NSR Constitution discussion

[punkdaddy]

The NSR has drafted a new constitution. Thoughts?

 

Article 1 - Bill of Rights

1.
Sovereignty
A. This document guarantees above all else the right to
sovereignty over Domestic Affairs for every region whom holds membership in the
NationStates Republic.
B. All Nations of the Republic are sovereign and have
the right of self-determination in domestic policies, including Nation States
Issues and the World Assembly.

2. Freedom
The natural Rights of
free speech, free press, free expression of religion, and free association will
not be infringed as long as the expressed freedoms do not (a) violate the same
rights of others or (b ) violate the ToS of this Forum. The Forum Owner or his
designee(s) shall be the ultimate judges of propriety.

3. Voluntary
Participation
Participation in any regional or extra-regional government,
forum, and military shall be voluntary.

4. Voluntary
Endorsement
No nation of the Republic holding WA member status shall be
obligated to endorse any officer of the Republic—except when volunteering for a
military mission. The right to add or withdraw an endorsement will remain a
sovereign right of WA member nations.

5. Constitutional
Restraint
All Nations of the Republic have the right to be protected
against the abuse of powers by any government official, including in their
region.

6. Unjust Banjections
No Nation shall be ejected from
any region of the Republic, or banned from any Republic forum, without a public
explanation. Should the ejection or banning be a matter of immediate regional
security, the ejected or banned Nation shall have an avenue of redress in that
region's forum as a member with limited membership.

7. Fair &
Impartial Trials
When charged with criminal activity, Nations of the
Republic shall enjoy fair and impartial court trials. Such courts may occur
and/or deliberate in a locked forum.

8. Constitutionality &
Petitions
Any nation of the Republic may ask the Tribunal to determine
the Constitutionality of any treaty passed by the House of Lords, and may
petition the Court for redress of grievances with other nations, any Republic
officer or the Republic itself.

9. Other Rights
The Rights
listed here are not exhaustive. Other Rights may be defined and existing Rights
may be expanded by the House of Lords through treaties and
legislation.
Article 2 - Governing Bodies
1. Most legislative
authority of the Republic shall rest within The House of Lords (HoL). The House
of Lords shall be the governing body of the NSR. The House of Lords shall be
responsible to do the following:
A. pass treaties for cooperation between
allied regions,
B. define terms of Republic membership,
C. establish
Rules of Order for the HoL and Citizen Assembly,
D. declare war by the
Republic,
E. elect certain officers,
F. provide oversight of officers and
treaties.
G. Voting on Constitutional amendments passed by the Citizen
Assembly.

2. Each allied region shall have one vote in the House of
Lords, and may seat three lords in the House of Lords. Membership requirements
are the following:
A. all delegates and founders may be seated in the
House of Lords automatically,
B. an allied delegate or founder may appoint
their region's seated lords,
C. all lords of the House of Lords must declare
their WA nation, if they have one, and be a citizen of a Republic region,
D.
all lords of the HOL may be subject to a confidence vote--if denied, the lord in
question must be replaced by their region,
E. if a region's lords disagree,
the seated founder will decide. If the founder is not a seated lord, the seated
delegate will decide. If the delegate is not a seated lord, the majority of said
region's lords will decide. If a majority is unattainable, the vote shall be
cast as "present."

3. The Citizen Assembly (CA) shall be the general
assembly of the Republic. It shall be a legislative tasked with initiating
Constitutional changes. The Citizen Assembly shall be capable of the
following:
A. drafting all Constitutional changes;
B. elect certain
officers--including a chairman to moderate the CA,

4. Citizen
Assembly membership requirements:
A. register their WA nation or their
“main” Republic nation if they do not have a WA nation,
B. not be an allied
region's founder, delegate or seated in the HoL,
C. be a citizen of an
allied region in good standing with that region's delegate--a delegate may veto
any nation's membership.

5. The Security Council shall be the
defenders of the Republic and its Constitution. It shall be made up of five
seated lords, who must be either founders or delegates of an allied region. The
House of Lords will elect them every three months by anonymous preferential
voting. The Security Council shall act by simple majority, and shall be
responsible for the following:
A. veto actions of officers--including
military missions,
B. approve continuing military action taken by the
Republic military,
C. approve new allies that fulfill membership terms,

C. ascertain the legitimate government of an allied region.
Article
3 - Officers of The Republic

1. The chief executive of the
NationStates Republic shall be the Alliance President. The President shall be
elected by the House of Lords for a term of four months. He/she shall be
responsible for the following:
A. oversee all Republic officers and
direct their activities,
B. oversee all Republic treaties and direct
entailing activities,
C. coordinate cooperation between allied regions,

D. represent the Republic to NationStates and prospective regions,
E.
approve missions by the Republic military,
F. appoint secretaries to help the
president,
G. veto legislation passed by the House of Lords.
h. select a
Vice-President in case he/she Ceases-to-Exist or resigns. The Vice-President
shall serve the rest of the outgoing President’s term.
2. The World
Assembly Minister shall be elected by the House of Lords for a term of four
months. He/She shall be responsible for the following:
A. leading
cooperation in the WA between allied delegates.
B. maintaining the WA
Affairs forum,
C. representing the Republic to the NationStates world in WA
affairs.
D. The minister shall be responsible for surveying Republic regions
on each World Assembly vote.
E. The minister shall be responsible for
publishing the results of the survey to Republic regions.
3. The
Orientation Coordinator shall be elected from and by the Citizen Assembly for a
term of four months. The New Members Coordinator will be responsible for the
following:
A. welcoming and engaging new regions to get them
involved.
B. creating a welcome and orientation brochure for new regions,
House of Lords members, and citizens.

5. The Defense Minister shall be
appointed by the President, serving at his/her pleasure, and must be a member of
the House of Lords and be approved by the Security Council. Once appointed, the
Defense Minister shall serve indefinitely unless removed from office through
judicial process or removed by the President. He/She shall be responsible for
the following:
A. establishing a Republic military and intelligence
organization,
B. granting rank to soldiers.
C. training soldiers
D.
along with the President, shall have authority to approve
missions.
Article 4 – Tribunal & Tribune
1.
Jurisdiction
The Tribunal of the NationStates Republic holds jurisdiction
over the NSR, and has no implications in the Domestic Affairs of member regions.
The Tribunal consists of three members of the House of Lords selected in reverse
order of length of service with the longest serving member serving as chief
justice. The Tribunal shall serve for one month or the length of time it takes
to make a determination of the case that spurred its commencement.
The
Tribunal will be responsible for the following:
A. Convicting member nations
of valid charges.
B. Arbitrating inter-regional disputes when asked to do so
by all parties.
C. Hearing appeals of the Tribune’s decisions.
A tribune
of the Republic shall be elected by the House of Lords serving an indefinite
term. The Tribune shall be barred from voting on legislation thereafter needing
only to maintain citizenship status in his/her home region.
The Tribune will
be responsible for the following:
A. Determining the constitutionality of any
action, statement, or enacted law.
B. Interpreting the law.

2.
Transparency
Once a case is decided, all allied regions must be told of
the result. There are to be no secret cases or verdicts, but case discussions
and deliberations of a Court Tribunal may be made in private.

3.
Recusing
Any House of Lords member may be recused according to the
following:
A. Conflict of Interest
B. Being a litigant party
C.
Serving as a witness in the case.

4. Constitutionality
Upon
request by a citizen nation of an allied region, the Tribune shall review any
decision, action, proposal, etc. of the Republic to determine it's
Constitutionality. The Tribune’s decision shall have a binding effect of
law.

5. Conviction
The Tribunal shall have authority to do the
following by consensus:
A. To establish the criteria for corrective
action.
B. For making amends or restitution.
C. To make
punishments.

6. Impeachment
Any Republic officer or lord may be
impeached by the House of Lords. 10% of the HoL's membership must sign an
impeachment petition. If an impeachment petition is signed by 10% of the HoL
membership, then the full HoL shall vote on the petition. Officers can be
removed via a majority vote of the House of Lords membership.

8.
Appeals
All decisions of the Tribune may be appealed and heard by the
Tribunal. Decisions made by the Tribunal are considered final in all
cases.

[punkdaddy]

This is in 'draft' form so please do feel free to comment. I should also note that we have decided at the NSR that we will only go forward with the regions that sign this document. If regions do not sign the document they will no longer be part of the NSR.

 

We are doing this because of an activity drought and we wish to move forward with regions that also wish to move forward with us.

[Westwind]

I'll just mention what I've mentioned elsewhere.

 

This:

1.
Sovereignty
A. This document guarantees above all else the right to
sovereignty over Domestic Affairs for every region whom holds membership in the
NationStates Republic.
B. All Nations of the Republic are sovereign and have
the right of self-determination in domestic policies, including Nation States
Issues and the World Assembly.

 

is in conflict with this...

 

6. Unjust Banjections
No Nation shall be ejected from
any region of the Republic, or banned from any Republic forum, without a public
explanation. Should the ejection or banning be a matter of immediate regional
security, the ejected or banned Nation shall have an avenue of redress in that
region's forum as a member with limited membership.

 

TWP does not need to be forced to provide an avenue of redress for AdSpamming Nazi's our delegate banjects.

[punkdaddy]

Yeah, I don't like 6 at all. I'd be just fine removing it.

[God-Emperor]

Hoorah sovereignty.  Boo federalism.

[Intelligent Holograms]

How many regions have signed up yet?

[God-Emperor]

None?

[Intelligent Holograms]

Really? Not even one?

[God-Emperor]

Not to my knowledge, but I'm just the FA Deputy.

[Westwind]

There are 17 members of NSR:

 

The Allied Republics
Asgardia, Successor of Asgard
Atrigeas
Continental Union
Empires of Earth
The Empire of Win
Global Powers
Good Guy Alliance
The Great Kingdom of
Prussia
Mei Li De Dao Qun
Minecraftia
The New Hetalia Order
One Big Island
Region INC
Skyrim
The West Pacific
The Union of Nations Against Fascism

 

Wait....make that 16.  Region Inc is withdrawing, and the NSR Secretary of Defense, Shadowtech has had to resign as a result (he's from Region Inc).

[Intelligent Holograms]

Can Shadowtech not stay on anyway? Is it vital that all members come from member regions?

[Libetarian Republics]

I think it would be awkward to have an official that is not a citizen of a member region. Frankly he could stay so long as he simply applies to another member region under the NSR. 

[Westwind]

Yeah, in other organizations it's been common for a player to establish a puppet nation in another member region to remain organizational membership.

 

It kind of sounds like Region Inc may consider returning to NSR later.  They are focused on revitalizing their region at the moment.

[Libetarian Republics]

Best of luck to them.

[Westwind]

Yeah, Region Inc started out with the idea of a corporation themed region.  I'd thought about that concept in the past, but had never seen it implimented anywhere before.  Although....The Black Market was somewhat like that before Region Inc was founded.

[God-Emperor]

Never heard of 'em.

[Intelligent Holograms]

Region Inc. or The Black Market?

[God-Emperor]

The Black Market.  Region Inc. has been on my radar for awhile.

[Westwind]

The Black Market is was long ago.....faded away.....tried to come back.....faded away....tried to come back.......not sure of their current status.

[Intelligent Holograms]

About 20 nations, not particularly active.

[Westwind]

I think it's fortunate for them that it still exists. It's difficult (but not impossible) to revive an old region. 

[God-Emperor]

Tell that to Pope in Gatesville Inc.

[Westwind]

He and I were discussing The Church of Westwind, the Ordo Heretics, and The Church of Gatesville the other day.

[God-Emperor]

Interestin'...Was there a schism?  Is reconciliation in the works?

[Westwind]

Well.....he simply didn't realize that there is a Chuch of Westwind.  There's also the Church of Equilism, of which I am Saint Westwind.