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Charter of the West Pacific Union


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Charter of the Union of the West Pacific

 

Preamble

The Union of the West Pacific will endeavor to meet the needs of the West Pacifican community in a way that is unique to the polity and culture of this region. We, the residents who have assembled to ratify this Charter, will make no apology for maintaining a unique community. We will make no apology for thinking outside the box. We will make no apology for respecting the realities of Feeders and Sinkers in NationStates or the dynamics between Delegates and regional communities inherent to those realities. We will instead seek to provide a community government that is vibrantly active and open to participation by any resident of the West Pacific who wishes to participate, guided by reality rather than by ideological dogma. It is with this purpose in mind that we, the assembled residents, ratify this Charter and establish the Union of the West Pacific.

 

1. Relationship Between the Union and the Delegate

 

(1) The Union will recognize the absolute authority of the Delegate over the West Pacific as the reality of NationStates mechanics.

(2) The Union will recognize as legitimate any Delegate elected by the endorsements of the World Assembly nations of the West Pacific.

(3) The Union will recognize the right of the Delegate to exercise any power granted to the Delegate by NationStates mechanics.

(4) The Union will recognize the right of World Assembly nations of the West Pacific to elect a new Delegate at any time.

(5) The Union will recognize its own autonomy from the Delegate as an autonomous off-site community government of the West Pacific.

(6) The Union will cooperate with the Delegate whenever such cooperation is desirable or necessary for the welfare of the overall regional community of the West Pacific.

 

2. Voice of the Union

 

(1) The Voice of the Union will be the supreme governing authority of the Union of the West Pacific.

(2) The Voice will be comprised of all residents of the West Pacific who wish to participate in the Voice. Each resident will have only one vote in the Voice regardless of how many nations they have residing in the West Pacific.

(3) The Voice may, by two-thirds majority vote, admit non-residents to its membership provided the non-residents in question are prevented from residing in the West Pacific.

(4) The Voice will have only the powers enumerated by this Charter and may not assume additional powers except by amending this Charter.

(5) The Voice will have the power to enact, amend, and repeal its own procedural rules.

(6) The Voice will have the power to enact, amend, and repeal non-binding resolutions expressing the sense of the Voice in regard to all matters.

(7) The Voice will, with the approval of the Delegate, have the power to enact, amend, and repeal treaties.

(8) The Voice will have the power to confirm and rescind Union participation in treaties proposed by the Delegate.

(9) The Voice will, by two-thirds majority vote and with the approval of the Delegate, have the power to declare war and to repeal war declarations.

(10) The Voice will, by two-thirds majority vote, have the power to confirm and rescind Union participation in war declarations proposed by the Delegate.

(11) The Voice will, by two-thirds majority vote, have the power to amend this Charter or to repeal this Charter in its entirety in favor of a constitutional convention.

(12) Except where otherwise explicitly mandated by this Charter, all votes of the Voice will be determined by simple majority vote. The result of any vote will be determined by taking into account only members of the Voice who have voted and discounting abstentions cast in the vote.

 

3. Government of the Union

 

(1) The government of the Union will be administered by the Advocate, who will be elected by and preside over the Voice.

(2) Elections for Advocate will consist of a three day period for declarations of candidacy followed by a five day period for voting.

(3) Any member of the Voice who has held continuous membership in the Voice for one month or more will be eligible for candidacy for Advocate.

(4) Any resident who participated in the constitutional convention to enact this Charter will be eligible for the first election for Advocate immediately following enactment of this Charter.

(5) In the event that the office of Advocate is vacant during an election for Advocate, the Delegate may administer the election, may appoint an election administrator, or the member of the Voice with the longest continuous membership and who is available to serve will administer the election.

(6) In the event that no candidate receives a simple majority on the first election ballot, a run-off election will be conducted between the two highest voted candidates, starting no sooner than 24 hours and no later than 72 hours after the previous election has closed. This election will also last for a five day voting period.

(7) In the event that an election results in a tie between only two candidates, the incumbent will be re-elected or, if the incumbent is not a candidate, the candidate who first declared candidacy will be elected.

(8) The Advocate will serve terms of four months, with a limit of two consecutive terms.

(9) The Advocate may appoint officials to assist in government and may dismiss such officials.

(10) The Voice may, by two-thirds majority vote, dismiss the Advocate from office.

(11) The Voice may dismiss any official appointed by the Advocate from office.

 

4. Justice in the Union

 

(1) The Voice will vote on whether to hear any complaint for unacceptable conduct filed against a member of the Voice by another member.

(2) If the Voice votes to hear the complaint, the matter will be referred to a public hearing by three Arbiters elected by the Voice prior to the hearing.

(3) Elections for Arbiter will follow the same procedure as elections for Advocate. Arbiters may determine hearing procedures. Arbiters will serve and their hearing procedures will be binding only for the duration of the hearing for which they are elected.

(4) During all hearings, the complainant may present their case against the defendant and the defendant may present a defense.

(5) At the conclusion of a hearing, Arbiters will find the defendant guilty or not guilty of unacceptable conduct.

(6) If a defendant is found guilty, they will be removed from the Voice for a period of time sentenced by the Arbiters.

(7) A defendant may appeal to the Voice within fourteen days of a guilty verdict imposed by the Arbiters.

(8) The Voice will vote on all appeals and may, by two-thirds majority vote, overturn a guilty verdict and its accompanying sentence. All appeal votes will be final and will not be conducted more than once.

(9) The Voice may, by two-thirds majority vote, commute a sentence imposed by the Arbiters at any time following imposition of the sentence.

(10) The Voice will have no jurisdiction to impose justice on residents, or any other persons, who are not members of the Voice.

(11) The Voice will not infringe upon the right of forum administration to resolve out-of-character offenses at their discretion.

(12) The Voice will not infringe upon the right of the Delegate to resolve game-side offenses at their discretion.

 

5. Military of the Union

 

(1) The military force of the Union will execute the policies determined by the Advocate and officials appointed by the Advocate to assist in military command.

(2) The military force of the Union will maintain a division for home defense that will operate under the command of the Delegate and officials appointed by the Delegate to assist in command of the home defense division.

(3) The Voice will have the power to adopt and amend an official name for the military force of the Union.

(4) The Voice will have the power to override and bring to an immediate end any deployment of the military force of the Union.

(5) No participant in the military force of the Union will be compelled to participate in any military operation against their conscience or prudent judgment.

(6) The existence of an official military force of the Union will not prohibit other residents of the West Pacific from creating alternative military forces with the consent of the Delegate.

 

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