[On November 1st 2014, we added Article 7 (Parole) and renumbered the existing Article 7-8 as Article 8-9 respectively]

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[On Nov 4, 2014, we amended Article 1 from the following...]

Article 1: Elections

1. Elections for all Cabinet positions shall commence on the fifteenth of every March, July, and November.
2. Elections for Court Justices shall commence on the fifteenth of every January, May, and September.
3. Terms for all Cabinet positions shall commence on the first of every April, August, and December, and terms for Justices shall commence on the first of every February, June, and October.
4. All elections shall consist of a pre-voting period lasting six days and a voting period lasting three days. Citizens shall have to declare their candidacy or accept their nomination within the first three days of the pre-voting period.
5. Runoff elections will begin within twenty-four hours of the initial vote closing and consist of a voting period lasting three days.
6. No one can run for or hold more than one Cabinet position, or more than one Justice position, or both a Cabinet and a Justice position at any given time.
7. Candidates for elections may self-declare or be nominated by another Citizen. Candidates must file a Conflict of Interest Disclosure at the time of their acceptance of a nomination or self-declaration.
8. Nominations may be accepted in absentia, as long as they are sent to the Election Commissioner at most two weeks before the start of the pre-voting period, and include a Conflict of Interest disclosure.
9. Conflict of Interest Disclosures must include current World Assembly Nation, all past and present aliases used, all past and present involvement in other regions and organizations, and all current positions held across NationStates.
10. The Delegate and Vice Delegate will run on a joint ticket and be elected by a majority vote. If no ticket receives a majority vote a runoff election with the two tickets receiving the most votes will occur.
11. Cabinet offices will be voted on separately and be elected by a plurality vote. Court Justices will be voted through a single ballot, with the three candidates who receive the most votes winning seats.
12. In all elections an option to re-open nominations will be included. For non-judicial elections, if this option receives the most votes the nomination period for that office will be restarted.
13. For Court Justice elections, if the option to Re-Open Nominations receives enough votes to be placed within the top four, then the nomination period will be restarted for all seats with lesser votes than this option. The candidates who receive the top votes will win however many seats are left to be filled.
14. In the event that no candidate runs for an available office the newly elected Cabinet will appoint a Citizen to fill the vacancy.
15. Vacancies in office occur when the office holder resigns, is recalled, or no longer holds citizenship. In the event of a vacancy in office a special election will begin within 72 hours of the office becoming vacant, unless the vacancy occurs in the month prior to the start of the term for the position in question; in this case the Cabinet will appoint a Citizen to fill the vacated position for the remainder of the term.
16. Elections will be run by a member of the forum administration staff or their designee. A designated Election Commissioner may be appointed if all members of the administration staff will be candidates in the given election, or if no administer is able to be an Election Commissioner.

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[Prior to Dec 07, we amended Article 7 (Parole) from below...]

Article 7: Parole

1. After serving at least one year of a ban from the region and/or the regional forum, convicts may apply for parole to a special parole board.
2. Said special parole board shall consist of the Chair of the CSS, Chief Justice of the High Court and the Chair of the Assembly.
3. The special parole board may decide to grant parole to convicts, provided a majority of its members support this motion; this decision should consider the security of the region and the genuine willingness of the convict to reform their behavior.
4. If parole is granted, the regional and/or forum ban shall be revoked and the individual shall be allowed to reside in The South Pacific.
5. After six months of residency, the individual may apply for citizenship, albeit with a prohibition on holding office.
6. While on parole, the special parole board can decide at any time, by majority vote, to revoke an individual’s parole; this decision should consider the security of the region and the contributions of the individual to the region.
7. After six months of citizenship, the individual may apply to the special parole board for the prohibition on holding office to be lifted. The special parole board can grant this motion, provided a majority of the board supports – and in doing so, the individual will no longer be held under any conditions of parole.

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Original, amended Dec 09.

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Article 2: Recall Procedures


1. The Assembly may recall any elected or appointed official.
2. Discussions on a recall motion will occur for at least three days.
3. A recall motion requires at least a second to be brought to a vote, unless either the original motion or the second has been withdrawn.
4. The official is recalled should 75% of votes cast in favor of such.

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[Amended from below, Dec 27 2014]

Article 1: Elections


1. Elections for all Cabinet positions shall commence on the fifteenth of every March, July, and November.
2. Elections for Court Justices shall commence on the first of every April, August, and December.
3. Terms for all Cabinet positions shall commence on the first of every April, August, and December, and terms for Justices shall commence on the fifteenth of every April, August, and December.
4. All elections shall consist of a pre-voting period lasting six days and a voting period lasting three days. Citizens shall have to declare their candidacy or accept their nomination within the first three days of the pre-voting period.
5. Runoff elections will begin within twenty-four hours of the initial vote closing and consist of a voting period lasting three days.
6. No one can run for or hold more than one Cabinet position, or more than one Justice position, or both a Cabinet and a Justice position at any given time.
7. Candidates for elections may self-declare or be nominated by another Citizen. Candidates must file a Conflict of Interest Disclosure at the time of their acceptance of a nomination or self-declaration.
8. Nominations may be accepted in absentia, as long as they are sent to the Election Commissioner at most two weeks before the start of the pre-voting period, and include a Conflict of Interest disclosure.
9. Conflict of Interest Disclosures must include current World Assembly Nation, all past and present aliases used, all past and present involvement in other regions and organizations, and all current positions held across NationStates.
10. The Delegate and Vice Delegate will run on a joint ticket and be elected by a majority vote. If no ticket receives a majority vote a runoff election with the two tickets receiving the most votes will occur.
11. Cabinet offices will be voted on separately and be elected by a plurality vote. Court Justices will be voted through a single ballot, with the three candidates who receive the most votes winning seats.
12. In all elections an option to re-open nominations will be included. For non-judicial elections, if this option receives the most votes the nomination period for that office will be restarted.
13. For Court Justice elections, if the option to Re-Open Nominations receives enough votes to be placed within the top four, then the nomination period will be restarted for all seats with lesser votes than this option. The candidates who receive the top votes will win however many seats are left to be filled.
14. In the event that no candidate runs for an available office the newly elected Cabinet will appoint a Citizen to fill the vacancy.
15. Vacancies in office occur when the office holder resigns, is recalled, or no longer holds citizenship. In the event of a vacancy in office a special election will begin within 72 hours of the office becoming vacant, unless the vacancy occurs in the month prior to the start of the term for the position in question; in this case the Cabinet will appoint a Citizen to fill the vacated position for the remainder of the term.
16. Elections will be run by a member of the forum administration staff or their designee. A designated Election Commissioner may be appointed if all members of the administration staff will be candidates in the given election, or if no administer is able to be an Election Commissioner.

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[Fixed a typo in Section 4.2.]

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Updated Article 9.9 to reflect our lack of prohibited groups. [17/02/2015]

9. The following regions and organizations are deemed Prohibited Groups within The South Pacific: The Greater German Reich, Gatesville Inc.

(This post was last modified: 02-17-2015, 02:10 PM by Sandwich Territories.)

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[On Feb 22, added to ...]

Article 8: Sunshine Provisions

1. The discussions of the Cabinet shall be released every 8 months for public archival accessible to all citizens.
2. The Cabinet may institute a classification system to ensure that discussions that are still undergoing or discussions that would seriously threaten the security of the region are not released too early.
3. The Cabinet shall regularly update the classification status of its discussions and not abuse the classification system to prevent its discussions from being published.
4. The Cabinet may publish its discussions at earlier intervals if it wishes.
5. In the event that Cabinet discussions older than 8 months have failed to be published, the current Cabinet must publish those discussions in a speedy manner.

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Updated from below, Feb 26:

Article 5: Criminal Code

1. Treason shall be defined as plotting against the Coalition, seeking to lower the delegate's endorsement count without his or her consent, breaking the endorsement cap after receiving an official warning, aiding any entity in which the Coalition is taking defensive action against, or any entity in which a state of war exists with.
2. Defamation shall be defined as communication of a statement which makes a false claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, in an attempt to harm the reputation of another user or group of users on the forum. The offended must express the offense to the Court in order for the charge to be considered.
3. Fraud shall be defined as a deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual.
4. Espionage shall be defined as an act of or attempt to obtain information that is confidential or not made publicly available for use by oneself or an entity one represents. Distribution of private information that originates on the South Pacific Forum without the express written permission of the Cabinet of the South Pacific shall be considered Espionage.
5. Conduct violations shall be defined as breaking in-game NationStates rules.

Article 6: Penal Code

1. If found guilty of an act of treason, the offending nation will be immediately banned from the in-game region and offsite forums.
2. If found guilty of defamation, the offending nation must issue a public apology to the nation in which the offense was committed against. Further punishment may be determined by the Judiciary.
3. If found guilty of fraud, the Judiciary will determine a sentence. The sentence must be proportionate to the offense.
4. If found guilty of espionage, the offending nation may be banned from the in-game region and expelled from the offsite forums. The Judiciary may determine a lesser sentence in order to keep proportionality with the offense.
5. Conduct violations are punishable by immediate ejection and banishment from the region, albeit punished parties may appeal this decision to the court. In most cases, nations that appeal the decision and apologize should expect to have their ban lifted.

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[Amended from below, March 01 2015]

Article 3: South Pacific Special Forces

1. The South Pacific Special Forces, herein referred to as the SPSF, is established as the sole Armed Force within the Coalition of the South Pacific.
2. The SPSF will be led by the Minister of the Army and a panel of three Generals, herein referred to as the General Corps, selected by the Assembly and serving a life term.
3. The Minister of the Army will recommend Citizens to serve in the General Corps upon the passage of this document and in the event of a vacancy. The nominee must be approved by the Assembly, which will recommend replacements if the reject a nomination.
4. The General Corps is responsible for the planning of and overseeing of all missions of the SPSF.
5. The SPSF must, at all times, observe our laws, policies, the charter and our legal and contractual obligations, defend The South Pacific, refrain from conduct abroad which contradicts foreign policy and make an effort to include, welcome and accommodate all citizens as members, regardless of their beliefs.
6. The SPSF will be permitted to carry out offensive, defensive, support, and various types of operations as seen fit by the Minister of the Army.
7. The Minister of the Army and General Corps will be responsible for creating further regulations for the SPSF and presenting them to the Assembly for passage in accordance with normal Assembly policy.
8. The SPSF will be responsible for carrying out all operations relating to a Declaration of War passed by the Assembly. A declaration of war is not inherently necessary for the SPSF to act against a foreign entity and/or organization.

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