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| QUOTE | Charter of The South Pacific, March 2008.
Preamble
As it was in the beginning, the Charter of The South Pacific was created by who originally shaped our region and, even with the majority of them gone now, we shall keep faith in their ideals. We, the nations of The South Pacific, hereby resolve to establish a federation of nations in order to preserve and protect the freedom, prosperity, security, and well being of our region as a whole and its individual states.
Accordingly, through the representatives of our respective governments, it has been agreed to the present the Charter of The South Pacific and do hereby establish an organization to be known as the Coalition of The South Pacific.
Chapter I.
Membership
Article 1 - Requirements
All membership is voluntary. All nations interested in joining the Coalition of The South Pacific must fulfill the following requirements.
1. Call The South Pacific region their home
2. Be dedicated to preserve and protect the freedom, prosperity, security, and well being of our region as a whole and its individual states.
Article 2 - Regulations
All members of the Coalition of The South Pacific must accept the following regulations:
1. All members, in order to ensure to all of them the rights and benefits resulting from membership, shall fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present charter.
2. All members shall refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state or region in a manner inconsistent with the policies of the Coalition of The South Pacific.
3. All members shall give its assistance to the Coalition of The South Pacific in any action it takes in accordance with the present charter
4. All members shall refrain from giving assistance to any state or region against which the Coalition of The South Pacific is taking preventive or enforcement action.
Chapter II.
Expulsion
Article 3 - Reasons for Expulsion
Any nation may be expelled from the organization and/or the region according to the methods outlined in Article 4 if guilty of the following:
1. In violation of the regulations in Article 2.
2. Plans to purposely violate regulations in Article 2 in the future.
3. Violating any of the rules in the Code of Laws for the region.
4. Violating any of the rules of NationStates as written in the Terms & Conditions of Use, Nationstates One Stop Rules Shop and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) when interacting on the regional message board of The South Pacific and when corresponding with other citizens of the South Pacific via telegram.
5. Violating the Invisionfree Terms of Use when interacting on the Invisionfree forums
Article 4 - Power of Expulsion
The Delegate may not expel nations without the consent of the nations of the region. The exact methods for gaining the consent of the nations of the region shall be written in the Code of Laws.
Article 5 - Treason
1. Treason against The South Pacific shall consist only in levying war against them, in adhering to their enemies, conducting any violation of allegiance toward The South Pacific, especially the betrayal of the region through the waging of war, and/or consciously and purposely giving them aid and comfort to such enemies, foreign or domestic, in violation of Chapter I, Article 2, of the Charter.
2. Such an offence committed by any Citizen-Nation of The South Pacific, or one or more Subdivisions of such Citizen-Nation, shall result, upon conviction in a trial in accordance with Chapter IV of the Charter, in the immediate banishment of that Citizen-Nation, and all their Subdivisions from The South Pacific offsite forums, as well as ejection from The South Pacific region, into the Rejected Realms.
3. By "Subdivision," this is referring to political subdivisions of The South Pacific nations, such as states, provinces, or even colonies.
4. This provision shall be enforced by The South Pacific Assembly through appropriate legislation, as needed.
Chapter III.
The Code of Laws
Article 6 - Legislative Power
The Legislature
1. The South Pacific will be governed by a Code of Laws that will detail the rules and regulations of the Region of The South Pacific.
2. All nations of The South Pacific may serve as legislators in the Assembly of the South Pacific, through registration on the offsite forum of The South Pacific.
3. The Minister of the Region will act as Chair of the Assembly. The Chair of the Assembly is responsible for the administration of all aspects of the drafting, debate, and passage of laws.
4. Any nation may propose a bill.
5. A draft bill is discussed in the Assembly, the discussion being lead by the Chair of the Assembly. The discussion time may be not longer than 7 (seven) days.
6. After the discussion period is over, as indicated by the Chair of the Assembly, the nation who submitted the original proposal shall write the final draft of a bill. The nation may request assistance for this task, but must approve of the final draft and submit it to the Assembly in person, within 72 (seventy two) hours after closure of the discussion.
7. The Department of Justice will promptly examine the final draft of a bill for consistency with the Charter and address any concerns as soon as possible.
8. If a bill is found to be consistent with the Charter it may be debated during a Second Debate period of three days; during this time debate on the bill continues but no amendments can be made.
9. Following the Second Debate period on the bill, the Chair of the Assembly will close the debate and immediately open a poll in the voting chamber of the Assembly, following the guidelines below:
a. The poll will offer nations the choice to vote yes or no.
b. All citizens of The South Pacific may vote.
c. The ballot must specify the full name of the bill, the complete contents of the bill and the opening and closing dates and times for the vote.
d. Voting will continue for 7 (seven) days.
10. A bill becomes law if it receives the support of 60% (sixty) or more of those who voted and if a quorum of fourteen votes is met. A bill that receives the support of less than 60% (sixty) of those who voted, is defeated.
11. Once a bill has become law, it will be published in the Code of Laws by the Minister of the Region.
12. Concerns over the legality of any aspect of the process described in Article 6 must be addressed to the Minister of Justice.
Chapter IV
Trials
Article 7 - Judiciary
1. Trials may be initiated following alleged violations of the Charter or the laws of the region by any nation or region.
2. Allegations of violations may be lodged by any nation or Government official against any other nation; allegations must be lodged with the Ministry of Justice.
3. The Minister of Justice shall be responsible in all respects for the processing of the allegation. If an allegation is lodged against the Minister of Justice, the Delegate of the Region shall be responsible for the processing.
4. The Minister of Justice must call for evidence from the nation lodging the allegation during a consultation period that must not last more than 3 (three) days.
5. The Minister of Justice must publicly state the reason for their decision whether or not to proceed to a trial within the three day period specified under Article 7.4, with their decision based on the Charter and the laws of The South Pacific.
6. If the Minister of Justice decides against proceeding to a trial the same allegation may be resubmitted for examination under the terms of Article 7, 4-5; if the same decision is reached no further appeals are possible.
7. If the Minister of Justice decides to proceed to a trial the charges must be publicly stated, and the nations or regions charged clearly identified.
8. The Ministry of Justice shall assign a Prosecutor (which may be the nation lodging the violation, but never the Minister of Justice), and the defendant(s) may assign a Defender (which may be (a) defendant), or be assigned one by the Ministry of Justice if the defendant(s) refuses to organize the own defense.
9. No Defender may be a Government official.
10. The Minister of Justice must select 3 (three) nations to serve as jurors, from a pre-existing pool maintained by the Ministry of Justice.
11. The Prosecutor and the Defender may reject any nominated juror, but must notify the Minister of Justice why a nominated juror was rejected and such grounds must be accepted as reasonable by the Minister.
12. If the pool of available jurors is exhausted without 3 (three) jurors being accepted by both Prosecutor and Defender the case will be heard by the Delegate, even if the Delegate is already holding the proceedings.
13a. The trial will begin with 3 (three) days for the Prosecution to make their case, 3 (three) days for the Defense to make their case, and then 3 (three) days in which closing arguments can be made by both Prosecutor and Defender. The Defender always gets the last word.
b. If the Prosecution fails to attend during these 3 (three) days, the trial will be cancelled and the accused aquitted of all charges.
c. If the Defense fails to show up during these 3 (three) days, a new Defender will be appointed by the Minister of Justice
14. The jury or the Delegate will judge only the charges presented by the Minister of Justice.
15. Following closing arguments the jury or the Delegate has 7 (seven) days to reach a verdict.
16. A verdict is reached when at least 2 (two) of the 3 (three) jurors reach agreement, or when the Delegate reaches a decision.
17. The verdict must be immediately announced to the Assembly.
18. Verdicts must be announced giving only the charges laid, the parties involved, whether those parties are guilty or not guilty, any punishments in the event of a guilty verdict, and who is responsible for carrying out such punishments.
19. If a verdict is not reached by a jury, for whatever reason, within the 3 (three) day period, then a mistrial will be declared and the Minister of Justice must re-examine the evidence, as specified in Article 7.5, and decide whether to proceed with a new trial.
20. Any nation found to be seeking to influence the deliberations of the jury or Delegate will be prosecuted, with a maximum penalty of expulsion from The South Pacific.
21. Sentences must be carried out within 3 (three) days of a verdict being rendered, unless the verdict specifies a different timing.
22. Appeals may be lodged by the Defender with the Minister of Justice, but only if evidence is supplied showing the trial was not conducted legally.
23. Appeals will be heard by the Delegate, following the procedures for trial laid out in Article 7, 5-18.
24. Appeals are not possible in a trial heard by the Delegate.
Chapter V.
Elections and Elected Officials
Article 8 - Duties of all Elected Officials
The Charter of the Coalition of The South Pacific calls for five (5) separate and distinct Ministries represented and run by member nations of the South Pacific. The Minister of the Ministry must be a member nation of the South Pacific. They need not be a UN member; however it is recommended. They must work only for the benefit of The South Pacific. They must pledge fealty to the office not the delegate.
Article 9 - Terms of Office
The terms of service for elected officials of the South Pacific, save the delegate, shall be threee (3) months.
Article 10 - Elections Timing
Elections shall be held on the first Saturday, following the 20th of every third month. During elections, providing there is no one interested in any of the positions, the Delegate shall appoint someone for that particular term.
Article 11 - Special Elections
When a new Delegate takes office, the Delegate may call for new elections. Providing this is the case, the elections will be held on the next Saturday and will occur on the first Saturday, after that date of every third month after that.
Article 12 - Impeachment
1. Any Cabinet member can be impeached for gross violation of the Charter or for gross misconduct.
2. Where a call for impeachment has been received it will be processed under Chapter IV, Art. 7 of the Charter.
a. Exceptions to the processes of Chapter IV, Article. 7 are that the Delegate may not judge in a trial for impeachment; if a jury cannot be assembled the impeachment trial will end. The Delegate shall carry the proceedings in case the Minister of Justice is subject to an impeachment trial.
3. If a guilty verdict is reached the Cabinet, excluding the subject of the impeachment proceedings, must decide on a punishment.
a. The punishment must at minimum result in the subject of the impeachment proceedings being relieved of their responsibilities.
b. The punishment may include, in addition to the above, the application of 1 (one) to 3 (three) Warnings, a temporary or permanent ban on standing for office, and temporary or permanent expulsion from The South Pacific.
c. If, 3 (three) days after the jury has rendered its verdict, no agreement has been reached by the Cabinet concerning punishments, then Article 12.3a shall be applied automatically.
4. Any nation found to be seeking to influence the deliberations of the jury or Delegate will be charged for violating the Charter, with a maximum penalty of expulsion from The South Pacific.
5. No appeals are possible to an impeachment process.
Article 13 - Responsibilities and Authority of the Delegate
1. Delegate’s power is only binding as long as they hold the Delegate position. All Ministries and official arms of the Coalition bow to the will of the office of Delegate, not the individual nations wielding the power.
2. Delegate's cannot surrender the sovereignty of the region to any group or alliance without approval from the region in form of a Cabinet vote.
3. Delegate's may act only in the interest of the region with the consent of the region. Expulsion may only take place as outlined above. The Delegate must follow the Charter completely.
4. Delegate's shall be informed of all information concerning the region by the Cabinet immediately.
Article 14 - Responsibilities of the Prime Minister
1. The Prime Minister shall carry out all duties of the Delegate in the absence of the Delegate and the appointed Deputy Delegate.
2. The Prime Minister shall moderate and submit all regional suggestions and amendments to the Charter, which are not to be codified in the Code of Laws, to the Cabinet and Delegate for approval, and then to the nations of the South Pacific for a vote as outlined elsewhere.
Article 15 - Responsibilities and authority of the Ministry of the Region
1. The Ministry of the Region shall work to maintain, protect and preserve the freedom, prosperity, security, and well being of our region as a whole and its individual states.
2. This Ministry shall work for the betterment of the region through seeking stability and all that is fair and good.
Article 16 - Responsibilities and authority of the Ministry of Security
1. The Ministry of Security shall take the necessary and appropriate steps to maintain the security of the region.
a. The Ministry of Security shall raise an army to protect the region and it individual states.
b. The Ministry of Security shall form a network in order to find out vital information to protect the region.
2. All information acquired through the Ministry shall be passed immediately to the Delegate and Prime Minister as well as those Cabinet members as needed.
3. The Ministry shall provide information to the Ministry of Justice during hearings.
4. This Ministry shall work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to form strategic alliances with other regions for protection purposes only
Article 17 - Responsibilities and authority of the Ministry of Justice
1. The Ministry of Justice shall be responsible for all judiciary activities in the region. It can hold hearings on all things relating to the security of the region and ejection from the region.
2. If a nation feels it was ejected from the region and it should not have been they may file a claim with the Ministry of Justice. Providing the Justice finds in favor of the plaintiff, the Delegate will then un-ban the nation in order to allow them to return to the region.
3. This Ministry shall be responsible for the maintenance of the Code of Laws (archiving, interpreting, etc.).
Article 18 - Responsibilities and authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall be responsible for any relations between the region and any foreign region.
2. It shall be the job of this Ministry to negotiate treaties, alliances and the like, while working with the Ministry of Defense.
3. This Ministry can not form alliances without the consent of the nations of The South Pacific by vote or consensus.
Chapter VI.
Amendments to the Charter
Article 19 – Proposals
This charter may be amended as necessary. Amendments may be proposed by any member state, or by the government of The South Pacific.
Article 20 – Submitting A Proposal
Amendments proposed must be submitted to the Cabinet of The South Pacific so that it may inform all other member states, through all available means of mass communication available to the Cabinet.
Article 21 – Voting
Voting will last for one month. Amendments are approved by a 50% plus 1 (one)affirmative vote of all participating states.
Article 22 – Special Circumstances
Charter amendments will be accepted at a more rapid pace during special, well-advertised events such as the Great Assembly.
Chapter VII.
Conflict within the Written Law
Article 23 - Supremacy of the Charter
1. The law is defined as the Code of Laws of the South Pacific along with any regulations made by organizations of the South Pacific.
2. This Charter shall carry supremacy over any other law of the South Pacific.
3. If a law or agreement of the South Pacific shall be found to be completely or partially in conflict with the Charter, the Ministry of Justice shall have the duty of declaring such a law or agreement void, removing it from the record, and publicly disclosing such action along with the reasons thereof.
Article 24 – Procedure
1. Any nation may initiate the process of Judicial Review. To do so, a nation must forward to the Ministry of Justice their complaint specifying the law or agreement they are challenging along with the specific section of the Charter, Law, or Agreement they believe voids the law or agreement which they are challenging.
2. A nation has the right to be assisted by at most one co-counsel for the review process.
3. The Ministry of Justice, having reviewed such complaint, shall ask for a response from the Chair of the Assembly if the complaint is about a law, or the appropriate organization if the complaint is about a regulation of this organization.
4. The Ministry of Justice shall determine if the complaint shall have legal merit. If the ministry determine not, the complaint shall be dropped.
5. It shall be presumed that a complaint shall have legal standing. If the Ministry shall determine not, there must be clear and overwhelming evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the complaint has no legal standing.
6. If the Ministry of Justice determines that the complaint shall have reasonable standing a constitutional tribunal shall commence.
7. The constitutional tribunal shall always consist of three members: the Minister of Justice, the Delegate and the head admin of the forum on which the Assembly of the South Pacific gathers. If any member of the constitutional tribunal is not available or if there is overlap in the positions, they shall be replaced by their vice.
8. The constitutional tribunal shall be presided over by the Minister of Justice, or the Minister's replacement.
9. After the tribunal is called to order by the presiding officer, it shall have 72 hours to decide on the complaint.
10. If the verdict is granted, the conflicting law shall be declared null and void according to art. 24
11. Decisions of the constitutional tribunal are final and binding, and may not be appealed.
12. A review of the same matter may not be called until at least one year has passed since the publishing of the last verdict.
13. For the sake of fair and just procedure, the challenged law, agreement, or regulation, shall be considered inoperative during the review process. |
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Charter of The South Pacific, March 2008
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