was later arrested. One twist of a deadbolt would have prevented all of this. Thankfully, the man apparently had no malicious intent – but it could have turned out much, much differently if he had.I don’t know why some people have such an aversion to locking the doors to their homes and vehicles. It can’t be the effort involved. Perhaps people want to delude themselves into thinking that they live in their own personal Mayberry; maybe they have convinced themselves that the thieves win if you lock your doors, or that securing your property is tantamount to “living in fear.” Or maybe they think that their city/neighborhood/street/apartment complex is “safe” and immune from those with ill intent (unless where you live is surrounded by a laser-mounted shark-filled moat with razor wire walls impregnated with anti-aircraft batteries, this just isn’t true, and maybe not even then). Whatever the justification, it’s baseless. Your risk of becoming a victim of a property crime plummets just by locking up your things.Close behind locking up your things is not advertising the fact that you have things.Don’t leave valuables in your car. Now, with that ideal laid out there, I realize there sometimes isn’t any way around it; in those cases, ensure that you conceal those items completely, whether in the trunk, under a seat, or in the glove compartment. Don’t forget to conceal your charger, too; the presence of a 12V electronics charger suggests that a device may be present in the car. A valuable item in your seat or on the dash tells would-be thieves that a couple of millimeters of glass are all that separate them from possessing it.If you get a new appliance or gadget, don’t set the box out on the curb for pickup. It’s an open advertisement to anyone passing by that whatever is featured on the box is currently inside your house. Chop your product boxes up into pieces if you’re going to throw them away, and separate the pieces into separate bags or cans.Mind your privacy settings on social media if you want to brag about your new gizmos and doodads – again, if your privacy settings are set to ‘Public,’ you might as well have taken an ad out in the local paper about your new stuff, and probably (with a little digging) where you live and what your work schedule is. This holds for trips and vacations, too – if you advertise a timeframe during which your residence will be unoccupied, would-be burglars know exactly how long they have to work without worrying about whether someone is going to return home. Thieves are only getting more savvy – keep a lid on your business.If you have valuable items that have serial numbers, write them down. Often pawn shops and other similar businesses are required to check new inventory against a registry of stolen items; if you include an item with a serial number on a report and someone later tries to unload it at a pawn shop, it will be flagged and police will have an instant lead on your case. If you don’t have a serial number, there’s nothing to say that what they’re trying to sell isn’t another of the tens to hundreds of thousands of the items with the same model number that exist on Earth. If a valuable item doesn’t have a serial number, you can engrave or affix an alphanumeric sequence of your own on it (preferably somewhere that’s difficult to find without looking for it). These are referred to a “personal identifying marks” and can be entered into a report just like a manufacturer’s serial number.If someone tries to give or sell you something that has the VIN or serial number defaced or scratched off, refuse it. There is a high probability that the item is stolen and, depending on the circumstance, this is likely something you want to alert police to – in many to most cases, the mere possession of such an item is a crime in and of itself, especially if it’s a vehicle.If you’re on the verge of getting a deal on something you’re buying from a private party (for instance, during a Craigslist transaction) that’s too good to be true, start asking questions. If they’re selling something for a hundred dollars that’s worth a thousand, it might be because it’s stolen and they’re trying to turn it into a quick buck – I once dealt with a situation in which a guy sold a $3,000 Vespa off of a tailgate for $30 just to unload it as fast as he possibly could. Ask them where they got it, how long they’ve had it, why they’re selling it and, for an item of value, for a receipt or other proof of their purchase. You can also tell them you’ll need a receipt for the private sale if you purchase it, with their identifying and contact information on it. If the item is stolen, the person selling it will give you vague, hesitant or conflicting answers, and will balk at giving you any personal information. If things don’t add up after asking for this information, walk away. You’re not sacrificing a deal – you’re refusing to reward someone for their stealing it (or profiting from someone who did), and the mere possession of stolen property is likely a crime in and of itself.If you’re in a public place, don’t leave your things unattended – even for a miniscule length of time. People are especially terrible about this in libraries, and especially on college campuses; they’ll get a study session going and spread their textbooks, cell phone, music player, laptop, and whatever else out on the table, and then get up and leave it to go to the bathroom, go outside and smoke, or even to go eat. Then they come back and are shocked, shocked to find it all gone. I’ve watched this happen on surveillance footage – it takes less than ten seconds to clear a table of valuables, and in the instance I watched there were people all around who had no idea a felony stealing was happening two tables over.

Update I (as of February 1st, 2021):Original Answer (published May 6th, 2019):Note: Just in case it’s unclear, I no longer believe in the following results anymore. For my up to date views and ideal nation, please reference the update above.I’m only keeping the original for personal record-keeping purposes to see how far I’ve come in the past several years of learning and improving my political views.My results:Initial ThoughtsConsidering that I have already answered a million of these “political quiz” questions in the past, my results should not come as much of a surprise to anyone who is even slightly acquainted with me.With that said, I lean Center-Right for all those unacquainted. However, it should be noted that I have a tendency to quickly change and adopt alternate views when new information comes to light.One thing has remained fairly consistent however: my social views. Economics is a lot more flexible, but traditionally I’ve always maintained a conservative stance on social issues. The only difference is that over time, the “intensity” with which I maintain it has gone down as I began to make a distinction between personal and political views.And so to that extent, whilst I may have a particular stance on an issue personally, I will not always reflect this politically. Take say “Abortion” for instance. I might hate it, but do I necessarily think it should be banned? That would be complicated. Banning it (with few exceptions) would certainly make me a very happy man, but even so what about the happiness of others?If lifting myself up means bringing others down, that what kind of happiness is that? The answer: not one which I would want.Alternatively on the other hand, there are some issues which I maintain a degree of inflexibility on. I do not consider this to be wrong, since all humans to an extent have a certain set of beliefs which they would not renounce even on pain of death - both metaphorically and literally. And so as long as that is the case, I have no obligation to renounce my own core beliefs either. They are mine after all.Brief Summary of My Political ViewsIn general, my political views tend to reflect a few personal factors (inclusive but not limited to):Upbringing - conservative and competitiveCountry - a capitalistic constitutional monarchyPriorities - institutional morality and stability, life, liberty and mercyPersonality - down to earth, sympathetic, firm and realisticSocial circle - upper middle class Asians and WhitesHistory - some policies tend to work better than othersScience - some issues should be prioritized over othersPolitical dialogues - discourses over political issuesGiven all this, what results is a Center-Right stance on politics as a whole:In general, Government exists to protect the rights of citizens. Government is to a country, what parents are to a family → at its head. With great power comes great responsibility however, and Government should be slow to anger and quick to appease. It should be fair and compassionate in its dealings with the just, but firm on all wrong doers who would seek to disrupt the order of society. Government must always strive to be morally justified in all its dealings.A “social contract” exists between the ruler and the ruled. Whilst the rights and dignity of the individual are of paramount importance in a Liberal Democracy, all subjects of the State are to submit to the governing authorities. There shall be no revolution nor shall there be unreasonable dissent in contradiction of the law, except in cases whereby the Social Contract is made void on part of State. Government to that extent must not implement policies which would degrade the dignity and vitality of the individual, except in cases of national emergency.Insomuch as morality, stability and the individual are not compromised, Government should strive to actively remove itself from the personal, day to day lives of the individual. This is inclusive to economic matters also, whereby Government must respect the right of individuals to property, to business establishment, to any and all profits which would result thereof, to freedom of competition, and to freedom of choice. For such are the hallmarks of a great nation, from which only a Free Market economy can give rise to.A comparison of North and South Korea by satellite imaging (i.e. why Capitalist Democracies are far superior to Communist Dictatorships):Given however, that such a system in its ideal would inevitably give rise to social inequality, Father Government is inherently obligated on the basis of morality, to defend the rights of the downtrodden also. By that logic, Government must do all in its power to ensure that society’s most privileged, are not able to neither legally nor illegally exploit the many who reside towards the other end of the class spectrum. Furthermore, it must also intervene into the economy accordingly, to ensure that all those in most need have access to a range of high quality and inexpensive services, which in this modern day and age are more and more becoming indispensable.In addition to the above, Government must also always place a premium on education, the environment and science. And whilst on occasion, this will inevitably bring it into conflict with powerful business interests, State objectives should always take precedence given the morally justified nature of its mission, whereby the good of the many takes precedence over the good of the few. Government must differ from corporate interests to that extent, in that it recognizes, upholds and values that which cannot always be quantified. For there exists no economic measure to quantify that which is of a non-material value.Government must also be long term oriented, and not just focused on the next economic quarter. This is another reason as to why education, environment and the sciences are to be valued, for these are the pre-requisites to a better future. All in all, Government should be based on morality. This is the most fundamental tenet of my beliefs, from which all other tenets flow. Liberal Democracy and Capitalism are both moralistic systems and are thus the foundations of a great society - my society.My Ideal Nation in DepthWith that said, let’s now quickly take a look at my stances in further detail.SummaryMy ideal nation is based on the following characteristics:This pretty much reflects my ideals.When it came to choosing my ideal nation, I would say that my country of birth played a huge role here. Australia is a Federal nation, naturally I opted for Federalism. It’s also a constitutional monarchy → hence my preference for a monarchy over a republic. I’m also more inclined towards a parliamentary democracy over a presidential system like the United States’.Hence why my ideal nation is a “Federal Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy” much like Australia is. It is in my mind, the greatest political system around the world today and there are no others which can be compared to it. Some come close, but ultimately all are overshadowed by its effectiveness. A monarchy represents stability and tradition, and is so thus preferable to a republic.Following are my justifications:Federalism: Better than a Unitary System for representing the people and respecting their rights. Some parts of a country are more conservative or liberal than others parts, and the law needs to reflect this.Parliamentary: No complex reason, I simply like it better.Constitutional Monarchy: Better than a Republic as it represents the traditional values which I am partial to, and is in accordance with my ideal for Government as the guardian of the nation. Many of the greatest countries in the world today are monarchies: Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Norway, Australia, United Kingdom etc.Budget and Gross Domestic ProductThe National Budget per my ideal nation, would eventually have a deficit of 1.8%.Now unless we’re in a period of economic downturn, then contrary to popular belief a budget deficit is actually a good thing. By the consensus of most economists, a “healthy” budget deficit would be between 2–3%. I’ve chosen to go slightly under though, since I still do want to minimize debt to a certain degree. Most countries in the world tend to have a deficit, so I’m not too worried. America’s is 4.6%, China’s is 4%, France is 3.1% whilst Australia is 1.7%.Meanwhile my inflows total to 21.4% of GDP, and is exceeded by an outflow of 23.2% of GDP. In hindsight, I probably should have spent more since most developed nations tend to dedicate around 40% of their GDP on government expenditure. Australia is around 35% for instance, while the United States totals to 41.6%. Singapore however spends even less than I do, at 17%. The Republic of China (not “Taiwan”) on the other hand spends 23% - close to my ideal.Now, time for the breakdown:IncomeCorporate Taxes: 21.5% of Income, 4.6% of GDPPersonal Taxes: 19.7% of Income, 4.2% of GDPConsumption Taxes: 19.1% of Income, 4% of GDPImport Tariffs: 2.1% of Income, 0.5% of GDPExport Tariffs: 1.4% of Income, 0.3% of GDPInheritance Tax: 0% of Income, 0% of GDPReal Estate: 22.3% of Income, 4.7% of GDPPublic Industries: 13.9% of Income, 2.9% of GDPOther: 1.4% of Income, 0.3% of GDPSpendingMilitary: 11.4% of Spending, 2.6% of GDPWelfare: 36.5% of Spending, 8.2% of GDPEducation: 15.4% of Spending, 3.5% of GDPScience: 13.2% of Spending, 3% of GDPEnvironment: 4.9% of Spending, 1.1% of GDPHousing: 7.3% of Spending, 1.7% of GDPIndustries: 11.3% of Spending, 2.5% of GDPOther: 3.1% of Spending, 0.7% of GDPGovernment expenditure as a % of GDP by country (2014):In accordance with my political views, taxes tend to be low. There is no inheritance tax even to that extent. Tariffs similarly, are kept to a minimum. Even so approximately 60% of my income comes from taxes, with only 20% coming from Public Housing (for profit), and the remaining 20% sourced from additional areas.Expenditure is a bit more diverse, with welfare taking a brunt of government spending at 36.5% of spending. Military is relatively robust at 2.6% of GDP, but is appropriately outmatched by Education (3.5%) and Science (3%) spending (as it should be). I’ve meanwhile dedicated 4.9% of spending to the environment which I believe to be exceptional.Now, onto GDP.Initially I had a Gross Domestic Product of $20 Billion. However, after I implemented my changes I am now down to $19.2 Billion. We see the effects of limited Government expenditure therefore, where a retreat in Public spending has led to a drop of $800 Billion lower than the potential amount which could have been attained. On the bright side, what the simulator doesn’t account for are the long term benefits that I assume would result from such a downsize.After all, if I spend less I would also be able to tax less. And this is good from an economic point of view, because it incentivizes private consumption which makes up (in Australia at least) around 60% of Aggregate Demand. On the other hand, businesses per a tax reduction should be able to hire more people thus leading to a decline in unemployment, and in turn even more consumption spending. However, in the long term this will also lead to Demand-pull inflation, which will eventually need to be accounted for as well.The Five Sector Circular Model (which outlines the mechanics of a nation’s economy):If we break it down industry by industry, you’ll note that I have 0% public ownership in virtually all sectors, with the exception of Education, Media, Healthcare and Housing. This is in accordance with my view, that Government should minimize economic interference wheresoever it is not required. Media is a little tricky to explain, but if the prerequisite of a moral government is met, then having a publicly run State media against those of corporations, would be beneficial to provide a counter to their private biases.The other industries however naturally require government intervention. Even in the most capitalistic nations, you will find that there are such things as government schools, government clinics and government houses. These are the moral services which I mentioned earlier, and in a developed country such as my ideal nation, are strongly indispensable for the good of society and my people.Now, here comes the breakdown:Gross Domestic ProductGovernment:100% Publicly Owned and Funded → $2,296.9 BillionEducation:39% Publicly Owned and Funded → $319.8 Billion21% Publicly Owned for Profit → $172.2 Billion11% Privately Owned and Publicly Funded → $93.5 Billion29% Privately Owned for Profit → $234.5 BillionMedia:5% Publicly Owned for Profit → $31 Billion95% Privately Owned for Profit → $589 BillionFinance:100% Publicly Owned and Funded → $1,940 BillionHealthcare:20% Publicly Owned and Funded → $360 Billion20% Publicly Owned for Profit → $360 Billion3% Privately Owned and Publicly Funded → $54 Billion57% Privately Owned for Profit → $1,026 BillionRetail:100% Privately Owned for Profit → $2,720 BillionManufacturing:100% Privately Owned for Profit → $5,560 BillionConstruction:100% Privately Owned for Profit → $880 BillionAgriculture:100% Privately Owned for Profit → $280 BillionNatural Resources:100% Privately Owned for Profit → $520 BillionReal Estate:10% Publicly Owned for Profit → $176 Billion18% Privately Owned and Publicly Funded → $316.8 Billion72% Privately Owned for Profit → $1,267.2 BillionGovernmentAs we’ve already previously discussed, my ideal nation is a Federal Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy. That means every state in the country has a degree of autonomy, and this includes the ability to legislate on matters such as roads, prisons, housing, public transportation and emergency services. Which is good, because what is true and of importance for one part of the country, may not necessarily be the case elsewhere.Per the “Separation of Powers”, a good democracy is split into three equal parts to ensure that no one particular political arm, has power over the other. This includes a Legislative (makes laws), Executive (enforces laws), and Judicial (interprets laws) arms.In a Parliamentary system of Democracy, the Judiciary is appointed. This is true for my ideal nation too, whereby Parliament (Legislature) appoints members of the High Court. I have not however permitted the King to do the same. Parliament is comprised of members who have been selected by my country’s citizens, in a series of free, fair and transparent elections. The Executive on the other hand belongs to the reigning monarch, who is not elected but rather born into the position by right of blood.So then, who can vote? Everyone as long as you’re over a certain age and are literate. There are no restrictions based on landownership nor ethnicity, as I was also given the choice to select by the simulator.The United States Senate assembled at the Capitol Building, Washington DC:There is an official religion for my country, and it is “Roman Catholicism”. I have meanwhile rejected the options calling for either State Atheism, or for a Secular state. That’s not what I really wanted though, rather just a secular state that also has a state religion.Let me explain. Most monarchies tend to have an official religion, case in point being the United Kingdom which recognizes the Church of England as its official religion. This in no way precludes other religions from being accepted however, but rather all may still practice their faith. However, the Catholic Church holds a privileged place in my country, and to that extent the reigning monarch of my ideal nation must at the very least defend Catholic Christianity per his title of the “Defender of the Faith”, if he isn’t already Catholic himself.My ideal nation should be peaceful. As such I’ve only spent 14% of my potential military expenditure, which translates to 2.6% of GDP as previously mentioned. There is no conscription as it is both cruel and counter-productive, and I have decided to maintain a neutral foreign policy as opposed to a pacifist, isolationist, interventionist or expansionist stance - all of which I deem to be either backward or immoral in the 21st century.Immigration to my country exists, and is capped at 0.8% of the national population annually. Of the immigrants which I do take in, 50% are workers, 20% are either refugees or asylees, with the remainder being students. Immigrants must have “acceptable” knowledge of the official language (English), and must also be educated to an “appropriate” degree. Oftentimes, this does not mean one must be educated at the tertiary level, but simply literate. All immigrants enjoy equal rights and benefits under the law, but I have refrained from progressing to Affirmative Action which I believe to be de facto reverse discrimination.Historic Dutch immigration to Australia (1954):In terms of environmental regulations and women’s rights, I have selected all possible options available.Thus in terms of the former, there are restrictions on the releasing pollutants into the air, the release of hazardous material on land, the contamination of water bodies, the level of noise permitted to be made, and the emission of greenhouse gases inclusive to carbon dioxide, nitrious oxide and methane.In terms of the latter, I have ensured that the “fairer sex” are able to enjoy the maximum amount of rights equal to the male gender. This includes equal access to employment and education, the right to vote, and to own property. I have also mandated that employers refrain from wage discrimination, in addition to observing the legitimacy of maternity leave.I have also implemented a minimum wage system which whilst harmful to the private sector is absolutely necessary overall, in the long term for individuals. The minimum wage does not account for inflation, but is universal as opposed to applying just to corporations as per one of the options. On the basis of family values and right to the pursuit of happiness, I have decreed there to be no inheritance tax. Pensions are meanwhile employer and employee funded, which means that a boss is required to pay part of his subordinate’s pension plan, whilst the employee contributes also.International Women’s Day during the Russian Empire (1721–1917):A central bank exists and it is publicly owned by the State. However, it operates independently to whichever administration is in charge, and by way of “Monetary Policy” can either support or “veto” government implementation of “Fiscal Policy”, in order to alter economic growth rates. I believe very strongly in the concept of a central bank, and so did not choose the option of not having one. I believe a good central bank can act as an additional check on the power of state authorities.And so to that extent, I have empowered it in full. The central bank of my country by that logic can increase liquidity by lending money to financial institutions at discounted rates. It can also purchase and sell government securities to change the available money supply. And lastly, it can also buy and sell currency, in order to influence the exchange rate of the nation. This is good. I have also mandated that the central bank of my nation reserves 10% of its reserve money, in order to lend to others. This is for emergency purposes.In terms of environment spending, I have spent 50% of the available limit for each aspect. This of course translates to a 1.1% of GDP expenditure, which includes capital directed towards the collections, transportation and disposal of waste, the creation of public spaces, and the preservation, protection and restoration of the natural environment, vegetation and wildlife.I meanwhile also recognize, that fossil fuels are in the long term unsustainable, and so to that extent have invested significantly in both Solar (25%) and Nuclear (15%) Energy. As a pro-science nation which does not purely rely on the efficiencies of private hands, my ideal country also invests 13.1% of the maximum amount or 3% of GDP into the sciences. This is inclusive to all “STEM” subjects and projects, which would ideally promote technological innovation in the long term.A solar panel array:Welfare spending is of course moderate, as mentioned earlier. The focus is primarily for those living under the poverty threshold in addition to the unemployed. There is also some expenditure on those earning below the minimum wage, but less emphasis on pensioners.Law EnforcementThe death penalty has been completely abolished, so let’s get that out of the way.As a nation which upholds the value of life, I did not see it fit to permit that a person’s life be taken by the state as a consequence for their crimes. Not even for murder to that extent. A justice system may be firm in that it punishes those who have transgressed my laws, however the punishment must be proportional to the crime committed. In addition to this, it must be fair. Death to that extent is not fair, because it removes the chance for mercy, for reform and for improvement away from the perpetrator permanently.Life is of paramount importance also in a country whose official religion is Christianity. Any Christian who is against abortion, must absolutely without a single exception be against the death penalty too. It would be hypocritical otherwise. In addition to this, Christianity is also about forgiveness. Who then can be forgiven in death? No one. The justice system of my country may punish the wrong doer, but it must also offer the hope for reconciliation. The taking of life shall not be permitted, neither now nor ever in my ideal country.The harshest punishment which is permissible to that extent, is a life sentence. The remedy for murder, war crimes, and treason denote a life sentence. Rape, child abuse and public embezzlement being lesser crimes of gravity require lighter reparations in the form of imprisonment of varying sentences. Incitement, defamation, obscenity and corporate fraud denote fines. Whilst ethnic hate speech, miscegenation, blasphemy and dissent in accordance with the freedom of speech, and freedom of association are wholly legal.There is also absolutely zero room for political correctness in my ideal country. Freedom of speech is fully guaranteed, and anyone who attempts to obstruct the right of another to voice their opinion, no matter how antisocial or hateful it may be, will be subjected to enormous fines. The Freedom of Speech is amongst the most basic of human rights. Any attempt to prohibit it must be punished therefore by Father Government, protector of the nation and of liberty.Freedom of the Press by country (2017):Prostitution by its inherent nature is a subject which earns scorn from me, based on my personal views of the matter. The selling of sex, and its transformation into a commodity at the basis of which is lust, is fundamentally contrary to the dignity of the individual. It objectifies the individual who offers their services, and provides a room for the client also to wrongly satisfy their most base needs. This is immoral and completely wrong.Sex is an expression of love and of familiarity. It needs to be based on respect. Sex in accordance with the official religion of my ideal country, should also be done in such a way that it leads or at the very least is open to life. Prostitution by that logic thus fulfills none of these prerequisites, and is thus inherently evil even if all involved parties consent to such an act.With that said however, in the interest of maintaining a secular society that removes itself for the most part, from the lives of the individual, I have decided to permit it regardless. On the basis that it is for the greater good, I will instead legalize and regulate the Sex Industry, and use the funds to contribute towards a worthy cause such as welfare or education spending. To that extent, I have permitted street prostitution to operate without regulation (purely based on how common it is and impossible to wholly account for). Brothels and escorts on the other hand, require a license to operate.Red Light District, Bangkok:My policy on gun control is one which is restrictive and harsh, but not entirely so. I consider guns and violence to be a necessary evil, which exists because Man is at his nature cruel. The law to that extent, is the only thing that keeps individuals from succumbing to barbarism on a daily basis. Any outlet therefore which not only allows the individual to incline towards violence, but encourages it I tend to be suspect of.Since we do not live in a land comprised of rainbows and unicorns however, alas guns must exist. If I do not permit my citizens to be armed, then shall I also toss them to the wolves? I think not. Guns can be readily acquired on the Black Market anyway, banning altogether won’t automatically erase gun violence over night. Furthermore, the right to life must also be respected, and I refuse to leave my innocent citizens armless relative to their criminal counterparts. However, they must play by the rules in accordance with my wishes.To that extent, handguns and shotguns may be owned but only after a background check has been conducted, to assess lack of criminal activities as well as psychological stability. In addition to that, the bearer of any of the two gun types must complete a safety training course. Semi and fully automatic rifles on the other hand are not permitted except for recreational purposes (eg. hunting or target practice). You’ll need a recreational license.A gun range:Gambling is not an inherently moral issue that I am against, except in cases whereby it is excessively indulged in. If the gambler has a family too, then this is exceptionally harmful as it holds the potential to strip away the victim’s purchasing power, thus robbing him of the ability to provide for his dependents. Otherwise gambling itself is not really a serious issue. Similarly to prostitution, I have opted to legalize the entire industry. Offline and online casinos, in addition to sports betting are regulated, and require a license to operate.Then there is gay marriage. As a member of the LGBT community myself, I am of course sympathetic to the plight of this particular demographic. Be that as it may, I still do not personally believe in same sex marriage - again on the basis of religion. However, politically speaking like I said before, at the end of the day it’s a really a matter of the State respecting the wishes of its citizens. In this context, if marriage is on the agenda of a particular couple then there is really no reason from a political point of view to obstruct such goals, especially if it leads to happiness and thus societal stability.Marriage for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual couples is therefore permitted under the laws of my ideal country. All LGBT couples are able to adopt children also. In addition, hormone treatment is available for transsexuals, however I view reassignment surgery as a step too far and so have decided not to include it.A gay pride parade in New York City (2019):Next is the highly controversial matter of abortion, which I intensely despise. Abortion is against the dignity of individuals, and promotes a culture of “death worship”. It has absolutely no place in a country where life is of paramount importance, and where the rights of the individual are to be respected at virtually all costs. In accordance with my Christian views, and of the views of my ideal nation, life begins at conception. From such moment onwards, the fetus has rights, and they must be respected for the most part as any standard human being’s would.To terminate a fetus therefore, would be tantamount to murder. There is absolutely no other way to view this. In addition to this we also have to consider some more practical reasons. Life is important, because contrary to popular belief we need as many young people as we can get. Overpopulation whilst definitely a legitimate concern, has in recent times been overplayed in my opinion to such a degree that the other elephant in the room has been ignored: that of the aging population. It is an issue that has not been successfully addressed by any developed country up to date with the exception of France and Israel.I would argue that an aging population is as much a liability as overpopulation is, because not only will it lead to long term decimation of the nation’s entire populace, but in the short term will lead to shortages in young people. This is important, because it is the young and not the old who are responsible for the future. They are the labourers, the taxpayers and the experts who will keep society alive throughout the harshest of years to come, in ways that artificial intelligence will never surpass. It is almost a “sin” therefore, that the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of every developed country should be below 2.1 children per couple - the replacement rate.And whilst I have mentioned this in the context of developed nations, it should be noted that in the long term, every nation will end up becoming developed. By then, this would be a global issue. In addition, there are also many developing countries that have an even lower TFR than “First World” nations, take Bosnia (1.23), Thailand (1.46) or China (1.59) for instance. Abortion therefore, I have limited to in cases where the mother’s life would be in danger, or in cases where rape has occurred, but not for reasons based on birth defects or socioeconomic reasons.And of course there is also no forced abortions, which would be wrong on so many levels.Total Fertility Rate (2017) by country:Drugs I don’t really care much about, except in cases where it leads to abuse (not just of others) and death. I personally would strongly advise against it, since a significant portion of drugs tend to have a harmful effect on individuals, and sometimes on society as a whole too. However, I have permitted that nicotine, alcohol and marijuana be made legal, on the prerequisite that sellers are licensed and buyers are over a certain age.For psychedelics, stimulants and opiates on the other hand, this is not the case. Possession and use of these particulars will lead to massive fines. Selling any of the three aforementioned by stark contrast, this is grounds for imprisonment. To be frank, my perfect society has no room for the uncivilized, which those who resort to such substances I consider to be. Being uncivilized is synonymous with disrupting public order and safety, which all have a right to enjoy. Thus, the purchase and selling of these particular narcotics are illegal.Private SectorFairly straightforward, I’ve kept both taxation and public ownership to a low.Public SectorRegarding the Public Sector on the other hand, I’ve attempted to keep prices of public healthcare, education and real estate low. In addition to that, I’ve always mandated that salaries of employees the Education and Healthcare industries to receive a salary that is 110% of standard market rates, in order to attract the best teachers and doctors there are over to the cause of Government hands.This is in accordance with my views on making Healthcare, Education and Housing both readily available, high quality and cheap.This is thus my what my ideal country would look like.What do you think of it? Be sure to comment below, all compliments and critiques are welcomed.

League and court battlesThe ownership of the badminton league is already being fought in court while in the Indian Super League (ISL), the football league faced a major controversy when the ISL regulatory commission banned popular club FC Goa for ‘indiscipline’ and imposed a hefty fine of US$ 1.6 million on the club owners. The club had boycotted the final prize distribution ceremony last year after some players had made allegations against the match officials.The FC Goa management had made adverse comments in the media disputing the result of league’s final last year. The team co-owner Dattaraj Salgaocar claimed that two penalties given against his team in the last five minutes changed everything. “It was a terrible referring, one-sided and it was already decided to give away the match to Chennai team,” he alleged.Amidst all this, India remains at a low 162nd spot in FIFA rankings. So much so that a nation with huge population pool to nurture talent is often beaten by much smaller nations like Nepal and war-struck Afghanistan.Interestingly, European and German clubs are far more popular in India than the Indian clubs. This is mainly due to live telecast of the FA Cup, the Bundesliga and other international fixtures. It has produced thousands of armchair football fans. But the sport has vanished from the masses. Most of the schools in India do not even have a playing field. And wherever there are fields they are dotted with cricket players. Hardly anyone plays football. The standard, therefore, remains low.During the league seasons, there is always a fight between clubs or franchises of the league and the national coaches. While the franchises want players for League fixtures, coaches demand that they be in a coaching camp for national duty. The fight goes on with the standard of the game static.Competition law and sportsWhile cricket is the king of sports in India, other team sports like football and hockey and recently even Formula 1 races are gaining popularity and viewership with large corporates evincing interest in sponsorship and willing to invest in building brands and some even acquiring popular overseas clubs that attract a young audience. IPL is now in its fifth season and its continued success has clearly demonstrated the commercial viability of franchisee, endorsement and broadcasting rights for club and league sports. The moot question therefore is whether league and club events can be held outside the National Sports Federation (NSF) and if yes, the real benefits of such events including increasing the popularity of such sports.Sports events worldwide are organized in a pyramid structure, where a particular sport is governed and regulated by a single International Federation (IF) with various NSFs affiliated to it. The IF governs the regulatory aspect i.e. laying down the rules of the sport, eligibility criteria and playing conditions. The IF also makes the annual calendar for that sport and conducts the world championship and other international level events. A corollary at the national level would be that the NSF would follow the regulations of the IF as a condition of its membership and have exclusive powers to make the annual calendar, develop grass-root level of sport and conduct tournaments and training camps in the country.The importance of the pyramid structure and the riskto the sports due to multiple sport federations have been recognized by IOC and have been addressed in the European Commission’s Helsinki Report and the White Paper on sport. Integrity, uniformity and strict control over regulations ensure that non-discriminatory uniform rules are applied to the sport worldwide and encourage growth of the sports across the globe. It includes sporting sanctions like disciplinary action, suspensions, fines and bans for behavior contrary to the spirit of sports which lie at the core of the sporting movement and can be applied only within the sporting structure.The directions of the Delhi High Court directing the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to undertake enquiry against the All India Chess Federation for preventing its players from taking part in a tournament outside its aegis, BCCI’s sanctions on the Indian Cricket League and the conduct of the World Series Hockey by the Indian Hockey Federation allegedly fall within the ambit of the IF/NSF trying to curb the advent of breakaway leagues through their rules.The IF/NSFs’ rules restricting rival tournaments and release of players for these tournaments (e.g. India) have come under the scanner of competition/anti-trust laws like abuse of dominant position and anticompetitive agreements leading to unreasonable restraint on trade. The sports industry is unique because the pyramid structure which ensures monopoly is essential in maintaining the integrity of sport and unlike other industries, the industry thrives on competition rather than from the lack of it. This reasoning gives birth to the exception of ‘Specificity of Sport’ i.e. certain sporting activities are excluded from the purview of the competition laws. The European courts while creating this exception have divided the IF/NSF activities into two parts. The first being pure sporting functions whereas the second being activities having a substantial economic impact.Pure sporting activities like laying down the rules of the sport, defining the size and weight of the ball and dimensions of the playing field are excluded from the ambit of competition laws. But activities of the IF/NSF having substantial economic impact are within the purview of the competition law.The regulatory power of the IF/NSF if used to gain commercial and financial advantage would fall within this ambit provided the following conditions are satisfied:That the agreements are not anti-competitive i.e. they do not attempt/cause appreciable adverse effect on competition; and/orThat they are not abusing their dominant position and are not imposing unfair or discriminatory conditions.The European courts have held that these conditions in the sporting sector are satisfied when a particular rule though restricting competition has a larger public objective and this objective can be achieved only by applying certain restrictive rules that are essential for the integrity, continuity, organization and conduct of the sport at national and international levels, and the rule is applied uniformly and transparently.The Competition Commission of India is faced with a similar task today to recognize the specificity of sport and carve out exceptions in the Indian scenario. The decision of the CCI will have a huge impact on the Indian sports industry as many a corporate await a chance to start their own breakaway leagues and commercially gain from the revenues generated from these leagues.Sports and Competition LawTwo teams playing against each other are like two corporate firms producing a single product. The product is the game, weighted by the revenues derived from its play. In one sense, the teams compete; in another, they combine in a single firm in which the success of each branch requires efficiency. Unequally distributed playing talent can produce “competitive imbalance”. Remuneration of the team members largely depends on the level of competition between the teams in the particular sports. sport is generally organized in a kind of a ‘pyramid’ structure, with a single governing body controlling most regulatory and commercial aspects of each sport, the governing body appears to be de facto ‘dominant’ and therefore claims relating to the abuse of monopoly.Sports governing bodies such as BCCI, often attempt to preserve for themselves the sole ability to regulate the sport and to organize events. In order to prevent the development of rival organizations, they have sought to tie players in by prohibiting them from competing in other events, on pain of exclusion from ‘official’ events, and such rules have been the subject of challenge under competition law.When the Zee launched Indian Cricket League, the BCCI sacked Kapil Dev as chairman of the National Cricket Academy for aligning with ICL and barred all the 44 defecting players from playing for India or at the domestic level. It made clear that any cricketer who aligns with ICL will be banned for life from playing for India. Such practice on part of the BCCI may attract liability under the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002. As per Section 4(2)(c) of the Act if any enterprise “indulges in practice or practices resulting in denial of market access in any manner”, then it shall be liable for abuse of dominant position. Thus, such practice of banning players from domestic tournaments on account of joining the rival leagues may prove expensive for the BCCI, which may face a challenge on grounds of abuse of dominant position.The denial of stadiums by the BCCI can attract liability for abuse of dominant position under s.4(2)(c) of the Competition Act, 2002 as by denying the use of essential facility under its control it raises the barriers to entry in the market for its competitors, resulting effectively in denial of market access. Operating from just one stadium in Panchkula (in Haryana near Chandigarh), the ICL clearly missed out on one of the integral aspects of leagues sports i.e. a fan base, since it is unable to capture home crowds for matches on account of non-access to the stadiums in the club’s cities.Sports Law and ArbitrationArbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, wherein the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons (the “arbitrators”, “arbiters” or “arbitral tribunal”), by whose decision (the “award”) they agree to be bound. It is a settlement technique in which a third party reviews the case and imposes a decision that is legally binding for both sides. Other forms of ADR include mediation (a form of settlement negotiation facilitated by a neutral third party) and non-binding resolution by experts. Arbitration in India is governed by the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 (“Indian Arbitration Act”), which is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law. The Indian Arbitration Act is broadly divided into two parts. Part I applies to arbitrations held in India, whether domestic or international, and Part II applies to arbitrations held outside India. Part II, incorporates the rules related to international arbitrations governed by the New York or Geneva Conventions. In sports, the disputes are first referred to the federations that govern a particular sport and subsequently the international authorities that govern the sport. e.g. in hockey disputes are referred to the Indian Hockey Federation and after that the International Hockey Federation.At a time when sports are becoming more professional and the stakes are becoming higher than ever, dispute resolution takes on an increasingly important role. In many respects arbitration offers the most suitable solutions with regards to the rapidity, diversity, incontestability and professionalism of the decisions rendered. With regular increase in the number of sports-related disputes in the country, India requires an independent authority that specializes in sports-related problems and that is authorised to pronounce binding decisions. The disputes when referred to courts take a long time to come up with the final decision since the Indian courts are already piled up with a number of pending cases. There is a need to have an authority for sports that offers flexible, quick and inexpensive method of resolution of disputes. With the inauguration of India’s first arbitration centre in Delhi in 2009, India is recognizing the necessity of arbitration for quicker disposal of cases. The increasing use of arbitration in sport over the last decade has challenged the legal framework in which arbitration disputes are addressed in many jurisdictions.Court of Arbitration for SportArbitration exists in international sport through the Court of Arbitration for Sport. All international disputes relating to sports are referred to it. The most prominent sports dispute resolution forum is the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which has its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. The CAS was created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1983. It also has two permanent outposts in Sydney, Australia and New York, USA. It has a minimum of 150 arbitrators from 37 countries, who are specialists in arbitrations and sports law. They are appointed by the International Council of Arbitration for Sports (ICAS) for a four year renewable term and need to sign a ‘letter of independence’. The CAS also has a permanent President who is also the President of ICAS.The body was originally conceived by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Juan Antonio Samaranch to deal with disputes arising during the Olympics. It was established as part of the IOC in 1984. However in a case decided by the CAS, an appealed was made to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, challenging CAS impartiality. The Swiss court ruled that the CAS was a true court of arbitration, but drew attention to the numerous links which existed between the CAS and the IOC. The biggest change resulting from this reform was the creation of an “International Council of Arbitration for Sport” (ICAS) to look after the running and financing of the CAS, thereby taking the place of the IOC. CAS is placed under the administrative and financial authority of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS).Almost all international sports federations or associations which are part of the Olympic Games require sports disputes arising between themselves and sportspersons to be decided by the CAS. Sporting federations whose sports are not part of the Olympics such as Formula I where the FIA which is the governing body of motor sports has its own dispute settlement tribunal. Even some sports which are included in the Olympics have their tribunals like football where its governing body FIFA has its own tribunal. For example, in 1993, a claim of bringing Formula I into disrepute was brought against former FI champion Alain Prost and the Williams Renault Team. The matter was however, satisfactorily resolved by the FIA resulting in Prost escaping a possible ban from competing in the remaining FI races of that particular season.A dispute may be submitted to the CAS only if there is an arbitration agreement between the parties which specifies recourse to the CAS. The language for the CAS is either French or English. In principle, two types of dispute may be submitted to the CAS:those of a commercial nature, andthose of a disciplinary nature.CommercialThe first category essentially involves disputes relating to the execution of contracts, such as those relating to sponsorship, the sale of television rights, the staging of sports events, player transfers and relations between players or coaches and clubs and/or agents (employment contracts and agency contracts). Disputes relating to civil liability issues also come under this category (e.g. an accident to an athlete during a sports competition). These so-called commercial disputes are handled by the CAS acting as a court of sole instance.DisciplinaryDisciplinary cases represent the second group of disputes submitted to the CAS, of which a large number are doping-related. In addition to doping cases, the CAS is called upon to rule on various disciplinary cases (violence on the field of play, abuse of a referee). Such disciplinary cases are generally dealt with in the first instance by the competent sports authorities, and subsequently become the subject of an appeal to the CAS, which then acts as a court of last instance.The CAS is governed by its own Statutes and Rules of Procedure namely the Statutes of the Bodies Working for the Settlement of Sports Related Disputes, Code of Sports Related Arbitration and Mediation Rules. According to Articles S12, S20, R27 and R47 of the Code, the Appeals Arbitration Procedure is open for the appeal against every decision rendered by a federation or club and not limited to disciplinary matters, especially doping cases. In addition, Article R57 empowers the CAS Panels not only to annul a certain decision, but also to replace a decision by a decision by a decision of the arbitrators, or to refer the case back to the issuing body. Moreover, Article R58 authorises the Panel to apply the ‘rule of law’ it deems most appropriate for the case. Thus the Panels may deviate from the laws of the country in which the federation is domiciled and reach a decision on the basis of laws of another country or other rules of law, such as general principles of law.The CAS acquires its jurisdiction in a particular case only through the mutual consent of the parties involved. Currently, all Olympic International Federations and many National Olympic Committees have recognised the jurisdiction of the CAS and included in their statutes an arbitration clause referring disputes to it. The CAS hears approximately 200 cases per year. While it was the international response to the rise in the use of performance-enhancing drugs and the resulting doping cases that fueled the creation of the CAS, the Court is called upon to assist in a wide range of sport conflicts, including sponsorship disputes, the eligibility of a particular athlete in accordance with a sport’s constitution, as well as the resolution of disagreements concerning competition results. The determination of issues arising in doping cases remains a significant portion of the CAS caseload.CAS and MediationIn addition to arbitration CAS also offers mediation services to any requesting parties of a sports dispute. Unlike arbitration, the mediation process is not binding—the mediator will provide recommendations, with solutions suggested, but these are not imposed as a result as in the case of arbitration. Mediations are designed to permit the adverse parties an opportunity to air their grievances in an atmosphere aimed at conciliation of the dispute.ADVANTAGES FOR REFERRING CASES TO CASExpertise in sports-related disciplines (there are more than 300 arbitrators from 87 countries qualified to hear CAS disputes) whereas a typical civil judge will not likely possess such sports-specific knowledge.Its arbitrators are all high level jurists and it is generally held in high regard in the international sports community.Procedure is flexible and informal.Expeditious proceeding as cases are heard and determined within a few months from the date of reference. During the Olympics, awards are required to be made within 24 hours.Lower legal cost to the participantsAlso provides mediation servicesCAS is a private procedure and therefore is conducted without the public or media interference. The arbitrators and CAS staff are obligated not to disclose any information connected with the dispute.IMPORTANT CAS RULINGSIn 2003, Canadian cross country skier Becky Scott successfully appealed to the CAS with respect to her claim that she be awarded the 2002 Olympic gold medal in the 5-km pursuit event. Russian skiers Olga Danilova and Larissa Lazutina finished first and second respectively in the competition, with Scott in third place, and each athlete passed their post-event doping test. Danilova and Lazutina each failed a subsequent doping test administered in relation to another Olympic cross-country event, when the presence of a prohibited blood doping agent, darbepoetin, was detected in each skier’s sample. Scott appealed her 5-km race result on the basis that both Russian skiers were engaged in ongoing doping practices. The Scott ruling was the first time in Olympic history that a gold medal had been awarded to an athlete as a result of a CAS ruling.In 2005, the CAS arbitration panel ruled that American sprinter Tim Montgomery be banned from international competition for two years as a result of doping, in spite of the fact that Montgomery had never failed a doping test. The CAS ruled that it could find a doping violation on the basis of the third party evidence called against Montgomery, most of which connected Montgomery to the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (BALCO) athlete steroid scandal that had arisen in the United States in 2003.In February 2010 Five-time Olympic speedskating champion Claudia Pechstein lost her appeal against a two-year ban for blood doping. CAS dismissed the German’s appeal against a ban imposed by the International Skating Union.Setting aside proceedings against CAS arbitral awards may only be filed with the Swiss Supreme Court due to the seat of CAS tribunals being in Lausanne.Everything you need to know about sports legislations in IndiaPer se, there are no central or state legislation to regulate sports in India; the Ministry, which was set up by the government was responsible for achieving excellence in different sports events which were conducted in India and also to build a good infrastructure for sports. By and large, the administration of sports activities is in the hands of autonomous bodies, such as Sports Authority of India (SAI), Indian Olympic Association (IOA), Hockey India (HI) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).These governing bodies are recipients of government’s aid and are also registered under the Societies Registration’s Act of 1860.[3]THE FOLLOWING GOVERN THE WHOLE OF THE SPORTS LAWNational Sports Policy, 1984/2001The main objective behind enacting this was to raise the standard of sports for the reason that it was degrading due to corruption, betting, etc. It was later realized that the Bill of the year 1984 was incomplete, and its implementation was not complete, and in a bid to revise the bill the same was reformulated in the year 2001.The guidelines are three-fold:Firstly, to earmark the areas of responsibilities which different agencies have to undertake to develop and promote sports.To lay down the procedure to be followed by the autonomous bodies and federations to make the assistance and aid by the government available.And also identifying the sports federation that is eligible for coverage under these set guidelines.It was only after this policy that the lawmakers realized the importance of sports and therefore ‘Sports’ was included in the Constitution in the State list of the Seventh Schedule (Entry 33). The central government by the provisions of this policy aims to achieve excellence in sports on the national and global plane and collaborates with the state government and other agencies to achieve it.Sports Law and Welfare Association of IndiaIt is a non-profit national organization that aims to understand, and work for the advancement of ethical sports law in India for promoting sports. The primary task of the organization is to provide consultancy services on different matters like Indian sports policy, sports injuries, health and safety in sports, IP issues in sports, etc. It also provides a forum for legal practitioners who represent different people, to set up rules for ethics for sports persons.Sports Authority of IndiaThe Sports Authority of India (SAI) is an apex National Sports body set up in the year 1984 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for broad-basing and bringing excellence in sports across India as a whole. It is located across 9 regions at Bangalore, Gandhinagar, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Imphal, Guwahati, Bhopal, Lucknow and Sonepat; and two Academic institutions like Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports (NSNIS), Patiala and Laxmibai National College of Physical Education. It also accounts for academic programs like coaching and physical education awareness programs.[4]The Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) ActThis Act was passed in the year 2007; its main objective was to provide access to listeners and viewers so as to encourage a larger audience. It shall cover the sporting events which are of national importance through mandatory sharing of sports broadcasting signals with Prasar Bharati and for matters related to it. The Act provides that no content right owner or holder or television or radio broadcasting service provider can carry out a live TV broadcast of important national sporting events. For doing this, it has to share its live broadcasting signal simultaneously (except advertisements) with the Prasar Bharati.Role of different stakeholdersMinistry of Youth Affairs and SportsTo lay down the conditions for eligibility of National Sports Federation to get recognitionThe conditions that have to be fulfilled by NSFs and other agencies if they wish to acquire government aid and support.To provide assistance to the NSFs if they carry out long-term development program.National Sports FederationThe responsibility for the complete management, direction, supervision and regulation of the discipline and promotion, development and sponsorship of the discipline is on National Sports Federation. They are expected to discharge these responsibilities in consonance with the principles laid down in the Olympic Charter or the Charter of the Indian Olympic Association in compliance with Government guidelines applicable to NSFs.SAIFor providing the necessary support to NSF for the identification, training, and coaching of sportspersons, also to improvise infrastructure, equipment, and such other facilities, the SAI plays a significant role. Further SAI will also be responsible for releasing funds to NSFs against proposals approved by the Government. The release of funds to IOA shall, however, continue to be made by the concerned Ministry.[5]National Anti-Doping AgencyThe centre has set up a National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) as an autonomous body. It consists of persons from government and non-government agencies, scientists as experts and also members from IOA. In the recent past, the controversy surrounding the intake of dope by sports persons is prevalent and in this light, NADA was set up. It shall carry out ‘in competition’ and ‘out of the competition’ testing on the sportsman. NADA helps in the regulation of sports activities so that it can be corruption-free and non-controversial.Sports law of United States of AmericaThe U.S.A. has a very systematic law for sports. They have not provided with single legislation, but have divided it into 3 categories-:Amateur sportsIt includes athletic activities from high school athletics to organize intercollegiate or international competitions which are often organized and managed by groups that make rules for eligibility and competition, and courts do not interfere with the actions of these groups as long as they abide by the rules. The Amateur Sports Act of 1978 created the Athletic Congress, a national body for governance of amateur athletes, which administers a fund that allows amateur athletes an option to get funds and sponsorship payments and also not lose their amateur status.Professional sportsIn the case of some professional sports activity, most sports leagues do have a standard player’s contract, and that shall be the guiding force behind a contract between players and owners.International sportsThe two main international sports events include the Olympics, sponsored by the International Olympic Committee, and the World Cup, which is sponsored by FIFA. The United States has done the charting of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) in the year 1950.Some jurisdictions have passed separate legislation relating to sports. For example, in India sports information is in the Concurrent list of the Seventh Schedule (entry 33) of the Constitution on which both the union and state legislatures are proficient to put together laws. There are 3 States; Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, which have enacted laws on regulating sports activity including registration, regulation and recognition of Sports Associations (Uttar Pradesh has since repealed the Act).It is one of the main revenue generating industries of the world and with the propagation of the Internet and other forms of media, the sports industry is growing at a faster tempo. An industry of billions of dollars with an all-encompassing worldwide presence is bound to raise its own disputes. This has resulted in the growth and development of sports law as a separate regulation in its own right.