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**Rebeltopia** · 02-18-2017, 02:37 PM

Here is my fairly rough draft. It includes the text Sandaoguo has brought up, I just changed the formatting to match.

Quote:Law Standards Act
An Act to define the standard of all laws in the Coalition of The South Pacific

1. Scope
A. All bills, amendments, and repeals brought before the Assembly should be written in a formal and consistent manner
B. No bill or amendment will be brought to a vote in the Assembly unless it follows the formatting outlined in this Act

2. Formatting of Bills and Amendments
A. Titles should be bolded and centered
B. Subtitles should be italicized and centered
C. Strict formatting of bulleting
(1). Numbered titles
(2). Capital Letters
(3). Numbers in Parentheses
(4) Lowercase Letters
D. Addendums should be numbered and at the bottom of all bills, regardless of where the referenced material is in the bill, and placed in a quote box

3. Amendments and Repeals
A. The standard format for an amendment will be to note which section of a law is being amended, and to quote only that part of the law
(1). Additions of words will be formatted in green text
(2). Subtractions of words will be formatted in red text with a strike-through
B. The Chair will not put to vote an amendment that copies an entire law, when only individual parts of the law are being amended
C. If a legislator moves to repeal only specific sections of a law, then the amendment procedure must be used
D. If a legislator moves to repeal an entire law, the Chair will quote the entire law and note that the entirety of it will be repealed.

4. General Rules
A. Sections should be written in such a way to reduce wordiness without losing the spirit of the text
B. All titled sections should be followed by a line break before starting a new section

5. For the purpose of this Act, the Chair of Assembly will bring all previously written laws into the standards outlined by this Act

Addendum 1 – Example of an Amendment

Amendment to Article IV, Section 7 Wrote:7. The Local Council representative will have the power to cast have an additional weighted block vote worth of one-fifth 20% of all non-abstaining votes cast on bills, not including the block vote, giving them a one-sixth share of the total vote, excluding abstentions. The Chair will calculate how many votes are allotted to the representative at the close of each vote, rounding them to the nearest whole number, and will then add the representative’s total votes to the final tally.

Feel free to revise as necessary

"...if you're normal, the crowd will accept you. But if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader." - Christopher Titus
Deranged in NS since 2011

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The OUTRAGEOUS CRAZY other half of LadyElysium

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(This post was last modified: 02-18-2017, 02:40 PM by Rebeltopia. Edit Reason: Funny enough, formatting... )

Omega · 02-18-2017, 05:56 PM

Could we add that the Chair will have the power to fix numbering within laws?

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**Rebeltopia** · 02-18-2017, 08:20 PM

(02-18-2017, 05:56 PM)Omega Wrote: Could we add that the Chair will have the power to fix numbering within laws?

In regards to bringing past laws up to snuff with this law? That's covered under #5

Sent from my phone using Tapatalk. So typos may be a'plenty...

"...if you're normal, the crowd will accept you. But if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader." - Christopher Titus
Deranged in NS since 2011

One and ONLY minion of LadyRebels
The OUTRAGEOUS CRAZY other half of LadyElysium

POSITIONS! POSITIONS, EVERYONE!!

Quotes

***Tsunamy*** · 02-19-2017, 01:21 AM

(02-18-2017, 12:02 PM)sandaoguo Wrote: Forcing everybody to use the same format is the whole point, really. Our formats shouldn't be changing just because new Chairs come in.

(02-18-2017, 02:32 PM)Escade Wrote: I agree with Rebel about addi
ng the "formatting" rules and Tsu, I think the larger issue here is that it is hard to navigate the laws currently as they seem to be highly nonstandard.
Our goal should be that everyone who wants to amend or add to our laws follows standard formatting and is not accidentally using old drafts or texts of laws.

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed when trying to find specific things or even make sense of the overall structure of the laws and I wonder how newer players might feel the same way.

The problem isn't about being "overwhelmed" but ... legislating the color and way we're allowed to proposed laws is overly restricting. Our problem is that a lot wasn't updated properly, not that people aren't coloring legislative proposals properly.

I'm also thinking about how prohibitive restrictions are going to be for anyone who wants to draft legislation and/or run for Chair. I'll be honest, if we're legislating these minute restrictions, you can count me out of both.

-tsunamy
[forum admin]

**Griffindor** · 02-19-2017, 11:10 AM

I am actually for this. It may be a bit more stressful for the chair as they update the process, but once its done, in a couple of terms (if that) or so, the law will no longer mandate the chair do anything. This will definitely help new people figure out how to draft laws correctly, and it will help avoid the delay of "more experienced" law drafters formatting the law correctly.

-Griffindor/Ebonhand
-Current Roles/Positions
-Legislator 2/24/20-
-High Court Justice 6/7/20-
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-Minister of Engagement 6/17/22-

-Past Roles/Positions
-Legislator 7/3/16-4/10/18
-Secretary of State 4/3/20-2/24/21
-Chair of the APC 9/24/16-5/31/17
-Vice-Chair of the APC 6/1/17-4/10/18
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-Citizen 5/2012-12/2014 and 2/26/16-7/3/2016

**Rebeltopia** · 02-19-2017, 11:32 AM

I look at it this way... it's not about writing the laws, it's about being able to read them, figure out what's actually being proposed/edited, and finding sections quickly and easily when searching thru our laws.

Sent from my phone using Tapatalk. So typos may be a'plenty...

"...if you're normal, the crowd will accept you. But if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader." - Christopher Titus
Deranged in NS since 2011

One and ONLY minion of LadyRebels
The OUTRAGEOUS CRAZY other half of LadyElysium

POSITIONS! POSITIONS, EVERYONE!!

Quotes

***Tsunamy*** · 02-19-2017, 11:55 AM

I'm going to stop arguing against this because, tbh, I don't feel strongly enough about it.

However, I want to clarify, my questions are more fundamental about how to make the game "fun." We certainly have responsibilities here, but I will always have grave concerns about specifying the way minuet things must be done because I think it sucks all the fun out of being here. Anything that attempts to make force players into too specific roles or to operate under too restrictive guidelines will always be problematic.

-tsunamy
[forum admin]

**Seraph** · 02-19-2017, 12:32 PM

(02-19-2017, 11:55 AM)Tsunamy Wrote: I'm going to stop arguing against this because, tbh, I don't feel strongly enough about it.

However, I want to clarify, my questions are more fundamental about how to make the game "fun." We certainly have responsibilities here, but I will always have grave concerns about specifying the way minuet things must be done because I think it sucks all the fun out of being here. Anything that attempts to make force players into too specific roles or to operate under too restrictive guidelines will always be problematic.

I hear what you're saying, Tsu, but one of the things that makes being here not seem fun to some people is lack of accessibility. Having a clearly defined format for legislation is a small step towards making it easier to propose legislation when you're new.

I know I would have been happier to know the boundaries of what was expected before attempting to make an amendment. As it is I've still only made the one (which just so happens to be the example in this law :/).

I'd want to go beyond legislation and see the Chair producing guides or courses or something to give new players a foothold in the Assembly, but I see this as a very good start.

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***Tsunamy*** · 02-19-2017, 01:55 PM

(02-19-2017, 12:32 PM)Seraph Wrote:
(02-19-2017, 11:55 AM)Tsunamy Wrote: I'm going to stop arguing against this because, tbh, I don't feel strongly enough about it.

However, I want to clarify, my questions are more fundamental about how to make the game "fun." We certainly have responsibilities here, but I will always have grave concerns about specifying the way minuet things must be done because I think it sucks all the fun out of being here. Anything that attempts to make force players into too specific roles or to operate under too restrictive guidelines will always be problematic.
I hear what you're saying, Tsu, but one of the things that makes being here not seem fun to some people is lack of accessibility. Having a clearly defined format for legislation is a small step towards making it easier to propose legislation when you're new.

I know I would have been happier to know the boundaries of what was expected before attempting to make an amendment. As it is I've still only made the one (which just so happens to be the example in this law :/).

I'd want to go beyond legislation and see the Chair producing guides or courses or something to give new players a foothold in the Assembly, but I see this as a very good start.

Yes, Seraph, as Griffin also noted above, I see the potential benefits in this — which is part of the reason I'm not strongly argue against it (although, I will vote against it).

Overall, I think this is another symptom of taking the game a bit too seriously. I don't think there should be "expectations" on what you're proposing. I think you should throw out idea for legislation and if you need help, some more established players should help you craft something.

Will it be perfect? No. Will we have to revise it 45 times? Absolutely. That's what most of this game is about.

Again, please don't take this as me fighting this, I'm more trying to offer thoughtful advice on broader direction of the region.

-tsunamy
[forum admin]

**Rebeltopia** · 03-02-2017, 09:24 PM

[quote]
Law Standards Act
An Act to define the standard of all laws in the Coalition of The South Pacific

1. Scope
A. All bills, amendments, and repeals brought before the Assembly should be written in a formal and consistent manner
B. No bill or amendment will be brought to a vote in the Assembly unless it follows the formatting outlined in this Act

2. Formatting of Bills and Amendments
A. Titles should be bolded and centered
B. Subtitles should be italicized and centered
C. Strict formatting of bulleting
(1). Numbered titles
(2). Capital Letters
(3). Numbers in Parentheses
(4) Lowercase Letters
D. Addendums should be numbered and at the bottom of all bills, regardless of where the referenced material is in the bill, and placed in a quote box

3. Amendments and Repeals
A. The standard format for an amendment will be to note which section of a law is being amended, and to quote only that part of the law
(1). Additions of words will be formatted in green text
(2). Subtractions of words will be formatted in red text with a strike-through
B. The Chair will not put to vote an amendment that copies an entire law, when only individual parts of the law are being amended
C. If a legislator moves to repeal only specific sections of a law, then the amendment procedure must be used
D. If a legislator moves to repeal an entire law, the Chair will quote the entire law and note that the entirety of it will be repealed.

4. General Rules
A. Sections should be written in such a way to reduce wordiness without losing the spirit of the text
B. All titled sections should be followed by a line break before starting a new section

5. For the purpose of this Act, the Chair of Assembly will bring all previously written laws into the standards outlined by this Act

Addendum 1 – Example of an Amendment

[quote='Amendment to Article IV, Section 7']

7. The Local Council representative will have the power to cast have an additional weighted block vote worth of one-fifth 20% of all non-abstaining votes cast on bills, not including the block vote, giving them a one-sixth share of the total vote, excluding abstentions. The Chair will calculate how many votes are allotted to the representative at the close of each vote, rounding them to the nearest whole number, and will then add the representative’s total votes to the final tally.
[/quote]

I motion this to vote

"...if you're normal, the crowd will accept you. But if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader." - Christopher Titus
Deranged in NS since 2011

One and ONLY minion of LadyRebels
The OUTRAGEOUS CRAZY other half of LadyElysium

POSITIONS! POSITIONS, EVERYONE!!

Quotes