Constitutional Convention

To put in effect the reforms praised by both Atlantica (the Founder) and Topsail Empire (the WA Delegate and now Associate Justice) - this thread will initiate the creation of new Constitution for the period of the next year. Below is the exact wording of the proposed idea.

"I would also propose a re-write of the constitution. I believe that this should be done annually so that it accurately models the realities of the region. Any rewrites would not be done by a single person, but instead would be done as an entire region on the forums, with perhaps drafts showing up on the rmb. It would be done as part of a constitutional convention, in which all citizens would be allowed to participate."

As such, all citizens can participate in this convention. All drafts will be posted on a separate 'Drafts' thread as well as here, and possibly on the rmb - to promote a more streamlined approach to the drafting and to the flow of ideas. If either everyone seems to have reached a consensus, or a stalemate, the Chief Justice (or one of his associates) will call a vote. The new constitution will only pass into law if a 75% majority of voters is reached.

Please post any ideas you have with regards to the new constitution below.

All citizens* have freedom of speech.

*Citizen is defined as a nation which currently resides in Strategos Prime AND is a registered member of the offsite forums.
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To be a registered voter you must be a citizen (defined above)

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In a court of law all citizens are innocent until proven guilty.

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I would actually disagree with your first point. ALL nations, regardless of citizenship, should have freedom of speech (within NS site rules).

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Supreme Court of Strategos Prime which shall consist of 2 Associate Justices and 1 Chief Justice.

The WA Power shall be vested in a WA delegate of the Strategos Prime. He shall hold his Office during the Term of 1 month, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, with a simple majority vote. Candidates must be a citizen of Strategos Prime, and must be approved by either the Supreme Court OR a 2/3 vote.

The Supreme Court shall be Commanders in Chief of the Army of Strategos Prime, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of Strategos Prime; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. The Supreme Court is responsible for appointing all non-elected positions, impeaching the WA delegate, and court cases.

A court case can not be brought up after a verdict of innocent is made, unless new evidence comes to light. However in cases of banjection the accused may appeal the courts decision no more than 2 times.

The Empire of Reid* wrote:The WA Power shall be vested in a WA delegate of the Strategos Prime. He shall hold his Office during the Term of 1 month, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, with a simple majority vote. Candidates must be a citizen of Strategos Prime, and must be approved by either the Supreme Court OR a 2/3 vote.

The delegate has a 4 month term, and the Vice President that you speak of we already have in the form of the Vice Delegate which we elect every election.

Topsail Empire wrote:
The delegate has a 4 month term, and the Vice President that you speak of we already have in the form of the Vice Delegate which we elect every election.

This is the new constitution...

It is not a new constitution, just a modification of the current one.

and a 1 month term is far too short for delegate, as it take about 1-2 weeks to accumulate enough endorsements to become delegate, meaning that you would only be the real delegate for 2 weeks. 4 months is a reasonable term for delegate.

Topsail Empire wrote:and a 1 month term is far too short for delegate, as it take about 1-2 weeks to accumulate enough endorsements to become delegate, meaning that you would only be the real delegate for 2 weeks. 4 months is a reasonable term for delegate.

these are my ideas. You can write your own...

Okay. I propose that the government positions will stay the same as they always have been, except the positions would be renamed. The WA Delegate would be changed to "President" and the Vice Delegate would be changed to "Vice President".

Topsail Empire wrote:It is not a new constitution, just a modification of the current one.

Yes - but if people want a completely new one, they can debate for that.

The Empire of Reid* wrote:All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Supreme Court of Strategos Prime which shall consist of 2 Associate Justices and 1 Chief Justice.

The plan was to have those powers limited to the SPCA - but with Dotaria's ideas, that would include all registered voters - including the justices.

The Empire of Reid* wrote:The Supreme Court is responsible for appointing all non-elected positions, impeaching the WA delegate, and court cases.

Uh.... no.

Too much power to the court, I agree.

I like Fiji's idea on the constitution, as we need to have a congress to pass our laws. I feel, since we are all nations here of a region and not just sattelites of a bigger whole, I think we should run our congress like the WA, and create resolutions of our own. It would give us practice for the WA and it would also be a more efficient way to make our laws.

The Ministers though... We need ministers. Ministers focus on certain parts of the region that the government doesn't necessarily need to get involve in, so I support a bicameral government. One for our laws, and one for the various other activities we engage in for our region, hence the ministers.

What we do is we keep the current government and how it is DOING, not the rules, how its doing things right now. They will have NO power over how the region is run, they receive orders from the "real" government (like the two security council ministers, me and Normandy, would attack a region if we were ordered to) but otherwise serve their terms for their jobs.

This doesn't mean they're ousted from the SP Congress. Every nation who is a registered citizen should be allowed one vote in Congress like a confederacy. Our leader of the true government, as in a president of some sorts, should be elected like the Brits, a Prime Minister in Parliament is the acting Executive person for the government with the rest of Parliament telling him what they want or to do. Any objections?

Dotaria wrote:Too much power to the court, I agree.

I like Fiji's idea on the constitution, as we need to have a congress to pass our laws. I feel, since we are all nations here of a region and not just sattelites of a bigger whole, I think we should run our congress like the WA, and create resolutions of our own. It would give us practice for the WA and it would also be a more efficient way to make our laws.

The Ministers though... We need ministers. Ministers focus on certain parts of the region that the government doesn't necessarily need to get involve in, so I support a bicameral government. One for our laws, and one for the various other activities we engage in for our region, hence the ministers.

What we do is we keep the current government and how it is DOING, not the rules, how its doing things right now. They will have NO power over how the region is run, they receive orders from the "real" government (like the two security council ministers, me and Normandy, would attack a region if we were ordered to) but otherwise serve their terms for their jobs.

This doesn't mean they're ousted from the SP Congress. Every nation who is a registered citizen should be allowed one vote in Congress like a confederacy. Our leader of the true government, as in a president of some sorts, should be elected like the Brits, a Prime Minister in Parliament is the acting Executive person for the government with the rest of Parliament telling him what they want or to do. Any objections?

I like that. I think the 'Prime Minister/WAD should be given some power to lead the region in new directions - especially if the 'parliament' is inactive. There should also be some power reserved to each of the ministers to have some independency. But besides that, it sounds good, and has my support.