[PASSED] Compliance Commission

[Imperium Anglorum]

Compliance Commission
Category: International Security | Strength: Mild

---

Concerned that nations are unwilling to prosecute violators of World Assembly legislation and actively destroying evidence of crimes against humanity,

Asserting that members have an obligation to comply with policies enacted by the democratic mandate of the World Assembly as they have consented into its jurisdiction, and

Believing that cases of non-prosecution or destruction of evidence ought be investigated and archived so that a more objective conception of the truth can be established for future reference,

This august World Assembly hereby:

1. Establishes and empowers the WACC, hereafter referred to as the Compliance Commission, to conduct investigations on matters vis-à-vis observance with World Assembly resolutions and thereby establish an impartial and objective factual basis for future claims of jurisdiction and prosecutions thereof;
   
   
2. Requires both civilian and military police forces to create a liaison point with the Commission to provide evidence on war crimes in particular and adherence to WA legislation in general, and to those ends, demands that documents requested by the Commission not to be destroyed and to be handed over promptly so long as state security permits;
   
   
3. Permits the Compliance Commission, in specific investigations, to accept information and data which are presented by non-member nations and nations not party to that investigation; allows the Compliance Commission to request the assistance of nearby nations to more accurately assess and access the facts of the matter under investigation;
   
   
4. Strongly encourages nations to cooperate with the Compliance Commission on matters relevant to their security and conduct their own investigations into compliance with World Assembly resolutions as soon as possible; mandates the Compliance Commission inform nations of the passage of legislation, promulgation of regulations, or enactment of administrative policies relevant to their nation; and
   
   
5. Reminds member nations that this resolution establishes the Compliance Commission as a truth-seeking commission and does not grant it the ability to enforce or compel warrants, subpoenas, or judicial action on any nation, its leaders, or its citizens.

[Imperium Anglorum]

The proposal, after the decision of the GA Secretariat, is legal.

Metagaming and Game Mechanics?

The World Assembly Compliance Commission is a different entity from the WACC. The text does not, in any manner, change the nature of the World Assembly Compliance Commission's actions with regard to national compliance per the FAQ. Also, Moderators have previously ruled that "Also, we do not see naming the committee as the "Compliance Commission" as a metagaming violation; that is merely a title added to a telegram to give it a more "IC" feeling, and this proposal wouldn't in any way affect that" (Source).

Noncompliance does not exist!

Per the ruling on 11 August that "a proposal will no longer be considered illegal for accepting non-compliance as a possibility", that is also a non-issue (Source). The same ruling also notes that the title of the proposal as 'Compliance Commission' and the committee created therein is not metagaming.

Compliance Commission
Category: International Security | Strength: Mild

---

Concerned that nations are unwilling to prosecute violators of World Assembly legislation and actively destroying evidence thereof,

Asserting that members have an obligation to comply with the policies which have been enacted through democratic mandate by the organisation to which they belong, and

Believing that to those ends, such cases of non-prosecution or evidentiary destruction ought be investigated and archived so that a more objective conception of the truth can be established for future reference,

This august World Assembly hereby:

1. Establishes and empowers the WACC, hereafter referred to as the Compliance Commission, to conduct investigations on prosecutorial matters with regard to observance with World Assembly resolutions and thereby establish an impartial and objective factual basis for future claims of jurisdiction and such prosecutions thereof;
   
   
2. Requires both civilian and military police to create a liaison point with the Commission to provide evidence, as presentable, on the subject of prosecutorial matters regarding war crimes in particular and in adherence to WA legislation in general, and to those ends, demands that documents requested by the Commission not be destroyed and handed over promptly so long as state security permits;
   
   
3. Strongly encourages nations to cooperate with the Compliance Commission on those matters relevant to their security, and to that end, mandates the Compliance Commission inform nations of the passage of legislation or enactment of administrative policies relevant to their nation;
   
   
4. Permits the Compliance Commission, in specific investigations, to accept information and data which are presented by non-member nations and nations not party to that investigation; further allows the Compliance Commission to request the assistance of nearby nations such to adequately assess the nature and fact bases of non-compliance under investigation; and
   
   
5. Clarifies that the World Assembly Compliance Commission is a truth-seeking commission and that this resolution does not grant it the ability to enforce or compel warrants, subpoenas, or judicial action on any nation, its leaders, or its citizens.

Monumental decision: Got rid of the housecat joke.

[Cybraxia]

ooc: Looks interesting. I'll do a more in-depth look later.

For now, support.

[Tinfect]

5. Clarifies that the World Assembly Compliance Commission is a truth-seeking commission and has no ability to enforce or compel warrants or judicial action on any nation or its leaders;

OOC:
Is this some stealthy attempt to gut the idea that Compliance is Mandatory?

[Wallenburg]

Exactly what does this hope to achieve?

[Sciongrad]

5. Clarifies that the World Assembly Compliance Commission is a truth-seeking commission and has no ability to enforce or compel warrants or judicial action on any nation or its leaders;

OOC:
Is this some stealthy attempt to gut the idea that Compliance is Mandatory?

OOC: I was actually just going to ask this. By passing this proposal, we would be accepting that compliance is not axiomatic with membership. Not that I'm opposed to that (indeed, I've had some disappointing debates with certain players who use absolute mandatory compliance as a lame cop out), but this would change that aspect of the GA meta permanently.

[Imperium Anglorum]

OOC:
Is this some stealthy attempt to gut the idea that Compliance is Mandatory?

OOC: I was actually just going to ask this. By passing this proposal, we would be accepting that compliance is not axiomatic with membership. Not that I'm opposed to that (indeed, I've had some disappointing debates with certain players who use absolute mandatory compliance as a lame cop out), but this would change that aspect of the GA meta permanently.

As like ICC didn't.

[Sciongrad]

OOC: I was actually just going to ask this. By passing this proposal, we would be accepting that compliance is not axiomatic with membership. Not that I'm opposed to that (indeed, I've had some disappointing debates with certain players who use absolute mandatory compliance as a lame cop out), but this would change that aspect of the GA meta permanently.

As like ICC didn't.

OOC: That's actually exactly what I was referring to. Mousebumples claimed that mandatory compliance meant that the provisions of a resolution become reality upon passage, e.g., genocide does not exist in WA nations because there's a resolution prohibiting it. I disagreed, arguing that mandatory compliance did not necessarily mean individuals need to be prosecuted for violating World Assembly resolutions, only that those resolutions must be enforced (which does not mean every instance of a crime needs to be prosecuted). According to my argument, the ICC was still compatible with a concept of mandatory compliance. This proposal goes beyond the compliance framework recognized by the ICC by suggesting that member nations can simply choose not to comply at all.

[Imperium Anglorum]

As like ICC didn't.

OOC: That's actually exactly what I was referring to. Mousebumples claimed that mandatory compliance meant that the provisions of a resolution become reality upon passage, e.g., genocide does not exist in WA nations because there's a resolution prohibiting it. I disagreed, arguing that mandatory compliance did not necessarily mean individuals need to be prosecuted for violating World Assembly resolutions, only that those resolutions must be enforced (which does not mean every instance of a crime needs to be prosecuted). According to my argument, the ICC was still compatible with a concept of mandatory compliance. This proposal goes beyond the compliance framework recognized by the ICC by suggesting that member nations can simply choose not to comply at all.

OOC: I mean like walk into NationStates and II, many WA nations do not comply. I agree with Auralia's position on the topic of mandatory compliance in a role-play setting. It's massively unrealistic. And honestly, I feel that we can open a lot more avenues for resolution-writing if we can codify such a norm.

[Sciongrad]

OOC: That's actually exactly what I was referring to. Mousebumples claimed that mandatory compliance meant that the provisions of a resolution become reality upon passage, e.g., genocide does not exist in WA nations because there's a resolution prohibiting it. I disagreed, arguing that mandatory compliance did not necessarily mean individuals need to be prosecuted for violating World Assembly resolutions, only that those resolutions must be enforced (which does not mean every instance of a crime needs to be prosecuted). According to my argument, the ICC was still compatible with a concept of mandatory compliance. This proposal goes beyond the compliance framework recognized by the ICC by suggesting that member nations can simply choose not to comply at all.

OOC: I mean like walk into NationStates and II, many WA nations do not comply. I agree with Auralia's position on the topic of mandatory compliance in a role-play setting. It's massively unrealistic. And honestly, I feel that we can open a lot more avenues for resolution-writing if we can codify such a norm.

OOC: I don't think you can conflate GA roleplay with II and NationStates roleplay (and I obviously don't think issues and stats should be considered canonical either. Especially considering the fact that your stats change whenever a resolution passes, which would suggest the game recognizes absolute mandatory compliance). The concept of mandatory compliance exists to suit our needs specifically, and simply because other roleplayers don't abide by it doesn't mean it's any less useful or relevant to us GA roleplayers. Is non-compliance realistic? Yes, I actually think it is. But that shouldn't be the only metric by which we determine whether or not mandatory compliance is useful. I would argue that first and foremost, it is important for our sake as roleplayers. In order for our participation to be meaningful, we should be functioning under the assumption that the 5000+ nations that just voted against a ban on biological weapons won't simply dismiss the resolution out of hand. Otherwise, all of our work here is for naught. GR often made the argument that there would be political consequences for nations that violate GA resolutions, but that is not always likely, especially when resolutions on critical areas of human rights only pass marginally. And plus, by evacuating responsibility to enforce resolutions from the WA and giving it to member nations (who can attempt to enforce resolutions through sanctions, war, etc.), we remove our own roleplaying agency. Whereas now we can rest assured that member nations are, in fact, complying with our policy in good faith, without mandatory compliance, we're at the mercy of member nations to enforce our policy on non-compliant states for us, which as I've argued, is certainly not a guarantee (or even likely in many cases).

I think that member nations can roleplay however they want - whether or not the II forum recognizes mandatory compliance is irrelevant to me - but I think those of us who write the legislation and participate in GA roleplay should assume at least some degree of mandatory compliance (not the magical type Mousebumples and others argue for) simply to make our effort meaningful.

[Tinfect]

OOC: I mean like walk into NationStates and II, many WA nations do not comply. I agree with Auralia's position on the topic of mandatory compliance in a role-play setting. It's massively unrealistic. And honestly, I feel that we can open a lot more avenues for resolution-writing if we can codify such a norm.

OOC:
The R/D metagame has turned the WA from an International Legislative Body, to a complete joke in the eyes of most players. It's seen as either an irrelevant RP group that they claim to be a part of when its convenient, or as a weapon to be used in the R/D nonsense.

On another note, yes, Mandatory Compliance is a tad unrealistic. But, it is the only reason the WA actually matters. If there was no obligation to comply with WA Legislation, you'd make the whole thing completely irrelevant, as no Resolution, would matter in the slightest.

[We Couldnt Agree On A Name]

6. Prohibits the killing of housecats.

\
Do I need to ask?

[Imperium Anglorum]

6. Prohibits the killing of housecats.

\
Do I need to ask?

OOC: It's a reference to a prior proposal.

[John Turner]

May I ask as to why house cats are not able to be killed? This is a clear violation of national sovereignty that our citizens shall be prohibited from killing house cats. It has become abundantly clear that the WA is overstepping its bounds yet again, and I believe a blocker on the subject of house cats is in order here.

[Imperium Anglorum]

May I ask as to why house cats are not able to be killed? This is a clear violation of national sovereignty that our citizens shall be prohibited from killing house cats. It has become abundantly clear that the WA is overstepping its bounds yet again, and I believe a blocker on the subject of house cats is in order here.

Think of the housecats!

[Separatist Peoples]

"You have a category violation. Housecat preservation is clearly a Human Rights issue, as it is everybody's human right to cuddle a kitty."

[Tinfect]

"You have a category violation. Housecat preservation is clearly a Human Rights issue, as it is everybody's human right to cuddle a kitty."

"The Imperium is, of course, in complete opposition to that statement. These Housecats are a plauge on society, making it impossible to utilize furniture, disrupting ones work with their constant desire for attention, and, perhaps worst of all, getting fur on absolutely everything. These menaces must be exterminated."

[Imperium Anglorum]

"You have a category violation. Housecat preservation is clearly a Human Rights issue, as it is everybody's human right to cuddle a kitty."

"The Imperium is, of course, in complete opposition to that statement. These Housecats are a plauge on society, making it impossible to utilize furniture, disrupting ones work with their constant desire for attention, and, perhaps worst of all, getting fur on absolutely everything. These menaces must be exterminated."

Parsons: (shocked) You want to obliterate military grade weapons?!

[Tinfect]

"The Imperium is, of course, in complete opposition to that statement. These Housecats are a plauge on society, making it impossible to utilize furniture, disrupting ones work with their constant desire for attention, and, perhaps worst of all, getting fur on absolutely everything. These menaces must be exterminated."

Parsons: (shocked) You want to obliterate military grade weapons?!

"We must fight fire with fire, housecat with housecat."

[Imperium Anglorum]

Parsons: (shocked) You want to obliterate military grade weapons?!

"We must fight fire with fire, housecat with housecat."

Parsons: (shocked) My God man!

OOC: Note that the inclusion of the current clause 6 on housecats is a joke and reference to my Housecat Memorandum.

[Omigodtheykilledkenny]

On another note, yes, Mandatory Compliance is a tad unrealistic. But, it is the only reason the WA actually matters. If there was no obligation to comply with WA Legislation, you'd make the whole thing completely irrelevant, as no Resolution, would matter in the slightest.

It's isn't the fact that compliance is mandatory that's unrealistic; it's the assumption that compliance is automatic and just happens, due to the magic of the game.

At any rate, it would be my assumption that the very mention of "Compliance Commission" in a resolution is metagaming, as the Commission, like the "military-grade helicopters," is purely a game device employed to explain away the game's quirks - in this case, how your nation's stats change just like *that* when a resolution passes - and is no more realistic than assuming that helicopter fleets really can transport nations from region to region.

[Imperium Anglorum]

On another note, yes, Mandatory Compliance is a tad unrealistic. But, it is the only reason the WA actually matters. If there was no obligation to comply with WA Legislation, you'd make the whole thing completely irrelevant, as no Resolution, would matter in the slightest.

It's isn't the fact that compliance is mandatory that's unrealistic; it's the assumption that compliance is automatic and just happens, due to the magic of the game.

At any rate, it would be my assumption that the very mention of "Compliance Commission" in a resolution is metagaming, as the Commission, like the "military-grade helicopters," is purely a game device, employed to explain the game's quirks - in this case, how your nation's stats change just like *that* when a resolution passes - and is no more realistic than assuming that helicopter fleets really can transport nations from region to region.

This isn't that World Assembly Compliance Commission. This is the World Assembly Compliance Commission.

[Separatist Peoples]

It's isn't the fact that compliance is mandatory that's unrealistic; it's the assumption that compliance is automatic and just happens, due to the magic of the game.

At any rate, it would be my assumption that the very mention of "Compliance Commission" in a resolution is metagaming, as the Commission, like the "military-grade helicopters," is purely a game device, employed to explain the game's quirks - in this case, how your nation's stats change just like *that* when a resolution passes - and is no more realistic than assuming that helicopter fleets really can transport nations from region to region.

This isn't that World Assembly Compliance Commission. This is the World Assembly Compliance Commission.

OOC: Call it something else and save yourself the trouble.

[Separatist Peoples]

"You have a category violation. Housecat preservation is clearly a Human Rights issue, as it is everybody's human right to cuddle a kitty."

"The Imperium is, of course, in complete opposition to that statement. These Housecats are a plauge on society, making it impossible to utilize furniture, disrupting ones work with their constant desire for attention, and, perhaps worst of all, getting fur on absolutely everything. These menaces must be exterminated."

Bell looks at Markhov, a cat mysteriously appearing in his lap.

"You, sir, are speaking heresy."

Two more cats appear in Bell's lap.

"Cats are boons to society. They shore up every possible dark reach of this dank existence with the light of their glory."

Several more cats appear.

"Furthermore, if you don't agree, I will fight you."

[Imperium Anglorum]

This isn't that World Assembly Compliance Commission. This is the World Assembly Compliance Commission.

OOC: Call it something else and save yourself the trouble.

OOC: Fundamentally, I don't believe the issue happens anyway. There isn't anything in the game which states that the WACC directly leads to the stat change which is observed. The WACC is only just the telegram sender notifying you that things happen.