On the definition of powers in the event of emergency

[Awesomiasa]

I propose the following bill be put to the Assembly and considered for a vote:

 

Amendment to Article 5, Section 2 of the Charter

6. With the majority approval of the Committee for State Security taken by a vote
, the Delegate may declare a State of Emergency with reasonable justification that a threat to regional security is imminent, subjected to provisions granted by Article 6, Section 3 of the Charter

 

Addtion of Article 6, Section 3 to the Charter


Section 3- State of Emergency

1. In the event of a State of Emergency,
   the Delegate must confer with the Committee for State Security (CSS) before carrying out any actions
   
   
2. The Delegate may lower or increase the endorsement cap or ask that the region endorse a CSS member as a proxy.
   
   
3. The Delegate may also make statements to the region with regards to the situation, and delegate responsibilities or directives to other Cabinet members to ensure cohesion in the region.
   
   
4. The Bill of Rights cannot be suspended during a State of Emergency, except where the Delegate may
   eject or ban nations from the in-game region and/or forums on reasonable grounds of suspicion that the nation(s) are participating in actions that attempt to subvert the legitimate government of the region without due process of law.
   
   
5. In the event of a Delegate transition, both the outgoing Delegate and incoming Delegate may call for a State of Emergency, with the decision to grant the declaration resting in the Committee for State Security
   
   
6. In the event that a hostile takeover of the region by the sitting Delegate has occurred or is imminent, the Committee for State Security is empowered to grant the Vice-Delegate temporary provisions as Acting Delegate, by a majority vote in favour in the CSS.
   .
   
7. The Assembly, by a conscience vote, may vote to override or end a State of Emergency by a vote of 60% in favour
   .
   
8. Within 48 hours of recovery from a State of Emergency, a report detailing the incident and the particular evidence used to justify it along with an evaluation of measures and recommendations of further actions to be taken by the Assembly, Cabinet and/or Judiciary should be submitted to the Assembly, <span style="color:rgb(0,0,255);">which includes but is not limited to: recall motions, charges to be filed and grants of amnesty.
   </span>
   

 

As we would remember, a State of Emergency was called by former in-game delegate Belschaft. However, due to the ambiguity of the point above, although the SoE was warranted for, not all CSS members were duly informed of the course of action, leading to perhaps overly drastic measures being taken and at this point in time, not well accounted for.

 

The outing Delegate Escade has approved of having the Assembly define the Delegate's emergency powers, saying that "Escade: I'd like for the assembly to have a discussion about the delegate's emergency powers and clarify the procedure for declaring state emergencies". The above bill is a draft to define said emergency powers and is now up for debate.

[Kris Kringle]

This isn't a full review of the proposal, but I want to leave on record that I'm strongly opposed to the part that enables the suspension of government institutions. That would legally enable the temporary abolishment of democracy.


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[Kris Kringle]

-

[Awesomiasa]

This isn't a full review of the proposal, but I want to leave on record that I'm strongly opposed to the part that enables the suspension of government institutions. That would legally enable the temporary abolishment of democracy.



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Took it out

[Kris Kringle]

OK. It's really late, so I'll take a closer look later today and make a few others suggestions, but my biggest objection was to the suspension part, so no big opposition to this so far. :)


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[Cormac]

I'll take a closer look at this later, but I'm uncomfortable with the "current Delegate" and "Delegate-elect" language. According to current TSP law, the Delegate becomes the legal Delegate upon election. Full stop. I would much rather see language that differentiates between the two such as "in-game Delegate" and "legal Delegate" or "outgoing Delegate" and "newly elected Delegate."

[Rebel-topia]

Just 2 things from me at this point in time...

 

3. The Delegate may also
must
make statements to the region with regards to updates on the situation, and delegate responsibilities or directives to other Cabinet members to ensure cohesion in the region

I think this is a MUST. Communication is a must when it comes to SoE and other Regional goings ons...

 

8.Upon recovery from a State of Emergency, a Committee of Inquiry should be set up by the Committee for State Security to investigate the incident, and that a report detailing the incident and evaluation of measures taken should be published in appropriate time

Theres no need for a Committee of Inquiry, as thats the job of the CSS to begin with. Now whether the whole CSS investigates or just 2 or 3, it doesnt make much difference. The findings are reported to the group as a whole, and then the CSS release a statement.

[Sandaoguo]

I think this could be a very bad idea. It would be more accurate to call this martial law, rather than a state of emergency. Plenary police authority is given to the Delegate and the CSS, including dragging people before courts and initiating recalls (and given how influential these institutions are in the Assembly, that's basically a death sentence). The CSS is in charge of an inquiry into its own behavior... it sounds like something straight from the Soviet Union. 

[Belschaft]

The Committee for State Security sounding like something from the Soviet Union? That sounds... silly

 

---

 

I think that clearly defining the powers and duties of the CSS is in general a good thing, as they are rather vague at present, but I would seriously recommend against red-tape that slows it down or restricts it's ability to act instantly in an emergency. The CSS really only comes into play in those situations where immediate action are required, due to the fact that it is essentially an anti-coup body. It's a legal construct that we established to provide legitimizing power for those semi-illegal/unconstitutional actions that may have to be taken in extreme circumstances. During the Milograd coup, for example, the CSS acted for all intents and purposes as a military dictatorship. B&N was proclaimed Delegate before Milograd had been legally recalled, and the CSS set up a replacement Cabinet called the Southern Allied Command, which was also technically an Alliance, all without consulting the Assembly. Requiring the CSS to refer things to the Assembly adds in a serious amount of delay, and requires us to publish our plans long before we can implement them. That is a tactical nightmare.

 

Do remember that we're talking about a body that only does stuff in coup or coup-like situations. The Charter is not meant to be a suicide pact, and I really don't want us to write in provisions that we'll either have to ignore or loophole the first time they're actually used. As such, I'd prefer to see language limiting the ability for the CSS to act removed or altered, and the Assembly granted retrospective override powers rather than positive approval powers. I'm aware that the CSS sees a lot of power concentrated in a small, secret group, but please remember who is in that group; B&N, Fudgie, SB, Hile and myself. If we can't be trusted not to abuse any powers were given, then the region is already fucked anyway.

[tsunamy]

I don't think the idea is for the Assembly to approve the State of Emergency, but rather giving a recourse if, say, Escade -- with the backing of the CSS -- declared a state of emergency for the rest of her tenure. Then the Assembly can vote to end the State of Emergency.

 

Amiright?

[Farengeto]

I must agree with Belschaft here. The job of the CSS is to deal wit those worst-case scenario emergencies, where even reaction times of a couple hours is all too slow and decisions are decided by fixed 12 hour intervals. Their job is to immediately assess the threat and immediately take action with the minimum possible civil disruption. I'm all for democracy, but when issues arise we have no time to deal to organize the assembly and take a vote.

 

Taking the recent example, by the time the CSS made their forum statement there was barely over 2 hours until the update. In the worst case scenario that would have meant 2 hours until TSP was couped. Assuming a vote thread had been immediately opened then, by the time any reasonable number of votes were obtained it would already be too late.

 

It's easy to look on these situations with freedom and idealism, but there's no place for it then.

[Sandaoguo]

Why not do something similar to the War Powers Resolution in the US? Allow the CSS to declare a State of Emergency, but the Assembly must pass a resolution on it within X days or else it expires.

[Southern Bellz]

Great starting point for this discussion. I kinda agree with GRs idea and I think is a great way to have the CSS be able to act quickly, while providing a democratic check and balance.


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[Southern Bellz]

Also, what about adding another layer of CSS where citizens over a year have a higher cap.


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[Awesomiasa]

I'd take G-R's suggestion, but are we allowing the CSS to declare an SoE or the Delegate to do so? Also, would 72h be a long enough length? Then we'd give the Assembly powers to extend it or terminate it early.

[Kris Kringle]

Higher than 150? What should be that second cap then (in rough terms)?


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[Awesomiasa]

I think this could be a very bad idea. It would be more accurate to call this martial law, rather than a state of emergency. Plenary police authority is given to the Delegate and the CSS, including dragging people before courts and initiating recalls (and given how influential these institutions are in the Assembly, that's basically a death sentence). The CSS is in charge of an inquiry into its own behavior... it sounds like something straight from the Soviet Union. 

I can understand the recalls one, but if the CSS doesn't drag people before court, who does?

[Cormac]

I largely agree with what Belschaft and Farengeto have said. We don't want to tie the hands of the CSS during emergency situations; I think the retroactive approval proposed by Glen is probably a positive option.

 

What we do need to ensure is that the CSS can't be manipulated to facilitate a coup d'etat, which is why I think it's important to clear up the legally ambiguous question of which Delegate is empowered to declare a state of emergency with CSS approval in the event that the emergency involves a Delegate transition. One way to do that is by doing what Awe has done in this draft, which is to allow either the outgoing Delegate or the newly elected Delegate to declare a state of emergency with CSS approval -- but I would caution again that the "current Delegate" and "Delegate-elect" language is legally dangerous as it implies the newly elected Delegate is not the legal Delegate immediately following election, which is not what current TSP law says. Another way to go about this would be to remove the Delegate from the equation altogether and simply allow the CSS to declare states of emergency.

[Hileville]

I'm actually thinking something else with this whole thing that would be a rather significant change.  I think we need to move away from the CSS entirely.  I got on board with the idea at the start but think we really lost the meaning of what we were trying to do with the CSS.  I would like to see a different group maybe even a Delegate Appointed group that just handles security formed and not have the WA requirements.

 

I'm still hashing some of this out in my mind (with a bunch of other things) but am working towards getting it all out of my head and into a post.

[TheGrimReaper]

I'd take G-R's suggestion, but are we allowing the CSS to declare an SoE or the Delegate to do so? Also, would 72h be a long enough length? Then we'd give the Assembly powers to extend it or terminate it early.

 

When does that time start? As soon as the SOE is declared or once the procedural stuff is completed?

 

Or would the hypothetical SoE Continuation resolution be considered up for voting as soon as it is declared? And what happens if there is a total no-show? Is that a pass or a fail?

[Awesomiasa]

I'd say once it starts. I think the continuation resolution should be put up probably some 12 or 24h after the SoE. In the extremely hypothetical event of a no-show, it will fail.

[Awesomiasa]

I largely agree with what Belschaft and Farengeto have said. We don't want to tie the hands of the CSS during emergency situations; I think the retroactive approval proposed by Glen is probably a positive option.

 

What we do need to ensure is that the CSS can't be manipulated to facilitate a coup d'etat, which is why I think it's important to clear up the legally ambiguous question of which Delegate is empowered to declare a state of emergency with CSS approval in the event that the emergency involves a Delegate transition. One way to do that is by doing what Awe has done in this draft, which is to allow either the outgoing Delegate or the newly elected Delegate to declare a state of emergency with CSS approval -- but I would caution again that the "current Delegate" and "Delegate-elect" language is legally dangerous as it implies the newly elected Delegate is not the legal Delegate immediately following election, which is not what current TSP law says. Another way to go about this would be to remove the Delegate from the equation altogether and simply allow the CSS to declare states of emergency.

I'd agree with the fact that the language needs retooling... perhaps incoming and outgoing Delegate?

[Southern Bellz]

Another thing I would like to talk about is if it still makes sense for a delegate and vice delegate to run on the same ticket.

 

There are at least two negatives that I see in having them on the same ticket.

 

1) In the event of a coup the person we are supposed to support next has a higher likely hood of being in on the coup.

2) I think it does create a barrier to running which prevents people who are interested in being delegate, and may have the vision to be one, from running because by the time they get someone to be their VD, the other person could have been campaigning for a week.

[Farengeto]

I have to second Southern_Bellz suggestion. I've noticed both problems here.


And if previous incidents have proven anything, we need to keep the CSS and delegate separate. On Christmas we were dealing with the Delegate-elect, and in April we were dealing with our official and elected Delegate. In both instances the threat was the legitimate delegate and with our current endorsements our members are arguably a greater threat than spontaneous external invaders.

[Sandaoguo]

I'd say once it starts. I think the continuation resolution should be put up probably some 12 or 24h after the SoE. In the extremely hypothetical event of a no-show, it will fail.

 

That, in my opinion, is too small of a time frame and would encourage voting with the CSS purely out of uncertainty. I like the 72 hours time frame better. A State of Emergency lasting less than 72 hours is probably not a danger to TSP's democracy. Also, I agree that a no-show for a vote is very unlikely-- we tend to be very active during crises.

 

Regarding Hileville's idea that the security apparatus should be delegate-appointed, I'm very skeptical of that model. We've seen how easily that failed in Osiris, for example. It would centralize more authority into the delegate, assuming that you want to get rid of the Assembly's role in voting on membership. The benefit of our current model is that the CSS does't necessarily align itself with the sitting government, which is beneficial because the next coup to happen in TSP would most likely be internal.