A few great councils ago we completely stripped our laws and and re-wrote them in a more condensed system.  We had the Charter (which was much smaller than the current Charter) and we introduced one single Code of Laws instead of having multiple.  The goal was to have less clutter in the documents and overtime they have grown larger.  We split out our election policies because of the growing Code of Laws.  So I wanted to have a discussion on how to once again make the system that we have simpler.  I don't think we need to gut everything again but simply change how we present our laws.

The only thing I have though of would be to separate most of the Charter into smaller bills by themselves.  Leaving the Charter to a simple and straightforward outline for how our Government is made up.  This would include the basic outline of the Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary and basic powers they hold.  Then we would have separate documents for each giving more specifics.

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While scrapping the Code of Laws might seem a good idea, and Im neutral at the CoL getting scrapped, the Charter, no. The Charter is basically our Constitution. Its the most supreme law of the land. Unless we give the Charter's scrapped documents consitutional status, you won't see me supporting this proposal.

Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)

Local Council Member(April 24-August 11)

Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)

Quotes

"The 1% is like a 1% battery charge. It will die out if it is not charged(the charge is the 99%). But if you don't charge it, it will die for sure, sooner or later"
- Me (2001- Present)

"Change is the world's blood"
- Me (2001-Present)

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While scrapping the Code of Laws might seem a good idea, and Im neutral at the CoL getting scrapped, the Charter, no. The Charter is basically our Constitution. Its the most supreme law of the land. Unless we give the Charter's scrapped documents consitutional status, you won't see me supporting this proposal.

This way going to be my question-ish. I generally have no problem breaking them out for ease, but then I think we need to define what is "charter" and what isn't.

Although ... we could argue that making it easier to change procedures and the like could make government work better.

I'm open, but need more details.

-tsunamy
[forum admin]

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I agree that the Charter should lay down the structure of our system, and then separate acts should go into detail about it. That's how I wrote my proposed judicial reform package.

The Code of Laws has been notoriously difficult to handle, and there are things in the Charter that honestly have no reason to be constitutional laws.

Do you have a rewrite in mind? I would love to see it.

It's also worth saying that there's no reason why we couldn't grant 'constitutional status' to things other than the Charter.

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I have a very rough draft of it. I will refine it a bit and post today sometime.

EDIT:  Here is what I had been working on.  I stopped after the first part of the Executive.

Article 1:  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 of speech, including the freedom of expression and the press.
3. The freedom of thought, including the freedom of belief, opinion and conscience.
4. The freedom of association, including the freedom of peaceful assembly.
5. The right to equality and the freedom from the denial of participation based on arbitrary or discriminative criteria.
6. The right to contact the government on all matters of their interest and receive a prompt and adequate response from the relevant officials.
7. 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 and to be protected against the application of any law ex post facto.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Voting and being elected to an office under the Coalition of The South Pacific shall be rights afforded only to citizens except for the Local Council. For the Local Council only, voting and being elected to an office shall be open to all residents of The South Pacific.


Article 2:  Legislature

1.  The Assembly shall constitute the sole legislative body in The Coalition.
2.  The Assembly is comprised of all Citizens of The Coalition.
3.  Requirements for Citizenship will be defined in General Law.
4.  The Assembly is responsible for the drafting and discussion of General Laws, and Amendments to the Charter and Code of Laws.
5.  The Assembly may pass and amend a Law with a vote resulting in 50% + 1 in favor.
6.  The Assembly may amend the Charter with a vote resulting in a 75% majority in favor.
7.  The Assembly has the sole power to declare a state of war exists with another region or organization.
8.  The Assembly has the sole power to pass a treaty with another region or organization.
9.  The Assembly may override all executive actions with a vote resulting in a 75% majority in favor.
10.  Declarations of War and Treaties require a 60% majority in favor to be enacted or repealed.
11.  The Assembly will elect a Chair which will be responsible for the administration of all aspects of the drafting, debate, and passage of legislation.
12.  The Chair will serve a term lasting four months.
13.  The procedures for the election of the Chair must be defined in General Law.

Article 3:  Executive  - Did not finish this Article

1.  The Cabinet shall consist of senior voting and junior non-voting members.
2.  The senior Cabinet members are the Delegate, Vice Delegate, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minster of Regional Affairs, and Minister of the Army.
3.  The junior Cabinet will be comprised of all Deputies appointed by the senior Cabinet.
4.  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.
5.  The Cabinet may adopt Executive Policy in cases where no law exists; Executive Policy may not conflict with the Charter, Bill of Rights, or any General Law.
6.  The Cabinet will serve a term lasting four months, excepting appointed Cabinet Deputies, who serve at the discretion of their respective Senior Cabinet member.
7.  Procedures for the election of the senior Cabinet must be defined in General Law.

(This post was last modified: 10-30-2015, 02:22 PM by Bears Armed.)

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