Issue II
Brief News, Good News

Assembly Votes on Judicial Reform
by Kris Montresor

In keeping with its unspoken tradition, the Assembly has been debating once again on judicial reform, following the proposal of Delegate Kris Montresor to abolish the Appellate Court and transfer some of its responsibilities to the High Court. This debate was prompted by the previous Appellate Justice losing citizenship, after which the Delegate questioned whether the realities of the region made it necessary to have an appeals system, considering the fact that judicial decisions are never actually appealed.

Several proposals for reform were presented, mainly the citizens who had served as Chief Justices or as High Court Justices, though several other citizens were quite active in the debate. There were three main proposals: one from Minister of the Army QuietDad, another from former Chief Justice Farengeto and the third from former High Court Justice Rebeltopia:

• QuietDad proposed abolishing the Appellate Court and letting the Assembly vote on appeals to High Court rulings, 75% votes being necessary to overturn a decision.
  
• Farengeto proposed having the Assembly appoint a Justice to hear appeals for specific cases, rather than having a permanent Appellate Justice.
  
• Rebeltopia proposed electing four justices to the High Court, instead of the current three, but making one of those justices refrain from participating in each decision, on a rotating basis. That justice could then hear appeals.

Vice Delegate Arbiter submitted on Friday a draft adopting Rebeltopia’s proposal to abolish the Appellate Court and transfer its responsibilities to a four-member High Court, which was then seconded by Penguin. This will hopefully improve what has already been called one of the best judicial systems that the region has ever had, and end the continued practice of reforming the judiciary every few months.

CSS Votes to Lower Endorsement Cap
by Kris Montresor

Ever since May 2013, the endorsement cap in the South Pacific had been set at 150, one of the highest in NationStates. This enabled nations in the region to gain high amounts of influence, and therefore greater protection in case anyone decided to purge the region, as happened during the Milograd Coup. The logic behind that cap was that the more high influence nations in the region, the more expensive it would be for a rogue delegate to eject them all, and clear the region of its natives. However, this was at a time when the Delegate had more than 360 endorsements, and even if that level decreased over time, there was always a safe distance between the Delegate and anyone trying to tart their way into the delegacy.

This changed last month, with the endorsement count of Delegate Kringalia and the Committee for State Security (CSS) rapidly decreasing. The former went from a high of 255 to a record low of 199, with some nations even having more endorsements than the CSS. That situation prompted a discussion within the CSS about the need for a lower endorsement cap, in the interest of regional security. Councillor Aramanchovia discussed this reasoning with the Southern Journal, explaining that “the numbers of WA nations have slowly been dwindling to a point where the cap of 150 was not far below the amount of endorsements able to be obtained by the delegate”.

The result of this discussion was a decision on October 2 to reduce the endorsement cap to 120, to ensure that there was a larger gap between the endorsement level of the Delegate and the amount of endorsements any nation could accumulate. Aramanchovia also explained that the actual amount of endorsements from other nations was taken into account, since “120 was also chosen as this number was higher than the amount of endorsements any nation held, so that no nation was forced to drop endorsements”. So far response from the region has been neutral, though Distortilla has recommended an examination of why endorsement levels dropped in the first place, rather than simply lowering the cap. Delegate Kringalia responded positively to this, assuring Distortilla that he would heed his advice and conduct such an examination.

Special Forces Thrive Under QuietDad and ProfessorHenn
by Kris Montresor

QuietDad leads the Special Forces with two simple objectives in mind: to preserve the independence of our military and to make it more active than ever. Ever since his election he has increased cooperation with foreign militaries and engaged in both defensive and offensive missions, recruiting and teaching many new citizens in the process. Our Special Forces have recently increased their cooperation with the East Pacific Sovereign Army (EPSA), though there have been standalone missions as well.

Throughout September, there have been over ten missions, most being liberations or detags, though a few have been invasions as well. We can name the liberation of Gumhuriyyat Misr al Arabiyyah, the liberation of Warzone Sandbox with help from the EPSA and the Spiritus Defence Force, the occupations of Warzone Arkansas and Union of Lendir, and the occupation of The Third Party, the latter with help from the North Pacific Army. This is in addition to a series of EPSA-led liberations with which the Special Forces helped.

Recent activity in the Special Forces have also been due to the dedication of ProfessorHenn, Minister of Regional Affairs, who has also been recently made General. In nominating Henn, Minister QuietDad assured the Assembly that “his attendance has been perfect, he knows most of the tools and procedures and has the same contacts”. He was confirmed 12-1 by the Assembly, and his first act as General was to lead his own mission to liberate Warzone Africa, with assistance from EPSA and the native delegate. He told the Southern Journal that he has proud of his confirmation and hoped to work for the benefit of the South Pacific.

Unibot Survives Recall
by Kris Montresor

Chair of the Assembly Unibot recently survived a recall vote. This was initiated due to his behaviour last week on the IRC channel of the South Pacific, in which he insulted certain citizens of the East Pacific, including former delegate ToddMcCloud. Following the incident, he was temporarily banned from the channel, and East Pacific Delegate Ramaeus lodged a formal complaint at the Rejected Realms, of which Unibot is also Delegate. Citizens of the Rejected Realms condemned Unibot’s behaviour and made clear that this could not be construed as the official position of the Rejected Realms towards the East Pacific.

Back in the South Pacific, The Salaxalans initiated a recall motion, arguing that the Chair of the Assembly should not be engaging in such behaviour and that it tarnished the reputation of the region. Others disagreed, arguing that while the even itself was condemnable, it was not enough grounds for a recall, since it had not happened while Unibot was discharging his official duties as Chair, and further because he had already apologised for his behaviour. The recall eventually failed 5-11, short of the 75% in favour that was needed for it to succeed.

Unibot told the Southern Journal that he was trilled to see voters had decided to keep him around, that he had “managed to change the tone of the Assembly towards a more positive direction and [he was] looking forward to work on that more”. The Salaxalans also accepted the results of the recall, saying that while he believed there Unibot’s actions warranted a recall, he acknowledged that the region had disagreed, and that was part of our democracy. This is the fourth attempted recall of an elected official this year, following the attempted recalls of Sandaoguo and Hileville in January, and a second, more controversial attempt to recall Sandaoguo last month. All four attempts failed, though Hileville resigned as Minister of Foreign Affairs shortly after he survived his recall.

This incident led to a debate on recall procedures, which ended up in an amendment to the Code of Laws that required motions and seconds for a recall to proceed to vote. Previously, recalls went to vote after three days of debate, without the need for seconds, and without the possibility to withdraw the motion.

Llamas Appointed Deputy Minister of Regional Affairs
by Arbiter

Regional Affairs Minister ProfessorHenn relieved on October 3 his two deputy ministers from their duties. Up until recently The Salaxalans had served as the Deputy Minister for Planning and Development, while Farengeto was the Deputy Minister for Communications and Integration. Both had served for over a month, and ProfessorHenn thanked them for their service and highlighted their dedication to the region. Llamas was then appointed as the new Deputy Minister for Cultural Development.

Why Llamas? So far he has shown interest in roleplaying and volunteered to lead the efforts to write down the roleplayed history of the South Pacific. He has also been quietly but constantly giving ideas and helping the Delegate and the Minister of Regional Affairs with all pending projects. Delegate Kringalia told the Southern Journal that "giving him a title was merely a formality, since he has been helping for a while now". When asked about Llamas, Minister ProfessorHenn responded that he "is an exceptional man, well suited to his appointment as deputy".

The staff of the Southern Journal wants to congratulate Llamas on his appointed. Much cake shall be had in celebration!