I think a PvP-Council would be a nice adittion in-game.
How are council members picked?
With an application or interview that the staff will do.
How long can they stay on the council?
Every season the staff needs to check the improvements, if the council did a great job they stay. In the other side, the staff can change the council if they didn't do a great job.
Toxicity and inactivity counts to kick a member in the council.
What are the requirements?
A good activity in-game and PvP in the season.
1000+ hours in-game.
A "good" historical behaviour record.
Knowledge about the actual meta.
Should they be able to participate in ranked PvP while being on the council?
Yeah, because the council needs to see the improvements on PvP.
How would the split between Silver and Gold members look like?
Depending the number of members, the staff will choose half of each server.
[*]How are suspect tests decided?
Creating threads where users can check and complaint about a pokemon in-game meta.
When the staff release a new pokemon, the council needs to review it and take a decision before they get added to the game.
How does the council decide what Pokemon to sent into a suspect testing phase?
Checking users opinions and testing the Pokemon to take a decision. (Pokemon in the actual meta-game.)
When the staff release a new pokemon, the council needs to review it and take a decision before they get added to the game.
How would a suspect test look like (a special suspect ladder is out of question)?
The council will debate about the pokemon centralizing in moves, the base stats, etc.
Who gets to vote after the suspect test is over?
The entire council will do a thread about the pokemon to check people's opinion and votes. Then, the entire council will vote to make a final decision.
What are the requirements to vote?
The activity of the players in the council will be checked.
Players will need more than 300 of rank to vote in threads.
1000+ Hours in-game.
[*]What would council members need from staff in particular to make it successful?
A discord where council and staff can have a contact.
How much influence does staff have over the council?
The staff can review and making an opinion about the council idea before releasing it in-game.
When can staffs interfere in the decision making process?
In the final decision before releasing the changes.