 |
The Charter of The Coalition of The South Pacific
25.04.13
Preamble:
We the nations of the Coalition of The South Pacific, hereby establish this Charter in order to preserve and protect the freedom, prosperity, security, and well being of our region as a whole and its individual states.
Article 1: Citizenship and Regulations of Citizenship
Section 1 - Eligibility
1. All nations resident in the region The South Pacific may apply for Citizenship in the Coalition.
2. All Citizens, in order to ensure to all the rights and benefits resulting from such, shall fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present charter and Code of Laws.
3. All nations wishing to obtain Citizenship must accept and abide by the terms and provisions of the Charter, declare their current nation residing in The South Pacific, current nation which holds membership in the World Assembly, and all regions and organizations in which the applicant is or has been involved with.
4. A Citizen may not apply for Citizenship with more than one nation.
Section 2 - Acceptance and Removal
1. Citizenship applications will be reviewed by the Vice Delegate.
2. Upon review the applicant may be either conditionally approved or denied by the Vice Delegate.
3. Upon the applicant being conditionally approved the forum administration staff will conduct a security check to ensure the applicant is not using a proxy, is not trying to avoid a forum ban, and is not a citizen using a different nation. In the event that an applicant is found to be using a proxy, attempting to avoid a forum ban, or applying for citizenship on multiple nations their application will be denied and not subject to appeal.
4. In the event that an applicant is denied the reason for denial must be disclosed by the Vice Delegate. The applicant may appeal their denial to the Assembly which may reverse the denial by a 75% majority vote in favor.
5. If a Citizen no longer has a resident nation their citizenship will be immediately removed by the Vice Delegate.
6. Citizenship may be removed by a majority vote of the Cabinet if a nation is found to be a security threat. Citizens removed for being a security threat may appeal to the Assembly which may reverse the removal by a 75% majority vote in favor.
7. Citizenship will be removed if a nation has not logged into the South Pacific forums for more than 30 days and made two posts within that period.
8. Citizens may request a leave of absence from the Vice Delegate.
Article 2: Bill of Rights.
1. Nations that reside in The South Pacific shall be afforded all rights contemplated in this article unless otherwise noted.
2. The freedom to voice their opinions on all matter of their interest, including the peaceful criticism of the Coalition and its government, on both the Forum and the Regional Message Board, subject to reasonable restrictions established by the Assembly that do not violate the spirit of the Charter.
3. The right to contact the government on all matters of their interest and receive a prompt and adequate response from the relevant officials.
4. The right to defend themselves in the judicial system of the Coalition of The South Pacific with all the guarantees of a speedy hearing and due process of law.
5. The right to apply for citizenship and have such an application promptly accepted, subject to requirements of citizenship, or otherwise denied under reasonable causes, with the right to an appeal to the appropriate officials.
6. The freedom to reside in the region of The South Pacific, and the right to not be ejected or banned without reasonable cause and due process of law.
7. The freedom to determine to whom their endorsements are given, subject to the duties and restrictions established in the Charter and the Code of Laws.
8. Voting and being elected to an office under the Coalition of The South Pacific shall be rights afforded only to citizens.
Article 3: Legislature
Section 1 - Assembly and Powers of the Assembly
1. The Assembly is comprised of all Citizens of The Coalition.
2. The Assembly shall constitute the sole legislative body in The Coalition.
3. The Assembly is responsible for the drafting and discussion of General Laws, and Amendments to the Charter and Code of Laws.
4. The Assembly may pass and amend a Law with a vote resulting in 50% + 1 in favor.
5. The Assembly may amend the Charter with a vote resulting in a 75% majority in favor.
6. The Assembly has the sole power to declare a state of war exists with another region or organization.
7. The Assembly has the sole power to pass a treaty with another region or organization.
8. The Assembly may override the denial or Cabinet removal of citizenship upon the affected nation appealing and a vote resulting in a 75% majority in favor.
9. Declarations of War and Treaties require a 60% majority in favor to be enacted or repealed.
10. Proposed legislation may be moved to a vote by the Chair of the Assembly after a Motion and a Second to vote is lodged.
11. The voting period will last three days for all General Laws and five days for Amendments to the Charter.
Section 2 - Chair of the Assembly and Duties of the Chair.
1. The Assembly will elect a Chair which will be responsible for the administration of all aspects of the drafting, debate, and passage of legislation.
2. The Chair of the Assembly will serve on the Cabinet and act as the Legislative Liaison between the Cabinet and Assembly.
3. The Chair will serve a term lasting four months.
4. Procedures for the election of the Chair must be defined in Code of Laws.
Article 4: The High Court of the South Pacific
Section 1 - Composition and Powers
1. The High Court shall consist of three Court Justices.
2. The Court Justices shall select one of themselves to serve as Chief Justice.
3. The High Court shall be responsible for determining innocence or guilt in criminal cases, and issuing sentence.
4. The High Court may declare any whole General Law, or portions within such law, that conflict with the Charter defunct, and to reconcile contradictions within the Charter.
5. The High Court holds the sole power to remove citizenship outside of regular legislation that outlines reasonable upkeep requirements or security imperatives.
6. Procedures for the Election of High Court Justices will be defined in the Code of Laws.
Section 2 - Criminal Cases
1. If charges are filled against a citizen the case will be held in the High Court.
2. The Chief Justice will be responsible for keeping order in the court. He has the power to penalize citizens for being in contempt of the court.
3. The Chief Justice and Court Justices, in conjunction with the Assembly, are responsible for establishing a consistent and just set of procedures for hearing criminal cases. This set of procedures must be ratified by the Assembly as a General Law.
4. Excessive absenteeism from the prosecution may result in the summary dismissal of the case. Excessive absenteeism from the defense may result in a summary judgment against the defendant.
Section 3 - Legal Questions
1. Legal questions will always initially be handled by the High Court.
2. Legal questions must be answered within a reasonable amount of time.
3. Any and all interested parties may submit an amicus brief in response to a legal question.
4. Legal questions and amicus briefs must make reference to the relevant sections of the Charter and Code of Laws, and clearly define the nature of the inquiry. Where this is not the case the High Court will issue a summary dismissal of the legal question or amicus brief.
Section 4 - Other
1. The Court Justices are not prohibited from joining the Assembly or any associated organization in the South Pacific, barring political parties and organizations or interest groups.
2. The Court Justices shall have the authority to examine laws and make recommendations to the Assembly, however they may not issue an arbitrary judgement or opinion on laws without a specific legal question being filed.
3. If a matter even sits before the High Court for 72 hours without response, the Chief Justice shall be temporarily suspended, and a Court Justice will assume the office as Acting Chief Justice. Should no Court Justice assume the office then the Assembly may appoint an Acting Chief Justice.
Article 5: The South Pacific Appellate Court
Section 1 - Composition and Powers
1. The Appellate Court shall be chaired by the Appellate Justice. The Appellate Justice shall be appointed by the Delegate, with a 75% majority confirmation vote in the Assembly required.
2. The Appellate Court will be tasked with handling appeals relating to criminal cases, legal questions, and administrative team decisions.
3. The Appellate Court has the power to overturn any verdict of the High Court, and overturn select decisions made by the administrative team.
4. The Appellate Court is the final court of appeal; its verdict cannot be further contested.
Section 2 - Criminal Case Appeals
1. To appeal the decision of a criminal case the defendant, his representative or the prosecution must file notice with the Appellate Court within fourteen (14) days of the High Court ruling.
2. The notice must include the objections to the ruling and justification for why the appeal should be heard, with reference to the relevant sections of the Charter and Code of Laws.
3. The Appellate Court has five (5) days to decide whether to hear the Appeal.
4. If the Court chooses to hear the case, it is required to do so in a timely manner. The Appellate Court may issue summary judgments due to excessive absenteeism.
Section 3 - Legal Question Appeals
1. To appeal the decision of a legal question an interested party must file notice with the Appellate Court within fourteen (14) days of the High Court ruling.
2. The notice must include the objections to the ruling and justification for why the appeal should be heard, with reference to the relevant sections of the Charter and Code of Laws.
3. The Appellate Court has five (5) days to decide whether to hear the appeal.
4. If the Court chooses to hear the case, it is required to do so in a timely manner. The Appellate Court may issue summary judgments due to excessive absenteeism.
Section 4 - Administrative Team Appeals
1. To appeal an administrative team action, a citizen must file a notice with the Appellate Court within fourteen (14) days of the action in question.
2. The notice must include a legal argument for why the administrative team action violated the Charter, violated the tenants of democracy, or unnecessarily infringed upon the rights of citizens.
3. Actions taken by the administrative team that involve any of the following may not be appealed to the court:
Real life threats or harassment
Pornography
Illegal Content
Spambots
Exposure of real life information
Espionage of the region
Hacking of the Board
4. Actions taken by the administrative team that involve any of the following may not be appealed to the court unless the action is argued to be excessive or unjust:
Temporary (being defined as under 96 hours) suspension of a member
Placing a member on post moderation
Altering signature / avatar content
5. The Appellate Court has five (5) days to decide whether to hear the Appeal.
6. If an appeal is heard the administrative team must select up to two members to defend themselves before the court. Refusal to participate in the appeal process may result in the court issuing a summary judgement in favor of the appellant.
7. If the Court chooses to hear the case, it is required to do so in a timely manner. The Appellate Court may issue summary judgments due to excessive absenteeism.
8. If the Appellate Court orders the overturning of an administrative team decision, it must officially notify the administrative team of this decision via a public post.
9. If the administrative team responds with a majority vote rejecting the appeal court verdict, the Appellate Court decision may be stayed for up to 30 days. If the Administrative Team remains opposed to the decision after 30 days, the Assembly shall hold a formal vote to settle the matter.
Section 5 - Other
1. The Appellate Justice may partially recuse himself from a case by convening a jury to decide the verdict. The Appellate Justice will still be responsible for moderating the case. Any jury convened shall be made up of three citizens selected randomly from a pool of volunteers, with no obvious bias toward one party or the other.
2. The Appellate Justice is not prohibited from joining the Assembly or any associated organization in the South Pacific barring a political parties and organizations or interests groups.
3. The Appellate Justice shall have the authority to examine laws and make recommendations to the Assembly, however he may not issue an arbitrary judgment or opinion on laws without a specific legal question being filed.
4. If a matter even sits before the Appellate Court for 72 hours without response, the Appellate Justice shall be temporarily suspended, and the Assembly may appoint an Acting Appellate Justice.
Article 5: Executive
Section 1 - Cabinet and Powers of the Cabinet
1. The Cabinet shall consist of senior and junior members.
2. The senior Cabinet members shall be the Delegate, Vice Delegate, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minster of Regional Affairs, Minister of the Army, and Chair of the Assembly.
3. The junior Cabinet members shall be all appointed Deputies.
4. Senior members of the cabinet are the only members with voting rights within the Cabinet.
5. The Cabinet shall strive to promote activity in the region and shall remain cognizant of the well-being of all nations in the Coalition of the South Pacific.
6. The Cabinet may adopt Executive Policy in cases where no law exists; Executive Policy may not conflict with the Charter, Bill of Rights, or Code of Law.
7. The Cabinet will serve a term lasting four months, excepting appointed Cabinet Deputies, who serve at the discretion of their respective Senior Cabinet member.
8. Procedures for the election of the senior Cabinet must be defined in the Code of Laws.
Section 2 - The Office of the Delegate and Vice Delegate
1. The Delegate will serve as the Head of State and be responsible for leading the Cabinet.
2. The Delegate may not surrender the sovereignty of the Coalition to any group or alliance without the express permission of the Assembly.
3. The Delegate may implement policies regarding regional message board adverts and spam and expel recruiters for violating said policies.
4. The Delegate is responsible for making sure all nations abide by the endorsement cap as established and enforced by the Committee for State Security.
5. The Delegate may eject nations when permitted by the Charter and Code of Laws.
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.
7. The Vice Delegate will hold the second highest amount of endorsements in the region at any given time.
8. The Vice Delegate will be responsible for reviewing citizenship applications.
9. In the event that the Delegate resigns, is recalled, or otherwise unable to carry out their duties the Vice Delegate will immediately assume the Office of the Delegate.
Section 3 - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
2. The Ministry is responsible for all interactions with foreign regions.
3. The Ministry has the power to negotiate treaties, alliances, and other agreements with a foreign entity. Enactment of a treaty or alliance requires a vote of the Assembly in accordance with the provisions for General Laws.
4. The Ministry is responsible for the drafting and distribution of a regional update.
5. The Ministry is responsible for approving, denying, constructing, and requesting the removal of embassies and consulates.
Section 4 - Ministry of the Army
1. The Ministry of the Army will be led by the Minister of the Army.
2. The Ministry is responsible for overseeing the Armed Forces of the Coalition.
3. The Ministry is responsible for the defense of the region.
4. The Ministry is responsible for the creation of an Intelligence Network. The Ministry may appoint individuals to aid in gathering intelligence.
Section 5 - Ministry of Regional Affairs
1. The Ministry of Regional Affairs will be led by the Minister of Regional Affairs.
2. The Ministry is responsible for the integration of citizens into the Community.
3. The Ministry is responsible for planning and carrying out Cultural Events for the region and with allied regions.
4. The Ministry is responsible for promoting RMB and IRC activity and promotion of the regional forums.
5. The Ministry is responsible for directing and running roleplay and the maintenance of the regional map.
6. The Ministry is responsible for creating letters about government happenings, distributing such letters to the region in-game, and posting them on the RMB.
Article 6: The Committee for State Security
Section 1 - Membership and Approval
1. Membership in the Committee for State Security (CSS) requires Citizenship in The South Pacific, a nation with World Assembly membership in the region, and the approval of the Assembly.
2. The Vice Delegate will serve as the Chair of the CSS.
3. The Delegate shall serve as an observer on the CSS, with no voting rights.
4. Citizens wishing to become members of the CSS may submit their application for admittance to the Assembly.
5. Citizens may also be nominated for membership of the CSS by the Delegate.
6. Applicants for the Committee for State Security require a 75% majority vote in favor of admittance by the Assembly.
Section 2 - Regulations
1. The Committee for State Security is responsible for the internal security of The Coalition.
2. The Committee for State Security is responsible for establishing and and enforcing the endorsement cap.
3. Council members must never exceed the amount of WA endorsements obtained by the legal Vice Delegate.
4. The Vice-Delegate may grant a leave of absence from the CSS for a member on military or intelligence duty for The South Pacific. Members on leave of absence remain voting members of the CSS, but will not be part of the line of succession to the Delegacy.
5. The line of succession to the Delegacy is determined according to the WA endorsement levels of CSS members at the time in question, running from highest to lowest.
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 favor 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 favor.
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, which includes but is not limited to: recall motions, charges to be filed and grants of amnesty.
Article 7: Code of Laws
1. The Assembly may enact laws providing additional limitations and or procedures and place them in the Code of Laws.
Article 8: Forum and Forum Administration
1. The Coalition's official Regional Forum is located at http://thesouthpacific.x10.mx/index.php.
2. Should the Regional Forum cease to exist or otherwise become permanently unavailable then the Cabinet is authorized to establish a replacement Regional Forum.
3. Barring circumstances outlined in Section 2 the Assembly reserves the sole right to authorize the creation of a new Regional Forum.
4. The Regional Forum is administrated by the Admin Team and moderated by the Moderation Team.
5. The Admin Team must create both Administrative Procedures and Moderation Policies and present them to the Assembly for discussion and feedback.
6. Any proposed alterations to the Administrative Procedures or Moderation Policies may not be implemented until a minimum of seven days after such presentation.
7. The Moderation Team will be responsible for enforcing the Moderation Policies.
Article 9: Amendments
1. This Charter may be amended as needed in accordance with Article 3.
2. All Citizens have the right to request a Great Council for a review of the entire Charter, Bill of Rights, and Code of Laws. A Great Council may only be called once every six months.
Article 10: Supremacy
1. This Charter shall carry supremacy over any other law of the Coalition of the South Pacific.
|
![[Image: L3phLbK.png]](https://i.imgur.com/L3phLbK.png)
