Hi,
I will try to explain my opinion about your questions, this is only my opinion.
1-
How long can they stay on the council?
I think that the council should stay the same while they're going well, it means that players should maybe vote if the council should stay the same or not, each vote will need some explanation, you can't fire a council because they Don't ban the pokemon that counter your team. The council should recruit new members or maybe make changes but it needs a base stable.
What are the requirements?
The requirements should be a well experience of game, I thought about more than 1000hours, a well experience in pvp (I Don't know how to determinate this), and a proof of motivation, the willing to make the game better.
Should they be able to participate in ranked PvP while being on the council?
I think that every players in the council needs to play pvp, to understand the meta, to be able to know what is wrong, how to improve the system.
How would the split between Silver and Gold members look like?
It should be 50% players gold, 50% players silver, we need both point of view, meta on Silver isn't exactly the same as Gold, so Gold player need silver opinion and inversly.
2-
How does the council decide what Pokemon to sent into a suspect testing phase?
This is a reflexion which must be in agreement with 75% of the council, Staff will have the right of veto.
How would a suspect test look like (a special suspect ladder is out of question)?
2weeks to 1month of suspect test, it will be in ranked pvp, there is nothing better than test a changement on the pvp game itself, we will be able to analyze the reactions of players, and to adapt the evolution of suspect test in answer.
Who gets to vote after the suspect test is over?
50 ladder players of both server, council, staff. All vote need at least one explanation, we need to avoid a useless ban, or corruption.
3-
How much influence does staff have over the council?
Like I said before, the staff has a right of veto, if they think that the council does something wrong, they can interrupt a suspect test, or changes the council.
When can staffs interfere in the decision making process?
There will be a discord, where staff members and council will discuss, before take any decision.
Thank'u for listening to me, I repeat that this is only my opinion, hope you a good day.
Nakofum,