NationStates

Constitution of The NationStates Republic

Article 1 – Bill of Rights
1. All Nations of The Republic are sovereign and have the right of self-determination in domestic policies, including Nation States Issues.

2. Rights to free speech, free press, free expression of religion, and free association will not be infringed as long as the expressed freedoms do not [a] violate the same rights of others or {b} violate the ToS of this Forum. The Delegate and/or the Forum Owner or his designees shall be the ultimate judges of propriety.

3. Participation within any regional or extraregional Government, Regional Forum, and Regional Military shall be voluntary.

4. No nation of The Republic holding WA member status shall be obligated to endorse any government official of The Republic. The right to add an endorsement or withdraw an endorsement will remain a sovereign right of the WA member nation.

5. All Nations of The Republic have the right to be protected against the abuse of powers by any government official.

6. No Nation shall be ejected from any region of The Republic, or banned from any forum, without a public explanation. Should a government official declare the ejection or banning to be a matter of immediate regional security, the ejected or banned Nation shall have an avenue of redress in the Forum as a Member with Limited Membership.

7. When charged with criminal activity, Nations of The Republic shall enjoy fair and impartial Court Tribunals. Such Tribunals may occur and/or deliberate in a locked forum.

8. Any nation of The Republic may question the Constitutionality of any law passed by the House of Lords or The Assembly and ask for a Court Tribunal for a determination of Constitutionality, and may petition the Court for redress of grievances with other nations as well as with the government itself or any government official.

9. These Rights listed are not exhaustive. Other Rights may be defined and existing Rights may be expanded through legislation.

Article 2 – Legislation

1. Legislative authority of The Republic shall rest with two distinct bodies: The Assembly and the House of Lords.


• The Assembly shall be responsible for the following:
  
  • New citizen registration (under the authority of The Registrar);
  • Proposing any changes to the Constitution;
  • Selecting one of its members to serve within the House of Lords, The Plebian Lord;
  • serve as jurors on any legal case within The Republic
  • passing non-Constitutional legislation.

• The House of Lords shall be responsible for the following:
  
  • approve treaties and set the terms of regional membership;
  • approve new regions of The Republic as well define terms of approval;
  • approve war actions;
  • approve/reject proposed Constitutional changes affirmed by The Assembly;
  • select The delegates of ALL member regions on a periodic basis;
  • selecting certain officers of The Republic;
  • approving/rejecting any item not specifically listed as powers for either The Assembly
    or The House of Lords;
  • should the delegate appoint a successor, the House of Lords shall vote on the appointee with a simple majority confirming. If a simple majority is not reached, the delegate shall make a subsequent and different appointment;
  • approve A Declaration of Open Rebellion which must include an enumerated List of Grievances against the Delegate and will require a majority vote by The House of Lords AND The Assembly.

2. Constitutional proposals passed by The Assembly shall require a simple majority to be presented to the House of Lords. Changes to the Constitution shall require 2/3rds approval by The House of Lords. The Delegate of The West Pacific shall veto power over any Constitutional change passed by The House of Lords. A 3/4ths vote of The House of Lords shall be required to overturn the veto.

3. Non-constitutional changes shall require a simple majority to pass. The Registrar of The Assembly may veto non-constitutional legislation. This veto may be overturned by a simple majority of The House of Lords.

Membership Requirements
The Assembly

• Join the World Assembly and endorse the delegate of the republic region
  OR
• be a citizen of a Republic region

The House of Lords

• must be a member of the WA and make that nation known to the Republic;
• must be a citizen of a republic region;
• must have a national population of any nation of at least 1 billion people;
• must have an application approved by sitting members of the House of Lords (50%+1 required);
• must have been a member of The Assembly for at least 30 days and made contributions (as defined by the House of Lords);
• any of the preceding requirements may be waived if the applicants requests a waiver and is able to attain a 2/3rds vote within their application.
• all delegates of the republic are automatically members of the House of Lords regardless of other requirements.
• members of the House of Lords shall not be counted as members of the Regional Assembly during which time they are members of the House of Lords. Should any member of the House lose membership therein, they shall become members of the Regional Assembly providing no court action barring such re-inclusion.
• the membership total of The House of Lords shall not exceed that of The Assembly. Should the House of Lords membership exceed that of The Assembly, members of The House of Lords shall be placed within the Assembly ranks based upon seniority.

Article 3 – Officers of The Republic

• Delegate of The West Pacific, President of The Republic
  
  • The Delegate of The West Pacific shall also hold the office of President of The NationStates Republic, the executive office-holder of the republic.
  • The Delegate is expected to serve at his/her leisure and pleasure for a maximum of 12 months/366 days. Choosing to serve beyond the expected time limit will constitute justification for Rebellion by the Region.
  • The delegate shall have veto powers over all legislation passed by the House of Lords except non-Constitutional vetoes overridden by the House of Lords.
  • The delegate shall oversee the Foreign Minister and direct his/her activities.
  • The Delegate of The West Pacific may choose the Delegate’s successor.
  • The Delegate of The West Pacific may decide to abdicate at any time during the Delegate term in favor of a successor.
  • Should the Delegate Cease-to-Exist or abdicate and no successor is selected, the House of Lords will elect a new Delegate from The West Pacific citizenry.
  • An elected Delegate will have all the powers of the Delegate.
  • The Delegate may choose the Delegate’s successor.
  • The Delegate may decide to abdicate at any time during the Delegate term in favor of a successor.
  • Should the Delegate Cease-to-Exist or abdicate and no successor is selected, the Regional Assembly will elect a new Delegate.
  • An elected Delegate will have all the powers of the Delegate.
• Registrar of The Assembly
  
  • Must be a member of The Assembly and elected by its membership every three months;
  • shall establish a roll of upcoming legislation;
  • shall oversee the new membership process and may appoint designees to process individual applications;
  • shall have veto power over legislation passed by The Assembly
  • Shall conduct a census monthly to determine size of both The Assembly and The House of Lords
• Foreign Minister
  
  • Appointed indefinitely by the delegate must be a member of either the House of Lords or Regional Assembly;
  • The Foreign Minister shall be responsible for appointing and overseeing a vigorous diplomatic corps;
  • To seek treaties and alliances with foreign regions that may be beneficial to the Republic and shall oversee the creation and regular update of reports on the political and diplomatic state of affairs of Regions throughout NS.
  • The Delegate and the Foreign Minister (unless prohibited by the Delegate) alone will have the power to enter into treaties and/or alliances. All treaties and/or alliances will be subject to ratification by a simple majority of the House of Lords.
• The World Assembly Minister
  
  • Elected from either The Assembly or House of Lords and by BOTH houses (administered by The Registrar), The World Assembly Minister will serve a term of three months;
  • The World Assembly Minister shall maintain the WA Resolution Thread in the Forum.
  • The World Assembly Minister shall represent the Republic and to the NationStates world in the absence of the Delegate.
• The New Members Coordinator
  
  • Elected from and by The Assembly, the New Members Coordinator shall serve a term of three months;
  • The New Members Coordinator will be responsible for engaging new citizens and assigning them to various departments based on interest;
  • The New Members Coordinator will be responsible for providing monthly updates to both legislative houses on the status of new members of The Assembly;
• Defense Minister
  
  • Appointed indefinitely by the delegate must be a member of either the House of Lords or Regional Assembly;
  • Responsible for establishing a Republic military
  • Responsible for establishing a Republic intelligence organization
  • May grant rank to military soldiers
  • All missions must be approved by the Delegate. All missions must be affirmed by the House of Lords subsequent action. Any action not affirmed by the House of Lords may be cause for dismissal.
• House of Lords Member At-large
  
  • Elected by the Assembly serving a three month term;
  • shall be a full voting member of the House of Lords representing The Assembly interests.
  • Cannot hold any other office title

Article 4 – Court Tribunal

• The Court will consist of a 3 Judge Court Tribunal – a Chief Justice and two Associate Justices.
• The Court Tribunal will be responsible for [1] determining the constitutionality of challenged laws and [2] determining the validity of charges against member nations.
• The Chief Justice will be elected from and by the House of Lords and shall preside for a three-month term.
• Jurors will be elected by the House of Lords as follows: Every three months following the election of the Chief Justice, each member of the House of Lords will cast six votes among all members, and the six members with the greatest percentage of votes will serve as Jurors for three months. Jurors will be assigned as Associate Justices as needed for any Court matter that arises by lot. The Associate Justices will continue to preside over the issue until a resolution or decision has been reached.
• If two or more issues are presented to the Court concurrently, three Jurors will be selected by lot: the first two as Associate Justices and the third as Alternate for each issue.
• The Chief Justice may dismiss any Associate Justice (but not both) from a case for cause; an Associate Justice may step down in recusal; in either case, the opening is filled by the designated Alternate or by selection of another Juror by lot.
• The Court Tribunal shall have authority to make punishments or to establish the criteria for corrective action or for making amends or restitution whenever deemed necessary.
• The decisions of a Court Tribunal will be final unless either the Speaker or the Delegate grants a motion for appeal, such motion to be requested promptly. If an appeal is granted the House of Lords will hear arguments and vote to either return the case to a Court Tribunal for reconsideration or to deny the appeal and sustain the decision of the Court.
• Once a decision is made on a case, all nations of the region must be told of the result. There are to be no secret cases or verdicts, but case discussions and deliberations of a Court Tribunal may be made in private.
• The court shall also hear any interregional dispute cases and have authority to arbitrate between regions.
• Impeachment
  
  • Any officer or legislator may be impeached by the body in which they reside.
  • An impeachment warrant shall be issued when 10% of the body’s membership roll has signed the impeachment petition.
  • Once the required signatures have been obtained, the Court shall hear the case like other cases described herein. Once the proceedings have ended, the Court shall decide to remove the officeholder and/or assign other punishments in accordance with provisions of this Article.