Post by Asairia on Feb 15, 2019 19:41:13 GMT
ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION
This Document and all Articles herein are to be considered the Supreme Law of this Region by the Authority of the Founder and of the People of the Versutian Federation by whom it has been signed.
Article 1 - Definitions
1.1. Elections for public positions shall take place every month unless otherwise stated.
1.2. 'CTE' shall be defined as a nation which has ceased-to-exist.
1.3. A 'citizen Nation' shall be defined as any nation that has a forum account, of which only one may be made for each player.
1.3.1. A citizen Nation may vote in elections, run for office, and do any other thing which it is afforded under the laws of the Versutian Federation.
1.3.1.1. A citizen Nation may not occupy more than one government office at a time.
1.3.2. A forum account deemed to represent a nation who is an Ambassador to the Versutian Federation shall be disallowed from voting in Parliament or in elections.
1.3.3. A forum account deemed to represent a nation who is not normally resident in the Versutian Federation shall be disallowed from voting in Parliament or in elections.
1.4. Elections for public positions shall take place on the 2nd (second) day of the month.
1.5. Any holder of public office may, in their absence, temporarily delegate their responsibilities to another citizen Nation, provided that:
1.5.1. adequate notice is given;
1.5.2. the notice is publicly visible;
1.5.3. the citizen Nation to which responsibility is delegated is reasonably appropriate for the role;
1.5.4. the length of delegation is not unreasonable;
1.5.5. the nature of the delegation could not be said to significantly alter the character of the holder's stewardship of the role.
1.6. A candidate for election must have an active nation resident in the Versutian Federation for the duration of their term through which they will be contactable.
1.7. A candidate for election shall be required to sign an affidavit declaring any conflicts of interest which would arise from their stewardship of the position. Such conflicts may include (but should not be considered limited to) the holding of an office in a different region.
Article 2 - The Founder
2.1. The Founder shall have permanent administrator rights to the forum.
2.2. In the event that the founder has CTE, the Delegate shall take over any positions defined in any law referring to them, except having administrator rights on the forum.
2.3. Otherwise, the founder shall be tasked with implementing decisions from the Minister of Justice, and managing the regional factbook.
2.4. The founder may declare a state of emergency.
2.5. The founder may issue executive orders in the event of a state of emergency, which take supremacy over all laws except the Constitution.
2.5.1. The executive order may be overturned by majority vote.
Article 3 - The President
3.1. The President shall be the leader of the Parliament of the Versutian Federation and the administration and shall have the power to:
3.1.1. draft and introduce legislation;
3.1.2. determine when and if legislation shall come to a vote, and if said legislation shall become law once passed by Parliament, unless overruled by a two-thirds vote of Parliament.
3.2. The President may be impeached by a two-thirds vote of Parliament.
3.4. The President shall have a term length of three months.
Article 4 - The Minister of Justice
4.1.1. The Minister of Justice shall be responsible for supervising the execution of justice in the region, for arbitrating disputes and for adjudicating on issues where a member or citizen Nation stands accused of violating the rules of the region subject to the Bill of Rights.
4.1.2. The Minister of Justice shall pass sentence in these cases.
4.1.3. The Minister of Justice shall have a supreme remit, able to examine:
4.1.3.1. actions of the administration;
4.1.3.2. Acts of Parliament;
4.1.3.3. actions of regional officials;
4.1.3.4. actions of private individuals;
4.1.3.5. past cases in the Court.
4.1.4. The Minister of Justice shall be elected. The election may be vetoed by the President, but this veto may be overruled by a two-thirds majority in Parliament. The Minister of Justice shall serve in this capacity for life, except for when:
4.1.4.1. The Minister of Justice resigns;
4.1.4.2. Parliament may eject the Minister of Justice from their position with a two-thirds majority vote.
4.1.4.3. The Minister of Justice has been inactive in performing their judicial duties for two (2) weeks;
4.2. The Minister of Justice may have their decisions overturned where there is an eighty per-cent majority in Parliament to do so.
4.3. If The Minister of Justice is a party to a case, the case shall be judged by The Founder.
4.3.1. If both The Founder and The Minister of Justice are party to a case, the case shall be judged by the Delegate.
4.3.2. In a case where the WA Delegate, the Founder, and the Minister of Justice are party to a case, the case shall be judged by an arbiter elected by parliament.
Article 5 - The Cabinet
Section 1 - The Minister of Defence
5.1.1. The Minister of Defence shall have the duty to defend the Versutian Federation against foreign invader Nations, but to not encourage a raider or defender regional policy.
5.1.2. The Minister of Defence, where a state of emergency is in effect (as declared by the Founder) shall have the right to recommend names to the Founder and Delegate for ejection and banning.
Section 2 - The Minister of Foreign Affairs
5.2.1. The Minister of Foreign Affairs shall have the duty to manage relations with other regions and to manage the Foreign Ministry and its employees.
5.2.2. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has the power to enter into negotiations with other regions regarding the placement of embassies.
5.2.2.1. The results of these negotiations are binding on the Delegate and Founder.
Section 3 - The Minister of Immigration
5.3.1. The Minister of Immigration shall have the duty to manage the recruitment teams and to ensure compliance with NationStates rules regarding recruitment, in addition to themselves recruiting Nations to join the Versutian Federation.
Section 4 - The Delegate
5.4.1. The Delegate shall be the official representative of the Versutian Federation in the World Assembly.
5.4.1.1. They shall vote and approve resolutions based on sentiment and opinions of the region.
5.4.1.2. They shall be elected by other citizen nations through an election in Parliament, the candidate with the majority being the Delegate.
5.4.1.2.1. The Delegate shall have a term of three months, with voting to follow standard Constitutional protocol as stated in Articles 1.1 and 1.4.
5.4.1.3. That the Delegate's term will begin two days after the end of voting, with the necessary transfer of endorsements to be completed by the conclusion of this two day period, subject to action by the Founder and the honour of Delegate that had been voted out by Parliament.
5.4.1.3.1. In cases where the Founder has CTE and the transfer of endorsements has not completed within the two-day period, the Delegate that refuses to comply may be impeached by a majority vote by Parliament.
5.4.1.4.1. That there should be an endorsement cap set at approximately 50% of the Delegate's current endorsements, and that this figure should be displayed clearly on the region's World Factbook Entry (WFE).
5.4.1.4.2. The endorsement cap's figure should be updated weekly by the Delegate on the World Factbook Entry, subject to how many endorsements the current Delegate holds.
5.4.1.4.3. Nations whose endorsements exceed the cap listed on the World Factbook Entry should first be issued a warning through a telegram by the Delegate.
5.4.1.4.3.1. If the infringing Nation in question takes no action to lower their endorsements within 3 days, they could face criminal prosecution and potential ejection.
5.4.1.4.3.2. If the infringing Nation can prove that action was taken to lower their endorsements, then they are given the option to use their sole grace period of one week to ensure that their endorsements are at an appropriate level.
Article 6 - Parliament
6.1. The Parliament shall be defined as all citizen Nations of the Versutian Federation.
6.2. The body shall have the power to pass laws with a simple majority vote, and draft legislation.
6.3. Parliament shall meet at least once a month, but may meet anytime they wish.
Article 7- Amendments
Section 1
7.1. This Constitution may only be amended by a two-thirds majority of Parliament, or a two-thirds majority outcome in a referendum involving all citizen Nations.
Section 2
7.2. In issues where this Constitution conflicts with other laws passed by Parliament, or with actions taken by any official, the Constitution shall be considered to have legal supremacy over those laws, or to delegitimize the actions taken.
Section 3
7.3. This Constitution derives its authority from the citizen Nations and the Founder of the region of the Versutian Federation. Any amendment which seeks to disenfranchise these individuals without due process shall void this Constitution.
Article 8 - The Bill of Rights
8.0. The following provisions are to be recognised as the inalienable rights of all member Nations of the Versutian Federation.
8.1. Self-determination: The government of the Versutian Federation shall make no law, rule or regulation governing the internal operations of any member Nation within it. Each member Nation shall maintain the right to govern itself in accordance with its own political persuasions, customs and desires, except for where such governance adversely affects other nations within the region.
8.2. Freedom of speech: The government of the Versutian Federation shall make no law restricting freedom of speech within the Versutian Federation beyond those rules already established within NationStates. In harmony with NationStates rules of etiquette, the following behaviours shall constitute grounds for punishment, up to and including ejection from the region and reporting to the game moderators:
8.2.1. The posting of any content deemed to be 'spamming', including content that is obscene, illegal, threatening, malicious, defamatory or otherwise reasonably deemed to be spam by a government official.
8.2.2. Any practice deemed to be 'griefing'; playing with the primary or incidental aim of annoying or upsetting other Nations. Such action may lead to repercussions from the game moderators.
8.2.3. Attempting to steal or impersonate another Nation's identity. This behaviour is fraudulent and breaches the game's conditions. The same applies attempts to 'hack' Nations both inside NationStates and on Versutian Federation forums, or regional passwords.
8.2.4. Based on Versutian Federation intelligence, known member Nations of groups hostile to the Versutian Federation may be ejected at the discretion of ministers, the Founder or WA delegate.
8.2.4.1. In this eventuality, citizen Nations have the right to a trial and may appeal when given leave to do so by the Minister of Justice.
8.2.5. Any attempt to use the Regional Message Board or the Offsite Forum to recruit for other regions.
8.3. Right to vote: all citizen Nations shall have the inalienable right to a single vote in elections and parliamentary votes.
8.4. Right to a fair trial: all citizen Nations standing accused of an infringement of any of the rules shall have the right to a fair trial before the Minister of Justice.
8.4.1. This trial shall be open, except for in situations where a such a trial would be prejudicial to regional security owing to the alleged infringement taking place during the course of a nation's specific role.
8.5. Reservation of powers: powers not enumerated in this Constitution shall be reserved to member Nations.
8.6. Right to judicial review: every citizen Nation shall have the right to petition the Minister of Justice to make a determination as to the conformity with this Constitution of any Act of Parliament or executive action. For the purposes of this Article, a decision under Article 4.2 shall not be considered an Act of Parliament, nor an executive decision.
Article 9 - Voting
9.1. Act votes and elections for public positions shall last for five days, after which time the polls will close.
9.2. Referendums on other issues shall last for three days, at which time the polls will close.
9.3. The incumbent president may declare a "rushed vote" for any referendum or act vote, but not elections.
9.3.1. A rushed vote will last for a period of time determined by the president less than the original voting length, at which time the polls will close.
9.3.2. A rushed vote can only be declared with justified cause, which can be contested by any citizen of the Versutian Federation in court.
9.3.2.1 If a rushed vote is contested, the vote can be begun, but not concluded, until either the appeal is resolved or the time allotted for the type of vote in this article has passed.
9.3.3. A rushed vote cannot be called with intent to exclude any citizen or group of citizens from voting.
9.4. The beginning and end of voting time must be recorded in the voting topic before voting starts.
9.5. The voting topic must include a copy of the subject being voted on.
9.6. The result of a vote may be contested in court if a citizen believes the voting procedure was flawed, or did not meet the above protocols.
9.6.1. If the court decides the vote was flawed, the vote can be rerun and the original results invalidated.
9.6.1.1. The court cannot decide to invalidate the original results without calling another vote.
9.7. Should any elected position become unfilled for any reason, the following things will take place:
9.7.1. A citizen may be appointed by the previous incumbent to fill the position until the next election.
9.7.2. If no citizen is chosen, the deputy of the Ministry in question may fill the position until the next election.
9.7.3. After a three day campaigning and nomination period, an election will be held for the position in question for the remainder of the original term.
9.8. Should 9.7.1.-9.7.3. be breached, the election to the position in question shall be considered invalid, and another election held as soon as practicable.
9.8.1. This includes temporarily filling in voided positions in the period before elections.
Article 10 - Discord
10.1. The use of the regional Discord is governed by the same provisions as the in-game region and offsite forum.