[DEFEATED] Repeal 'Ban on Secret Treaties'

[New Waldensia]

Original resolution: GAR #408

Whereas GAR #408, "Ban on Secret Treaties" was proposed by a prolific General Assembly author, passing with over 60% of the vote, and

Whereas the Resolution included a closing clause that was incongruent with the text of the rest of the measure, and to most appearances was so wildly different as to appear to be meant as a joke, and

Whereas the General Assembly ought to be a body dedicated to serious discussion, necessitating a certain level of decorum and respect be observed when proposing resolutions, and

In light of this situation, it behooves the General Assembly to excise this egregious resolution from the code of law.

Repeals GAR 408 "Ban on Secret Treaties"

Latest draft:

Observing that GAR #408, "Ban on Secret Treaties" includes a closing clause defining "secret treaty" as "military-grade weapons and feline animals of varying sizes with tabby coats", a statement that is incongruent with the text of the rest of the measure, and to most appearances is so wildly different as to appear to be meant as a joke,

Believing that it is very inappropriate for such a clause to be found in a General Assembly resolution, making a mockery of this august body,

Noting that the General Assembly ought to be an institution dedicated to serious discussion, necessitating a certain level of decorum and respect be observed when proposing resolutions,

Mindful that GAR #408 sets a precedent that could be detrimental to future operations of the General Assembly,

Convinced that this definition is an improper meddling with the plain understanding of language and the long-standing meaning of the phrase "secret treaty",

Therefore be it known that the General Assembly repeals GAR #408, "Ban on Secret Treaties"

[Kenmoria]

“The first ‘whereas’ clause is ultimately meaningless, and you perhaps could mention the harm caused by a literal reading of the joke.”

[Gagium]

“The first ‘whereas’ clause is ultimately meaningless, and you perhaps could mention the harm caused by a literal reading of the joke.”

“Jokes are not meant to be legally binding, Ambassador.”

[Maowi]

“The first ‘whereas’ clause is ultimately meaningless, and you perhaps could mention the harm caused by a literal reading of the joke.”

“Jokes are not meant to be legally binding, Ambassador.”

"Not to put words in the ambassador's mouth, but I believe that is precisely their point. Jokes are not indeed meant to be legally binding, but with no explicit indication in the target of the last clause's status as a joke, member nations would be compelled to abide by it, no matter how absurd."

[New Waldensia]

Latest draft:

Remembering that GAR #408, "Ban on Secret Treaties" included a closing clause about "military-grade weapons and feline animals of varying sizes with tabby coats" that was incongruent with the text of the rest of the measure, and to most appearances was so wildly different as to appear to be meant as a joke, and

Believing that the General Assembly ought to be a body dedicated to serious discussion, necessitating a certain level of decorum and respect be observed when proposing resolutions, and

Noting that joke proposals are outright banned by rule,

Mindful that GAR #408 set a precedent that could be detrimental to future operations of the General Assembly,

In light of this situation, it behooves the General Assembly to excise this egregious resolution from the code of law.

Repeals GAR 408 "Ban on Secret Treaties"

[The New Nordic Union]

Noting that joke proposals are outright banned by rule,

OOC: Seems like a metagaming violation for me; while (some) GA proposal rules could very easily have an IC equivalent, they are considered OOC, as far as I know.

[New Waldensia]

Noting that joke proposals are outright banned by rule,

OOC: Seems like a metagaming violation for me; while (some) GA proposal rules could very easily have an IC equivalent, they are considered OOC, as far as I know.

Good point. I'll remove in the next draft.

[Kenmoria]

(OOC: You have some odd formatting tags littered about the proposal.)

“You don’t need to have two ‘and’s after the first two clauses. If you must have them, there should be one ‘and’ on the penultimate reasoning clause.”

[Sierra Lyricalia]

Noting that joke proposals are outright banned by rule,

OOC: Seems like a metagaming violation for me; while (some) GA proposal rules could very easily have an IC equivalent, they are considered OOC, as far as I know.

OOC: Can confirm.

[New Waldensia]

Latest draft:

Remembering that GAR #408, "Ban on Secret Treaties" included a closing clause about "military-grade weapons and feline animals of varying sizes with tabby coats" that was incongruent with the text of the rest of the measure, and to most appearances was so wildly different as to appear to be meant as a joke,

Believing that it was very inappropriate for such a clause to make its way into a General Assembly resolution, making a mockery of our legislative system,

Noting that the General Assembly ought to be a body dedicated to serious discussion, necessitating a certain level of decorum and respect be observed when proposing resolutions,

Mindful that GAR #408 set a precedent that could be detrimental to future operations of the General Assembly,

In light of this situation, it behooves the General Assembly to excise this egregious resolution from the code of law.

Repeals GAR 408 "Ban on Secret Treaties"

[Marxist Germany]

Latest draft:

This August General Assembly,

Deploring the passage of the target resolution titled "Ban on Secret Treaties",

RememberingRecalling that GAR #408, "Ban on Secret Treaties" included a closing clause about "military-grade weapons and feline animals of varying sizes with tabby coats" that was incongruent with the text of the rest of the measure, and to most appearances was so wildly different as to appear to be meant as a joke,

Believing that it was very inappropriate for such a clause to make its way into a General Assembly resolution, making a mockery of our this August Assembly,

Noting that the General Assembly ought to be a body dedicated to serious discussion, necessitating a certain level of decorum and respect be observed when proposing resolutions,

Mindful that GAR #408 set a precedent that could be detrimental to future operations of the General Assembly,

Observing that the addition of such definition causes detrimental damage to militaries of member-states as no weapons can be hidden from other nations, and the addition of "feline animals of varying sizes with tabby coats" is impossible to discern, making it unenforceable,

In light of this situation, it behooves the General Assembly to excise this egregious resolution from the code of law.
Hereby, makes it known that General Assembly Resolution 408 titled Ban on Secret Treaties is henceforth null and repealed.
Repeals GAR 408 "Ban on Secret Treaties"

OOC: I suggest adding the blue

[The New Nordic Union]

OOC: I suggest adding the blue

OOC: 'This August World Assembly [...] Hereby be it known [...]' is not a correct sentence.

[Marxist Germany]

OOC: I suggest adding the blue

OOC: 'This August World Assembly [...] Hereby be it known [...]' is not a correct sentence.

OOC: Whoops, allow me to correct the tense

[Separatist Peoples]

"Opposed. Joking in legislation is an institution in the GA."

[Great Algerstonia]

"This is such a miniscule reason for a repeal. Mr. Ambassador, we oppose this resolution."

~Algerstonese Ambassador.

[New Waldensia]

[OOC: I will be traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday, and will postpone action on this until I return.]

[New Waldensia]

Recalling that GAR #408, "Ban on Secret Treaties" included a closing clause defining "secret treaty" as "military-grade weapons and feline animals of varying sizes with tabby coats", a statement that was incongruent with the text of the rest of the measure, and to most appearances was so wildly different as to appear to be meant as a joke,

Believing that it was very inappropriate for such a clause to make its way into a General Assembly resolution, making a mockery of this august body,

Noting that the General Assembly ought to be a body dedicated to serious discussion, necessitating a certain level of decorum and respect be observed when proposing resolutions,

Mindful that GAR #408 set a precedent that could be detrimental to future operations of the General Assembly,

Observing that the addition of such definition causes detrimental damage to militaries of member-states, as no weapons can be hidden from other nations, and the addition of "feline animals of varying sizes with tabby coats" is impossible to discern, making it unenforceable

Therefore be it known that the General Assembly repeals GAR #408, "Ban on Secret Treaties"

Latest draft.

[Tinfect]

Recalling that GAR #408, "Ban on Secret Treaties" included a closing clause defining "secret treaty" as "military-grade weapons and feline animals of varying sizes with tabby coats", a statement that was incongruent with the text of the rest of the measure, and to most appearances was so wildly different as to appear to be meant as a joke,

Believing that it was very inappropriate for such a clause to make its way into a General Assembly resolution, making a mockery of this august body,

Noting that the General Assembly ought to be a body dedicated to serious discussion, necessitating a certain level of decorum and respect be observed when proposing resolutions,

Mindful that GAR #408 set a precedent that could be detrimental to future operations of the General Assembly,

Observing that the addition of such definition causes detrimental damage to militaries of member-states, as no weapons can be hidden from other nations, and the addition of "feline animals of varying sizes with tabby coats" is impossible to discern, making it unenforceable

Therefore be it known that the General Assembly repeals GAR #408, "Ban on Secret Treaties"

Latest draft.

OOC:
Please note that the term 'Secret Treaties' is used nowhere in the actually meaningful parts of the text.

[Imperium Anglorum]

This proposal makes an honest mistake with the clause that was added in the last edit. If it comes to a vote, I will challenge it for breaking the honest mistake rule.

[Kenmoria]

“Repeals are generally written in the present rather than the past tense, since the problems you outline are currently in the target proposal.”

[Palait]

"The Resolution in question makes it clear that the definition of 'secret treaty' does not extend to any pluralisations; while the proposal defines 'secret treaty' with regards to military-grade weaponry and felines in coats, it does not define 'secret treaties' in that way. The term 'secret treaties' is not even used in the proposal itself anyway, but the fact that this exemption is in place means the title of the proposal, and any future legislation that our nations may adopt regarding secret treaties is not bound to this joke definition. While I would agree that the incorporation of that joke makes it trickier to understand for a layperson who may jump to that assumption, I am sure they would be able to work out that we are not seriously suggesting that secret treaties are military-grade weapons or cats in coats, and would probably find it amusing.

I personally find it ridiculous that there are still efforts to repeal this legislation after the previous repeal was rejected and it was passed by a decent majority of votes, and wonder if there is an agenda to dismantle the Judicial Committee of the Compliance Commission to allow secret underhand deals for members of the World Assembly."

[Kenmoria]

(OOC: Given that this has been submitted and has been deemed by Gensec illegal, will this draft be pursued? It seems that the main argument falls apart if the clause has no meaningful effect on the rest of the resolution.)

[New Waldensia]

Observing that GAR #408, "Ban on Secret Treaties" includes a closing clause defining "secret treaty" as "military-grade weapons and feline animals of varying sizes with tabby coats", a statement that is incongruent with the text of the rest of the measure, and to most appearances is so wildly different as to appear to be meant as a joke,

Believing that it is very inappropriate for such a clause to be found in a General Assembly resolution, making a mockery of this august body,

Noting that the General Assembly ought to be an institution dedicated to serious discussion, necessitating a certain level of decorum and respect be observed when proposing resolutions,

Mindful that GAR #408 sets a precedent that could be detrimental to future operations of the General Assembly,

Convinced that this definition is an improper meddling with the plain understanding of language and the long-standing meaning of the phrase "secret treaty",

Therefore be it known that the General Assembly repeals GAR #408, "Ban on Secret Treaties"

Latest draft. Also changed from past tense to present tense.

[Imperium Anglorum]

This was again submitted.

[New Waldensia]

This was again submitted.

Yep.