Proposals for the Constitution Convention

Discussion in 'Government Discussion' started by Acario, Aug 29, 2016.

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  1. Acario

    Acario Member Delegate Government Vocals

    Members of Capitalist Paradise:

    The regional government has opened a Constitutional Convention. Note that this convention is not to replace the Constitution but to provide large modifications and clarifications to the current Constitution. We will be working with the current Constitution as the base for where these changes need to be made. The Constitution can be found here: http://goo.gl/ipMYM8

    While The-CID has proposed changes of his own to the Constitution, I open the floor to the Legislature to propose your own changes within this thread. This will be open for two weeks only (closes on the 12th of September). Afterwards, the convention will work on constructing the language which will be put to vote in the Legislature and if it passes, implemented into the Constitution. Note that only ideas listed within this forum will be considered by the convention and that which ideas are accepted and rejected are at the discretion of the convention members.

    If you are interested in being part of the convention, please telegram me.
     
    Acario, Aug 29, 2016
    #1
  2. Drasnia

    Drasnia Member Former Delegate Vocals

    CP Constitution Ideas
    These are suggestions by me plus occasional comments on why I suggested what I did. I also may or may not have missed/forgotten to add a few things. Feel free to critique/criticise/suggest/what-have-you.

    EDIT: I realized after posting that copying and pasteing my post messed up some of my bullets, but I'm too lazy to fix them :p
    1. Founder
      • Executor of regional membership

      • Able to assume full regional control at any time (the game will always allow him, might as well codify it)

      • May appoint a member/members to chronicle significant in the region into a regional history (This allows appointing less biased people to write the history)
    2. Delegate
      • For election of Delegate, same rules as currently in the Constitution without a minimum influence level
      • No minimum influence level (because of the amount of endorsements necessary, there doesn’t seem to be much reason to require a nation to have vassal level influence- over 35K influence and climbing!!! - especially with an active founder)

      • Enforcer and defender of the Constitution

      • Representing our region in the WA

      • Maintaining the WFE and any dispatches necessary

      • In the case of a raid and the founder is not present, the delegate may declare martial law until the threat is neutralized in order to ensure the safety of the regional. This may include but is not limited to:
      • Appointing a temporary Minister of Defense and regional officers to assist in the repelling and exiling of enemy forces
        • Marshaling a defense force from within and without the Region for the purpose of re-seating the rightful Delegate

        • The temporary closing of borders

        • The appointing of regional officers to assist in the repelling of enemy forces
      • May appoint a Minister of Foreign Affairs and nominate a Minister of Interior at their discretion

      • May appoint other ministers at their discretion with the approval of creating the office by the legislature
    2. Minister of Foreign Affairs
      • Same as currently constituted sans WA membership requirement
    3. Minister of Interior
      • Basically a combination of the current positions of MoI and PoL

      • An elected position

      • Delegate may nominate any singer player, and other players may stand for election themselves as well

      • Enforcer and Defender of the Constitution

      • May assist the WAD in maintaining the WFE and dispatches if necessary

      • Responsible for maintaining the forums

      • Authority to monitor the RMB and forums for abuse and may moderate offending posts

      • May appoint a Chief editor for the maintaining of a regional newspaper (whether it’s for RP, or for OOC/important stories that can be published to the outside) if desired. The Chief Editor will have full control over the running of the regional newspaper. They may be replaced at the will of the MoI

      • Responsible for running elections

      • May decide in what manner voting will be done, however, no matter how, all voting will remain private/confidential

      • Presentation of vote to the Delegate

      • In the case of a law suit, will be responsible for assembling a jury, however this must remain strictly neutral (must be random).
    4. The Legislature
      • Same as before, except replacing any mention of PoL to MoI

      • Perhaps clarify that any campaigning for bills be done by the authors or other citizens and that those over the elections must remain strictly neutral

      • Specify that one must be a member of the Legislature to serve on a regional jury

      • May vote to remove Delegate from office. If vote of no confidence, 3/4ths majority, if impeachment (having broken the laws of the region), 2/3rds majority and the case will be sent to the Vocals. If there are no Vocals, the case will be sent to the MoI who will select a group of 5 members for a Jury.
    5. The Courts
      • Any suit must be brought first to the MoI, The delegate is responsible for any criminal charges, while for civil suits, it must be brought to the MoI by the plaintiff

      • Selection of jury as detailed in the MoI’s section

      • For the prosecution, the Delegate is responsible for the selection of a criminal prosecutor, while the plaintiff is responsible in civil cases

      • Any witness has the right to remain anonymous. If this is the case, the witness may request one of several services including, but not limited to using a player as a proxy to post the testimony, or the creation of a separate account used to post the testimony.

      • Defendants have the right to face their accuser (plaintiff) as well as their crimes

      • Defendants have the right of public defense. The Arbiter General will be appointed to their case. If the defendants do not want to utilize their services, they may inform the court who will be defending them

      • The Arbiter General will be appointed by the Delegate and their duties are outlined above in this section. They must defend their clients to the best of their abilities.
    6. Vocals
      • Membership requires serving at least 90 days as a lawfully elected Delegate and not removed from office before the end of their term (honorable service requirement basically)

      • Duties will include advising all government officials in their performance of their duties. This includes regular evaluations (and yes, we haven’t been doing that even though we were supposed to! xD) and constructive feedback to help the officials improve in their duties.

      • Hearing impeachment proceedings for the Delegate. Requires 2/3rds majority from the Vocals to remove Delegate from office
     
    Drasnia, Aug 31, 2016
    #2
  3. Nation of Quebec

    Nation of Quebec Member Former Delegate Government Vocals

    Perhaps we shouldn't automatically go to a suit just because someone wants to sue the government. The MOI should be able to determine whether or not the suit is frivolous or something to satisfy the nation's own agenda/vengeance.

    I'm not sure where this should fall under, but I would like to see some sort of warning/reprimand system so we can avoid the disaster that Capitalist Producers started.

    It could be something along these lines:

    Warnings

    • A member will receive a warning from (whichever government position is most appropriate) if they continue to exhibit a disruptive behavior that is counter to this region's constitution (ie. respectful posting or treasonous activity) as well as NationStates rules.
    • If the behavior escalates, the member shall receive a second and final warning. If the member chooses to continue with behavior again, then the member is given a permanent banjection.
    • The member is free to contest any of these warnings and the warnings may be reversed if the Courts deem that the warning was inappropriate.
    • Warnings will go hand in hand with complaints
      • Any member is free to lodge a complaint against another member if they feel that they are being harassed, threatened, or personally attacked. The complaint will be investigated by the government
      • If the complaint has merit, then the government will further investigate the matter
      • If the government has found evidence of wrong doing, then the member who received the complaint is subsequently given a warning
      • As with warnings, the member is free to contest the complaint if they so desire
      • Likewise, three complaints equals three warnings, meaning that the member will be banjected after three official complaints

    These may not be popular ideas, but I think that in order to avoid the situation that CP created, they are necessary ideas.
     
    Nation of Quebec, Aug 31, 2016
    #3
  4. Nation of Quebec

    Nation of Quebec Member Former Delegate Government Vocals

    I don't know where else to put this, but I think we should have another admin on this site. Afforess hasn't been here in a while.

    If we want this site to be more active, we'll need someone more active to help maintain it.
     
    Nation of Quebec, Sep 4, 2016
    #4
  5. Drasnia

    Drasnia Member Former Delegate Vocals

    Agreed. We really need another admin.

    Unfortunately, admin appointments are always a bit of a difficulty. You need someone who isn't biased, but if they are too inactive/removed, problems can arise that won't be resolved quickly, thus letting the problem get out of hand. (Think the recent vocals case)
     
    Drasnia, Sep 4, 2016
    #5
  6. Acario

    Acario Member Delegate Government Vocals

    RMB Posts from The-CID:

    Post #1:
    IDEAS FOR THE UPCOMING CONSTITUTION

    - All elections will be held by using the regional poll, not by exchanging telegrams as today.

    - Executive Branch will have 3 Ministers: A new position called "Head of Recruitment" will be introduced. They will all be elected by the nations (not appointed directly as today). All positions will last 1 year, residence only is required. Elections must be held, reelection is allowed.

    - Legislative Branch will consist in 3 nations (not 1 as today): The President will be appointed by the CEO (LadyFasterkittens is currently the PoL). Two new positions will be introduced: 2 Secretaries that will be chosen by election (not appointed directly as today). The 3 of them will be in charge of checking puppets-voting, ensuring the voters conditions, candidates requirements and giving the final numbers. Secretaries positions will last 1 year, residence only is required. Elections must be held, reelection is allowed.

    - Judicial Branch will have 5 members (not 3 as today): The Advocate General will be the only appointed position by the CEO (Northern Borland, atm). Then, a Jury of 5 members will be created: 4 members of the Jury will be elected only per an specific trial and the CEO (or Founder if necessary) will be called as the number five. This means that any of you will have the chance to be part in exercising Justice; with a fair and quickly procedure (nothing compared with the 4 months trial we had...).

    - The CEO will be the head of all branches and he will have the duty to check on them. The position will last 1 year, residence, Vassal status and WA is required. Election must be held after 1 year: today, our current WAD has been unchallenged for more than 2 years... pretty much because he is doing a good job, nevertheless, it should be re-validated with votes. Reelection is allowed. If a CEO is removed, the new CEO can appoint a new Advocate General (or not) and a new President of Legislature (or not).

    - The Vocals will continue as the Board: Their main duty will be helping the CEO and checking on him. Vocals will not be able to lunch a No-Confident vote anymore; except for the CEO. Positions are forever; being an elected CEO under a democratic process is required.

    - The Founder will continue as the Chairman: Duties are helping the CEO if he asks for help (avoiding wasting influence), taking part as a Jury only if the CEO was the one who reprimand/eject/ban a nation, securing the region and ultimately enforcing the Constitution along with the CEO. In an ideal scenario with no invasions and no internal problems, the Founder will be like the invisible hand that secures the region.

    - Finally, as usual, the Constitution will be based in the previous one, all the current amends will be introduced in the new Constitution, all the current duties will be maintain, all clarifications (as respectful posting clause procedure) will be made and the procedure for the Judicial Branch will be standardized.


    Post #2:
    New Constitution´s changes

    The following is a draft we have been working regarding to how should we behave regarding ejection or bans.

    1) Warning: A warning has no consequence. It is just an advice from the Founder / WAD / Vocals to calm things down. Warnings cannot be put under trial.
    2) Any nation has the right to exchange telegrams regarding a warning he received, this is, to be heard.
    3) No reprimand, ejection or ban can be impose to any nation without a previous warning (except in critical situations, like invasions).
    4) Any nation has the right to present a complain to the Advocate General if the receives a reprimand, ejection or ban (except in critical situations, like invasions).

    If he does it:
    5) Then 4 resident nations will be elected (by regional pool) and will constitute the Jury along with the Founder or the CEO (one of both, obviously, not the one that perform the reprimand/eject/ban).
    6) The affected nation will present his case: One post in our outside forum with all the evidence he has. This guarantee his defense.
    7) The nation who perform the reprimand/eject/ban will present his statement (in the same way). This guarantee that other side will also be heard (as [​IMG]Oobleck said above)
    8) Individually, the Vocals (except UNDelegate) will present their statement (in the same way). This guarantee an experience voice from ex-WA Delegates. This step will be avoid if the nation that
    9) The Advocate General will present his statement (in the same way). This guarantee a neutral point of view.
    10) The affected nation will have a closing argument (in the same way). This guarantee the chance to present a final evidence at the end of the trial.

    Finally,
    11) The Jury will decide if the reprimand, ejection or ban was fair or not:
    - Votes will be public
    - The 4 elected nations will vote and the result will be decided by simple majority (4-0 / 3-1). No abstain is allowed.
    - In case of a tie (2-2), then the fifth member of the jury (Founder or the CEO) will untie. Otherwise, he will not be allowed to vote.
    ------------------------------------------------------

    The spirit of the above procedure is to have a FAIR but also short trial. If you look at it, that may take about 8 (long) posts at most.

    I just got a telegram, prior to write this, suggesting that a maximum of 3 warnings should be allowed...
     
    Acario, Sep 14, 2016
    #6
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