Register › Concepts › Drawing by lot
Drawing by lot
Filling an office by random selection from a defined pool, used here for courts, watchdogs and deliberation.
Why it appears here
The Assembly holds legislation, execution and, through Article 143, a hold on planning. If that Assembly also appointed the courts and the watchdogs, the check would be decorative within a term. Every appointment route that matters therefore avoids it.
Where it is used
Constitutional justices are drawn from a public pool of qualified lawyers. The Judicial Council is thirteen residents drawn by lot and eight judges elected by judges. Every oversight office is headed by a college of five drawn by lot. Restorative panels are residents of the commune. Deliberative bodies examining bills and amendments are drawn to reflect the population.
Confirmation, not selection
The Judicial Council confirms the people drawn, and may refuse only for incapacity, disqualification, or an incompatible interest, by public reasoned decision. It may refuse twice per vacancy. The third person drawn takes office by operation of law, so confirmation cannot quietly become selection.
Verifiability
Draws happen in public session, by a procedure whose method and code are published, and an independent body verifies annually that each draw ran as published.
Nobody is conscripted
Participation is voluntary at every point. A person who declines is replaced by a fresh draw, and no reason need be given. Service counts as contribution and has release from other tasks, transport, care and accommodation attached to it.