Commonwealth of Free Nations
"Liberty, democracy, and the rule of law."
- Article 1(2) of the Treaty on a Commonwealth of Free NationsWelcome to the Commonwealth of Free Nations! We are a supranational union founded by six member states with the intent of promoting peaceful, open, and constructive relationships between member states and pursuing our mutual interests abroad. In order to achieve this, all member states cooperate, in accordance with the Treaty on a Commonwealth of Free Nations, on matters of commerce, foreign and defense policy, and justice and home affairs. Further cooperation between states is achieved through an optional Monetary Union, and treaties created between member states. We conduct both internal roleplaying on our Discord server, as well as engaging as an organization in external NS-side RPs.
Member states of the Commonwealth of Free Nations can resemble different political ideals, and we even have a mixture of capitalist and socialist states. However, all member states are required to uphold certain democratic standards, and - in the case of economic systems - are required to allow for personal property. Any sovereign state which believes they meet our requirements is encouraged to apply for membership. We ask some in-depth questions, but once a state's application is accepted, they're in! We look forward to seeing you!
Requirements and rules
Requirements
In order to join the Commonwealth of Free Nations, you have to be able and willing to meet your obligations as a member state. The formal requirements of membership can be found in our founding Treaty on a Commonwealth of Free Nations. If you are interested in joining the Commonwealth, it is highly recommended that you read the Treaty. For those just skimming over the thread, however, our basic requirements can be summed up as follows:
- Member states must respect the basic liberties of their citizens. These include, but are not limited to: liberty of conscience, freedom of thought, freedom of association, political liberties, freedom of occupation and choice of careers, the right to hold personal property, and the rule of law.
- Member states must understand that they will be delegating certain powers to the Commonwealth. In particular, they will be entering a free trade and free movement area, with a limited degree of cooperation in regards to matters of commerce, foreign and defense policy, and justice and home affairs. You are not losing all sovereignty, but we do ask for a greater degree of cooperation than several alliances.
- Member states, save the six founding members, are required to fill out an application. This application is done to make sure that members have an at least somewhat fleshed out nation, and so it is a little more in-depth than many group applications. However, once your application is accepted by at 3/4 of members, you are in!
- Members are required to be active. Whilst we do not have any explicit attendance requirements, it is expected that you will attend Discord meetings. If you can't attend a particular meeting, we expect that you will tell others that you can't make it beforehand.
Rules
The Commonwealth of Free Nations expects that member states will uphold the founding principles of the Commonwealth, and will abide by the basic rules of the Treaty. If you fail to do so, you are liable to have your voting rights in the Council of Permanent Representatives restricted. However, these are more IC rules.
OOCly, you will be expected to abide on the Discord server by the rules established by the administrator, Zeljunaar, and enforced by them and the moderators Furbish Islands and Radimostan. Although additional rules may unfortunately have to be added in the server in response to rare incidences, they can be summed up as follows:
- Above all else, don't act in bad faith. We're perfectly fine with people acting in the manners of internet culture, but deliberately being a jerk will not only get you on the bad side of the admins and mods, but fellow server members.
- Don't spam or post NSFW or malicious links. This is pretty self-explanatory.
- Just as with the real rule of law, the mods and admin are not above the rules. If there is a problem with a moderator violating the rules, inform the admin, who will deal with the situation as soon as possible. If the admin is violating the rules, tell him to knock it off.
Organization of the Commonwealth
Formally speaking, the Commonwealth is composed of seven different institutions: the Council of the Commonwealth of Free Nations, the Parliament, the Senate, the Council of Permanent Representatives, the Secretariat, the Central Bank, and the Court of Justice. Whilst all institutions are important, perhaps the most particularly important ones are:
- the Parliament - consisting of directly elected representatives apportioned based on the population of member states, the Parliament doesn't have the power to initiate legislation, but it does have the power to review it before it goes into effect. This is the primary area where political party RP occurs.
- the Council of Permanent Representatives - the "legislature" of the Commonwealth, the Council of one Permanent Representative from each member state which creates and enacts laws. This is the main area where the overall policy of your member state is RPed.
- the Secretariat - the "executive" of the Commonwealth, the Secretariat consists of the Secretary-General, the High Representative, and various secretaries established by the Council to head the administrative institutions of the Commonwealth.
Members and Discord
The backgrounds of the various members of the Commonwealth of Free Nations are widely diversified, including everything from an ancient empire which still survives in the modern day as a market socialist state, to a former British colony which revolted and has established itself as a force of its own. The members of the Commonwealth of Free Nations, as of 27 May 2018, are:
- The Democratic Republic of the Furbish Island (founding member)
- The Federative Republic of Radimostan (founding member)
- The Constitutional Republic of Stojam (founding member)
- The Great Socialist State of Victores (founding member)
- The United Socialist States of Vymar (founding member)
- The Realm of the Zeljunaar (founding member)
- The Romaian Empire (joined 27 May 2018)
- The United Democratic Republic of Ivelboria (joined 28 May 2018)
- The Unified Republic of Greto (joined 30 May 2018)
- The Irusan Federal Republic (joined 31 May 2018)
- The Western Slavic Kingdom (joined 11 June 2018)
- The Democracy of Merni (joined 17 June 2018)
You can find us at our Discord server here. Prospective members and interested parties alike are welcome!
You can also find the proceedings of the Council of Permanent Representatives here.
Membership Application
If the Commonwealth of Free Nations sounds has piqued your interest, then feel free to fill out our membership application. We will try as soon as possible to provide you a response.