Media Credit: Sydney Walsh | Assistant Photo Editor
In his motion to dismiss the lawsuit, SA Sen. Yan Xu, ESIA-U, argued that the case is now irrelevant after the SA Senate addressed the issue through approved legislation.
Updated: April 4, 2022 at 1:43 p.m.
Student Association Sen. Yan Xu requested the Student Court dismiss a case Thursday that could overturn legislation he introduced to widen the SA Senate finance committee’s authority to regulate financial activities among student organizations, arguing the lawsuit is irrelevant.
The SA Office of the Legislator General filed a lawsuit in February against Xu, the chair of the finance committee, alleging that the updated bylaw gives the committee too much power over registered student organizations. Xu passed legislation in response later that month, which addressed most of the suit’s complaints, but the plaintiffs filed a revised complaint last month, arguing that the committee’s power to sanction student organizations is still unconstitutional.
“The Defendants believe the Court should wait for further factual development in the form of a dispute over an implemented procedure that would facilitate the Court’s review of the sanction process,” the answer to the lawsuit reads.
In his answer, Xu contested that the finance committee will only theoretically be able to sanction student organizations until the power expires in July because of the updated legislation the senate passed, rendering the case irrelevant. He said the committee wouldn’t sanction any student organizations before July because SA bylaws do not outline or provide for the sanctioning process despite the powers his legislation grants.
“The claim brought by the Plaintiffs is not yet a dispute, and the Court will judge on abstract disagreements,” the answer reads.
The court was set to decide whether to review the case Sunday at its initial consideration meeting.
This post has been updated to clarify the following:
This story has been updated to clarify that Xu did not formally issue a motion to dismiss the lawsuit but submitted a response to it to the Student Court urging the court to dismiss it.
This article appeared in the April 4, 2022 issue of the Hatchet.
