[Proposal] Procedural Rules of the Assembly Act

[Chanku]

So I figured I should introduce this here now, I was holding off, however given a different draft has been posted, here we go:

Title
1. This act is to be cited as the Procedural Rules of the Assembly Act

Legislative Procedure
2. Any member of the Assembly may, at any time, introduce a proposal into the Assembly. After the introduction of such a proposal, a fourty-eight period of debate will commence. This period of debate may be waived in matters of urgency, the procedure for doing so is found in Section Ten of this act. During the initial fourty-eight hours, no motions outside of the procedures for waiving can be made.
3. After the period for debate has expired, any member of the assembly may make a motion on the proposal, a non-exhaustive list of motions is located in Sections Eleven through Thirteen. A motion must be made after one week since the experiation of the debate period, without debate. If a motion is not made within seventy-two hours the Speaker may, at their discretion, archive the proposal. An archived proposal must be introduced anew.
4. Once a proposal has been brought to a vote, the proposal is to remain at vote for a period of seven days, or until the requsite number of members of the assembly have voted. After which the Speaker is to declare the outcome, and move any passing measures to the Delegate if it is an area that the Delegate has veto or review authority over. 
5. No person who obtains membership in the Assembly after the start of the vote is to have their vote counted, or their membership considered, in the counting of votes. This applies to all votes.

Confirmation Procedure
6. The Delegate, upon appointing a person to a position that requires the Assembly's review, is to introduce the person onto the Assembly floor. Upon doing so a debate period occurs, in accordance with Section 2 of this Act. After the period, an additional forty-eight hours occur where any member of the Assembly may motion to either Extend the Debate or to proceed to a vote. If the forty-eight hours elapse and no motion has been made the Speaker must begin a vote on the person. No other motion may be made. 
7. The Delegate may, upon the introduction of the candidate, request that the assembly not hold debate. If the Speaker, and two other members of the Assembly, second the request, the debate period is to end immediately, and a vote is to begin. The ability to use this section is restricted to periods of emergency, during times of war, and during periods where there are no other members in the government except for the Delegate and Speaker.

Impeachment Procedure
8. Any member of the Assembly may, at any time, introduce a proposal Articles of Impeachment against the Delegate, Vice Delegate, Councilors, and/or any sitting Justice. The Articles of Impeachment must outline the reasons as to removal, in addition to evidence if possible. Upon the introduction the debate period specified in Section 2 of this act is to occur, although the debate period is non-waiviable. After the debate period a forty-eight hour window is to occur where a motion to extend debate or a motion to vote. After the forty-eight hour period if no motion has succeeded, the Speaker must open a vote on the proposal. If the proposal passes as required by the constitution, then the members that the Articles of Impeachment calls for the removal of are to be removed immediately. No position of the government that is stated within this section can be removed by any other procedure.

Recall Procedure
9. Any member of the Assembly may, at any time, introduce a proposal to remove any member of the Government not outlined in Section 8 of this document. Upon the introduction of such a proposal, a debate period is to occur as outlined in Section 2 of this act, except that the debate period can not be waived. After which the procedure found within Sections 3 and 4 of this document applies.

Motions
10. A Motion to Expidite can be made for matters of urgency, and the motion may only be made by the Speaker or by deputies of the Speaker. After which it must be seconded by two other, non-officer, members of the Assembly. Upon the passage of a motion, the proposal this occurred on proceeds immediately to a vote.
11. A Motion to Vote can be made by any member of the Assembly, and must be seconded by any other member of the Assembly, excepting the Speaker. Upon the passage of a motion, the proposal this occurred on proceeds immediately to a vote.
12. A Motion to Extend debate can be made by any member of the Assembly, and must be seconded by any other member of the Assembly. The motion must either state a period of time to extend the debate by, or else the motion extends debate for twenty-four hours. Upon debate being extended, an additional debate period is to occur for the period of time of the debate. Debate may not be extended for more than one week. If no discussion happens on a proposal for a period of forty-eight hours after a motion to extend debate, the ability to extend debate further is relinquished and the period of debate is to end. For matters of Confirmations and Appointments, the limit of debate extension is to be seventy-two hours.
13. In the event of Multiple Motions being presented, a member of the Assembly must state which motion they are seconding, or else their second is to be invalid.
14. In the event of Multiple Motions, the Motion that obtains its required number of seconds first passes, and any remaining motions automatically fail.

Duties of the Speaker
15. The Speaker must, within forty-eight hours after the passing of a Motion to Vote, or other period of time after which a vote automatically begins, open a vote on the proposal or matter. If the Speaker fails to do so any member of the Assembly may open a vote. 
16. The Speaker must appoint a Senior Deputy Speaker within forty-eight hours of taking office, or if the office of the Senior Deputy Speaker falls vacant. If the Speaker fails to appoint a Senior Deputy Speaker, any Member of the Assembly may introduce a proposal to select a Senior Deputy Speaker. The proposal must name the candidate, and upon introduction follows the procedure defined in Section 2 of this Act. The proposal is only valid when there is no Senior Deputy Speaker, and the candidate only becomes the Senior Deputy Speaker upon the passage of the proposal if the Speaker has not selected a Senior Deputy Speaker. Upon the passage of this Act, if a Speaker has already been appointed and confirmed by the Assembly, then the forty-eight hour requirement starts upon the passage of this act.
17. The Speaker may appoint Junior Deputy Speakers and task them with responsibilities. 
18. In the event of the Speaker going on an announced Leave of Absence, or being absent from the regional forums for seven days, the Senior Deputy Speaker is the responsibilities of the Speaker, until the Speaker's return. Additionally, in the event of a recall of the Speaker, the Senior Deputy Speaker serves as speaker until the appointment of a new Speaker. If there is no Senior Deputy Speaker, the Senior Deputy Speaker has been absent from the regional forums for seven days, or the Senior Deputy Speaker is on a Leave of Absence, the responsibilities and authorities for Speaker go to a Junior Deputy Speaker, in order of Seniority. The usage of this act does not empower the Junior Deputy Speaker to appoint a new Senior Deputy Speaker. 
19. The Senior Deputy Speaker and the Junior Deputy Speakers serve until the confirmation of a new Speaker, at the leisure of the Speaker, and until their resignation, loss of citizenship, or removal by the Assembly.

[Ryccia]

My criticisms:

1. The hours are varied and specific, making it inconsistent. Whilst I cannot lay blame for this, as I may have done so in my draft, they are very specific, and do not correspond with any regular cycle of the days. However irrelevant this effect may turn out to be, it will be confusing for no reason.

2. The voting period is far too long. A week? Why? This is fine for important proposals, such as amendments to the Mandate or a constitutional law, but for a regular law as well? I cannot see why, my apologies.

3. Why do we have separate processes to remove officials? It seems too complicated for little reason.

4. Why must the Speaker appoint a deputy, and why should the Assembly confirm? The office should be flexible. If the Speaker can handle the job, they don't need deputies. If the Speaker wants to hire and fire, they can do so. It is an administrative position, not the Cabinet.

5. It is very long and blocky for my taste, but my criticisms there perhaps are invalid, as a law is a law, even if it is long like this. I do suggest separating the sections so as to make it easier to read, and changing the format in favour of the Mandate's, as Cormac said in my draft.

Other than that, this draft is fine. Sorry if my criticisms are insufficient or outright false. Do take note and tell me if they are so.

[Chanku]

1. The hours are varied and specific, making it inconsistent. Whilst I cannot lay blame for this, as I may have done so in my draft, they are very specific, and do not correspond with any regular cycle of the days. However irrelevant this effect may turn out to be, it will be confusing for no reason.

The hours should generally be in increments of 24, each a day, some times were less than that due to math errors, or me just fucking up when writing this. I have addressed some of the issues, and I will be working to fix the other ones.

2. The voting period is far too long. A week? Why? This is fine for important proposals, such as amendments to the Mandate or a constitutional law, but for a regular law as well? I cannot see why, my apologies.

Because, of two reasons:

1. When the number of citizens increases, additional time will allow to make sure that most voices can be heard
   
2. I allow for votes to be closed early if the threshold for a law being passed has already been reached. So if 50% + 1 of the votes are for an act, then it can be closed however quickly that is. 
   

3. Why do we have separate processes to remove officials? It seems too complicated for little reason.

There is a reason for that, some officials are more important than others. The important officials, have a more constrained process, and requires cause to be listed. The important officials (Delegate, Vice-Delegate, Councilors, and Sitting Justices) are all moderately important to the security of our region in some way: The Delegate allows us to actually control the region and have control game-side, the Vice-Delegate is the next in line, the Councilors are the Guardians and have the ability to declare a state of emergency, and the Justices resolve disputes between two parties including things like confirmations or the like. A Delegate, Vice-Delegate, Councilor, or Justice being removed for reasons beyond commission of crimes or of behavior unfitting of someone holding those important positions should be constrained, and the reasons should be publicly defined. Any single one of those positions being removed or manipulated by a group of opportunistic individuals would be harmful to the community as a whole.

The positions that are less important to the functioning and protection of the region in some form are easier to remove, namely the Speakers and Ministers. This is because, while they can cause some short-term damage: they are easier to replace and are less-important overall. While a corrupt speaker can try to manipulate procedure, the assembly's members and the courts can prevent that. A Minister might act in a corrupt or unbecoming fashion, just failing in doing their job properly, or someone might be a better fit. These positions could be removed for any reason, and are less vital to our security overall.

4. Why must the Speaker appoint a deputy, and why should the Assembly confirm? The office should be flexible. If the Speaker can handle the job, they don't need deputies. If the Speaker wants to hire and fire, they can do so. It is an administrative position, not the Cabinet.

This isn't entirely correct. First off the Senior Deputy is effectively the Speaker Pro Tempore, a person who can act as speaker during periods where the Speaker is unavailable, to prevent instances where RL comes in the way and the assembly grinds to a halt. The Junior Deputies may be used for various other minor things, and act as a final backup to the Speakership. 

Additionally, the Speaker can't legally appoint or dismiss at will according to the Constitution, to quote Article I, Section 14 of Mandate 12:

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

Note the "by law or through its procedural rules" section, without procedural rules or a law to the contrary, there are no deputies of the Assembly. This provides for the authority to appoint and dismiss them. 

Additionally, the voting is only if the Speaker refuses to appoint a Senior Deputy, which is an important position to keep the Assembly functioning. The assembly does not confirm any Deputies. 

5. It is very long and blocky for my taste, but my criticisms there perhaps are invalid, as a law is a law, even if it is long like this. I do suggest separating the sections so as to make it easier to read, and changing the format in favour of the Mandate's, as Cormac said in my draft.

The formatting is actually more similar to the Mandate's than yours was. The formatting is different, but is a simplified version, to allow for easier drafting of laws.

[Old Hope]

13. A Motion to Table can be made by any member of the Assembly, and must be seconded by five other members of the Assembly. Upon passing the consideration of a proposal ends, and the proposal is blocked from being re-introduced for a period of two weeks.

No.
You could just table an impeachment procedure with five people conspiring to.
Furthermore, the requirement for all is static, which isn't great.
6 tabling in a voter pool of 60 means that you could block any proposal with just 10% of all voters- which would be far from enough in matters for Delegate removal if it would come to vote, even... It means that who comes first, can potentially decide what happens... which is a bad policy for legislative processes.

[Chanku]

13. A Motion to Table can be made by any member of the Assembly, and must be seconded by five other members of the Assembly. Upon passing the consideration of a proposal ends, and the proposal is blocked from being re-introduced for a period of two weeks.

No.
You could just table an impeachment procedure with five people conspiring to.
Furthermore, the requirement for all is static, which isn't great.
6 tabling in a voter pool of 60 means that you could block any proposal with just 10% of all voters- which would be far from enough in matters for Delegate removal if it would come to vote, even... It means that who comes first, can potentially decide what happens... which is a bad policy for legislative processes. 

Ah, writing that into the law was a mistake, the impeachment should not be table-able. Although for tabling in general, I'm willing to review it and potentially add restrictions, or increase the amount required to around 10 or so, but potentially raising it up any higher would just be tantamount to voting on it so it would make tabling unnecessary.

[Mysterious Player]

13. A Motion to Table can be made by any member of the Assembly, and must be seconded by five other members of the Assembly. Upon passing the consideration of a proposal ends, and the proposal is blocked from being re-introduced for a period of two weeks.

No.
You could just table an impeachment procedure with five people conspiring to.
Furthermore, the requirement for all is static, which isn't great.
6 tabling in a voter pool of 60 means that you could block any proposal with just 10% of all voters- which would be far from enough in matters for Delegate removal if it would come to vote, even... It means that who comes first, can potentially decide what happens... which is a bad policy for legislative processes.  

Ah, writing that into the law was a mistake, the impeachment should not be table-able. Although for tabling in general, I'm willing to review it and potentially add restrictions, or increase the amount required to around 10 or so, but potentially raising it up any higher would just be tantamount to voting on it so it would make tabling unnecessary. 

I don't see the need for allowing tabling. If the Assembly doesn't want a proposal to go to vote, they simply won't motion it to vote.

[Chanku]

13. A Motion to Table can be made by any member of the Assembly, and must be seconded by five other members of the Assembly. Upon passing the consideration of a proposal ends, and the proposal is blocked from being re-introduced for a period of two weeks.

No.
You could just table an impeachment procedure with five people conspiring to.
Furthermore, the requirement for all is static, which isn't great.
6 tabling in a voter pool of 60 means that you could block any proposal with just 10% of all voters- which would be far from enough in matters for Delegate removal if it would come to vote, even... It means that who comes first, can potentially decide what happens... which is a bad policy for legislative processes.   

Ah, writing that into the law was a mistake, the impeachment should not be table-able. Although for tabling in general, I'm willing to review it and potentially add restrictions, or increase the amount required to around 10 or so, but potentially raising it up any higher would just be tantamount to voting on it so it would make tabling unnecessary.  

I don't see the need for allowing tabling. If the Assembly doesn't want a proposal to go to vote, they simply won't motion it to vote. 

Have you...read this at all? Certain matters automatically move to a vote, and while many of them can't be tabled, some of them tabling is the only way to remove them. Additionally, it allows for the Assembly to remove something quicker than having to wait for the time periods to expire and the Speaker deciding to archive it.

[Cormac]

I have moved this proposal to the main Assembly forum, as I don't believe there is anything sensitive here to warrant secrecy.

[Chanku]

I have removed the motion to table