Lex Didia de potestate tribunicia (Nova Roma)

I. IVS SENATVS CONVOCANDI (The Right of Convoking the Senate).

Any Tribunus Plebis may call the Senate to order as set forth in the Constitutio, article IV. VII. D. I, and therefore follows the rules governing internal procedures of the Senatus as article V. F of the Constitution states.

II. IVS AUXILI FERENDI (The Right of Bringing Assistance)

A. Since the Ius Auxili Ferendi is a fundamental prerogative of a Tribunus Plebis as set forth in IV. 7. A of our Constitutio, in order for an act of intercessio to be valid the following procedure must be followed whether it is requested by a citizen or performed in his official capacity.

1. When a Tribunus Plebis issues an intercessio, it must include the following elements in a reasoned exposition in which the Tribunus shall note whether the auxilium was requested or ex-officio:

• a. The official name(s) of the citizen(s) who has requested the Tribunus Plebis to issue the intercessio, or the official name(s) of the citizen(s) on whose behalf the Tribunus has provided auxilium ex officio.
• b. The official name and office of the magistrate(s) against whose act or acts the intercessio or auxilium has been interposed.
• c. The article(s) of the Constitution or the leges violated by the magistrate's act(s).

2. If the intercessio of a Tribunus Plebis does not include these three elements, the intercessio shall be invalid. The time constraints of the Lex Labiena de Intercessione shall continue to hold such that, if a new intercessio is not issued before the seventy-two hour limit, counted from the act(s) which occasioned the original intercessio, the Tribunus Plebis shall issue no new intercessio pertaining to that act or those acts.

3. When a Tribunus Plebis issues an intercessio against the act(s) of another Tribunus Plebis, it must include the following elements:

• a. The official name and office of the Tribunus Plebis against whose act(s) that intercessio is interposed.
• b. The article(s) of the Constitution or the leges violated by the Tribunus Plebis' act(s).

4. If the intercessio of a Tribunus Plebis does not include these two elements, the intercessio shall be invalid. The time constraints of the Lex Labiena de Intercessione shall continue to hold such that, if a new intercessio is not issued before the seventy-two hour limit, counted from the act(s) which occasioned the original intercessio, the Tribunus Plebis shall issue no new intercessio pertaining to that act or those acts.

5. When a Tribunus Plebis shall issue an intercessio or provide auxilium, the procedures for ratification or voiding by the other Tribuni Plebis specified in the Lex Labiena de Intercessione shall be followed. There shall be no requirement that a Tribunus Plebis issue any statement on the matter at hand except agreement or disagreement with the original intercessio/auxilium.

B. When administering the law in accordance with Article IV. A. 7. d. iii of the Constitution, a Tribunus Plebis must adjudicate in accordance with current law and the iurisprudentia established by the Praetor and serve the interests of the Plebs and the citizens of Nova Roma.

C. Resolving Disputes Among the Plebs.

A Tribunus Plebis shall arbitrate disputes between plebeian citizens if the parties involved so agree. If any party shall refuse to agree to such arbitration, the Tribunus Plebis shall refer the matter to the Praetor for adjudication under the Lex Salicia Iudiciaria. If the parties agree to arbitration by a Tribunus Plebis, they shall accept the decision of the Tribunus and may not seek further relief under the Lex Salicia Iudiciaria. The Tribunus Plebis who shall arbitrate the dispute will be chosen by an agreement of the parties. If there is no agreement, the oldest Tribunus Plebis will arbitrate the dispute.

III. TRIBUNICIA POTESTAS (Tribunician Power).

The office of Tribunus Plebis is Sacred in the Republic and endowed on this account with the following powers:

A. Summa Coercendi Potestas.

Any citizen or magistrate who interferes with the official action(s) of a Tribunus Plebis shall be fined by that Tribunus with a multa pecuniaria of no more than thirty U.S. dollars ($30.00), paid to the treasury of Nova Roma and devoted to Ceres. Such a penalty cannot be suspended or revoked except by intercessio of another Tribunus Plebis, or a Praetorian appraisal which should permit the fined citizen further recourse at law under the Lex Salicia Iudiciaria. The right of provocatio will be respected as Article II. B. 5 of the constitution states.

B. Potestas Sacrosancta.

Any citizen or magistrate who shall do violence to a Tribunus Plebis in the course of his official duties or refuse to abide by a legal exercise of intercessio shall be brought before the Praetores and judged in accordance with the Lex Salicia Iudiciaria. The severity of the poena shall be determined in the Praetor's formula in accordance with the severity of the offence. The trial for this offence should be completed within sixty days of submission of the petitio actionis to the Praetor by the Tribunus Plebis, respecting Praetor's use of his discretion on dates. Completion of the term of office of the actor Tribunus Plebis shall not affect trial for an offence for which a petitio actionis has been filed prior to the completion of that Tribunus Plebis' term.