Post Archive
Region: The Thaecian Senate
Aye
Abstain
Aye
Thaecian Representation in the Regions Assembly Act - S.B. 014 - Passed
Author: Cerdenia
Sponsor: Cerdenia
As Amended By: Levantx
[spoiler=Preamble]Noticing the recent passage of "The Charter Of The Regions Assembly" in the Senate and House of Commons of Thaecia, this bill seeks to establish official procedures to determine the selection of Thaecia's representative to the Regions Assembly, which defines in Article 3 Subsection 1 of it's charter that each individual region has the right to a permanent representative to it's General Assembly.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article I: Selection of the Representative]
Section I
The Representative of Thaecia to the Regions Assembly (which shall be referred to as RA Representative) shall be selected by the Foreign Affairs Minister, which shall occur alongside the election of a Prime Minister and thus the inauguration of a new Regional Government. The RA Representative shall finally be confirmed by a majority of voting citizens at a public vote with a duration of 3 days. The Foreign Affairs Minister shall be obliged to propose an RA Representative within 15 days into his term, this obligation may be extended by 5 days should a nomination fail. The Foreign Affairs Minister shall not be allowed to nominate the same person again if the person's nomination fails the public vote.
Section II
The Foreign Affairs Minister shall reserve the authority to propose the dismissal of the RA Representative, which must again be confirmed by a majority of voting citizens at a public vote with a duration of 3 days. If an RA Representative is dismissed, the Foreign Affairs Minister shall be obliged to propose a new RA Representative within 10 days of the dismissal of the former represenative, this obligation may be extended by 5 days should a nomination fail. The Foreign Affairs Minister shall not be allowed to nominate the same person again if the person's nomination fails the public vote.
Section III
Should a RA Representative resign, the same procedures set in Article I Section II regarding the proposal of a new replacement must be followed by the Foreign Affairs minister.
Section IV
For the sake of this bill, the rules set out in the Position Restrictions Act (L.R. 004), shall not be applied to the RA Representative. Any individual in government shall be allowed to occupy this position without facing any restrictions.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article II: Representative's Duties]
Section I
The RA Representative shall have the duty of representing Thaecia in the Regions Assembly's General Assembly, through the means of voting on resolutions and proposing resolutions if necessary, in accordance with Article III of the Regions Assembly Charter
Section II
The RA Representative shall be encouraged to communicate with the Thaecian Government in order to cast his votes based on what will have greater benefit to the region.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article III: Representative's Term]
Section I
The RA Representative shall serve for the duration of the government in which he/she was nominated. After the start of a new government the Foreign Affairs Minister shall have to nominate a new representative or put the current representative up for a re-confirmation vote, following the procedures set out in Article I for the nomination of RA Representatives.
Section II
An RA Representative shall not be automatically removed from office should a Foreign Affairs Minister resign or be impeached, unless dismissed by the Foreign Affairs Minister under the procedures set out in Article I.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article IV: Impeachments]
The RA Representative shall be considered a government official, and so shall be subject to any current or future impeachment procedures[/spoiler]______________________________________________________________________________________
Aye: Cerdenia (PPT), Levantx (TPU), Albianis (TPU), Greater Conexus (TSP) [4]
Nay: [0]
Abstain: Titanne (TPU) [1]
______________________________________________________________________________________
With 4 ayes and 1 abstain, S.B. 014 hereby passes.
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Thaecia Legal Code - H.B. 008 - Debating
Author: West Aldbund
Sponsor: West Aldbund
As amended by: Saint Ryvern, Fishergate
[spoiler=Preamble]
The following actions are hereby declared illegal and punishable under the law. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article I - Bribery]
Bribes will be defined as goods or services offered to officeholders, candidates or voters to alter their course of action so as to benefit the person offering the bribe in such a way as to contravene the democracy of the region. Both offering and accepting bribes are to be considered offences under this law.
Example: offering 1000 stamps to the Justice Minister so that they do not prosecute someone. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article II - Doxxing]
Doxxing is defined as publishing any personal information of a citizen (name, origin etc), without consent. The intention of gaining something from doxxing is not necessary for the act to be considered a crime.
Example: posting the address of a citizen on the RMB. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article III - Blackmail]
Threatening to commit doxxing or release anything that may harm a citizen's reputation, in order to win something will be defined as Blackmail.
Example: I will post where you come from on the RMB if you don't vote for me [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article IV - Fraud]
Posing as someone else (creating puppets, changing flags etc) with the intent of gaining goods or services is defined as Fraud.
Example: creating a puppet with name, flag and motto similar to the President's, and claiming to represent Thaecia in another region. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article V - Electoral Fraud]
Electoral fraud will be defined as creating puppets to vote for a specific candidate, or in any way attempting to hinder the democratic process of the region. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article VI - Harassment]
Harassment will be defined as sending messages or telegrams or generally intentionally behaving to a citizen in a way that offends or harms their personality. [/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article VII - Conspiracy]
Conspiracy to commit a crime will be defined as any agreement made by two or more persons to commit a crime, as defined by the laws of the region, at some point in the future.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article VIII - Incitement]
Incitement to commit a crime will be defined as any action carried out by a group or individual which actively encourages another group or individual to commit a crime, as defined by the laws of the region.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article IX - Preventing the Course of Justice]
Preverting the course of justice will be defined as any action made by a group or individual that aims to prevent Justice from being served unto themselves or another party under the laws of the region.
Example: fabricating or destroying evidence or threatening a witness, judge, or juror.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article X - Libel]
Publishing (by posting on the RMB or Discord or other means) false information about a citizen, with the intention of harming their reputation. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article - XI Treason]
Treason is defined as acting in anyway that undermines regional interests or safety. In addition, leaking classified government information will count as treason
Example: A (a Thaecian citizen) collaborates with a raiding region to assist them in raiding Thaecia. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article XII - Prosecution]
The Justice Ministry will be responsible for prosecuting the criminal offenses listed in articles IV, V, VII, VIII, IX and XI. Individual citizens may file a civil lawsuit against other citizens for the offenses of articles I, II, III, VI and X, and as well as article IV if the accused has portrayed themselves as the citizen filing the lawsuit. [/spoiler]______________________________________________________________________________________
This bill is now up for debate and as always amendments are welcomed. I will give my opinion on this in a moment, haven't had time to read this specific bill yet and didn't want to keep the Senate waiting, as it appears to be an important one.
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Saint Ryvern, Levantx
Okay my personal opinion: I think this is a good bill, and one which is extremelly important for our justice system to work properly. Glad we haven't had any problems with "crimes" as of yet (with the exception of the incident with the NRL), because we are most certainly going to have problems in the future, and we are going to need this. Plan to vote aye to it, can't see anything which could be changed here.
Levantx, Titanne, West Aldbund
I second that.
Thaecia Legal Code - H.B. 008 - Voting
Author: West Aldbund
Sponsor: West Aldbund
As amended by: Saint Ryvern, Fishergate
[spoiler=Preamble]
The following actions are hereby declared illegal and punishable under the law. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article I - Bribery]
Bribes will be defined as goods or services offered to officeholders, candidates or voters to alter their course of action so as to benefit the person offering the bribe in such a way as to contravene the democracy of the region. Both offering and accepting bribes are to be considered offences under this law.
Example: offering 1000 stamps to the Justice Minister so that they do not prosecute someone. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article II - Doxxing]
Doxxing is defined as publishing any personal information of a citizen (name, origin etc), without consent. The intention of gaining something from doxxing is not necessary for the act to be considered a crime.
Example: posting the address of a citizen on the RMB. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article III - Blackmail]
Threatening to commit doxxing or release anything that may harm a citizen's reputation, in order to win something will be defined as Blackmail.
Example: I will post where you come from on the RMB if you don't vote for me [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article IV - Fraud]
Posing as someone else (creating puppets, changing flags etc) with the intent of gaining goods or services is defined as Fraud.
Example: creating a puppet with name, flag and motto similar to the President's, and claiming to represent Thaecia in another region. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article V - Electoral Fraud]
Electoral fraud will be defined as creating puppets to vote for a specific candidate, or in any way attempting to hinder the democratic process of the region. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article VI - Harassment]
Harassment will be defined as sending messages or telegrams or generally intentionally behaving to a citizen in a way that offends or harms their personality. [/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article VII - Conspiracy]
Conspiracy to commit a crime will be defined as any agreement made by two or more persons to commit a crime, as defined by the laws of the region, at some point in the future.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article VIII - Incitement]
Incitement to commit a crime will be defined as any action carried out by a group or individual which actively encourages another group or individual to commit a crime, as defined by the laws of the region.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article IX - Preventing the Course of Justice]
Preverting the course of justice will be defined as any action made by a group or individual that aims to prevent Justice from being served unto themselves or another party under the laws of the region.
Example: fabricating or destroying evidence or threatening a witness, judge, or juror.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article X - Libel]
Publishing (by posting on the RMB or Discord or other means) false information about a citizen, with the intention of harming their reputation. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article - XI Treason]
Treason is defined as acting in anyway that undermines regional interests or safety. In addition, leaking classified government information will count as treason
Example: A (a Thaecian citizen) collaborates with a raiding region to assist them in raiding Thaecia. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article XII - Prosecution]
The Justice Ministry will be responsible for prosecuting the criminal offenses listed in articles IV, V, VII, VIII, IX and XI. Individual citizens may file a civil lawsuit against other citizens for the offenses of articles I, II, III, VI and X, and as well as article IV if the accused has portrayed themselves as the citizen filing the lawsuit. [/spoiler]______________________________________________________________________________________
Aye: Cerdenia (PPT) [1]
Nay: [0]
Abstain: [0]
______________________________________________________________________________________
[Spoiler=Senators Yet to Vote (4)]
Levantx (TPU)
Titanne (TPU)
Albianis (TPU)
Greater Conexus (TSP)[/spoiler]
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Titanne, West Aldbund
Aye
Titanne, West Aldbund
Aye
West Aldbund
Aye
Aye
Just to make it clear, I am going to wait before the Speaker of the HoC ends the debate on the current bill before putting the next one to vote, mainly because I want it to be that one due to we having passed too much stuff in the Senate (don't want to flood the HoC with too many bills).
Levantx
Mr. Speaker Cerdenia I agree with your assessment that the Senate is because its relative effectiveness compared to the House is overloading the House is some ways.
I therefore would like to withdraw my Constitutional Amendment from the Docket.
Cerdenia
Thaecia Legal Code - H.B. 008 - Passed
Author: West Aldbund
Sponsor: West Aldbund
As amended by: Saint Ryvern, Fishergate
[spoiler=Preamble]
The following actions are hereby declared illegal and punishable under the law. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article I - Bribery]
Bribes will be defined as goods or services offered to officeholders, candidates or voters to alter their course of action so as to benefit the person offering the bribe in such a way as to contravene the democracy of the region. Both offering and accepting bribes are to be considered offences under this law.
Example: offering 1000 stamps to the Justice Minister so that they do not prosecute someone. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article II - Doxxing]
Doxxing is defined as publishing any personal information of a citizen (name, origin etc), without consent. The intention of gaining something from doxxing is not necessary for the act to be considered a crime.
Example: posting the address of a citizen on the RMB. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article III - Blackmail]
Threatening to commit doxxing or release anything that may harm a citizen's reputation, in order to win something will be defined as Blackmail.
Example: I will post where you come from on the RMB if you don't vote for me [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article IV - Fraud]
Posing as someone else (creating puppets, changing flags etc) with the intent of gaining goods or services is defined as Fraud.
Example: creating a puppet with name, flag and motto similar to the President's, and claiming to represent Thaecia in another region. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article V - Electoral Fraud]
Electoral fraud will be defined as creating puppets to vote for a specific candidate, or in any way attempting to hinder the democratic process of the region. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article VI - Harassment]
Harassment will be defined as sending messages or telegrams or generally intentionally behaving to a citizen in a way that offends or harms their personality. [/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article VII - Conspiracy]
Conspiracy to commit a crime will be defined as any agreement made by two or more persons to commit a crime, as defined by the laws of the region, at some point in the future.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article VIII - Incitement]
Incitement to commit a crime will be defined as any action carried out by a group or individual which actively encourages another group or individual to commit a crime, as defined by the laws of the region.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article IX - Preventing the Course of Justice]
Preverting the course of justice will be defined as any action made by a group or individual that aims to prevent Justice from being served unto themselves or another party under the laws of the region.
Example: fabricating or destroying evidence or threatening a witness, judge, or juror.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article X - Libel]
Publishing (by posting on the RMB or Discord or other means) false information about a citizen, with the intention of harming their reputation. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article - XI Treason]
Treason is defined as acting in anyway that undermines regional interests or safety. In addition, leaking classified government information will count as treason
Example: A (a Thaecian citizen) collaborates with a raiding region to assist them in raiding Thaecia. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article XII - Prosecution]
The Justice Ministry will be responsible for prosecuting the criminal offenses listed in articles IV, V, VII, VIII, IX and XI. Individual citizens may file a civil lawsuit against other citizens for the offenses of articles I, II, III, VI and X, and as well as article IV if the accused has portrayed themselves as the citizen filing the lawsuit. [/spoiler]______________________________________________________________________________________
Aye: Cerdenia (PPT), Levantx (TPU), Titanne (TPU), Albianis (TPU), Greater Conexus (TSP) [5]
Nay: [0]
Abstain: [0]
______________________________________________________________________________________
With 5 ayes, this bill hereby passes unanimously.
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Recall of Elected Representatives Act - H.B. 009 - Debate
Author: Fishergate
Sponsor: Fishergate
Amended by: Rayekka
[Spoiler=Preamble]
To establish a system whereby elected representatives may be recalled from their positions if it is deemed they are failing to effectively carry out the duties and responsibilities attached to their position, hereby enacts the following:[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article I - Initiating a Recall]
The process whereby a Recall is initiated against a member of Congress is to mirror that of any piece of regular legislation. That is, it may be initiated by three members of Congress or it may be initiated by a citizen ensuring it is sponsored by three members of Congress.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article II - Enacting a Recall]
A Recall will be enacted after it has the support of two-thirds of Senators and two-thirds of Members of Parliament.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article III - Following a Recall]
After a Recall has been enacted against a member of Congress the subsequent process takes the following linear pattern:
Section I - the Party of the recalled member is to be given one week from the time the Recall is enacted in which they may present a candidate to replace the recalled member. If the Party does so, the candidate is to replace the recalled member automatically and may serve out the rest of the current term.
Section II - if the Party fails to present a candidate within one week, or if the recalled member does not represent a party, a recall election is to be held.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article IV - Recall Elections]
A Recall Election held in accordance with Article III, Section II of this law is to be open for any and all candidates who would be legally valid to contest a regular Congressional election. The recalled member may stand to recontest their seat if they wish to do so.
Recall Elections are to be held under the jurisdiction of the Electoral Commissioner.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article V - Justifying a Recall]
A Recall may only be enacted against a member of Congress if they are deemed to have broken the laws of Thaecia or of NationStates, repeatedly subverted the official Procedures of their respective chamber, or endured a prolonged period of inactivity.
If the member cannot be found guilty of any of the aforementioned wrongdoings, a Recall may not be enacted against them.[/spoiler]______________________________________________________________________________________
This bill is now up for debate and as always amendments are welcomed. Personal opinion: I like the bill, will help ensure that Congress will always remain active, also helping fix the current problems the HoC is facing with the inactivity of 2 MPs, which puts a lot of pression on the rest of MPs to always be debating.
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Fishergate
I agree completly with the statement of our Speaker that is also why I plan to vote in favour
Titanne, Fishergate
I previously proposed a similar bill, I am all in favor.
Levantx
Recall of Elected Representatives Act - H.B. 009 - Voting
Author: Fishergate
Sponsor: Fishergate
Amended by: Rayekka
[Spoiler=Preamble]
To establish a system whereby elected representatives may be recalled from their positions if it is deemed they are failing to effectively carry out the duties and responsibilities attached to their position, hereby enacts the following:[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article I - Initiating a Recall]
The process whereby a Recall is initiated against a member of Congress is to mirror that of any piece of regular legislation. That is, it may be initiated by three members of Congress or it may be initiated by a citizen ensuring it is sponsored by three members of Congress.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article II - Enacting a Recall]
A Recall will be enacted after it has the support of two-thirds of Senators and two-thirds of Members of Parliament.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article III - Following a Recall]
After a Recall has been enacted against a member of Congress the subsequent process takes the following linear pattern:
Section I - the Party of the recalled member is to be given one week from the time the Recall is enacted in which they may present a candidate to replace the recalled member. If the Party does so, the candidate is to replace the recalled member automatically and may serve out the rest of the current term.
Section II - if the Party fails to present a candidate within one week, or if the recalled member does not represent a party, a recall election is to be held.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article IV - Recall Elections]
A Recall Election held in accordance with Article III, Section II of this law is to be open for any and all candidates who would be legally valid to contest a regular Congressional election. The recalled member may stand to recontest their seat if they wish to do so.
Recall Elections are to be held under the jurisdiction of the Electoral Commissioner.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article V - Justifying a Recall]
A Recall may only be enacted against a member of Congress if they are deemed to have broken the laws of Thaecia or of NationStates, repeatedly subverted the official Procedures of their respective chamber, or endured a prolonged period of inactivity.
If the member cannot be found guilty of any of the aforementioned wrongdoings, a Recall may not be enacted against them.[/spoiler]______________________________________________________________________________________
Aye: Cerdenia (PPT) [1]
Nay: [0]
Abstain: [0]
______________________________________________________________________________________
[Spoiler=Senators Yet to Vote (4)]
Levantx (TPU)
Titanne (TPU)
Albianis (TPU)
Greater Conexus (TSP)[/spoiler]
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
[Spoiler=Senators Yet to Vote (4)]
Levantx (TPU)
Titanne (TPU)
Albianis (TPU)
Greater Conexus (TSP)[/spoiler]
Pinging you guys again since noone seems to have voted yet.
Aye.
Nay
Aye
Recall of Elected Representatives Act - H.B. 009 - Passed
Author: Fishergate
Sponsor: Fishergate
Amended by: Rayekka
[Spoiler=Preamble]
To establish a system whereby elected representatives may be recalled from their positions if it is deemed they are failing to effectively carry out the duties and responsibilities attached to their position, hereby enacts the following:[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article I - Initiating a Recall]
The process whereby a Recall is initiated against a member of Congress is to mirror that of any piece of regular legislation. That is, it may be initiated by three members of Congress or it may be initiated by a citizen ensuring it is sponsored by three members of Congress.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article II - Enacting a Recall]
A Recall will be enacted after it has the support of two-thirds of Senators and two-thirds of Members of Parliament.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article III - Following a Recall]
After a Recall has been enacted against a member of Congress the subsequent process takes the following linear pattern:
Section I - the Party of the recalled member is to be given one week from the time the Recall is enacted in which they may present a candidate to replace the recalled member. If the Party does so, the candidate is to replace the recalled member automatically and may serve out the rest of the current term.
Section II - if the Party fails to present a candidate within one week, or if the recalled member does not represent a party, a recall election is to be held.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article IV - Recall Elections]
A Recall Election held in accordance with Article III, Section II of this law is to be open for any and all candidates who would be legally valid to contest a regular Congressional election. The recalled member may stand to recontest their seat if they wish to do so.
Recall Elections are to be held under the jurisdiction of the Electoral Commissioner.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Article V - Justifying a Recall]
A Recall may only be enacted against a member of Congress if they are deemed to have broken the laws of Thaecia or of NationStates, repeatedly subverted the official Procedures of their respective chamber, or endured a prolonged period of inactivity.
If the member cannot be found guilty of any of the aforementioned wrongdoings, a Recall may not be enacted against them.[/spoiler]______________________________________________________________________________________
Aye: Cerdenia (PPT), Levantx (TPU), Titanne (TPU) [3]
Nay: Greater Conexus (TSP) [1]
Abstain: Albianis (TPU) [1]
______________________________________________________________________________________
With 3 ayes, 1 nay and 1 abstention, this bill hereby passes.
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Fellow Senators, I would just like to notify you all that I will be waiting for the constitution to pass the House before putting any new bills up for debate in order to prevent us from overloading the House, and also because the constitution is the current priority. I am glad that the current senate leadership has been not only extremelly productive, but most importantly and a factor which improved from the last leaderships, it has also been extremelly well organised, and as such I see no point in rushing anything to the HoC while the constitution is priority.
Levantx, Titanne
Ratification of the new Constitution - H.B. 010
Author: Constitutional Convention
Sponsor: West Aldbund
The Full Constitution Draft Can Be Found HERE
______________________________________________________________________________________
As you all probably already know, I am a big supporter of this new constitution and I am hopeful that we will be able to get it through before the next election. Here is why we must get this constitution through:[list]
[*]Will bring necessary electoral reform to prevent us from having issues with too many candidacies and a lack of space in NS polls, while ensuring that independent candidates will still be able to run.
[*]Reformulates citizenship process for non-WA nations in a way which will help uphold Thaecian sovereignty and prevent foreign interventionism.
[*]Establishes a reasonable system to expand the size of congress, taking multiple factors into account rather then simply number of nations in the region.
[*]Creates a system to allow for snap elections to be called, this way fixing issues with possible inactivity.
[*]Will allow for us to finally have a constitution.[/list]
[Spoiler=Senators (5)]
Cerdenia (PPT)
Levantx (TPU)
Titanne (TPU)
Albianis (TPU)
Greater Conexus (TSP)[/spoiler]
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
I do not support the electoral reforms, or the congressional expansion plans, but I'm not sure that I'm allow to amend...
Why you should support congressional expansion system:
We can't really establish a system which takes the number of citizen's into account and allows for the chambers to be expanded based on that number. I say that because we may have like 150 WA nations, but does it really matter if we get 50 votes on one election? Not very viable in my opinion, most citizen's end up not even voting. Another thing is that we can't really use "active citizens", what is the definition of an active citizen? Does this mean the Electoral Commisioner will have to check each citizen and see if they are "active" in order to determine whether the chamber will be expanded or not? Again, not viable in my opinion. We also shouldn't be basing ourselves on votes from previous elections, what if our region has a population boom like the one we are currently having? Not very "up to date" data to expand congress.
The system I proposed (and which passed in our constitutional convention and is now in the proposal) is good because it allows for more factors to be analysed rather then a simply pre-determined system, we can look at number of citizens, activity, regional poll votes, all of that stuff in order to draft a reasonable proposal for the expansion of congress, which unlike pre-made systems, should have less flaws as it will be analysed by citizens as a whole.
Why you should support electoral reform:
Unlike what the populists are saying, this reform isn't undemocratic at all. What it is doing is establishing reasonable requirements in order to prevent people from creating one member political parties in order tu run for HoC/Senate without needing the 5 signatures independents need. Now you may argue why independents need that? It's pretty simple, NS has a limit of 12 options per poll and this was implemented to avoid that from filling up, while ensuring people who have actual support can still run.
This system isn't new at all and is actually used in well know countries such as the United States, here is how the system is described by one american website:
"The rules differ depending on where you live, but in general all you have to do to start a political party is gather enough signatures. In the Explainers home state of New York, you need to get 15,000 voters spread out across the state to sign a petition to have one or more candidates added to the ballot."
Don't believe on the populist claims, this is a normal system used in multiple countries.
i know, but i don't agree.
And here we see why I don't just rush legislation through this chamber like the previous people did. The Senate is supposed to have actual debate, not simple posts agreeing or disagreeing...
Levantx
Colleagues, I have my concerns with article one section IV. The President with the Government can dismantle the Congress and organise new elections??
The Legislature should control the executive not the other way around? I think we need to strengthen that? Can someone explain the relevance of this.
(Possible solution is a referendum to dismantle Parliament, sounds better, otherwise a PM which is elected and has no majority can always ask new elections)
Also I do not see any impeachment procedure towards the executive. Congress should have the ability to impeach the whole cabinet with a vote of no confidence?
Titanne
For exactly these reasons, I plan on voting nay.
Levantx
I am not planning to vote the Constitution down. As I believe this document is bringing also very good other and very important fixes to the current constitution.
I would however would like to see this executive abuse changed? I am sorry that I did not noticed it earlier during the Convention.
I motion Mr. Chairman to instead of debating this constitution only in the senate. We ask the House to organise an extraordinary joint session of both congressional chambers and vote togheter only once on the amendments. In order to prevent the back and forward voting of amendments, which I shall propose to fix this. As I believe it is time consuming.
Cerdenia
Ugh this makes things rather hard for me, if only we had a unicameral system this wouldn't happen...
Either way, I will try to convince you of why we should keep this changes, as one of them (President being able to call a snap election) was proposed by me. If you feel unconvinced we can see what to do, however it is quite a complicated process due to how our procedures work.
So basically. The reason as to why we gave the President (together with the executive branch) the authority to call a snap election was due to possibility of inactivity. Just look at it with me, if one chamber gets inactive (like we saw with the Taralania-led Senate), there would be nothing we could do to call a new election for this chamber, considering that the House of Commons alone can't just impeach a Senator, and since the senators will be too inactive to pass anything there will be no way of getting a motion of no confidence through. We decided that it was for the best if we gave this authority to the President (with consent of the executive in order to prevent abuse).
As for the impeachment procedures, well I guess we can adress them through regular law later, just like we passed that recall act for congress members. I do agree it is necessary though, but I do want to get the constitution through faster.
Levantx, Titanne
I'm afraid I don't agree with your reasoning. At all. It would make tons more sense for the HoC be able to recall the Senate and vice versa than one person to have all the power over that.
I urge all senators to vote NAY on the constitution. It is saddening to see that we are unable to actually work together to fix things and instead just arguing why each other are wrong. If this constitution passes, it will not only usher a new, less effective era into Thaecia, but will also limit our futures. I strongly suggest that each and every one of you votes nay.
Levantx, Developing World
That can easily be abused though, what if the HoC is led by one party and the Senate by other, and so the HoC votes to recall the Senate in order for one party to increase it's representatives on it?
Now hear me out Senator. We will absolutely never get a constitution which everyone agrees on, it's democracy everyone has different views and it's okay to have them. However what we can't do is prevent this legislature from getting an actual constitution, which will fix many problems our region is facing, because some don't agree with everything on the constitution. Well of course you don't, noone does, a constitution is a complex document which adresses stuff on many different areas of government. What we need to see here Hon. Senator, is that this constitution brings more good than bad to our region, it will fix issues with elections by allowing us not to surpass the NS poll limit, it reformulates citizenship for non-WA nations in order to uphold Thaecian soveirgnty, it establishes an actual system to expand the size of Congress, etc. Overall this constitution brings more good then bad, I also don't agree with all of it, if I did I would vote it down because it keeps the bicameral system. However I won't, because I realise that overall this is an improvement for the region, and it is absolutely needed before next general election.
Post self-deleted by Titanne.
Thank You Mr. Speaker,
I am aware of your concerns and I agree that we have to find a solution. I do not agree that we should put in the Constitution some unbalanced powers.
May I suggest that we maybe change this into something where the Court can just define or recognize that a member of congress is inactive. In that case the members vote shall always be an abstain.
That the remaining members of the chamber can dissolve their own chamber without the need of present inactive voters or even speaker or chairperson. So giving the power back to the legislator. That way the House can dissolve itself (even if only one member is active and all the others are not), I agree if you think it is necessary to add the signature of the President as defense, but he should not have the initiative.
I am prepared to write a written proposal for amendmening this section.
On the Impeachement issue. I agree and follow your reasoning this can be fixed and added later in regular legislation.
Your idea sounds good for sure, and I would gladly vote in favour of it. My issue here isn't that I disagree with it, but rather that I am afraid we don't have enough time. The Electoral Commisioner notified me that we must get this passed before June 29th or else we will have to use the old system of voting, which in turn may cause us to have more then 12 candidates and will cause massive problems with the next election and how it is run.
I am honestly unsure if there is time for it, will see if I can talk with other people in government about it.
Levantx, Titanne
Ragarding the informal debate within the government and the positive feedback of most senior officials in government agreeing to debate potential amendements to this draft Constitution. I am taking my responsibility as senator to propose following amendments.
I personal am against the fact that the executive can control the legislator, as this should be the way around. That is why I am proposing an alternative manner to dissolve the House of Senate, instead of leaving that up to one man (and or government).
[spoiler=AMENDMENT ONE]
Author: Levantx
Article I, Section IV: "The President may call for a snap election in the Upper or Lower Chambers of Congress with the consent of the majority of the Cabinet."
shall be changed as followed:
"When a chamber of Congress is deemed inactive by the government or by the the remaining member(s) of that house. Both the Government or the remaining member(s) individually or collectively can ask the Court to declare an inactive in that concerning chamber of Congress. When a confirming declaration is published by the High Court. The remaining chamber of Congress shall bring into vote by normal majority the 'dissolution of Parliament'. When approved snap election for that chamber of the House shall be organised.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=AMENDMENT TWO]Author: Developing World
Sponsor: Levantx
Section IV: Voting for House of Commons and Senate elections shall be organised based on political parties. Each political party with 5 or more registered members who are Thaecian citizens shall be allowed to register to be added to the ballot. Independent candidates may also run, provided that they gather 5 signatures of citizens. To be elected, independents require a percentage vote share equal to or greater than 1/x * 100, where x is the number of seats in the chamber. The Electoral Commissioner shall be given the task of organising this process.
shall be changed as followed
Elections for the House of Commons and Senate will be made based on candidates. The candidates must register themselves to the Electoral Commissioner. If the number of candidates is over 12, the candidates have to collect signatures from other Thaecians during a week, and the 12 who got the most signatures will get on the ballot. One person only has the right to give one signature.[/spoiler]
I am of course in favour of the first Amendment, as it shall solve the issue of balance problems between th executive and the legislator. Removing the President of deciding by itself the inactive of Parliament.
I am against the second amendment as proposed by Developing World. I am a strong believer of a party based voting procedure. I think that politics should play centre rol in politics here our Regional Government. I don not think that the argument of restricting independent runners is a valide point. Independent can still participate in elections and can be elected if they reach a certain percentage relative to one seat in the distribution among all party lists. That is why I also plan to vote against the second amendment.
Fishergate
Post by Developing World suppressed by New Cerdenia.
(can you sponsor me so I can join the debate since it is my Amendment?)
Apologied for the suppression sir, however you are legally not allowed to post on this RMB without a public sponsorship of another senator (in accordance with the Senate Procedures), I encourage you to contact another senator privately to request a sponsorship.
I completely agree with your 1st amendment, however the only change I would suggest is a better definition of inactivity. Perhaps defining it as either 1- Missing 3 Senate/House of Commons votes in a roll, or 2- Not having logged into your nation for more then 12 days. If we can get this I will vote in favour of the amendment and believe there shouldn't be much disagreement with it.
As for the second amendment, this amendment is the actual attack of democracy. It makes it so only 12 people can run for the HoC, and so prevents people with less support from running. It also allows for larger parties to run more candidates and get more signatures for them, this way forcing smaller parties out of the ballot. I am against this amendment.
I will wait for a response from Senator Levantx if he want to accept my proposed changes to amendment one, and then I will put these two up for voting.
Levantx
About the definition of inactivity. I left that open for the Court to fill that in. I think I will give you the same advice as you have given me.
I do not think we all can agree with what "inactivity" should be or should mean. So that is why to make the constitution not that complicated. I left that open for the Court, and more for future laws to define it more precisely, on which the court can than base themselves on.
Can we agree on that?? That is also why I withdraw my attempt to propose and impeachment propose.
Okay then, fair enough, will put the amendments up for voting soon.
Levantx
Also I have received a final amendment. I shall sponsor no more others.
[spoiler=AMENDEMENT THREE]Author: Upper Ontario And Hudson Bay
Sponsor: Levantx
Amendment to provision Article IX, Section IV.
"Section IV: Voting for House of Commons and Senate elections shall be organised based on political parties. Each political party with 5 or more registered members who are Thaecian citizens shall be allowed to register to be added to the ballot. Independent candidates may also run, provided that they gather 5 signatures of citizens. To be elected, independents require a percentage vote share equal to or greater than 1/x * 100, where x is the number of seats in the chamber. The Electoral Commissioner shall be given the task of organising this process."
Article IX, Section IV will be redefined as:
"Elections to the House of Common and the Senate will take place using Party List Proportional Representation; Political Parties will be required to have a minimum of three members to appear on the ballot in their own right - Parties may also in the event they fail to meet the base requirement to stand as Independent Candidates.
Independent Candidates seeking to stand for Election will require the signatures of two Thaecian citizens who will act as proposer and seconder to the Candidate - this will ensure that Candidates have a minimum level of qualified support to stand in Elections. To be elected, independents require a percentage vote share equal to or greater than 1/x * 100, where x is the number of seats in the chamber. The Electoral Commissioner shall be given the task of organising this process.
Special dispensation:
In the event that all twelve NS Poll slots are filled and additional candidates wish to stand for election, Independent Candidates will participate in a primary in which they are required to gain at least five supporters to stand. Political Parties in this event will be required to achieve a minimum of five members, to stand list candidates in this scenario. The Electoral Commissioner will be given the task of organising this process."[/spoiler]
If I understand this correct, this proposes a proportional system to elect or members of congress. Based on formula, it also regulates party primaries, and asks some bigginers support for candidates running.
I shall vote against this Amendment as I think it makes the system unnecessary complicated and because I am against the regulation of party primaries. I think every party should be free to hold their own primaries in their own manner. It feels not democratic to have a signatory support for candidates (Qualify) to be considered as candidate.
Cerdenia
I agree with the point made by the Senator, this 3rd amendment appears to overcomplicate the process a bit.
Ratification of the new Constitution - H.B. 010
Author: Constitutional Convention
Sponsor: West Aldbund
[spoiler=Current Proposal]The Full Constitution Draft Can Be Found HERE[/spoiler]
______________________________________________________________________________________
Amendment A
Author: Levantx
[spoiler=Amendment A]
Article I, Section IV: "The President may call for a snap election in the Upper or Lower Chambers of Congress with the consent of the majority of the Cabinet."
shall be changed as followed:
"When a chamber of Congress is deemed inactive by the government or by the the remaining member(s) of that house. Both the Government or the remaining member(s) individually or collectively can ask the Court to declare an inactive in that concerning chamber of Congress. When a confirming declaration is published by the High Court. The remaining chamber of Congress shall bring into vote by normal majority the 'dissolution of Parliament'. When approved snap election for that chamber of the House shall be organised.[/spoiler]
Aye: Cerdenia (PPT) [1]
Nay: [0]
Abstain: [0]
______________________________________________________________________________________
Amendment B
Author: Developing World
[spoiler=Amendment B]
Section IV: Voting for House of Commons and Senate elections shall be organised based on political parties. Each political party with 5 or more registered members who are Thaecian citizens shall be allowed to register to be added to the ballot. Independent candidates may also run, provided that they gather 5 signatures of citizens. To be elected, independents require a percentage vote share equal to or greater than 1/x * 100, where x is the number of seats in the chamber. The Electoral Commissioner shall be given the task of organising this process.
shall be changed as followed
Elections for the House of Commons and Senate will be made based on candidates. The candidates must register themselves to the Electoral Commissioner. If the number of candidates is over 12, the candidates have to collect signatures from other Thaecians during a week, and the 12 who got the most signatures will get on the ballot. One person only has the right to give one signature.[/spoiler]
Aye: [0]
Nay: Cerdenia (PPT) [1]
Abstain: [0]
______________________________________________________________________________________
Amendment C
Author: Upper Ontario And Hudson Bay
[spoiler=Amendment C]
Amendment to provision Article IX, Section IV.
"Section IV: Voting for House of Commons and Senate elections shall be organised based on political parties. Each political party with 5 or more registered members who are Thaecian citizens shall be allowed to register to be added to the ballot. Independent candidates may also run, provided that they gather 5 signatures of citizens. To be elected, independents require a percentage vote share equal to or greater than 1/x * 100, where x is the number of seats in the chamber. The Electoral Commissioner shall be given the task of organising this process."
Article IX, Section IV will be redefined as:
"Elections to the House of Common and the Senate will take place using Party List Proportional Representation; Political Parties will be required to have a minimum of three members to appear on the ballot in their own right - Parties may also in the event they fail to meet the base requirement to stand as Independent Candidates.
Independent Candidates seeking to stand for Election will require the signatures of two Thaecian citizens who will act as proposer and seconder to the Candidate - this will ensure that Candidates have a minimum level of qualified support to stand in Elections. To be elected, independents require a percentage vote share equal to or greater than 1/x * 100, where x is the number of seats in the chamber. The Electoral Commissioner shall be given the task of organising this process.
Special dispensation:
In the event that all twelve NS Poll slots are filled and additional candidates wish to stand for election, Independent Candidates will participate in a primary in which they are required to gain at least five supporters to stand. Political Parties in this event will be required to achieve a minimum of five members, to stand list candidates in this scenario. The Electoral Commissioner will be given the task of organising this process."[/spoiler]
Aye: [0]
Nay: Cerdenia (PPT) [1]
Abstain: [0]
______________________________________________________________________________________
[Spoiler=Senators (5)]
Cerdenia (PPT)
Levantx (TPU)
Titanne (TPU)
Albianis (TPU)
Greater Conexus (TSP)[/spoiler]
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Levantx, Fishergate
Aye
Nay
Abstain
Aye
Nay
Nay
Statement from the Founders to Congress
We, Andusre & Xernon, wish to issue a statement to the Senate in this time-pressured and vital stage of the regions development.
It is our belief that the Senate should pass the ratified Constitution as soon as possible. Our elections are scheduled for the 30th June, and there are calls - which will be respected - to put the ratified Constitution to a public referendum. Such a referendum would require 3 days, setting our latest deadline to the 27th. At the time of writing, the night falls on the Summer Solstice, leaving us effectively on the 22nd and with 5 days to pass a Constitution in one House. This sounds like an easy task, however it is significantly complicated by the amendments proposed here in this Chamber. If an amendment is passed, the Constitution must return to the House to be voted on, then must return to the Senate once again for another vote. In the timespan of 5 days, this is impractical to say the least. It is for this reason that we plead with this Chamber to withdraw all amendments for the time being.
This plea is not to be taken as an outright rejection of all amendments: all proposed amendments warrant adequate consideration. We are in agreement that we can and should reconvene the Constitutional Convention after the elections have taken place, as suggested by The Marconian State. We believe this because it offers us the chance to give every single amendment and concern all the attention, debate and votes it needs and deserves without being pressured by time. It also gives the opportunity for the incoming government to rule with a clear mandate and within clearly-defined limits. What is more, we must remember the elections are imminent. Your amendments can be utilised in your election campaigns to gain support - it really would be a free talking point.
For these reasons, we reiterate our urge to the Senate to pass the Constitution now, to put our differences aside for the time being and ratify this vital document. Having another government inaugurated without the clear direction of a fully legally-binding Constitution will prove highly problematic going forward. Therefore - for the sake of further regional development - we must ratify the Constitution now.
Islonia, The Marconian State, Cerdenia, Fishergate
Very well Mr. Prime Minister, I will be hearing out to the concerns of the government and switching my vote to nay on all amendments, and I would like to encourage my fellow Senators to do the same. I have been saying we must get this constitution through right now and leave the extra amendments to later, however I guess it takes the Prime Minister to come here and write this wall of text in order to see if we can finally convince the Senators...
The Marconian State, Andusre, Xernon, Titanne
Post self-deleted by Cerdenia.
Aye
Nay
Nay
Ratification of the new Constitution - H.B. 010 - Amendment Voting Results
Author: Constitutional Convention
Sponsor: West Aldbund
[spoiler=Current Proposal]The Full Constitution Draft Can Be Found HERE[/spoiler]
______________________________________________________________________________________
Amendment A
Author: Levantx
[spoiler=Amendment A]
Article I, Section IV: "The President may call for a snap election in the Upper or Lower Chambers of Congress with the consent of the majority of the Cabinet."
shall be changed as followed:
"When a chamber of Congress is deemed inactive by the government or by the the remaining member(s) of that house. Both the Government or the remaining member(s) individually or collectively can ask the Court to declare an inactive in that concerning chamber of Congress. When a confirming declaration is published by the High Court. The remaining chamber of Congress shall bring into vote by normal majority the 'dissolution of Parliament'. When approved snap election for that chamber of the House shall be organised.[/spoiler]
Aye: Levantx (TPU), Albianis (TPU) [2]
Nay: Cerdenia (PPT), Titanne (TPU) [2]
Abstain: Greater Conexus [1]
______________________________________________________________________________________
Amendment B
Author: Developing World
[spoiler=Amendment B]
Section IV: Voting for House of Commons and Senate elections shall be organised based on political parties. Each political party with 5 or more registered members who are Thaecian citizens shall be allowed to register to be added to the ballot. Independent candidates may also run, provided that they gather 5 signatures of citizens. To be elected, independents require a percentage vote share equal to or greater than 1/x * 100, where x is the number of seats in the chamber. The Electoral Commissioner shall be given the task of organising this process.
shall be changed as followed
Elections for the House of Commons and Senate will be made based on candidates. The candidates must register themselves to the Electoral Commissioner. If the number of candidates is over 12, the candidates have to collect signatures from other Thaecians during a week, and the 12 who got the most signatures will get on the ballot. One person only has the right to give one signature.[/spoiler]
Aye: [0]
Nay: Cerdenia (PPT), Levantx (TPU), Albianis (TPU), Titanne (TPU) [4]
Abstain: Greater Conexus [1]
______________________________________________________________________________________
Amendment C
Author: Upper Ontario And Hudson Bay
[spoiler=Amendment C]
Amendment to provision Article IX, Section IV.
"Section IV: Voting for House of Commons and Senate elections shall be organised based on political parties. Each political party with 5 or more registered members who are Thaecian citizens shall be allowed to register to be added to the ballot. Independent candidates may also run, provided that they gather 5 signatures of citizens. To be elected, independents require a percentage vote share equal to or greater than 1/x * 100, where x is the number of seats in the chamber. The Electoral Commissioner shall be given the task of organising this process."
Article IX, Section IV will be redefined as:
"Elections to the House of Common and the Senate will take place using Party List Proportional Representation; Political Parties will be required to have a minimum of three members to appear on the ballot in their own right - Parties may also in the event they fail to meet the base requirement to stand as Independent Candidates.
Independent Candidates seeking to stand for Election will require the signatures of two Thaecian citizens who will act as proposer and seconder to the Candidate - this will ensure that Candidates have a minimum level of qualified support to stand in Elections. To be elected, independents require a percentage vote share equal to or greater than 1/x * 100, where x is the number of seats in the chamber. The Electoral Commissioner shall be given the task of organising this process.
Special dispensation:
In the event that all twelve NS Poll slots are filled and additional candidates wish to stand for election, Independent Candidates will participate in a primary in which they are required to gain at least five supporters to stand. Political Parties in this event will be required to achieve a minimum of five members, to stand list candidates in this scenario. The Electoral Commissioner will be given the task of organising this process."[/spoiler]
Aye: [0]
Nay: Cerdenia (PPT), Albianis (TPU), Titanne (TPU) [3]
Abstain: Levantx (TPU) , Greater Conexus (TSP) [2]
______________________________________________________________________________________
No amendments obtained a majority and as such no amendments shall be added to the final version of the constitution proposal.
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Ratification of the new Constitution - H.B. 010 - Voting
Author: Constitutional Convention
Sponsor: West Aldbund
The Full Constitution Draft Can Be Found HERE
______________________________________________________________________________________
Aye: Cerdenia (PPT) [1]
Nay: [0]
Abstain: [0]
______________________________________________________________________________________
The constitution is now up for voting, I encourage all of my fellow senators to vote in favour of it.
[Spoiler=Senators Yet to Vote (4)]
Levantx (TPU)
Titanne (TPU)
Albianis (TPU)
Greater Conexus (TSP)[/spoiler]
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Aye
Abstain
Aye.
Ratification of the new Constitution - H.B. 010 - Voting
Author: Constitutional Convention
Sponsor: West Aldbund
The Full Constitution Draft Can Be Found HERE
______________________________________________________________________________________
Aye: Cerdenia (PPT), Titanne (TPU), Albianis (TPU) [3]
Nay: [0]
Abstain: Levantx (TPU), Greater Conexus (TSP) [2]
______________________________________________________________________________________
With 3 ayes and 2 abstentions, the ratification of the new Constitution officially passes. I now urge Electoral Commisioner Rayekka to put the constitution up for public vote, in accordance with Article IV of the Thaecian Constitution.
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Amendments to the Position Restrictions Act - S.B. 015 - Debating
Author: Cerdenia
Sponsor: Cerdenia
[spoiler=Changes]
Amend "Article III - Ministers" of the Position Restrictions Act (L.R. 004) to as follows:
Section I
The Ministers of Home Affairs; Foreign Affairs; Justice; Culture and any future ones created, shall only be allowed to hold their position as minister and either the position of Member of Parliament or Senator at the same time. Ministers may not be allowed to occupy 2 ministries or be both a Senator and Member of Parliament at the same time. Ministers shall therefore be prohibited from occupying other positions in government not already listed on this section.
Section II
The Minister of Roleplay shall be exempt from any restrictions placed on other regular ministers on this bill, and shall therefore not be considered a regular government position, being allowed to occupy multiple positions at the same time without any restrictions.[/spoiler]
______________________________________________________________________________________
This bill is now up for debating and as always amendments are welcomed. For those wondering why I am proposing this, there have been recent issues on the Thaecian Roleplay where the former RP Minister resigned, and the only person capable and with the support to become new RP Minister is current Associate Justice Islonia. For this reason I am proposing this amendment, which in my view won't harm the idea of the bill itself, as I wrote that bill to prevent conflict of interest in government positions, and the RP should be treated mostly separate from the government.
[Spoiler=Senators (5)]
Cerdenia (PPT)
Levantx (TPU)
Titanne (TPU)
Albianis (TPU)
Greater Conexus (TSP)[/spoiler]
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Islonia
Mr Speaker,
Firstly I want to say that I absolutely respect and hold Islonia in high regards.
Tough I intend to vote against this Amendment. I believe we have debated the possibility of merging the RP minister and Culture minister as I have also supported that, which have could also been a solution.
I also think that when allowing one exception, this set precedent for more exception. I do not see passed legislation as a junk paper which we can change at our own interests and puzzle with it.
The main issue for me is that we cannot allow the Court or any justice to loose its independent neutrality. Which we are allowing to happen if we vote in favour of this amendment.
I do support a reform of the Roleplay Ministry as independent from the Governement. A split of Roleplay and Politics if you liked, Maybe.
I oppose this amendment as it sets a loophole without reasoning future consequences. Also as an easy and quick fix for a situation that is unfortunately playing at this time, and should not be solved by changing a law entirely.
Islonia
I am hereby sponsoring Islonia to participate on this debate, as it involves him.
Islonia, Titanne
Thank you for sponsoring me Mr Chairman.
Senator Levantx,
As you said, you would support an independent Roleplay Ministry from the government. This amendment make it independent from it as being RP Minister won't prevent any citizen from holding another position in the Government.
This amendment doesn't set a loophole. As we said and all know, the Thaecian Roleplay is almost independent from the Thaecian Government. Because of that, this should be the only one minister that can (and can't) be immune to Position Restriction Act. However, if any other bill or even an amendment to the constitution (As former Senator Developing World suggested to me in discord DM and actually wrote) that has the same effect than this amendment is used, I and the other roleplayers support it.
The actual problem is that Prime Minister Andusre shut down the Thaecian Roleplay after the resignation of the former Roleplay Minister Great Memel. He asked us to select a new Roleplay Minister before reversing the shutdown. And, as said Chairman Cerdenia, I am the only with the support to become the new RP Minister. Because of that and Position Restriction Act, the Roleplay can't function until we find a solution to this problem.
Finally, I don't understand why allowing a Justice to become a minister from an almost independent branch of our government will make it loose it's independence or neutrality. I, before and after my nomination as an Associate Justice, was already part of the Roleplay 'Admin Team' and the second Admin of it. The minister of the time, Great Memel, was already inactive and actually gave us (the Admin Team) total power over the Roleplay.
Levantx, Cerdenia, Brototh
[Spoiler=QUOTE]
[/spoiler]I am not part of Roleplay in the Region. So I have no insight in it. Thank you for that. Now that you explained that part, I tend to agree.
Still I have concerns about allowing you as Justice to become part of the Government which is not exclusively working around Roleplay.
For example, there are laws where the whole Government (in majority) should take a decision (not Roleplay). An example is Article One section IV, where the cabinet as collective should make decisions. That means you also than have a say in non-roleplay related matters. I am sure that in the future more of these powers shall be attributed to the Cabinet as a whole. This fact is what is disturbing me to vote in favour.
Even that I believe you will act a neutral and independent. By changing this law, there is no assurance other justices or marketing an issue possible conflicting you as justice or a justice.
Islonia
[spoiler=QUOTE]
[/spoiler]To be honest, Mr Senator, I already influenced cabinet decisions after being nominated as a justice. This was after the Enadian problem that resulted in the embassy closure, when some peoples tried to raid our server. I am the one who made some investigations on this and found past actions of regions and other things, everything being linked to Enadia. This resulted in stopping the embassy construction with the Confederacy of Layem which later created some drama on the Discord Server between our Foreign Affairs Minister Korsinia and the COL founder itself.
To return to the subject, the justices already thought of a situation where the justice couldn't approach a case because of bias. The Senate Chairman knows our solution to this, which is the introduction of deputy justices. It's simple, if a justice is biased (or other reason), he/she will be replaced by a deputy justice. This law should be proposed to the Congress shortly.
Korsinia, Cerdenia, Titanne
I fully support Islonias nomination. He is dedicated, and from what Ive seen, attempts to be as unbiased as possible. In roleplay, he wont even join alliances!
Islonia
Amendments to the Position Restrictions Act - S.B. 015 - Voting
Author: Cerdenia
Sponsor: Cerdenia
[spoiler=Changes]
Amend "Article III - Ministers" of the Position Restrictions Act (L.R. 004) to as follows:
Section I
The Ministers of Home Affairs; Foreign Affairs; Justice; Culture and any future ones created, shall only be allowed to hold their position as minister and either the position of Member of Parliament or Senator at the same time. Ministers may not be allowed to occupy 2 ministries or be both a Senator and Member of Parliament at the same time. Ministers shall therefore be prohibited from occupying other positions in government not already listed on this section.
Section II
The Minister of Roleplay shall be exempt from any restrictions placed on other regular ministers on this bill, and shall therefore not be considered a regular government position, being allowed to occupy multiple positions at the same time without any restrictions.[/spoiler]
______________________________________________________________________________________
Aye: Cerdenia (PPT) [1]
Nay: [0]
Abstain: [0]
______________________________________________________________________________________
[Spoiler=Senators Yet to Vote (4)]
Levantx (TPU)
Titanne (TPU)
Albianis (TPU)
Greater Conexus (TSP)[/spoiler]
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Aye.
Nay
Aye
Amendments to the Position Restrictions Act - S.B. 015 - Passed
Author: Cerdenia
Sponsor: Cerdenia
[spoiler=Changes]
Amend "Article III - Ministers" of the Position Restrictions Act (L.R. 004) to as follows:
Section I
The Ministers of Home Affairs; Foreign Affairs; Justice; Culture and any future ones created, shall only be allowed to hold their position as minister and either the position of Member of Parliament or Senator at the same time. Ministers may not be allowed to occupy 2 ministries or be both a Senator and Member of Parliament at the same time. Ministers shall therefore be prohibited from occupying other positions in government not already listed on this section.
Section II
The Minister of Roleplay shall be exempt from any restrictions placed on other regular ministers on this bill, and shall therefore not be considered a regular government position, being allowed to occupy multiple positions at the same time without any restrictions.[/spoiler]
______________________________________________________________________________________
Aye: Cerdenia (PPT), Titanne (TPU), Greater Conexus (TSP) [3]
Nay: Levantx (TPU) [1]
Abstain: Albianis (TPU) [1]
______________________________________________________________________________________
With 3 ayes, 1 nay and 1 abstention, S.B. 015 hereby passes.
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Thaecian Central Bank Act - S.B. 016 - Debating
Author: Levantx
Sponsor: Levantx
[spoiler=PREAMBLE]
AGREEING that when citizens taking part in Government, and delivering essential services to the Government, they should get compensated for their efforts towards a creation of a better community.
RECOGNIZING the limits of tools available to the government in compensating citizens.
CONVINCED that the existing Trading system should be used as currency and economic tool for citizens and the government.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=ARTICLE ONE - DEFINITIONS]
(1) 'Central Bank puppet account': An non-human player account on Nationstates, which shall serve as a hub of Trading Cards which shall be seen as the Financial account of the Region.
(2) 'issue-mining': The process of answering issues on Nationstates, in order to be rewarded with Trading Cards.
(3) 'Font': shall be the name of the currency of the Region, and shall be expressed as a measurement of value determined by the reel value given on a Trading Card on Nationstates.
(4) 'Financial Account': the amount or balance of value/trading cards present in the Central Bank of the Region.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=ARTICLE TWO - CENTRAL BANK]
(1) There shall be created a "Central Bank" of Thaecia.[list]° The Central Bank shall be an NPC puppet account on Nationstates
° The Central Bank shall be administrated by the 'Minister of Finances', as part of the executive government.
° The Central Bank may not "issue-mine" for Trading Cards, as this shall be seen as a devaluation of our currency.
° The deputy of the Finance Minister, shall be known as the 'Governor' of the Central Bank and shall act as a political independent advisor on Financial matters to the Minister and the Government.
° The Regional Government shall decided in its own capacity who shall have access to the Central Bank administrations.[/list][/spoiler]
[spoiler=ARTICLE THREE - MINISTER OF FINANCES]
(1) The Minister of Finances shall be part of the Regional Government, and shall enjoy the same statute as other executive officials under, article one of the Constitution.
(2) The Minister is first and foremost responsible with the creation of a Budget of the Region, describing the expenses and or income of the Region Financial Account.
[list]° Any Budget proposal by the Government shall be submitted for approval before both chambers of the Legislative.[/list]
(3) the Governor, shall have the neutral responsibility to execute the financial transfers of the Region.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=ARTICLE FOUR - FINANCIAL COMPENSATIONS]
(1) The possibility of imposing general taxes for citizens, in order to finance the Regional Budget, can only be installed by law.
(2) all wages or compensation given by the Region to citizens delivering services to the region or a government branch shall be determined by the respective government institution contracting the citizens for services received. [size=75](Example: an ambassador is paid by the Foreign Affairs Minister, where the ministry itself decides to wages of its ambassadors - the speaker of the House can be given an extra compensation, but this is determined by the Senate alone.)[/size]
(3) the wages and or compensation of the following list of positions in government, shall be determined by law, and shall thus be an exception on the rule as is described in article four, section two of this law:
[list]° President
° Prime Minister
° Senior Minister
° Member of the House
° Senator [/list][/spoiler]
______________________________________________________________________________________
This bill is now up for debating and as always amendments are welcomed. Personally I must admit I didn't fully understand this bill, would like to invite the author to make some clarifications of what he intended with it. Feel like this may be creating a complex system without much necessity. We'll see, I'll wait for the author before making any final decisions.
[Spoiler=Senators (5)]
Cerdenia (PPT)
Levantx (TPU)
Titanne (TPU)
Albianis (TPU)
Greater Conexus (TSP)[/spoiler]
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Another notification to the Senators, the next bill will probably be the last one of this term.
Thank You Mr. Speaker
I agree that this Bill may be technical. To explain its aim. I say that it shall use the existing Trading Cards, which are earned by every citizen by answering issues as regional transferable currency.
So we can use this Cards as some sort of money to give to each other in exchange for some kind of prestation or service given.
For example we can pay our Minister with a certain amount of Cards because they are delivering some service to our region. The Ministry can also hire people (advisors , staff) and pay them a certain amount. This way we can recruit more people and stimulate their activity and service by giving some sort of reward which is also visible on NS. It can also be a start for some sort of economy, for example I can also charge money as Opennws network to read my articles or other things like the Song Contest or Soccer Cups which can bought by contenders and so on.
Important in this Bill is that I have chosen for trading Cards and not a self-created currency form because it has to be a visible form of currency and uncontrolled system from government intervention. Because it also it easy to use in Interregional affairs like for example the a possible World Bank of Fund which can later be established or to make trade deals with other regions? It at least leaves a lot open.
Trading Cards are also easy to use, and all citizens can use it and cannot be excluded. It also rewards citizens with playing the game and this being more active in our region. Because if you are active you have time to solve issues, and this gain more wealth.
Still the main purpose for this Bill is to also have a tool for the region as a whole and give the possibility to wage taxes. In order to pay for example a Prime Minister we as region need a budget to pay those officials. So an economic dimension is added to regional politics which can make the game more fun.
This is my main goal for this Bill. There are other specific definitions in the Bill. If you have further question please feel free to ask.
Titanne
Mr Senator, don't you believe we are overcomplicating stuff a bit too much here? I mean taxes in NationStates to reward government officials? I personally don't see this as something necessary or good to the reputation of our region at all, it will just scare card collectors away, plus the honour of being Prime Minister or Senator or whatever, and proposing legislation or campaigning, is what is fun on the game. Personally I plan to vote nay to this one, scares players away and creates too much of an overcomplicated system in my opinion.
Before the debating period ends. I suppose because it is my bill That I also can have a closing statement?
Is a an overcomplication? Maybe it is Maybe it's not? That is what I believe rather subjective.
I think using T-cards as a currency is not overcomplicated, everyone knows how money (IRL) works, so I think it is the same thing. But I understand the reasons of Cerdenia. It is a new dimension added with what we are already doing here in our political world. Some do not like to change things, I do like to try out new things so that we can grow and remain relevant in an every changing environment and where it is more difficult to hold the attention and activity of citizens. Not every citizen is involved in politics or roleplay for example.
That is why I have proposed this Act. In order to find new ways of playing this game. Also to give more ways of political fuel and fire in our current party based system to have a added value of party ideology.
I prepared to invest myself in the system as a potential first Minister of Finance and build the system from scratch so that it can become an easy and user-friendly economic based add-value for the Thaecia. I hope that my fellow senators trust me on this and vote in favour of this project.
Thank you,
Thaecian Central Bank Act - S.B. 016 - Voting
Author: Levantx
Sponsor: Levantx
[spoiler=PREAMBLE]
AGREEING that when citizens taking part in Government, and delivering essential services to the Government, they should get compensated for their efforts towards a creation of a better community.
RECOGNIZING the limits of tools available to the government in compensating citizens.
CONVINCED that the existing Trading system should be used as currency and economic tool for citizens and the government.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=ARTICLE ONE - DEFINITIONS]
(1) 'Central Bank puppet account': An non-human player account on Nationstates, which shall serve as a hub of Trading Cards which shall be seen as the Financial account of the Region.
(2) 'issue-mining': The process of answering issues on Nationstates, in order to be rewarded with Trading Cards.
(3) 'Font': shall be the name of the currency of the Region, and shall be expressed as a measurement of value determined by the reel value given on a Trading Card on Nationstates.
(4) 'Financial Account': the amount or balance of value/trading cards present in the Central Bank of the Region.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=ARTICLE TWO - CENTRAL BANK]
(1) There shall be created a "Central Bank" of Thaecia.[list]° The Central Bank shall be an NPC puppet account on Nationstates
° The Central Bank shall be administrated by the 'Minister of Finances', as part of the executive government.
° The Central Bank may not "issue-mine" for Trading Cards, as this shall be seen as a devaluation of our currency.
° The deputy of the Finance Minister, shall be known as the 'Governor' of the Central Bank and shall act as a political independent advisor on Financial matters to the Minister and the Government.
° The Regional Government shall decided in its own capacity who shall have access to the Central Bank administrations.[/list][/spoiler]
[spoiler=ARTICLE THREE - MINISTER OF FINANCES]
(1) The Minister of Finances shall be part of the Regional Government, and shall enjoy the same statute as other executive officials under, article one of the Constitution.
(2) The Minister is first and foremost responsible with the creation of a Budget of the Region, describing the expenses and or income of the Region Financial Account.
[list]° Any Budget proposal by the Government shall be submitted for approval before both chambers of the Legislative.[/list]
(3) the Governor, shall have the neutral responsibility to execute the financial transfers of the Region.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=ARTICLE FOUR - FINANCIAL COMPENSATIONS]
(1) The possibility of imposing general taxes for citizens, in order to finance the Regional Budget, can only be installed by law.
(2) all wages or compensation given by the Region to citizens delivering services to the region or a government branch shall be determined by the respective government institution contracting the citizens for services received. [size=75](Example: an ambassador is paid by the Foreign Affairs Minister, where the ministry itself decides to wages of its ambassadors - the speaker of the House can be given an extra compensation, but this is determined by the Senate alone.)[/size]
(3) the wages and or compensation of the following list of positions in government, shall be determined by law, and shall thus be an exception on the rule as is described in article four, section two of this law:
[list]° President
° Prime Minister
° Senior Minister
° Member of the House
° Senator [/list][/spoiler]
______________________________________________________________________________________
Aye [0]
Nay: Cerdenia (PPT) [1]
Abstain: [0]
______________________________________________________________________________________
[Spoiler=Senators Yet to Vote (4)]
Cerdenia (PPT)
Levantx (TPU)
Titanne (TPU)
Albianis (TPU)
Greater Conexus (TSP)[/spoiler]
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Abstain, for the following reason: too much, too soon, although a valid idea.
Cerdenia
Nay
Aye
Thaecian Central Bank Act - S.B. 016 - Failed
Author: Levantx
Sponsor: Levantx
[spoiler=PREAMBLE]
AGREEING that when citizens taking part in Government, and delivering essential services to the Government, they should get compensated for their efforts towards a creation of a better community.
RECOGNIZING the limits of tools available to the government in compensating citizens.
CONVINCED that the existing Trading system should be used as currency and economic tool for citizens and the government.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=ARTICLE ONE - DEFINITIONS]
(1) 'Central Bank puppet account': An non-human player account on Nationstates, which shall serve as a hub of Trading Cards which shall be seen as the Financial account of the Region.
(2) 'issue-mining': The process of answering issues on Nationstates, in order to be rewarded with Trading Cards.
(3) 'Font': shall be the name of the currency of the Region, and shall be expressed as a measurement of value determined by the reel value given on a Trading Card on Nationstates.
(4) 'Financial Account': the amount or balance of value/trading cards present in the Central Bank of the Region.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=ARTICLE TWO - CENTRAL BANK]
(1) There shall be created a "Central Bank" of Thaecia.[list]° The Central Bank shall be an NPC puppet account on Nationstates
° The Central Bank shall be administrated by the 'Minister of Finances', as part of the executive government.
° The Central Bank may not "issue-mine" for Trading Cards, as this shall be seen as a devaluation of our currency.
° The deputy of the Finance Minister, shall be known as the 'Governor' of the Central Bank and shall act as a political independent advisor on Financial matters to the Minister and the Government.
° The Regional Government shall decided in its own capacity who shall have access to the Central Bank administrations.[/list][/spoiler]
[spoiler=ARTICLE THREE - MINISTER OF FINANCES]
(1) The Minister of Finances shall be part of the Regional Government, and shall enjoy the same statute as other executive officials under, article one of the Constitution.
(2) The Minister is first and foremost responsible with the creation of a Budget of the Region, describing the expenses and or income of the Region Financial Account.
[list]° Any Budget proposal by the Government shall be submitted for approval before both chambers of the Legislative.[/list]
(3) the Governor, shall have the neutral responsibility to execute the financial transfers of the Region.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=ARTICLE FOUR - FINANCIAL COMPENSATIONS]
(1) The possibility of imposing general taxes for citizens, in order to finance the Regional Budget, can only be installed by law.
(2) all wages or compensation given by the Region to citizens delivering services to the region or a government branch shall be determined by the respective government institution contracting the citizens for services received. [size=75](Example: an ambassador is paid by the Foreign Affairs Minister, where the ministry itself decides to wages of its ambassadors - the speaker of the House can be given an extra compensation, but this is determined by the Senate alone.)[/size]
(3) the wages and or compensation of the following list of positions in government, shall be determined by law, and shall thus be an exception on the rule as is described in article four, section two of this law:
[list]° President
° Prime Minister
° Senior Minister
° Member of the House
° Senator [/list][/spoiler]
______________________________________________________________________________________
Aye: Levantx (TPU) [1]
Nay: Cerdenia (PPT), Greater Conexus (TSP) [2]
Abstain: Titanne (TPU), Albianis (TPU) [2]
______________________________________________________________________________________
With 1 aye, 2 nays and 2 abstentions, this bill hereby fails to pass.
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Thaecian Representation in the Regions Assembly Act - S.B. 014 - Debating
Author: Cerdenia
Sponsor: Cerdenia
As Amended By: Levantx, Fishergate
[spoiler=Preamble]Noticing the recent passage of "The Charter Of The Regions Assembly" in the Senate and House of Commons of Thaecia, this bill seeks to establish official procedures to determine the selection of Thaecia's representative to the Regions Assembly, which defines in Article 3 Subsection 1 of it's charter that each individual region has the right to a permanent representative to it's General Assembly.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article I: Selection of the Representative]
Section I
The Representative of Thaecia to the Regions Assembly (which shall be referred to as RA Representative) shall be elected by a public vote with a duration of 3 days, which shall occur alongside the election of a Prime Minister and thus the inauguration of a new Regional Government.
Section II
The Foreign Affairs Minister shall reserve the authority to propose the dismissal of the RA Representative, which must be confirmed by a majority of voting citizens at a public vote with a duration of 3 days. If an RA Representative is dismissed, a new public vote must be initiatied within 10 days of the dismissal of the former representative. During this period, the Foreign Affairs minister may nominate someone to serve as acting RA Representative until a new representative has been elected.
Section III
Should a RA Representative resign, the same procedures set out in Article I Section II regarding the election of a new replacement must be followed.
Section IV
For the sake of this bill, the rules set out in the Position Restrictions Act (L.R. 004), shall not be applied to the RA Representative. Any individual in government shall be allowed to occupy this position without facing any restrictions.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article II: Representative's Duties]
Section I
The RA Representative shall have the duty of representing Thaecia in the Regions Assembly's General Assembly, through the means of voting on resolutions and proposing resolutions if necessary, in accordance with Article III of the Regions Assembly Charter.
Section II
The RA Representative shall be encouraged to communicate with the Thaecian Government in order to cast his votes based on what will have greater benefit to the region.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article III: Representative's Term]
Section I
The RA Representative shall serve for the duration of the government in which he/she was elected. A new RA Representative election will be held every four months following the procedures set out in Article I for the election of a RA Representative and in the Adjustment and Fixation of Thaecian Electoral Dates Act (L.R. 007) for the election of a Prime Minister.out in Article I.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article IV: Impeachments]
The RA Representative shall be considered a government official, and so shall be subject to any current or future impeachment procedures.[/spoiler]
______________________________________________________________________________________
This bill was recently amended in the HoC and is now back to the senate to be debated and voted on again. Personally I am planning to vote aye for it again, the changes proposed to it are all reasonable and make sense. Another important note, this won't be the last bill of my term, it appears there is still time for one more bill before the recess prior to the elections is called.
[Spoiler=Senators (5)]
Cerdenia (PPT)
Levantx (TPU)
Titanne (TPU)
Albianis (TPU)
Greater Conexus (TSP)[/spoiler]
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
I am in agreement with all that Cerdenia said.
Thaecian Representation in the Regions Assembly Act - S.B. 014 - Voting
Author: Cerdenia
Sponsor: Cerdenia
As Amended By: Levantx, Fishergate
[spoiler=Preamble]Noticing the recent passage of "The Charter Of The Regions Assembly" in the Senate and House of Commons of Thaecia, this bill seeks to establish official procedures to determine the selection of Thaecia's representative to the Regions Assembly, which defines in Article 3 Subsection 1 of it's charter that each individual region has the right to a permanent representative to it's General Assembly.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article I: Selection of the Representative]
Section I
The Representative of Thaecia to the Regions Assembly (which shall be referred to as RA Representative) shall be elected by a public vote with a duration of 3 days, which shall occur alongside the election of a Prime Minister and thus the inauguration of a new Regional Government.
Section II
The Foreign Affairs Minister shall reserve the authority to propose the dismissal of the RA Representative, which must be confirmed by a majority of voting citizens at a public vote with a duration of 3 days. If an RA Representative is dismissed, a new public vote must be initiatied within 10 days of the dismissal of the former representative. During this period, the Foreign Affairs minister may nominate someone to serve as acting RA Representative until a new representative has been elected.
Section III
Should a RA Representative resign, the same procedures set out in Article I Section II regarding the election of a new replacement must be followed.
Section IV
For the sake of this bill, the rules set out in the Position Restrictions Act (L.R. 004), shall not be applied to the RA Representative. Any individual in government shall be allowed to occupy this position without facing any restrictions.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article II: Representative's Duties]
Section I
The RA Representative shall have the duty of representing Thaecia in the Regions Assembly's General Assembly, through the means of voting on resolutions and proposing resolutions if necessary, in accordance with Article III of the Regions Assembly Charter.
Section II
The RA Representative shall be encouraged to communicate with the Thaecian Government in order to cast his votes based on what will have greater benefit to the region.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article III: Representative's Term]
Section I
The RA Representative shall serve for the duration of the government in which he/she was elected. A new RA Representative election will be held every four months following the procedures set out in Article I for the election of a RA Representative and in the Adjustment and Fixation of Thaecian Electoral Dates Act (L.R. 007) for the election of a Prime Minister.out in Article I.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article IV: Impeachments]
The RA Representative shall be considered a government official, and so shall be subject to any current or future impeachment procedures.[/spoiler]
______________________________________________________________________________________
Aye: Cerdenia (PPT)[1]
Nay: [0]
Abstain: [0]
______________________________________________________________________________________
[Spoiler=Senators Yet to Vote (4)]
Cerdenia (PPT)
Levantx (TPU)
Titanne (TPU)
Albianis (TPU)
Greater Conexus (TSP)[/spoiler]
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Aye.
Aye
Thaecian Representation in the Regions Assembly Act - S.B. 014 - Passed
Author: Cerdenia
Sponsor: Cerdenia
As Amended By: Levantx, Fishergate
[spoiler=Preamble]Noticing the recent passage of "The Charter Of The Regions Assembly" in the Senate and House of Commons of Thaecia, this bill seeks to establish official procedures to determine the selection of Thaecia's representative to the Regions Assembly, which defines in Article 3 Subsection 1 of it's charter that each individual region has the right to a permanent representative to it's General Assembly.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article I: Selection of the Representative]
Section I
The Representative of Thaecia to the Regions Assembly (which shall be referred to as RA Representative) shall be elected by a public vote with a duration of 3 days, which shall occur alongside the election of a Prime Minister and thus the inauguration of a new Regional Government.
Section II
The Foreign Affairs Minister shall reserve the authority to propose the dismissal of the RA Representative, which must be confirmed by a majority of voting citizens at a public vote with a duration of 3 days. If an RA Representative is dismissed, a new public vote must be initiatied within 10 days of the dismissal of the former representative. During this period, the Foreign Affairs minister may nominate someone to serve as acting RA Representative until a new representative has been elected.
Section III
Should a RA Representative resign, the same procedures set out in Article I Section II regarding the election of a new replacement must be followed.
Section IV
For the sake of this bill, the rules set out in the Position Restrictions Act (L.R. 004), shall not be applied to the RA Representative. Any individual in government shall be allowed to occupy this position without facing any restrictions.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article II: Representative's Duties]
Section I
The RA Representative shall have the duty of representing Thaecia in the Regions Assembly's General Assembly, through the means of voting on resolutions and proposing resolutions if necessary, in accordance with Article III of the Regions Assembly Charter.
Section II
The RA Representative shall be encouraged to communicate with the Thaecian Government in order to cast his votes based on what will have greater benefit to the region.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article III: Representative's Term]
Section I
The RA Representative shall serve for the duration of the government in which he/she was elected. A new RA Representative election will be held every four months following the procedures set out in Article I for the election of a RA Representative and in the Adjustment and Fixation of Thaecian Electoral Dates Act (L.R. 007) for the election of a Prime Minister.out in Article I.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article IV: Impeachments]
The RA Representative shall be considered a government official, and so shall be subject to any current or future impeachment procedures.[/spoiler]
______________________________________________________________________________________
Aye: Cerdenia (PPT), Levantx (TPU), Titanne (TPU) [3]
Nay: [0]
Abstain: Albianis (TPU), Greater Conexus (TSP) [2]
______________________________________________________________________________________
With 3 ayes and 2 abstentions, S.B. 014 hereby passes.
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Deputy Justice Act - S.B. 017 - Debating
Author: Islonia
Sponsor: Cerdenia
[spoiler=Preamble]
Justices can be inactive or unable to approach a case. To ensure that the Thaecian High Court will still be functioning during these times, we will need individuals who can replace the justices. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article 1 : Inability]
A justice may be unable to approach a case if he/she is biased (either by being one person touched by the affair or being the one targeted), if he/she is inactive for one week after a case was submitted or if the justice announced that he/she won't be able to approach the case or that he/she won't be active for a given time.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article 2 : Deputy Justice]
A deputy justice will be the replacement of a justice if one of them is unable to approach a case. He will be nominated by the three justice and will pass a hearing in the senate that will confirm or not their function. One deputy justice will take a justice's place in one of the situation written below.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article 3 : Associate Justice's inability]
If an associate justice is unable to approach a case, he will be replaced by one of the deputy justice.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article 4 : Chief Justice's inability]
If the chief justice is unable to approach a case, he will be replaced by one of the associate justices. The associate justice that will replace the chief justice will be replaced by one of the deputy justice.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article 5 : Nomination]
The Deputy Justice will be nominated by the Justices and will have to be confirmed by half the Senate's members.[/spoiler]
______________________________________________________________________________________
This bill is now up for debate and as always amendments are welcomed. Also it is important to note that as the author, Islonia shall be allowed to talk on this RMB during the debate. Personal opinion: I will be supporting this bill, it is a good addition which can be used should a justice go inactive or consider himself unable to exercise his duties due to posible bias. Another important announcement, this will be the last bill of my term as Chairman of the Senate, after it I will be putting the Senate on recess and will issue the closing statement of the Chairman of the Senate.
[Spoiler=Senators (5)]
Cerdenia (PPT)
Levantx (TPU)
Titanne (TPU)
Albianis (TPU)
Greater Conexus (TSP)[/spoiler]
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Islonia
I shall vote against this Act. I thank the author of bringing this important issue forward and pointing out the fact that a vacuum can occur under the Judiciary.
However I do not think the solution can come by intervention from an other government branch to intervene in the judicial proceedings. I think we need to think more structural solutions. Examples can be: creating more chambers for the Court and thus have more justices to replace and switch, maybe join Interegional Courts to have appeal procedures to fill in vacuums (Regions Assembly Interregional Judicial High Court already is in place)., let the Court decided independently how to react to it's own problems of proceedings?.
I also want to refer to a Bill under construction by Titanne which can serve as a more concrete solution.
Titanne
Yes, I will vote nay as well. We should not focus on the temporary, but the permanent, as my act does. Training replacements is more important to me than thrusting someone temporary in without experience. I urge senators Greater Conexus and Albianis to vote nay as well.
Levantx
Can't really understand the point being made against this bill, I mean the bill was even drafted by a justice, don't think it's undermining the Judicial's independence in anyway. I feel as if we are honestly just going to complicate things if we create more chambers, and in the end we will be filled with justices who only do stuff once a year judging by how rare it is for anything to happen in the court. This seems like a much more simple solution tbh.
As this involves the High Court, I would like to invite all of the three justices (Rhyssua, Saint Ryvern and Islonia) to give their opinion on this if they want to, makes more sense to hear them out.
Therefore as Chairman of the Senate I hereby give permission for the three of them to speak on this RMB for the remainder of this debate, if they so wish.
Point of Order
I want to remember the Speaker of our tradition in sponsoring non members to the floor.
A senator can only sponsor one other non-member to speak during session.
Titanne
Yes indeed you are correct Mr Deputy Chairman, however taking into account that none of them appear to have wanted to participate on the debate, the effect of this was none in the end of the day, although on this situation I would technically still be allowed to sponsor one of the justices and Islonia, taking into consideration that the Senate Procedures bill allows for the author of a bill to speak on the Senate RMB, still, none spoke so the effect was 0.
Levantx
Deputy Justice Act - S.B. 017 - Voting
Author: Islonia
Sponsor: Cerdenia
[spoiler=Preamble]
Justices can be inactive or unable to approach a case. To ensure that the Thaecian High Court will still be functioning during these times, we will need individuals who can replace the justices. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article 1 : Inability]
A justice may be unable to approach a case if he/she is biased (either by being one person touched by the affair or being the one targeted), if he/she is inactive for one week after a case was submitted or if the justice announced that he/she won't be able to approach the case or that he/she won't be active for a given time.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article 2 : Deputy Justice]
A deputy justice will be the replacement of a justice if one of them is unable to approach a case. He will be nominated by the three justice and will pass a hearing in the senate that will confirm or not their function. One deputy justice will take a justice's place in one of the situation written below.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article 3 : Associate Justice's inability]
If an associate justice is unable to approach a case, he will be replaced by one of the deputy justice.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article 4 : Chief Justice's inability]
If the chief justice is unable to approach a case, he will be replaced by one of the associate justices. The associate justice that will replace the chief justice will be replaced by one of the deputy justice.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Article 5 : Nomination]
The Deputy Justice will be nominated by the Justices and will have to be confirmed by half the Senate's members.[/spoiler]
______________________________________________________________________________________
Aye: Cerdenia (PPT)[1]
Nay: [0]
Abstain: [0]
______________________________________________________________________________________
[Spoiler=Senators Yet to Vote (4)]
Levantx (TPU)
Titanne (TPU)
Albianis (TPU)
Greater Conexus (TSP)[/spoiler]
Captain of the Pirate Party of Thaecia
Chairman of the Senate
Deputy Prime Minister
Senator
Nay.
Nay
Assembled with Dot's Region Saver.
Written by Refuge Isle.