The New and Reformed Constitution of the Alliance of Independent Nations

by **Neil** 1st November 2010, 18:33

KEY

Not yet introduced for debate
Under Debate in Legislative Asselmbly
Under Vote in Senate (Only Member States and Associate Members may vote)
Passed as union law, Awaiting ratification as constitutional union law
Passed and ratified as constitutional union law

2ND CONSTITUTION OF THE ALLIANCE OF INDEPENDENT NATIONS

[1.0] PREAMBLE

[1.1] We, the members of the Alliance of Independent Nations hereby agree to the terms settled by us, the members and will abide by these terms to the benefit of ourselves, our nations and our peers.
[1.2] We, the members of the Alliance of Independent Nations hereby agree to hold all those accountable for breaching the terms agreed in our constitution to maintain our union’s essential ideologies of Freedom, Independence, Peace, Justice and Equality.

[2.0] BASIC RIGHTS OF CITIZENS OF THE ALLIANCE

[2.1] We agree that all citizens of our nations with our alliance will be entitled to the following rights bound by this constitution and provided by our sovereign governments:
[2.21] Everyone has the right to life & liberty
[2.22]All people are entitled to all rights set forth in this declaration
[2.23] No one shall be held in slavery
[2.24] All persons within the jurisdiction of the AIN judiciary or of a member state's national court shall be entitled to equal protection under the laws of this alliance
[2.25] All people are equal before the law
[2.26] All people have the right to own property
[2.27] No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality
[2.28] All citizens of the member states of this alliance shall be guaranteed freedom of speech and opinion; whether spoken, written or recorded
[2.29] All people have the right to work & leisure
[2.3] No one shall be executed under law in the following terms:
[2.31.1] Death by Firing Squad
[2.31.2] Death by Hanging
[2.31.3] Death by Electrocution
[2.31.4] Death by any other means of torture at the discretion of the AIN judiciary
[2.32] Execution may be done under the following terms
[2.32.1] Death by Lethal Injection
[2.32.2] Death by any other term of non-torture at the discretion of the AIN judiciary
[2.33] The AIN Court cannot hand down any death sentence
[2.34] Any AIN National court may hand down a death sentence if it follows the above laws

[3.0] JUDICIARY AND VIOLATION OF CONSTITUIONAL TERMS

[3.1] The AIN Judiciary will be a neutral entity that works alongside the executive to maintain order and hold violators of the constitution or union law accountable.
[3.11] The AIN Judiciary can be used for role-playing or to solve violations of the constitution.
[3.12] A distinction of such must be made by the prosecutor and approved by the ACCJ.
[3.2] The AIN Judiciary will consist of:
[3.21] The AIN Court Chief of Justice – a permanent and elected position.
[3.21.1] The ACCJ must remain neutral at all times.
[3.21.2] The nation of the ACCJ must become neutral, not participate in any military alliance (save for protection by another nation) and must not engage in any wars.
[3.22] The plaintiff/prosecutor – a role taken by the first or most qualified person to refer the case to the ACCJ.
[3.23] The defendant – called up by the plaintiff/prosecutor.
[3.23.1] The defendant must attend a non role-play session of court or else they will surrender their right to present their evidence.
[3.24] The jury – made up of all other participating FULL and ASSOCIATE members who will deliberate on the findings of the court.
[3.24.2] The jury will hold a session on Skype along with the ACCJ and the plaintiff/prosecutor to discuss the course of action to take when a defendant is found guilty.
[3.24.3] The jury and only the jury will vote on whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty.
[3.24.3.1] In the event of a hung jury, the ACCJ will be given a vote.
[3.25] The defendant may appeal up to a week after the judgement and the process will repeated.
[3.25.1] A case may only be appealed once.
[3.26] The President or Vice-President may serve a jury or as a plaintiff but may not be the ACCJ, the judiciary must remain separate from the executive.

[4.0] ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

[4.1] The GOVERNMENT will consist of 3 branches; Executive, Legislative and Judiciary branch.

[4.2] The EXECUTIVE consists of the President and his Vice-President. It is the dominant branch, scruntinized politcally by the Legislative (made up of the Ministerial Cabinet, the Senate and the Legislative Asselmbly) and independently scruntinized in an apolitical fashion by the Judiciary.

[4.21] Only Full Members of the Alliance may run for Executive offices.

[4.22] The President and Vice-President are elected democratically by Member States and Associate Members.

[4.23] The President is head of the Executive but the Executive should function as a diarchy in all but ceremonial occasions.

[4.24] The Executive's main roles include that of managing the administration of the forums, representing and promoting the union within the wider community, ensuring the domain and other paid services are maintained and sufficient funds are available for further subscription, preventing and solving union disputes, ensuring the smooth running of the Senate and ensuring events take place smoothly and professionally amongst other minor roles.
[4.24.1] Section 4.24 is not an exhaustive list and the duties of the Executive also cover the general duties of the administration team and anyother duties that come about in the daily running of the union.

[4.25] The Executive will have all powers and privileges as administrators and the President will function as the chairman of the administration team.
[4.25.1] The Executive are equal to the appointed administrators outside of government, including the position as chairman which is only for organisational purposes.
[4.25.2] Unless a member of the Executive is appointed as a permanent administrator, his administrative powers will be removed upon leaving office.

[4.26] The President must notify the community prior of absences taking longer than 3 days.
[4.26.1] If the President is scheduled to be absent for more than 5 days, the Vice-President will run the executive until their return.
[4.26.2] If the President is absent for more than 5 days without giving prior notification, the Vice-President will take the role of President, with the Chief Justice as his deputy.
[4.26.3] In such an event, a meeting will be called of the caretaker Executive and the Ministerial Cabinet to decide upon when the call elections, provide clauses for the caretaker government, clauses for the absent President's return and to appoint a temporary chief justice.

[4.27] An Executive will retain their office until they either resign, surrender office after a vote of no confidence is placed in the executive, or allow their term to lapse via defeat in an election.
[4.27.1] A President/Vice-President may individually resign from office at any time during their elected term via a letter of resignation. If the President resigns, the Vice-President shall take up his position and the Ministerial Cabinet will elect a minister to take the VP’s post. If the VP resigns then the President shall appoint a new Vice-President out of the Ministerial Cabinet. The new VP in either case shall then appoint an acting minister to take up their original position until elections can take place.
[4.27.2] In the case of both members of the Executive resigning, the government is suspended with the roles of the Executive temporarily carried out by the Chief Justice and the administration team for a maximum period of 10 days to allow a 3 day campaign period and a week's voting period in emergency elections.
[4.27.2.1] The Chief Justice will not be granted administrator privledges during this period and no member shall have any power of patronage.

[4.28] If a Member State raises Lack of Confidence (LOC) in the Executive, all Member States will be called to a vote chaired by the Chief Justice and the member raising the LOC. If there is a co-census that the executive is not performing their duties to a satisfactory manner then a Vote of No Confidence (VOCN) is made and both members of the executive will be required to call an election and surrender their positions within a week of the VONC.
[4.28.1] Executive members surrendering office may re-run in the subsequent election.
[4.28.2] In any case of leaving office the former Executive Member will be restored their previous form of membership whether that be as a Member State or a previously appointed Administrator.

[4.29] The executive’s term is limited to six months from the day of election.
[4.29.1]An election must be scheduled within this term.
[4.29.2] A member can only serve as part of the executive for an absolute maximum of three consecutive terms.

[4.3] THE ADMINISTRATION TEAM is an appointed group of trusted members consisting of the Union Founder, the Executive and the Appointed Administrators and the Forum Managers.

[4.31] The primary tasks of the Administration Team are maintaining the forums and ensuring the constitution is upheld by all members.

[4.32] The formal power of patronage in the Administration Team lies with the President, although the Administration Team can recommend members. The Administration Team must also approve of all applicants or appointed members through a one-vote simple majority.

[4.33] There is no limit to the number of Appointed Administrators, but they shall only be appointed in a technocratic matter by the President with the Administration Teams collective authorisation.
[4.33.1] An administrator should have skills beneficial to the running of the union, be a trustworthy and mature individual and be willing to give up other commitments within the community to provide focus on their responsibilities to the union.
[4.33.2] The Appointed Administrators are currently: Thomas, Daniel and Liberator444 (Geoff).
[4.33.3] The Executive must ensure section 4.33.2 remains up to date with the current Appointed Administrators.

[4.34] The Forum Managers are assistants to the administrators providing moderation over their respective areas.
[4.34.1] There is no limit to the number of Forum Managers, but they will only be appointed Forum Managers on a needs basis in proportion to the total amount of members, and with the Executives consent.
[4.34.2] The current Forum Managers are Kevin, in charge of union admissions.
[4.34.3] The Executive must ensure section 4.22.3 remains up to date with the current Forum Managers.

[4.35] If an appointed member resigns, leaves the union or is consistently inactive their position will become available for the other administrators to appoint a new administrator.

[4.4] THE SENATE consists of all Member and Associate Members of the union.
[4.41] THE SENATE's primary function is to introduce and vote upon laws proposed and debated upon in the Legislative Assembly.
[4.42] Only members of the Senate may introduce and vote upon bills.

[4.5] THE LEGISLATIVE ASSELMBLY consists of Member, Associate and Observer states of the union.
[4.51] Any Ambassadorial/Social member may be invited by a member to debate a bill in the Legislative Assembly if they have reason to believe they will contribute positively to the debate with expertise or past experience.
[4.52] The purpose of the Legislative Assembly is to debate, amend and propose laws before they go to vote along with allowing a decision to be made on the class of a law.
[4.53] All bills must be discussed in the Legislative Assembly before they can be voted upon in the Senate.
[4.53.1] It is the collective decision between the bill’s proposer and the Minister of Parliamentary Services when it is to be moved to the Senate.
[4.53.2] Once the decision has been made for a bill to be moved to the Senate, it's Class must also be defined by the MoP and the proposer.
[4.53.3] Once a bill enters the Senate, it must not be modified, amended further or changed in Class without written permission of the president and the re-creation of the bill’s thread/poll.

[4.54] Class A bills must receive an absolute majority (more than 50%) of ‘Yes’ votes and remain in Senate until it has gained 10 votes to pass.
[4.54.1] Class A bills apply to all members of the union if passed and become union law that superceedes national, sovereign law.
[4.54.2] Examples of a Class A bill include amendments to the constitution, ethical issues, laws that affect the budget of sovereign nations, bills that affect sovereignty, bills that drastically modify existing union policy and bills involving the rights of citizens. Also a vote-of-no-confidence to a member of the union government or the executive will be treated as a Class A Bill.

[4.55] Class B bills must receive a one-vote majority of ‘Yes’ votes and remain in Senate for until it has gained 5 votes to pass.
[4.55.1] Class B bills apply to all members of the union if passed and become union law that superceedes national, sovereign law.
[4.55.2] Examples of a Class B bill include laws that encourage reform of sovereign legal systems or modify sovereign government policy on an issue that is covered by a union ministry (such as Transportation or Health).

[4.56] Class C bills must receive three ‘Yes’ votes, have approval of a Minister and remain in the senate until it has gained 5 votes to pass.
[4.56.1] Class C bills are not de jure union law, even when passed and only need be ratified by nations that approve the law in the senate. However once a nation ratifies a Class C bill they must propose amendment to repeal it.
[4.56.2] Examples of a Class C Bill include laws that require change of exclusively sovereign issues, minor bills, military alliances and and those that encourage change in sovereign policy on security, nationality, military, taxation or foreign affairs. Also treaties are to be treated as a Class C Bill.

[4.57] For a motion to pass it must receive four ‘Yes’ votes and have approval of a member of the Executive with no minimum time of voting.
[4.57.1] The executive must also set a date or an event that will trigger the lapse of the motion.
[4.57.2] Motions are emergency or temporary laws that do not need to enter the legislative assembly.
[4.57.3] Examples of such are halting debate on a certain issue for good reason, declaring war on an AIN nation, placing sanctions on a nation, filling a gap in law or requesting aid from nations of the union.

[4.6] THE MINISTERIAL CABINET consists of all elected ministers within the AIN. The cabinet never sits in session and is merely a collective term for all the Ministers.
[4.61] Ministers are elected from the Members of the Union.
[4.62] The current Ministerial positions are: Chief Justice, Minister of Parliamentary Services, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Education, Health and Public Safety and the Minister of Transportation.
[4.63] The Ministers should show competency to their department and a general collegiancy with the collective union government.
[4.64] The Ministerial Cabinet is to be reformed and given guidance and powers in the near future.

[5.0] TERMS OF MEMBERSHIP

[5.1] SOCIAL/AMBASSADORIAL MEMBERS are entitled to participate in most areas of the forum with the exception of the Department of Parliamentary Services, Executive Department, Department for Justice and Events forums (unless given exception by an admin). They may send private messages and view City Notebooks.
[5.2] OBSERVER MEMBERS are entitled to all the privileges detailed in 5.1 as well as the ability to post in any forum (except the senate), state their opinion on new legislation proposed in the legislate, post a City Journal thread in the Observers forum and participate in union events.
[5.3] ASSOCIATE MEMBERS are entitled to all privileges detailed in 5.1 and 5.2 as well as having a vote in the senate, being permitted to speak at union meetings, proposing legislation, having their own sub-forum for their City Journal, voting in union elections, and being able to create and run union events.
[5.4] MEMBER STATES are entitled to all privileges detailed in 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 as well as being able to contribute to union meeting agendas, to veto legislation, to collectively veto Member State applications, to run for a ministerial or executive position in elections and to collectively call an election after a collective vote-of-no-confidence is made to the executive.

[6.0] FORUM CONDUCT

[6.1] All registered members are required to follow all of the rules set out in the forum rules available on the forums or alternatively from an administrator.
[6.2] The forum rules are an extension of Section 6.0 of this constitution and breaking them is a violation of the constitution.
[6.3]The modification and making of exceptions, amendments and clauses to the forum rules is the sole responsibilty of the Department of Administrators and the Executive.

[7.0] ALLIANCE COMMITTEE MEETINGS AND SUMMITS
[8.0] MISCELLANEOUS

[9.0] SIGNATORIES

[9.1] The Constitution and the judiciary of the Alliance of Independent Nations, along with the original signatories assume all new members of the Alliance – both Associate and Full Members to be automatic signatories and will expect ratification of all sections of the constitution by the time initial applications are approved.
[9.2] Observer nations are non-automatic signatories of the constitution but may adopt it if they so wish.
[9.3] All Observer and Social Members are expected to abide by sections 4 and 6 of the constitution – whether signatories or not.