Constitutional Draft

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Constitutional Draft
Tweet Topic Started: Apr 18 2015, 01:26 AM (1,200 Views)
Lazarus	Apr 18 2015, 01:26 AM Post #1
Administrator Posts: 90 Group: Administrator Member #1 Joined: Apr 8, 2015 Alignment Lawful Good Military Stance Neutral	Mod Edit: Please note that this constitution is not meant to be the draft, necessarily. This is one proposal that was drafted during the NLO occupation, but the purpose of this convention is to find out where our region's values lie. Feel free to discuss this draft, or create your own entirely different drafts. Preamble The nations, resident in the region formerly called the Peoples' Republic of Lazarus, hereby solemnly and mutually agree with each other, to form themselves into a free, sovereign, and independent body politic, or state by the name of "The [Pretitle] of Lazarus". Article 1: Citizenship Any person may apply for citizenship by providing the names of a resident nation in Lazarus and a World Assembly nation, and swearing an oath of citizenship established by law. The High Councillor will approve or reject applications for citizenship. If they reject an application, they will report the reasons for doing so to the Convocation. The Convocation may overturn such rejections by a two-thirds majority vote. Citizens whose nation leaves Lazarus voluntarily or ceases to exist, do not log into the regional forums for twenty-eight days or voluntarily renounce it will forfeit their citizenship. The Tribunal may remove the citizenship of a person convicted of a criminal offense. Citizens may not lose their citizenship for any reason not enumerated here. Article 2: The Rights of the People All persons are guaranteed equal protection under the law. All persons are guaranteed access to the Regional Forums to the extent necessary to exercise their other rights. No person may be charged with a crime retroactively or declared guilty of a crime by law. All citizens will be guaranteed the freedoms of speech, conscience, petition and association so long as their exercise does not violate the rules of NationStates or the Regional Forums’ terms of use. No citizen may be ejected, banned or have their access to the Regional Forums restricted beyond necessary moderation without being publicly charged with a criminal offense and informed of the charges against them and their right to a trial. All citizens charged with a criminal offense will be guaranteed a swift, fair trial. They will be guaranteed the right to fair representation in such a trial and may not be forced to incriminate themselves. All nations will be guaranteed the right to hold up to fifty less endorsements than the greater of the current Councillor of Security's endorsement count and the previous Councillor of Security's endorsement count at the end of their term of office. All nations of Lazarus will be guaranteed sovereignty in their domestic policies and if a member of the World Assembly may not be compelled to endorse another nation. Citizens will not be considered necessarily deprived of any rights not enumerated here. Article 3: The Convocation of Souls The Convocation of Souls will consist of all citizens and will be the supreme organ of government. The Convocation may adopt, amend or repeal laws by a majority vote. The Convocation may ratify or repeal treaties with foreign powers by a majority vote. The Convocation may amend this constitution by a two-thirds majority vote. The Convocation may adopt, amend or repeal procedural rules by a majority vote. The Convocation may recall any officer of the government for which a higher threshold is not established by a majority vote. The Convocation will elect a Speaker of the Convocation to administer its business and procedural rules. The Speaker may appoint any number of deputies to assist them in their duties. These deputies may be regulated by the procedural rules of the Convocation. A vote of the Convocation will be valid only if at least a quarter of its membership or five citizens participate, whichever number is lower. Article 4: The High Councillor The High Councillor will serve as head of state and government. The High Councillor may negotiate treaties with foreign powers. No such treaty will come into force unless ratified by the Convocation The High Councillor will control the onsite delegacy of the region and will exercise its powers only as permitted or required by law. The High Councillor may appoint a Council of ministers to assist them in their duties. The Convocation may regulate the ministries of the Council by law. The High Councillor may veto a proposal of the Convocation to adopt, amend or repeal a law within a week of its passage. The Convocation may override such a veto by two-thirds majority vote. No person may serve more than four consecutive three month terms as High Councillor. The Councillor of Security will seek to hold the second most endorsements in the region. If the office of High Councillor is vacant or the High Councillor High Councillor is absent, the Councillor of Security will assume the duties of the High Councillor. Article 5: Elected Officers The Speaker of the Convocation, High Councillor, and Councillor of Security will be considered elected officers. An election for an elected officer will be held if three months have passed since the previous one began, the office is vacant or the Convocation votes to hold one by a majority vote. Any person who is a citizen at the beginning of nominations for an election may stand as a candidate and vote in it. Voters will cast their ballots for a single candidate. If a candidate has a majority of votes, they will be elected to the office. If no candidate has a majority of votes, a runoff will be held between the two candidates with the most votes. The candidate with the most votes in the runoff will be elected to the office. All ties will be broken in favor of the candidate who has been a citizen for the longest continuous period up until the election. No person may simultaneously hold multiple elected offices. Article 6: The Tribunal The Tribunal will consist of a number of at least three Tribunes, but a greater number may be established by law. If there is a current or impending vacancy on the Tribunal, the High Councillor will nominate a candidate to fill the vacancy. The Convocation may approve a candidate for Tribune by a two-thirds majority vote. An approved candidate for Tribune will serve a term of three months. The Tribunal will try all criminal and civil cases and determine the constitutionality of laws, treaties and government policies. The Tribunal will make its rulings by a majority vote of its membership. The procedural rules of the Tribunal will be established by law. The Tribunal will elect a Chief Tribune from among its membership by a majority vote to administer its business and procedural rules. The Convocation may remove any tribune by a two-thirds majority vote. No person serving as tribune may hold another other government office. Article 7: The Gatekeepers [of the Dead] Any citizen who meets the endorsement and influence requirements determined by law may apply to become a member of the Gatekeepers. The Convocation may approve an applicant to the Gatekeepers by a two-thirds majority vote. The Gatekeepers will monitor regional security and report on it to the Convocation. The Gatekeepers will enforce decisions of the Convocation to remove the delegate. A line of succession beyond the Councillor of Security among the members of the Gatekeepers may be established by law. Gatekeepers who willingly cease to meet the endorsement and influence requirements determined by law will forfeit their membership. The Convocation may remove a member of the Gatekeepers by a two-thirds majority vote. The Councillor of Security will administer the business of the Gatekeepers. Article 8: The Regional Forum The Regional Forums will be located at [URL]. Violation of forum Terms Of Service and moderation policies will be the responsibility of forum administration. Edited by Kazmr, Apr 23 2015, 05:02 AM.

Replies:
Kazmr	Apr 23 2015, 06:52 PM Post #51
Lazarene Posts: 987 Group: Members Member #85 Joined: Apr 22, 2015 Alignment Lawful Good Military Stance Neutral	Indeed it is I think it may be productive to include a clause in Article 1, the citizenship article, on who is considered a citizen at the outset of the new constitution coming into effect.



Kazmr	Apr 24 2015, 04:02 AM Post #52
Lazarene Posts: 987 Group: Members Member #85 Joined: Apr 22, 2015 Alignment Lawful Good Military Stance Neutral	So I ran a test to see just how many people would be eligible for citizenship and voting rights under the proposal we've been discussing regarding extending this privilege based on residency. These individuals currently have WA and are endorsing the delegate. I ran for different counts, from the longest consecutive 150 in the region to the longest 1500. Please not that this does not indicate consecutive WA membership, merely that they have it currently. If we were to allow the oldest 150 (first ten pages of 'length of residency'), the following 11 nations would get citizenship, shortest in the region since Feb. 16, 2013: rhalellan, claraxia, crapzakistan, krudistan_nation, the_salvation_states, praenestia, dino_dines, atrebates, nerbia, courlany, rangers_brotherhood At 300, we would have 17, shortest in the region since Feb. 15, l2014: rhalellan, claraxia, crapzakistan, krudistan_nation, the_salvation_states, praenestia, dino_dines, atrebates, nerbia, courlany, rangers_brotherhood, azzadoni, neueziel, port_jefferson, dotangina, powthran, ur_beautiful At 750 (50 pages), 34 nations, shortest in the region since Oct. 4, 2014: rhalellan, claraxia, crapzakistan, krudistan_nation, the_salvation_states, praenestia, dino_dines, atrebates, nerbia, courlany, rangers_brotherhood, azzadoni, neueziel, port_jefferson, dotangina, powthran, ur_beautiful, arkins, jukenia, lazarussian_campinia, arkanik, sketharia, potted_plants_united, flatulati_incontinentia, cabin_john, silvinaria, democristan, racq, the_floodcity, bare_arms, puppydreamer, southeastlanders, zeonz, wellbournia With the full 1500 proposed by Loftegen, 100 pages, 62 nations, the shortest of which has been in the region consecutively since February 21: rhalellan, claraxia, crapzakistan, krudistan_nation, the_salvation_states, praenestia, dino_dines, atrebates, nerbia, courlany, rangers_brotherhood, azzadoni, neueziel, port_jefferson, dotangina, powthran, ur_beautiful, arkins, jukenia, lazarussian_campinia, arkanik, sketharia, potted_plants_united, flatulati_incontinentia, cabin_john, silvinaria, democristan, racq, the_floodcity, bare_arms, puppydreamer, southeastlanders, zeonz, wellbournia, dakota_gage_carsons, vuvuzeland, arctus, the_third_temple_welcoming_committee, neo_kervoskia, aigania, forlini_and_its_dominion, almain, acentinia, falkaria, casterphie, knights_almeria, amontis, consire, federation_of_defensive_states, rathgard, kreulstitz, baccadoria, murder_ball_of_death, taila, r3dneck_paradise, brosumland, poundin_it, barkdull, ghoolia, bruteland, sealpup, perthane Here are also raw numbers for a few nice, even counts: Longest 100: 7 nations Longest 200: 13 nations Longest 500: 34 nations (strangely enough the exact same as the longest 750) Longest 1000: 45 nations Based on this data, and the fact that Loft proposed the provision going into effect after one year of the constitution, I think it may be reasonable to consider as low as the oldest 300 nations in the region, or 20 pages of length of residency. This would, at current count, allow for roughly over a year of continuous residency within Lazarus. I confirmed this by going to said 300th nation, Catalunya i Balears, who has been in Lazarus continuously since March 22, 2014. This may go up slowly over time, but I think given the substantial age of Lazarus it is notable that at this value is only a year, and thus there is likely quite a bit of movement. We could perhaps consider making the specific value something determined by the legislature. Additionally, it would be possible to maintain a database of eligible nations for each given day. This would allow us to have a restriction such as that one must have WA status on the day a bill is first proposed in order to prevent individuals with long term puppets from simply switching just to be able to vote. I think that 17 possible votes is actually a reasonably manageable number. Note that there is a chance it may go down as I see at least a couple of nations who I know only have WA because of the current crisis. On one hand this would allow someone to have a voice simply my investing time in the community. On the other it is not such a substantial number that it would utterly swamp anything the forum could bring to bear, particularly considering not all could be expected to vote every time.



Loftegen	Apr 24 2015, 05:10 AM Post #53
Supreme Autocrat Posts: 11,070 Group: Members Member #108 Joined: Apr 23, 2015 Alignment Lawful Good Military Stance Neutral Political Views Independent	That's incredibly interesting, Kaz. I had no idea there were so many long term residents left. Thank you for compiling this.



Ryccia	Apr 24 2015, 07:56 PM Post #54
Lazarene Posts: 87 Group: Members Member #104 Joined: Apr 22, 2015	Maybe we could shorten that term to 4 months or 6 months? Or 0 months? 1 year sounds very long for NS. I do not want to be here, waiting a year for voting rights. Edited by Ryccia, Apr 25 2015, 06:42 AM.



Laurentius	Apr 26 2015, 08:36 PM Post #55
Lazarene Posts: 20 Group: Members Member #109 Joined: Apr 23, 2015	We need to think of a pretitle for Lazarus. Like, United Republic!



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