HB1348 MUST BE TABLED!
Attention: HB1348 Allows Foreign Law to be used in Arkansas Courts and allows police power to enforce a foreign decree.
HB1348 does NOT prohibit “Sharia”-type law from overriding issues that may be presented in the future by modifying Arkansas Public Policy.
HB1348 is on the agenda of the House Judiciary Committee for Thursday, March 21, at 10:00 AM, Room 149, State Capitol, Little Rock.
HB1348 allows Foreign Law to be used in the Arkansas courts. The Amendment to HB1348 does not remove Public Policy from the bill and still allows Foreign and International law into the Arkansas Court systems. HB1348is tied into Arkansas Public Policy. Arkansas Public Policy can be changed at any time by the legislators. Only the US and Arkansas Constitution should be used in the Arkansas Court system.
HB1348 also allows Arkansas to use its police power to enforce a foreign decree.
HB1348 allows any law, legal code, or systems of a jurisdiction outside of any state, territory, or commonwealth of the United States, including without limitation international organizations and tribunals, and applied by that jurisdiction’s courts, administrative bodies, or other formal or informal tribunals. The International organization mentioned in
HB 1348 can mean the United Nations.
The legal systems in the world today are generally based on one of three basic systems: Civil Law, Common Law, and Religious Law. HB1348 is bringing all three types of legal systems into the Arkansas Courts. The following is in HB1348 (“any and all legal systems”) Since Religious Law is part of the legal systems, HB1348 allows religious law into the Arkansas court system.
Priority 1: Call the sponsors and ask thatHB1348 be pulled and tabled.
Sponsors:
Representative Randy Alexander,479-306-4051
randy.alexander@arkansashouse.org
Senator Cecile Bledsoe, 479-636-2115
Priority 2: Call the co-sponsors and ask that they pull their cosponorship of HB1348.
Co-Sponors:
Representative Bob Ballinger, 870-423-1035
Representative Mark Biviano, 501-230-5751
Representative Charlotte Vining Douglas, 479-632-2187
Representative Denny Altes, 479-646-8981
Representative Gary Deffenbaugh, 479-719-8197
Gary.Deffenbaugh@arkansashouse.org
Representative Jim Dotson, 479-644-0740
Representative Jon S. Eubanks, 479-438-0533
Representative Justin T. Harris, 479-871-8542
Justin.Harris@arkansashouse.org
Representative Debra Hobbs, 479-636-3982
Representative Bruce Holland, 479-996-0977
Representative John Burris, 870-688-6181
Representative Richard Womack, 870-403-6287
Senator Bart Hester, 479-531-4176
Senator Jim Hendren, 479-787-6222
Senator Jeremy Hutchinson, 501-773-3760
Jeremy.Hutchinson@senate.ar.gov
Senator Jon Woods, 479-200-3100
Senator Jason Rapert, 501-336-0918
Priority 3: Call the members of the House Committee on Judiciary and ask that they table HB1348.
House Committee on Judiciary
Representative Marshall Wright, Chair, 870-633-3144
marshall.wright@arkansashouse.org
Representative John T. Vines, Vice Chair, 501624-1252
Representative Darrin Williams, 501-312-8500 dwilliams@carneywilliams.com
Representative Jim Nickels, 501-833-2424 jim.nickels@arkansashouse.org
Representative Mary L. Slinkard, 479-616-2010 mary.slinkard@arkansashouse.org
Representative Nate Steel, 870-845-1870 nate.steel@arkansashouse.org
Representative Matthew J. Shepherd matthew.shepherd@arkansashouse.org 870-862-2087
Representative
Representative John W. Walker, 501-614-9772 johnwalkeratty@aol.com
Representative Sue Scott, 479-621-1265 Scottgrandmotherscott@yahoo.com
Representative Mark D. McElroy, 870-644-3822
Representative David Kizzia, 501-337-9959 david.kizzia@arkansashouse.org
Representative Stephen Magie, 501-327-4444 stephen.magie@arkansashouse.org
Representative Charlene Fite, 479-414-1818 charlenefiteforstaterep@yahoo.com
Representative Bob Ballinger, 870-423-1035
Representative John Baine, 870-862-2002 john.baine@arkansashouse.org
Representative Wes Wagner, 870-561-4600 wes.wagner@arkansashouse.org
Representative Micah S. Neal, 479-935-5560 micah.neal@arkansashouse.org
Representative Mary Broadaway, 870-236-9800
Representative Monte Hodges, 870-763-1322
This bill was originally pulled because it allowed foreign law to be used in the Arkansas Court System and it was tied into the Public Policy of Arkansas.
If you check the Amendments of HB1348 it looks good but, if you read the bill after the changes were made, it turns out that public policy and foreign law are still in HB 1348.
HB 1348 AN ACT TO PROTECT RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES GRANTED UNDER THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
State of ArkansasasEngrossed:H3/8/13
89th General Assembly Regular Session, 2013
By: Representatives Alexander, D. Altes, Ballinger, Biviano, J. Burris, Deffenbaugh, Dotson, C. Douglas, Eubanks, Harris, Hobbs, Womack By:
Senators Bledsoe, J. Hendren, Hester, Holland, J. Hutchinson, Rapert, G. Stubblefield, J. Woods
For An Act To Be Entitled
AN ACT TO PROTECT RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES GRANTED UNDER THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
Subtitle
TO PROTECT RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES GRANTED UNDER THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
SECTION 1. DO NOT CODIFY. Legislative findings.
The General Assembly finds that:
(1)(A) While fully recognizing that judgments and rulings issued by foreign courts and foreign judicial bodies may be recognized and enforced if those judgments and rulings do not conflict with the public policy of Arkansas, the General Assembly also recognizes that this recognition is given as a discretionary accommodation to that foreign nation and not afforded as a right.
(B) As a matter of public policy, the recognition and enforcement of a foreign judgment or ruling is limited to the extent that its enforcement would not directly conflict with the public policy of Arkansas;
(2)(A) The fundamental rights and liberties granted to Arkansas citizens and residents found in the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution and other amendments and the Declaration of Rights, Arkansas
Constitution, Article 2, are fundamental human rights that transcend jurisdiction.
(B) When determining whether to recognize or enforce a foreign judgment or ruling, it is in the best interest of Arkansas and the public policy of Arkansas to first determine whether the parties affected by such an enforcement or recognition have been afforded comparable protections, including without limitation due process and equal protection, by theforeign law or legal system upon which the judgment or ruling was based; and
(3) It is in the best interest and public policy of the state of Arkansas and its citizens to ensure that before the state of Arkansas recognizes and uses its police power to enforce a foreign decree, judgment, or ruling that it is determined whether the law or legal system upon which the decree, judgment, or ruling is based provides the same or similar fundamental liberties, rights, and privileges afforded parties in this state seeking or defending the same or similar decree, judgment, or ruling.
SECTION 2. Arkansas Code Title 16, Chapter 55, Subchapter 1, is amended to add an additional section to read as follows:
16-55-123. Application of foreign law, legal code, or system.
(a) As used in this section, “foreign law, legal code, or system” means any law, legal code, or system of a jurisdiction outside of any state, territory, or commonwealth of the United States, including without limitation international organizations and tribunals, and applied by that jurisdiction’s courts, administrative bodies, or other formal or informal tribunals.
(b) Any court, arbitration, tribunal, or administrative agency ruling or decision is void and unenforceable if the court, arbitration, tribunal, or administrative agency bases its ruling or decision in the matter at issue in whole or in part on any foreign law, legal code, or system that would not grant the parties the fundamental human rights that transcend jurisdiction, including without limitation:
(1) The due process right to be treated fairly by any and all legal systems;
(2) The right to be treated equally relative to other parties in the same case and to similarly situated parties in other cases;
(3) The right to make one’s own choices about one’s own life within the recognized norms of a civilized society; and
(4) The right not to be discriminated against on the basis of race, gender, religion, or other similar characteristics.
(c) A contract or contractual provision capable of severability that provides for the choice of a foreign law, legal code, or system to govern some or all of the disputes between the parties adjudicated by a court of law or by an arbitration panel arising from the contract mutually agreed upon and is void and unenforceable if the foreign law, legal code, or system chosen includes or incorporates any substantive or procedural law, as applied to the dispute at issue, that would not grant the parties the fundamental human rights that transcend jurisdiction, including without limitation:
(1) The due process right to be treated fairly by any and all legal systems;
(2) The right to be treated equally relative to other parties in the same case and to similarly situated parties in other cases;
(3) The right to make one’s own choices about one’s own life within the recognized norms of a civilized society; and
(4) The right not to be discriminated against on the basis of race, gender, religion, or other similar characteristics.
(d)(1) A contract or contractual provision capable of severability that provides for a jurisdiction to grant the courts or arbitration panels in personam jurisdiction over the parties to adjudicate any disputes between parties arising from the contract mutually agreed upon shall be void and unenforceable if the jurisdiction chosen includes any foreign law, legal code, or system, as applied to the dispute at issue, that would not grant the parties the same fundamental human rights that transcend jurisdiction, including without limitation:
(A) The due process right to be treated fairly by any and all legal systems;
(B) The right to be treated equally relative to other parties in the same case and to similarly situated parties in other cases;
(C) The right to make one’s own choices about one’s own life within the recognized norms of a civilized society; and
(D) The right not to be discriminated against on the basis of race, gender, religion, or other similar characteristics.
(2) It is public policy of this state that the claim shall be denied if a resident of this state seeks to maintain litigation, arbitration, agency, or similarly binding proceedings in this state and have the courts of this state find that, concerning a nonclaimant in theforeign forum with respect to the matter in dispute, granting a claim of forum non conveniens or a related claim violates or would likely violate the fundamental human rights that transcend jurisdiction, including without limitation:
(A) The due process right to be treated fairly by any and all legal systems;
(B) The right to be treated equally relative to other parties in the same case and to similarly situated parties in other cases;
(C) The right to make one’s own choices about one’s own life within the recognized norms of a civilized society; and
(D) The right not to be discriminated against on the basis of race, gender, religion, or other similar characteristics.
(e) This section does not apply to a corporation, partnership, or other form of business association.
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