PASSED: Constitution Review Part 4 of 10 - ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

[4.11] When the President __ absent for more than 5 days, the Vice-President will be in charge of the executive with the Chief Justice as his deputy until the President returns (if the absence is scheduled with the Vice President) or an election is called.

Luug wrote:Sounds alright to me, but:

[4.11] When the President __ absent for more than 5 days, the Vice-President will be in charge of the executive with the Chief Justice as his deputy until the President returns (if the absence is scheduled with the Vice President) or an election is called.

There's a typo and I think there should be a clause that tells who can call the election of a new president/vice president after their (possibly unannounced) absence, and after what time can they do that.

Code:

[4.11] When the President is absent for more than 5 days, without providing some form of written announcement (containing details of the length and nature of the absence), the Vice-President will take the role of President, with the Chief Justice as his deputy, and consult with the ministerial cabinet on when elections should be called and any necessary clauses surronding the absent President's return.

Code:

[4.11.2] This shall also apply if the president is scheduled to be absent for 8 days or more, with no need for an election

Julien wrote:Man, this is long, it took me 10 minutes to read it all carefully! I agree with it, but I don't really understand the Class A, B & C bills thing...

Jo wrote:I like it its very nicely worded Neil... I'll have to read it again to see if its water tight..
i like the Class A,B,C as well.

MiguelLeal wrote:What is the class A, B, C type?

Code:

[i]ABSENCE OF THE PRESIDENT[/i]
[4.11] The President [b]should[b] notify the community prior of absences taking longer than 5 days.
[4.11.1] If the President is absent for more than 5 days, the Vice-President will take the role of President, with the Chief Justice as his deputy.
[4.11.2] In such an event, a new Chief Justice must be appointed by the Department of Administrators.
[4.11.3] If the Presidents absence lasts over 8 days, announced or not, the Department of Administrators have the right the call the election of a new President after the 8th day.


Luug wrote:
I hope this picture helps understand the institutional bodies in the Alliance. Black arrows depict the election process and red arrows the legislative process.

Code:

[i]ABSENCE OF THE PRESIDENT[/i]
[4.11] The President [b]should[b] notify the community prior of absences taking longer than 5 days.
[4.11.1] If the President is absent for more than 5 days, the Vice-President will take the role of President, with the Chief Justice as his deputy.
[4.11.2] In such an event, a new Chief Justice must be appointed by the Department of Administrators.
[4.11.3] If the Presidents absence lasts over 8 days, announced or not, the Department of Administrators have the right the call the election of a new President after the 8th day.


I would also prefer to change the names of Law Classes A/B/C to Regulation / Decision / Policy and introduce Clause as legislative acts.

A regulation shall have general application. It shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member Nations.
-Examples: Constitution
A decision shall be binding in its entirety upon those to whom it is addressed.
-Examples: Observers can not propose regulations or decisions.
A clause affects either already existing regulation or already existing decision but does not reverse it.
Policies shall have no binding force but are encouraged in the Alliance.
-Examples: Custom terrain mods, role-playing.

I would leave out treaties from the constitution, or just add that member nations may create lateral treaties as long as they do not interfere with the Regulations and are seen appropriate by the Senate.

Code:


[4.11] The President must notify the community prior of absences taking longer than 3 days.
[4.11.1] If the President is scheduled to be absent for more than 5 days, the Vice-President will run the executive until their return.
[4.11.2] 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.
[4.11.3] 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 cheif justice.


Thomas wrote:When you say notify the community, is that through a thread or something? Because I've been away since Sunday, and told you Neil (can't remember if I told Daniel, I don't think I caught him at the weekend), so would that count, because you are a member and would be able to say that I was gone for three days?
I think the way that the President notifies people needs a bit of clarification.

Thomas wrote:
On the chart, Observers and Ambassadors don't really get to propose anything in the Leg.Ass. so they might need to be excluded from that map.

Code:

[4.5] THE LEGISLATIVE ASSELMBLY consists of Member, Associate and Observer states of the union along with any Ambassadorial/Social member invited to debate or give evidence by a Member state.

Code:

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

[4.11.1] The EXECUTIVE consists of the President and his Vice-President.
[4.11.2] Only Full Members of the Alliance may run for Executive offices.
[4.11.3] The President and Vice-President are elected democratically by the SENATE.

[4.12.1] The President is head of the executive department but the executive should function as a diarchy in all but ceremonial occasions.
[4.12.2] 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.
[4.12.3] The EXECUTIVE will have all powers and privileges as administrators and the President will function as the Chief-Administrator.
[4.12.4] Unless a member of the EXECUTIVE is designated a permanent administrator, his administrative powers will be removed upon losing an election or resignation from office.

[4.13.1] The President must notify the community prior of absences taking longer than 3 days.
[4.13.2] If the President is scheduled to be absent for more than 5 days, the Vice-President will run the executive until their return.
[4.13.3] 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.
[4.13.4] 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 cheif justice.

[4.14.1] 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.
[4.14.2] 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.
[4.14.3] If a member raises Lack of Confidence (LOC) in the Executive, all ‘Full’ 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.
[4.14.4] Executive members surrendering office may re-run in the subsequent election.
[4.14.5] 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.

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

[4.20.1] THE DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATORS (DoA) is an appointed group of trusted members consisting of the Union Founder, the Executive and the Appointed Administrators and the Forum Managers.
[4.20.2] The primary tasks of the DoA are maintaining the forums and ensuring the constitution is upheld by all members.

[4.21.1] There is no limit to the number of Appointed Administrators, but Department of Administrators will only appoint Administrators on a needs basis in proportion to the total amount of members, and with the Executives consent.
[4.21.2] 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.
[4.21.3] The Appointed Administrators are currently: Thomas, Daniel and Liberator444 (Geoff).
[4.21.4] The Executive must ensure section 4.21.3 remains up to date with the current Appointed Administrators.

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

[4.23] 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.

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

[4.40.1] THE LEGISLATIVE ASSELMBLY consists of Member, Associate and Observer states of the union.
[4.40.2] Any Ambassadorial/Social member may be invited by the ___ to debate a bill in the Legislative Assembly.

[4.41.1] 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.
[4.41.2] All bills must be discussed in the Legislative Assembly before they can be voted upon in the Senate.

[4.42.1] 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.
[4.42.2] 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.
[4.42.3] 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.

[4.51.1] 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.
[4.51.2] Class A bills apply to all members of the union if passed and become union law.
[4.51.3] 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.

[4.52.1] 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.
[4.52.2] Class B bills apply to all members of the union if passed and become union law.
[4.52.3] Examples of a Class B bill include laws that encourage reform of sovereign legal systems, modify sovereign government policy on an issue that is covered by a union ministry (such as Transportation or Health) and those that encourage change in sovereign policy on security, nationality, military, taxation or foreign affairs.

[4.53.1] 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.
[4.53.2] 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.
[4.53.3] Examples of a Class C Bill include laws that require change of exclusively sovereign issues, minor bills, military alliances and other such areas that do not affect/involve all nations of the union as a whole. Also treaties are to be treated as a Class C Bill.

[4.54.1] 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.
[4.54.2] The executive must also set a date or an event that will trigger the lapse of the motion.
[4.54.3] Motions are emergency or temporary laws that do not need to enter the legislative assembly.
[4.54.4] 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.

[4.60.1] 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.
[4.60.2] Ministers are elected from the Members of the Union.
[4.60.3] 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.
[4.60.4] The Ministers should show competency to
[4.61] The Ministerial Cabinet is to be reformed and given guidance and powers in the near future.

Jo wrote:I support this section but feel a sub-clause should be added, possibly within this section or maybe in the Misc section in regards to motions of no confidence. I believe that motions of no confidence should only be brought if there are serious concerns. As a way to discourage the misuse of a motion of no confidence i believe that there should be a punishment associated to the use of a frivolous no confidence motions and that the motion would need a seconder. If a no confidence motion fails to pass the senate then the member who proposed the motion and the seconder would receive a 1 month ban from the Alliance, or a demotion.

Jo wrote:sorry for the double post but i believe the senate should only vote on bills, proposals, motions originating from the Legislative Assembly which have passed a vote in the Legislative Assembly. It should only introduce motions of no confidence.

Jo wrote:I support this section but feel a sub-clause should be added, possibly within this section or maybe in the Misc section in regards to motions of no confidence. I believe that motions of no confidence should only be brought if there are serious concerns. As a way to discourage the misuse of a motion of no confidence i believe that there should be a punishment associated to the use of a frivolous no confidence motions and that the motion would need a seconder. If a no confidence motion fails to pass the senate then the member who proposed the motion and the seconder would receive a 1 month ban from the Alliance, or a demotion.

Amended Section 4.0 wrote:
[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.