Discussion [Discussion] Resident Participation Amendment

[New Rogernomics]

Spoiler: Previous Version (Mandate Amendment)

Resident Participation Amendment

Proposed by: New Rogernomics
​

Section 1. Amendment to the Mandate

The mandate shall be amended to include limited viewing and posting rights to residents:

I. Assembly of Lazarus

Composition of the Assembly

(1) The Assembly will be comprised of all citizens of Lazarus, though residents may be permitted limited viewing and posting rights.

Powers of the Assembly

(2) The Assembly may establish and revise its own procedural rules by 50%+1 vote.

(3) The Assembly may enact, amend, or repeal general laws and resolutions by 50%+1 vote.

(4) The Assembly may enact, amend, or repeal treaties, at the request of the Prime Minister, by 50%+1 vote.

(5) The Assembly may declare war against another region or organization, and repeal a declaration of war, at the request of the Prime Minister, by two-thirds vote.

(6) The Assembly may remove the Assembly Speaker, the Prime Minister, a Cabinet Minister, a Court Justice, a Councillor of Lazarene Security, or any other government official established by law or policy from office, by two-thirds vote.

(7) The Assembly may remove the Delegate or Vice Delegate from office by three-quarters vote.

(8) The Assembly may declare a state of emergency, end a state of emergency declared by the Council on Lazarene Security, or extend a state of emergency ended by the Council, by three-quarters vote.

(9) The Assembly may amend this Mandate by three-quarters vote.

(10) The Assembly may enact constitutional laws and resolutions, bearing the same legal weight as this Mandate, and may amend or repeal such constitutional laws and resolutions, by three-quarters vote. Constitutional laws and resolutions must be explicitly designated as such within the text of each constitutional law or resolution, and may not either explicitly or implicitly amend or repeal this Mandate or other constitutional laws or resolutions.

Speaker of the Assembly

(11) The Delegate will appoint an Assembly Speaker to preside over the Assembly according to its procedural rules. Appointment of the Assembly Speaker will be subject to confirmation by 50%+1 vote of the Assembly.

(12) In the absence of procedural rules to settle a procedural matter in the Assembly, the Assembly Speaker may establish such rules. Procedural rules established by the Assembly Speaker will always be subordinate to the laws of Lazarus and procedural rules established by the Assembly.

(13) The Assembly Speaker will serve until resignation, removal from office by the Assembly or Delegate, or automatic removal from office. The Assembly Speaker may not serve or stand for an election for any other office but Councillor on the Council on Lazarene Security, or Deputy Minister.

(14) The Assembly may provide for the appointment and removal of deputies to the Assembly Speaker by law or through its procedural rules.

(15) The Assembly speaker may limit or rescind the ability for residents to view or post in the Assembly under their discretion.

Residents Viewing and Posting

(16) Residents may view and post in the Assembly, as long as no objections are raised by the Assembly Speaker, the Court of Lazarus, or the Council of Lazarene Security.

(17) Residents may not view or post in voting and private citizens discussion areas of the Assembly, or any other areas prohibited to them by the Assembly Speaker.
This amendment would allow Residents to view and post in non-sensitive areas of the Assembly, while also permitting the Assembly Speaker, the Court of Lazarus, or the Council of Lazarene Security to restrict this right (where necessary).

Discussion on amending the Assembly Procedure Act:

Assembly Procedure Act Discussion Amendment

Proposed by: @McChimp, @New Rogernomics ​

Section 1. Amendment of the Assembly Procedure Act

(1) The relevant section of Section 2. Legislative Procedures currently reads:

(9) The Assembly Speaker will determine which discussions will take place publicly and which will take place privately, and may accordingly move discussions to and from the Assembly's private forum, except that the Delegate may determine whether proposals to enact, amend, or repeal treaties will be public or private. All votes will be conducted in public.

(2) The amended section of Section 2. Legislative Procedures shall read:

(9) The Assembly Speaker will determine which discussions will take place publicly and which will take place privately. All new discussions must be started privately. The Speaker may then accordingly move discussions to and from the Assembly's private forum, except that the Prime Minister may determine whether proposals to enact, amend, or repeal treaties will be public or private. Non-citizens may comment during public discussions. All voting threads and threads discussing treaties or declarations of war shall be visible only to Citizens. All votes must be made in view of the whole Assembly.

The proposal is here: https://nslazarus.com/forum/index.php?threads/4051/

 

[New Rogernomics]

Discussed this with a few people as a way to expand participation in the region, while at the same time doesn't allow any truly sensitive areas to be viewed by non-citizens.

This will be especially useful for when prospective citizens are waiting for their citizenship applications to clear, or if people want to have a partial view of the Assembly before they become citizens.

 

[Frankender]

Definitely in support of this. This is a great idea.

But can we include a clause to allow the Assembly to overturn the Speaker or the Security arms' decisions? Simple majority makes sense here.


Also, why is the court included in the amendment. They simply give guidance on laws, they should not have any rights to enforce them. I'd take any mention of them out.

 

[New Rogernomics]

Definitely in support of this. This is a great idea.

But can we include a clause to allow the Assembly to overturn the Speaker or the Security arms' decisions? Simple majority makes sense here.

Also, why is the court included in the amendment. They simply give guidance on laws, they should not have any rights to enforce them. I'd take any mention of them out.

I don't think that is possible, as the Assembly Speaker, Court, and CLS, have different reasons and basis to enforce.

With the Assembly Speaker, they control what information can leave the Assembly, which means they decide what employees or shareholders can do with it, and if residents break the rules, they need the power to enforce those rules.

With the Court of Lazarus, they determine the law, and whether it has been broken, and so on, and it is feasible that they could enforce a ban or restriction based upon that. In the case of the court, overturning their decisions requires three-quarters vote of the Assembly with everything else. It would also be complex with citizens who have been banned from the Assembly by the Court but are still resident in the region.

With the Council of Lazarene Security, they look into the security risks of specific residents (if not citizens), so it is feasible that they could enforce a ban based upon that.

Of the three though, the Assembly Speaker really shouldn't be overridden, on basis of them needing the power to effectively enforce the rules of the Assembly without having to worry about their popularity. If they have really done something unfair, then that is what their removal by two-thirds vote is for. The second would then be the court because of the potential issue with ex-citizens above.

I think we'd be hard-pressed to find a number that could work for the reasons of all three of these, as three-quarters would be too high for some these, and two-thirds or a simple majority might be too low for some of these.

Possibly this would be the alternative:

Residents Viewing and Posting

(15) Residents may view and post in the Assembly, excluding the voting and private citizens discussion areas of the Assembly, or any other areas restricted by law from residents.

(16) Further restrictions on residents, which may be regulated by law by a two-thirds vote of the Assembly, may be set by the Assembly Speaker, the Court of Lazarus or the Council of Lazarene Security.

Edit: So above would allow further restrictions to be set by law, with further restrictions set by the Assembly Speaker, Court, and CLS allowed to be regulated by law by a two-thirds vote of the Assembly.

 

[Debussy]

(16) Residents may view and post in the Assembly, as long as no objections are raised by the Assembly Speaker, the Court of Lazarus, or the Council of Lazarene Security.

Does this mean anyone with a nation in Laz can post in the Assembly? I wouldn't want any fly on the wall to be able to post in the Assembly. I'd have to sort through anyone that is a native or anyone else that is just here to post on behalf of something else, and it would make enforcing information that leaves the Assembly much harder.

 

[New Rogernomics]

Does this mean anyone with a nation in Laz can post in the Assembly? I wouldn't want any fly on the wall to be able to post in the Assembly. I'd have to sort through anyone that is a native or anyone else that is just here to post on behalf of something else, and it would make enforcing information that leaves the Assembly much harder.

You raise a good point, though anyone with a nation in Lazarus can also apply to be a shareholder too, and we don't exactly prohibit non WAs. Maybe there might have to be an application process with approve or deny options on the form, and employees have to be approved by the Assembly Speaker or forum administration (McChimp, myself, Tubbs) before they can get a mask to do do.

Though the other option is we only open this up to prospective shareholders who have passed a security check on their app, don't look like an issue, and so on, rather than giving this to all employees who aren't going through the citizenship process.

 

[McChimp]

I would rather this be an amendment of the Assembly Procedure Act than the Mandate since the APA is the law which currently regulates whether threads shall be private or not and who makes that call.

 

[New Rogernomics]

I would rather this be an amendment of the Assembly Procedure Act than the Mandate since the APA is the law which currently regulates whether threads shall be private or not and who makes that call.

Edited above.

 

[Ellenburg#8639]

Support for this amendment looks like a good way to possibly get more participation overall.