[IC] [TWI-Only] The League of TWI (Assembly)

[New Aapelistan]

Reading the proposed resolution and listening to the delegate from Reathwood, Danír leaned towards the microphone.

"Pardon me, but for a resolution targeting a labor practice in "places of underdeveloped legal codes", you surely are targeting other labor practices as well, unintentionally or not.

While the proposed resolution itself does not properly explain what it sees as "indentured service", the intended target of the resolution, the resolution later refers to "any form of unpaid labor based on contracts or other forms of legally binding documents."

Such definition of indentured service and as such, the resolution in its current form, would not only affect indentured service throughout the Isles, but forms of prison labor as well. As a nation utilizing prison labor under the system of penal labor colonies, Aprosia requests that the definition of indentured service would be made more exact...

...if it still is indentured service you are after."

[Solaryia]

The Solaryi delegate listened in on the proposal and the ensuing statement by the Aprosian delegate, before clearing his throat and going to speak. The delegate was well aware of Solaryia’s... stern attitude towards sentencing prisoners, and wished to investigate the proposal more.

“This resolution states that any type of unpaid labor is outlawed correct? Couldn’t that possibly be exploited by nations who could give their workers just a token wage, and still be within League law while continuing to basically pay them essentially nothing? And as the Aprosian delegate mentioned, there’s no formal definition stated for indentured servitude, so that can quite possibly be abused by other nations who don’t hold particularly high commitments to human rights.

And in addition, with the varying levels of... prosperity among the Isles, if you do choose to give every nation some sort of enforced minimum wage, how will you ensure that this proposal isn’t just biased against less developed nations that can’t afford to pay their workers as much?”

[Wachoviaa]

| Ambassador Bass would listen intently to the ongoing debate, awaiting the moment in which he would be able to comment. After a time, seeing that opportunity, he would seize the floor — to read a prepared statement which he penned while others were speaking. Clearing his throat, the Ambassador would speak. |

CHANDLER BASS, AMBASSADOR TO THE LEAGUE; ”To the honorable members of the League, assembled, I once again bring greetings to you, on behalf of Prime Minister Brooks and the people of Wachovia. [...]

The resolution, presented by Ambassador Aldor of Reathwood, represents one of the most important proposals that this body has received in its short history. The criticism of our government has long been, the consistent use of this esteemed institution, by would-be powers, to usurp national sovereignty and to exert the will of the few members over the many. The League has shown its willingness to overstep its authority, to compel nations to turn over their citizens to international tribunals, on pain of sanctions; submit to mandates of economic sanctions upon the least among us, and to follow the lead of the Argean Sea Order or risk expulsion from this body.”

| Taking a moment to pause. The Ambassador would look up from his paper, to make eye contact with the Ambassadors from Littolyol, Ainslie, and Havalland a before continuing. |

”We have before us, an opportunity to rid the Isles of all forms of Slavery, and Indentured Servitude — in the interest of affirming Human Rights, and rejecting an institution which has long stained our existence. The people of Wachovia, once the slaves of greedy and godless men, know too well the brutality that those who work without pay suffer, especially when treated as sub-human. We support this resolution, and the spirit in which is has been written - and likewise support a tightening of its language; defining Indentured Servitude, and establishing the frame work for the prosecution of private persons, organizations, and governments which both allow and support this practice.”

[Serpens Land]

The delegate of Serpens Land stood up and leaned into his microphone. "The Realm of Serpens Land stands firmly against all forms of unpaid labour, both within our own borders, and across the Isles. The act of indentured servitude is barbaric and has no place in our modern society. However, the resolution, as it stands is vague in that it contains no concrete definition of 'indentured servitude'. As such, we can not support it in it's current, unedited form."

[Ainslie]

"My government has suggested that, in order to ensure the clarity of the resolution's scope, the following definition of indentured servitude. Reading off the paper below him at a steady pase, Jesse recited the advice given to him by the Advocate-General.

Indentured servitude is a circumstance through which an individual or group of individuals can find themselves subordinate to another in a system of unpaid labour abnormally practiced throughout The Western Isles. It finds is orgin from a contract or some other form of document, whether it be implied or expressed. It is a system of coercion and control to any extent that is identifiable, whether that be expressed or implied. It causes one to become subservient to another through means that are morally wrong and do not reasonably uphold international norms surrounding fair working conditions.

In order for an act or a system to fall under this definition, all of these points would have to be met.

a) an individual or group would need to hold a substantially higher amount of power over someone
b) this power would have to come from a contract or some other form of legal document - whether that be written, unwritten or simply a norm in society (that is abnormal according in the opinion of a broad consensus of other countries)
c) that power would need to be used either to coerce someone into unpaid labour or control someone undertaking unpaid labour, or both.
d) that power would need to cause a situation where one becomes 'subservient' to another
e) the relationship would have to be reasonably seen to not follow what the nations of the Isles generally consider fair working conditions to be.

In a legal sense, if this definition is to be approved, this constitutes the elements of indentured servitude for the purposes of this resolution.

On point e, the International Court of Justice would likely have to take evidence or statements from many governments around the Isles, whilst also looking at their labour laws to reach a conclusion.

As for the Ahnslen position, that remains undetermined. However, we are determined to make this a workable resolution."

[New Aapelistan]

"Aprosia supports said definition of indentured servitude."

[Roendavar]

"Roendavar, as with the values set forth by the first people of our nation, have always abhored inequality. We are one of the few nations that did not participate in slavery at any point in our history and actively worked in dismantling it on the international stage for centuries. We have stood for progressivism and liberty, and at no point did we shun such values, even in times where we are most deficient. Today, let it be known that it still does exist, in our workplaces, in countries that have exploitable and corrupt systems, and those with flawed values. Our era today must be built of equality, of peace, and of the right to work in accordance to one's free will and passion without worrying of their status. One must be free to pursue work on their own terms, on their own free will, and of their own drive to contribute to our world. Indentured servitude acts against those, thus, it will never be welcome, nor shall it continue in our modern era.

The expanded definition of indentured servitude provided by the Ahnslen delegate is a move forward with this solution and further's solidifies our view of this resolution. Therefore, the Utopian Kingdom of the Union of Roendavarian States professes its support for Resolution No. 22 put forth by the Republic of Reathwood and will vote in favor when the time of voting comes. We hope other countries consider this and put into action the dismantling of such practice, as with what our country shall and will continue to do." Thelsacaliesti Marius proclaims.

[New Jacobland]

McCarthy: "I support this definition from Mr Kerslie, however I do see a flaw. If someone was paid a tiny amount, under the definition, it would be allowed. However, it is not the point of this Resolution to set minimum wages, so I support this definition, and Resolution #22.

[Thromsa]

"The Union of Thromsa agrees, in general, with the proposed definition presented by the delegation from Ainslie, however we would propose to include, under point c) the following: "... or to maintain someone in paid labour whose payment is substantially lower compared to what would be expected to be the value of labour for that geographical area"

We also find that the Resolution should have a negative definition of indenture servitude, given that certain forms of labour could fall under such definition, and yet not being found to be indentured servitude, and, added to the definition proposed by Ainslie, Thromsa proposes the following to be added to the Resolution: "For the matters of this Resolution, socially and legally accepted forms of labour, paid or unpaid, where the worker may unilaterally exclude themselves from the relationship, without any significant consequence, are presumed to not be considered to be under the scope of this Resolution". We find that this negative definition would exclude certain extremely elastic interpretations of the definition proposed by Ainslie, yet leaving a mere presumption, possible to, in a concrete case, to obviously be rebutted.

As for the Resolution itself, Thromsa finds that no sufficient debate as been conducted, and will cast its vote at a later time."

[The League of TWI]

"A vote on the definition of Indentured Servitude from the delegate of the United Electorates of Ainslie is to commence immediately. This voting period is separate from the resolution in itself, rather, it is to determine if the definitions presented forth are acceptable and shall be adopted to the current resolution being discussed. Voting shall proceed and shall end in 2-3 days time. During this period, discussions on the resolution are still open and shall continue. "

[The United Partitions]

The Salimanese Delegate; Ambassador Wallago, stands up, coughs twice to clear his throat, and leans in to the microphone. "The United Partitions of Salimanasia generally agrees with the definition set by the Unified Electorates of Ainslie, but just for clarification, we ask where unpaid internships stand in this Resolution and definition. Would the practice of unpaid internships be excluded from the Resolution and therefore allowed in the Western Isles considering that it would usually, depending on the company, not fall under the last point of not having "fair working conditions"?"

[Serpens Land]

The government of the Realm of Serpens Land supports this definition of indentured servitude.

[New Jacobland]

McCarthy: The Democratic Republic of New Jacobland supports this definition of indentured servitude.

[Wellsia]

After being examined by the Embassy’s legal team, the Kingdom of Wellsia accepts the definition as put forth by Ainslie is acceptable. Wellsia still feels that this resolution 22 is another attempt by the League to interfere in the internal affairs of its members.

[Roendavar]

"As is was expressed before, this delegate of the Utopian Kingdom of the Union of Roendavarian States votes in favour of the adoption of the definition put forth by the Ahnslen delegate as part of Resolution No. 22. May this serve fruitful for the adoption of Resolution once such period has commenced."

[Havalland]

“Havalland supports this resolution, however we do find it concerning that this needs to be stated in the modern era, Slavery fell out of use in havalland a long time ago.”

[Solaryia]

“Solaryia will also vote in favour of enacting this resolution, as well as supporting the definition used for indentured servitude.” The Solaryi delegate states, before sitting back down and looking to see how the rest of the League views the act.

[Biaten]

"The Republic of Biaten will vote in favour of this definition of indentured servitude."

[Ioudaia]

Representative Asteria bat Nitza spent several minutes in consultation with her assistants before speaking. "Ioudaia has long opposed slavery, and indentured servitude must be considered a form of such. However as written, the definition seems vague, partially contradictory, and subject to abuse in several different ways. As such, Ioudaia must oppose this definition of indentured servitude. However, Ioudaia offers several suggestions for the improvement of the definition.

"Point 'a' refers to a 'substantially higher amount of power', but what does that mean? 'Substantially higher' than what? This part could be perhaps dropped entirely, and this point worded as 'an individual or group would need to hold power over someone'.

"Point 'b' starts clearly enough, referring to contractual or legal arrangements, but then trips over itself by speaking of 'abnormal norms'. We would prefer if the definition spoke of agreements, even oral ones, as they are a usual object of jurisprudence. But, if the definition is to contain non-contractual arrangements, such as social norms, we think breaking that out into a separate point would provide clarity.

"Finally, as the proposers note, point 'e' turns the matter into something courts have to poll for, essentially turning the definition of 'fair working conditions' into a vote. This seems to allow a supermajority of the Western Isles to dictate all members' labor laws, or conversely, allow a blocking minority of tyrranical or slave-holding nations to prevent any enforcement of a ban on indentured servitude. Ioudaia would prefer a more formal definition, in order to prevent both possibilities."

[Ainslie]

"The Unified Electorates, as authors of this respective definition, would like to make further comments on what indentured servitude means in the terms of this resolution. Firstly, points a-e refer to the possible interpretation of the definition. As such, we would like to make comments to further aid the Court in interpreting the definition.

The following points should be added to our delegation's interpretation of the definition.

Firstly, as the Thromsonian delegate suggested, point c should be read to also include "... or to maintain someone in paid labour whose payment is substantially lower compared to what would be expected to be the value of labour for that geographical area"

Next, we move to the points made by the honourable delegate of Ioudaia. Point A refers to 'substantially higher', most definitely. In fact though, your interpretation of the definition is far more accurate than what we made. The definition speaks to a situation where 'an individual or group would need to hold power over someone' rather than an examination of the power relationship on a more holistic basis.

Point B that I made in aiding the Court in interpreting this definition should indeed be altered and likely would be by any reasonable judge. It is unlikely that 'abnormal norms' would find any favour by a Court in trying to work out whether something is indentured servitude or not.

On Point E, we welcome an alteration to the definition proposed by the delegate from Ioudaia to resolve such an issue about the interpretation of the definition. Perhaps this could occur in conjunction with the alteration the Thromsonian delegate may introduce, which is what I now move to. The standard should be placed as a part of the definition, due to its importance to deciding whether an activity constitutes indentured servitude or not. A potential phrasing of this could be "A relationship may only be deemed as one of indentured servitude where there is a significant falling short of the working conditions that a reasonable person who lives in The Western Isles would naturally expect out of entering a relationship of employment." This should prevent a majority dictating labour laws by setting a much lower minimum standard, whilst also preventing small blocs from disrupting interpretation of the definition.

I now move to more miscellaneous matters.

The Thromsonian delegate's assertion that an amendment to the definition directly should be done through an amending vote (similar to the one that is being done now) to amend the present definition, if it passes. If it pleases the Secretary-General, this should be done immediately after this current vote concludes.

Finally, we reach the point made by the Salimanese delegate of the United Partitions. As the delegate would appreciate, unpaid internships is a very broad state of work. What one country may refer to as an unpaid internship may be indentured servitude to another. It would be a matter for the Court, in light of the regular working conditions in that nation, to make a judgment as to whether an unpaid internship in fact is servitude.

I now, as a last matter, note that the Unified Electorates votes FOR the definition of indentured servitude. However, we stress that our vote concerning the Resolution at hand as a whole may rely upon the improvements suggested being added to this initial definition we have brought before the League."

[Westmoor Isles]

The Westmoorish Delegate to the League, Arthur Weiss, stands to address the assembly following a brief consultation with other Westmoorish diplomats.

“After some consideration, we have decided to support this definition. However, we would like to make it clear that we would strongly support the alterations the honorable delegate from Aisnlie has mentioned. We wholeheartedly agree with the observations made by the honorable delegate from Ioudaia. If the assembly is to move forth on a vote with such broad implications we must ensure that it is clearly defined.

As for the resolution itself, we have not come to a decision yet. We share the concerns of our fellow delegates regarding the League interfering with internal affairs, however, and will vote accordingly.”

[Thromsa]

"As stated before, the Union of Thromsa votes FOR the definition presented by the Honourable Delegates for Ainslie. And assert that we will also propose an amendment after the final vote has been attested by the Secretary-General, and a final version of it is presented.

However, the Union would like to present a commentary on the issues pointed by the Honourable Delegates for Ioudaia:

Regarding point a, I would believe that the wording would need to be interpreted on a systematic view. Labour relationships have a legal subordination by the worker to the employer, and thus, we would find a substantial amount of power on the side of the employer. This amount of power has its clear limits under labour laws, whose existence is simply to moderate the balance of power on a labour relationship. The definition would clearly not include, under my Government's view, mere abuses of these limits, in this case 'substantially higher' should be interpreted on such a way that the abuse of the limits of power of the employer goes beyond normal abuses, it's more than an abuse to the rights of the worker, it's an absolute and vile violation of the dignity of the human condition itself.

Regarding point b, we find the inclusion of a broader definition extremely happy. Legal theory is different on many nations across the isles, and the inclusion of all kinds of social norms should be included, in our opinion.

As per the invite, by the Honourable Delegates for Ainslie, Thromsa shall indeed propose an amendment, at the conclusion of this vote".

[The League of TWI]

"The voting period for the definition of indentured servitude proposed by the delegate from Ainslie has ended. With 10 FOR and 1 AGAINST, not counting the delegate from Ainslie, this definition hereby passes. We now move to a discussion period regarding any amendments or discussions regarding the definition and Resolution No. 22 itself. This shall continue indefinitely until a vote is once more called."

[Aizcona]

The Estral delegate leaned back in their chair, "Once again the League is trying to meddle in its members' internal affairs in a broad overreach of power. While indentured servitude is not something that is done in Aizcona, it is not our place to be the moral police for other nations nor is it the League's."

[Thromsa]

"As I have previously mentioned, the Union of Thromsa would like to propose, firstly an amendment to the definition proposed by the Honourable Delegation from Ainslie, and then two definitions to be added to the Resolution, one that we have previously mentioned, a negative definition that would exclude certain forms of unpaid labour, that some interpretations of the definition just approved could regard as indentured service, and a definition for the interpretation of 'fair working conditions', that is deemed to protect individuals, and prevent excessively intrusive interpretations of internal law.

As such, we propose that the definition approved by this Assembly should read as follows:
'Indentured servitude is a circumstance through which an individual or group of individuals can find themselves subordinate to another in a system of unpaid labour, or to maintain someone in paid labour whose payment is substantially lower compared to what would be expected to be the value of labour for that geographical area, abnormally practiced throughout The Western Isles. It finds its origin from a contract or some other form of document, whether it be implied or expressed. It is a system of coercion and control to any extent that is identifiable, whether that be expressed or implied. It causes one to become subservient to another through means that are morally wrong and do not reasonably uphold international norms surrounding fair working conditions.'.

In second place, the addition of the following negative definition:
'For the matters of this Resolution, socially and legally accepted forms of labour, paid or unpaid, where the worker may unilaterally exclude themselves from the relationship, without any significant consequence, are presumed to not be considered to be under the scope of this Resolution.'.

And lastly, we propose the following definition to be added:
'On the interpretation of this Resolution, "international norms surrounding fair working conditions" shall be done following the social and legal status provided by internal labour law, but always interpreted in accordance with the principle of human dignity and protection of workers, and the rights to life, personal health, and liberty. Whenever the internal labour law is not possible to be interpreted in accordance with those principles and rights, the entities mentioned shall promote an interpretation in line with the general aims of labour law, in accordance with those principles and rights, practiced in other nations of The Western Isles.'.

We would now let debate arise from our proposal, and request a vote, to the Secretary-General, for these three amendments proposed, whether it be one general vote, or three specific ones."