New Charter Idea

[Hileville]

So I was not able to sleep tonight so I drafted a newly revised version of the Charter: (Some of this was piecing stuff together from the current Charter, the Great Council and a proposal Hax and I were working on a while back)



<strong class='bbc'>Article 1 – Citizenship and Regulations of Citizenship</strong>

[*:12c6m1ta]All nations residing in the South Pacific may apply for citizenship by stating their acceptance of therms and provisions of the Charter.





[*:12c6m1ta]All citizens serve as legislators in the South Pacific Assembly and may vote in elections.





[*:12c6m1ta]Citizens become eligible to vote in the Assembly and in elections 15 days after their application is approved.





[*:12c6m1ta]All citizens must refrain from the following:



[*:12c6m1ta]Threat, harassment, or abuse against any nation in The South Pacific.





[*:12c6m1ta]Plotting against the Coalition of The South Pacific, or giving assistance to any state or region which the the Coalition of The South Pacific is taking preventive or enforcement action.



[*:12c6m1ta]The Assembly of the South Pacific may adopt additional procedures for the removal of citizenship[/list]<strong class='bbc'>Article 2 - Reasons for Expulsion</strong>

Any nation may be expelled from the coalition, the forums, and/or the region if guilty of the following:

[*:12c6m1ta]Violating, or is found to have planned to purposely violate, the regulations in Article 1.





[*:12c6m1ta]Violating any of the rules in the Code of Laws.





[*:12c6m1ta]Violating any of the rules of NationStates rules for the in-game environment.





[*:12c6m1ta]Violating the ZetaBoards Terms of Use for the forum environment.

<strong class='bbc'>Article 3 - Executive</strong>

[*:12c6m1ta]The executive shall be led by the Delegate of The South Pacific and include the heads of all Ministries and the Chair of The Assembly.





[*:12c6m1ta]A Delegate that comes to power outside the provisions of the Charter shall not be recognized. . All Ministries and official arms of the Coalition bow to the will of the office of Delegate, not the individual nations wielding the power. The Delegate may act only in the interest of the region with the consent of the region. The Delegate must appoint at least one Vice Delegate with the consent of the Cabinet and approval of the Assembly. The Delegate shall be informed of all information concerning the region by the Cabinet immediately. The Delegate shall serve as Commander-in-Chief of the regional Army.





[*:12c6m1ta]The Chair of the Assembly may initiate and participate in assembly discussions, but shall keep to the highest debate standards. The Chair shall be responsible for upholding the rights within the assembly of all its members. The Chair shall verify that only recognized citizens can participate in the assembly.





[*:12c6m1ta]The Minister of Security shall be responsible for the security of the Region in collaboration with the Delegate. The Minister of Security is responsible for the organization of the regional Army and an Intelligence effort to find critical information for the defense of the region.





[*:12c6m1ta]The Minister of Justice shall act as the Chief Prosecutor for the region and the legal adviser to the Cabinet of the South Pacific.





[*:12c6m1ta]The Minister of Regional Affairs shall be responsible for directing and running regional roleplay and maintenance of the regional map. The Minister of Regional Affairs shall be responsible for maintaining RMB and IRC activity, and promoting the offsite regional forums to nations within the region. The is also responsible for the integration of new citizens to the regional forums.





[*:12c6m1ta]The Minister for Foreign Affairs has the responsibility of the management of the foreign affairs and embassies of the South Pacific, the enforcement of the foreign policies of the Government, and the composition and distribution of regional updates.

<strong class='bbc'>Article 4 - Legislature</strong>

[*:12c6m1ta]The legislature shall be the sole body responsible for the creation, amendment, debate, and repeal of laws.





[*:12c6m1ta]Any legislator may propose and vote on a bill.





[*:12c6m1ta]The legislature will be led and administered by the Chair of the Assembly.





[*:12c6m1ta]The procedures of the legislature are to be self-determined in law, with all procedures enforced by the Chair.





[*:12c6m1ta]Law of Procedures Link





[*:12c6m1ta]The links to the prevailing procedures of the legislature as defined in such law will be continuously updated and provided for in the preceding section.

<strong class='bbc'>Article 5 - Judiciary</strong>

[*:12c6m1ta]The Superior Court of the South Pacific has the power to interpret the Charter and Laws and may annul any Law or part thereof that contradicts the Constitution and any action of the executive taken in the exercise of its powers that contradicts the Charter or Laws. The Superior Court has the power to adjudicate on the legality of elections and the power to determine conviction and sentencing in criminal cases, and resolution and compensation in civil cases. The Superior Court may exercise these powers upon being petitioned by an individual eligible to do so.





[*:12c6m1ta]The Magistrate has the responsibilities of the moderation and administration of the Superior Court. The Magistrate may appoint Associate Magistrates for the purpose of aiding in and presiding over cases of the Superior Court. These Associate Magistrates must be approved by a majority vote of the Assembly.





[*:12c6m1ta]The Cabinet of The South Pacific has the responsibility of appointing the Superior Court Magistrate after each regular election of its members. After a majority of members approve of the nominee they are to be submitted to the Assembly for approval. Nominees will be approved by a vote in accordance with the normal Assembly procedures.





[*:12c6m1ta]The Procedures of the Superior Court shall be written in law by the Assembly of the South Pacific.





[*:12c6m1ta]Law of Procedures Link





[*:12c6m1ta]The links to the prevailing procedures of the judiciary as defined in such law will be continuously updated and provided for in the preceding section.

<strong class='bbc'>Article 6 - Election and Recall Procedures</strong>

[*:12c6m1ta]Elections will be run by the Election Commission which is led by a Chairperson and two commissioners. Appointment procedures for the Election Commission may be defined in law by the Assembly of the South Pacific.





[*:12c6m1ta]The Delegate Elections shall be held beginning on the first of every June and December.





[*:12c6m1ta]The Cabinet Elections shall be held beginning on the first of every March, June, September, and October.





[*:12c6m1ta]When an office becomes vacant a special elections must start withing 7 days of the office being vacant.





[*:12c6m1ta]All elections shall have a nomination period lasting five days followed by a campaigning period lasting three days. The voting period will begin immediately after the conclusion of the campaigning period and shall last no more than five days.





[*:12c6m1ta]Candidates may only run and hold one elected office at any given time.





[*:12c6m1ta]If only one candidate is eligible to be voted upon in the elections then a "Re-Open Nominations" option will be given as an alternative to voting for that candidate, and if it receives more votes than the candidate then the election process previously stated starts again immediately.





[*:12c6m1ta]If no candidate runs for an office the Delegate will have the responsibility of appointing someone to fill the office in question.





[*:12c6m1ta]The Assembly may recall any elected official after deliberation for a minimum of three days with a vote in accordance with normal Assembly procedures with at least four-fifths of the votes cast being in agreement.

<strong class='bbc'>Article 7 - Amending the Charter</strong>

The Charter of The South Pacific may be amended as necessary. Amendments may be proposed by any citizen of The South Pacific.

[*:12c6m1ta]Submissions of amendments must be made to the Assembly of The South Pacifc.





[*:12c6m1ta]Discussions on amendments shall last no more than a period of seven days unless a member state asks for an extension.





[*:12c6m1ta]Immediately following the discussion period the amendment will be submited to the Assembly for voting.





[*:12c6m1ta]Voting shall last for a period of seven days. Amendments are approved by a 50% plus 1 (one) affirmative vote of all participating states.

<strong class='bbc'>Article 8 - Supremacy of the Charter</strong>

[*:12c6m1ta]This Charter shall carry supremacy over any other law of the South Pacific.





[*:12c6m1ta]If a law or agreement of the South Pacific shall be found to be completely or partially in conflict with the Charter, the Superior Court shall have the duty of declaring such a law or agreement void, removing it from the record, and publicly disclosing such action along with the reasons thereof.

[Hileville]

So this is a change from our current Charter and is just a suggestion. Please don't be afraid to say you hate the idea.If people like this idea I will draft up changes to our other laws in order to make sure everything is only covered once.

[Antariel]

CAn you highlight the major changes for those of us lacking the time for detailed textual analysis?

[Hileville]

I can list the changes. Some things are the same but have different Article #'s and stuff. I will post the changes in a little bit.Article 1:Includes both Article 1 and 2 of the current Charter.Added a 15 day rule for voting in Assembly and ElectionsArticle 2:Same reasons for expulsion as the current CharterArticle 3:Combines the Duties of all members of cabinet instead of them being different ArticlesEstablished Delegate as Commander-in-Chief and MoS as General-in-Chief of the Army (System Sheepa and I are using now)Article 4:Establishes the Assembly of TSP but not its procedures but mandates that a link to procedures must be kept updated in the Article.Article 5:Establishes the Superior Court as our Judiciary - this is what we have been talking about in the Great CouncilArticle 6:Big changes to the elections here. This would terminated all election laws we currently have as they would be spelled out in the Charter.Removes the mid Delegate term vote.Establishes a recall procedure so we don't have to convict people of treason for them to loose their office.Changes the starting date of elections to the 1st day in the months that they used to start in.Changes Special Elections from having to start within 14 days to 7 days.Sets nomination period at 5 days followed by 3 days for campaigning and then followed by voting period that cannot last anymore than 5 days.Article 7:Amending the Charter stuff which is same as the current CharterArticle 8:Supremacy of the Charter stuff minus a clause that made no sense and should have been changed when we edited the Amendment Article in the current Charter.I think that sums everything up. It would be hard for me to highlight what is the same and different in the actual document though. Some major changes would also need to be made to our laws including mass repeals. I have plans for a few other bills that I will introduce anyway including a reworking of our Presentation of Bills Act which needs to be simplified some more.A note procedures would have to be written up for the Assembly and Court under this draft. I could probably figure out a way to put a basic set of procedures for the Assembly into the Legislature Article itself if that is what people want.

[Hileville]

This is kinda a summary of what would be done to our laws if this Charter was adopted-#1 Law of Succession / Martial Law < Already repealed so no change here.D-#2 Six Month Disclosure Law < May need to be adjusted to fall under the Superior Court and not MoJD-#3 Election Commission Law < I have an amendment to this which is small and will propose it later onD-#4 Vice Delegate Law < Would need repealedD-#5 The Delegacy of TSP and Endorsement Law < Would need repealedG-#1 Adspam Policy < No ChangeG-#2 Decorations and Awards Act < No ChangeJ-#1 Voting Law < Would like to put thins into our Criminal Code that is being worked onJ-#2 Conflict of Interests Guidelines < Can't see any changes to this oneJ-#3 Three Warnings Law < No changes hereL-#2 Election Law < Would need repealedL-#3 Presentation of Bills Act < No changes needed here. I forgot we amended it.

[Gandallfia]

I quite like it, the simplicity of the charter has an appeal (not simplicity as in Primary Schoolish - just its, you know...) and with all the other proposed changes going on atm it makes sense to do it now rather than wait.

[Antariel]

Sounds good

[LadyRebels]

I really like what you have done, as to the EC thing I honestly think that we need a Rules of Conduct thing. I know how I feel about things when it comes to being an EC and well I think I was appointed as Chairwoman? that being the case I feel there are a stricter set of rules that needs to be put into place for that position. EDIT: but then I have sort of talked this over with Hile through PM's.EDIT (again because of ditz moment): did that 15 day thing pass?

[Hileville]

Not yet LR.