Author Topic: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)  (Read 8566 times)

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Offline CGJ

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Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« on: January 13, 2018, 03:36:55 AM »
I'm bringing this Bill forward to debate yo.

Quote
Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)

An act to amend the Constitution to abolish the Premier and the Regional Assembly, enhance the powers of the Grand Chancellor, provide protections for members during the enactment of legislation, and for connected purposes.

WHEREAS the members of the Independent Order have, after due time and consideration, determined that there shall exist a single Constitution with supreme authority over all laws,

AND WHEREAS said members believe such Constitution has, since its enactment, failed to increase activity with regional governance or gameplay, and therefore believes significant amendments are required,

BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by Her Excellency the Grand Chancellor, by and with the advice and consent of the Regional Assembly, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Amendments

(1) After subsection 2a, insert:
“(b) Making any such enactments required for the peace, order and good government in the region;
(c) Appointing Ministers, the Lord Chief Justice and the Roleplay Magistrate, and any other formal positions, where required;”

(2) In subsection 2b, omit ‘Premier elections and’.

(3) Section (3) shall be repealed.

(4) Section (4) shall be amended as follows:
“(4) The Grand Chancellor may be recalled following a referendum of all eligible members of the Independent Order, as defined by law. Should a Grand Chancellor be recalled, then an Constitutional Convention shall be required to appoint a replacement.”

(5) Article Two, including sections 5-13, shall be replaced with:
Article Two: Legislation

(5) The Grand Chancellor may enact any legislation, including amendments to the Constitution, Criminal Code and Roleplay Rules.

(6) Any enactment made shall be known as Acts of the Chancellory.

(7) The Grand Chancellor must, when seeking to make such legislative changes, publicly post, and announce on Discord, the regional message board and any other relevant areas, the proposed Act in the Conference Hall.

(8) The Act must remain in the Conference Hall, open for public debate or opposition, for a minimum of 72 hours, unless such an Act would amend the Constitution, Criminal Code, Emergency Procedures or Roleplay Rules, where it must be open for at least 96 hours.

(9) No Act amending the Roleplay Rules proposed initially by the Grand Chancellor may be enacted without the advice and consent of the Roleplay Magistrate, except where the enactment is approved by a referendum of eligible members.

(10) Any eligible member may petition in the Conference Hall thread to block an Act. Should the petition receive two further signatures from eligible members while the Act is in the Conference Hall, then the Act shall be subject to referendum of all eligible members.

(11) Any eligible member may bring forward their own legislation and, with the support of four further eligible members, require the Bill to be brought to a referendum of all eligible members.

(12) The Grand Chancellor may, where authorised or required by law to do so, issue a statutory instrument known as an Order of the Chancellory (herein ‘Order’). No Order shall need prior approval, however, any eligible member may bring forward, to the Conference Hall, a petition to repeal the Order. Should the petition receive four further signatures from eligible members, then the Order must be withdrawn.”

(6) Article Three, including sections 14-20, shall be repealed.

(7) Section (22) shall be amended as follows:
“(22) The Roleplay Magistrate shall be appointed by the Grand Chancellor for an indefinite term. The Roleplay Magistrate may be dismissed by the Grand Chancellor, or may be recalled following a referendum of all eligible members of the Independent Order, as defined by law.”

(8) In subsection (23c), omit ‘Regional Assembly’ and insert ‘Grand Chancellor’.

(9) Section (26) shall be amended as follows:
“(26) The Lord Chief Justice shall be appointed by the Grand Chancellor for an indefinite term. The Lord Chief Justice may be dismissed by the Grand Chancellor, or may be recalled following a referendum of all eligible members of the Independent Order, as defined by law.”

(10) In subsection (27b), omit ‘, Executive, Regional Assembly’.

(11) After subsection (27b), insert:
“(c) Ensuring all Acts and Orders of the Chancellory are made in compliance, and are themselves compliant, with the Constitution, Criminal Code and Roleplay Rules.”

(12) In section (29), omit ‘Regional Assembly’ and insert ‘Grand Chancellor’.

(13) In section (29), omit ‘Zetaboards Terms of Service and Terms of Use’ and insert ‘Forum Terms of Service’.

(14) In section (30), omit ‘, with the exception of members of the Regional Assembly.’

(15) After section (30), insert:
“(31) An eligible member is one who has been a member of the forum for a period of at least 45 days, has made more than 20 non-spam posts on the forum, and is not serving any form of sentence under the Criminal Code (2013) or the Forum Terms of Service Act (2015).”

Consequential provisions

(16) All previous Acts of the Assembly shall henceforth be known as Acts of the Chancellory.

(17) Any power, authority or responsibility derived from other statutes for the Premier or Regional Assembly shall henceforth be considered powers of the Grand Chancellor.

(18) Existing Orders of the Executive (herein ‘Executive Orders’) shall remain in force, however the power to make such Executive Orders shall be depreciated and vested in the Grand Chancellor’s power to make Orders.

(19) The Grand Chancellor shall, by Order, amend the explanatory note of the Constitution to bring it in to line with the Constitution as amended by this Act. This must be done within 6 months of this Act coming in to force.

(20) All article and section numbers in the Constitution shall be renumbered accordingly.

Explanatory note (not part of Act)

This Act is a major rewriting of the Constitution. It repels Articles 2 and 3 to abolish the Premier and the Regional Assembly. It replaces it by empowering the Grand Chancellor to make ‘any such enactments required for the peace, order and good governance of the region.’ It states that when the GC wants to enact a law, it must be posted in the Conference Hall for 72 hours (96 for Constitutional amendments, Criminal Code and RP Rule amendments) and empowers members to oppose bills/present their own.
The Most Honourable Marquess CGJ
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Offline Gadshack

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2018, 03:37:35 AM »
boooo get off the stage

Offline Norgeras

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2018, 09:37:32 AM »
Aye. That's better than what we had before.

Offline CGJ

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #3 on: January 18, 2018, 08:34:56 AM »
I beg to move that this Bill be moved to vote.
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Online Achkaerin

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #4 on: January 18, 2018, 09:41:44 AM »
Given that there’s at present no active speaker or to my knowledge a deputy speaker. I would suggest that should the proposed legislation get the requisite number of seconds that the Vice Chancellor could then post the voting topic himself.

Also we are at the point where the next round of Premier elections is due to begin with the nomination period of three days. Now clearly if this Act were to become law then we’d have a situation where we would be having an election for an abolished position. That said the Chancellery is required to open the nominations, I have to be out the house within the next five minutes but i’ll Makes a recommendation when I get back.

Online DaveIronside

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #5 on: January 18, 2018, 09:59:23 AM »
One option with a Premier going AWOL, no active speaker, and essentially no government would perhaps be to declare a state of emergency, the VC then push this to vote, if it passes problem solved, if not new elections and state of emergency over.

Online Achkaerin

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #6 on: January 18, 2018, 01:23:38 PM »
I tend to agree, having consulted the membership logs Hobbes who is currently Premier was last logged in 15 days ago and I haven't seen an LOA declaration, we have historically in the forum legislation said 7 days AWOL vacates a position, so I would suggest on that basis that Hobbes has vacated the office of Premier by going AWOL. Second as pointed out there was no government appointed so there's no Vice Premier to take over in the circumstances. Normally we would simply hold fresh elections but this legislation would if passed render the process pointless as the Premier elected or appointed as a result would only be in the job a week at most before this came in. The main issue to the present problem is the lack of a Speaker who is active which hamstrings the legislative process.

Under the Emergency Procedures Act 2017 it states:

Quote
(1) If the Grand Chancellor determines that a condition exists in the Independent Order that:
(a) Threatens the independence of the region from external control;
(b) Threatens the execution of the laws of the region; or
(c) Otherwise subverts the constitutional order of the region,
and that the Regional Assembly, Premier, and/or Cabinet of the Independent Order are incapable or unwilling to address the issue, or that any of these offices have been compromised by foreign agents, they may, by Order, declare a State of Emergency.

It is arguable that the present situation threatens the execution of laws of the region in that we cannot create new laws because there is no government of the day nor is there a Speaker of the Assembly to enable process through the Assembly. I would therefore submit that the grounds are met and if the Grand Chancellor is so minded that she may declare a State of Emergency.

Doing so allows under section 3(b) of the Emergency Procedures Act the Grand Chancellor to make use of the powers vested in the Premier, Cabinet and Regional Assembly in addition to powers she already holds. Therefore under such circumstances the Grand Chancellor could under a state of emergency suspend the Premier election, thus avoiding the clash and then sort out a temporary Regional Assembly Speaker.

That is the legal position of declaring a state of emergency in these circumstances and as the Lord Chief Justice I believe it would under these circumstances be lawful to do so.

In practical terms I would simply suggest that this Bill get the requisite three seconds quickly (would normally be 3 but this is what happens when the VC proposes legislation) which means it can go to vote and that Beatrice declare the state of emergency as outlined above, she can then suspend the Premier elections and use her power to appoint a speaker and the vote can be put.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2018, 01:38:21 PM by Achkaerin »

Offline Phonx

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #7 on: January 20, 2018, 05:41:43 PM »
I was just wondering does this give the Chancellor flexibility to appoint any new positions if he or she thinks we might need them due to new issues that arise.

Online DaveIronside

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #8 on: January 20, 2018, 07:55:01 PM »
My understanding is the GC can create and appoint any ministries they see fit

Offline CGJ

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2018, 01:50:54 AM »
My understanding is the GC can create and appoint any ministries they see fit

This is correct. the GC will have full authority to appoint Ministers, including the creation and abolition of portfolios.
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Offline CGJ

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #10 on: January 23, 2018, 10:28:53 AM »
So can I get three seconds please...
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Online DaveIronside

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #11 on: January 23, 2018, 10:39:55 AM »
1 mississipi , 2 mississipi, 3 mississipi...... There you go three seconds.

In other words seconded

Offline Phonx

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #12 on: January 23, 2018, 03:44:39 PM »
Seconded.

Offline Pandect

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #13 on: January 23, 2018, 10:03:29 PM »
I'm just wondering why an amendment to the Constitution was posted, and yet not a link to the Constitution. Makes it very hard to see what the intended changes actually mean. No tl:dr summary either. Bad show.
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Offline KrisNord

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #14 on: January 23, 2018, 10:12:54 PM »
Every page on the forum has a link to the constitution on top of the page. https://independentorder.net/index.php?topic=14.0

As for a TL;DR summary if your part of a process then read the stuff. You shouldn't vote for something you don't understand and if you don't read it you can't complain. There has been weeks of discussion on things like this on the Discord and various forums. Personally I'll be against it as I don't think we're going to get a more active region because of it.

Offline Pandect

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #15 on: January 23, 2018, 10:20:19 PM »
Point.

However the amendment of the Constitution affects players who only take part in the Region part of the main site, and not the off-site forums, discord etc. As such any amendments to such an important and non-roleplay piece of legislation should be made clear and apparent, as well as being easily accessible and available over on the Region Board.

Non-roleplay players are not going to endlessly read forum posts on this hard to navigate, dark site; and certainly aren't going to sign up for the forum to do it.

If a piece of legislation affects non-roleplayers, then perhaps the voting process for its implementation also needs some consideration regarding access to non-roleplayers/forum users/discord members.

This comes down to the long-running argument in the region over the effect of roleplay on the region.

From what I can see, the changes in this proposition seem quite severe, including removing parts that allow voting by all members of TIO (ie nonRP) in Article 1 (4)
"The Grand Chancellor may be recalled following a vote of two-thirds of the Regional Assembly and a referendum of all members of the Independent Order, as defined by law. Should a Grand Chancellor be recalled, then an Act of the Assembly shall be required to appoint a replacement." to an as yet undefined Constitutional Convention.

And is ditching the Executive, the Regional Assembly and making significant changes to the Chancellery.

Asking for a simple explanation of what this actually means for non-forum members, doesn't seem to me to be unfair.
« Last Edit: January 23, 2018, 10:30:38 PM by Pandect »
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Offline CGJ

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #16 on: January 23, 2018, 11:33:01 PM »
So to explain, honestly the reason behind most of this isn't that we're trying to skim it passed people, more that we just didn't think about it. So I do apologise if you feel like we haven't attempted to engage non-forum members. A link should have, though afaik is not legally required to be, been posted on the RMB.

To respond to your specific point about the recall, that text is being replaced by '“(4) The Grand Chancellor may be recalled following a referendum of all eligible members of the Independent Order, as defined by law. Should a Grand Chancellor be recalled, then an Constitutional Convention shall be required to appoint a replacement.”'

We would, of course, have to enact such a law, and that will be done in due course, I guess. Legally speaking 'posts' only include forum posts, and that's how it's been since 2013.

There is also a TL;DR which, admittedly, is paced at the bottom of the text:
Quote
This Act is a major rewriting of the Constitution. It repeals Articles 2 and 3 to abolish the Premier and the Regional Assembly. It replaces it by empowering the Grand Chancellor to make ‘any such enactments required for the peace, order and good governance of the region.’ It states that when the GC wants to enact a law, it must be posted in the Conference Hall for 72 hours (96 for Constitutional amendments, Criminal Code and RP Rule amendments) and empowers members to oppose bills/present their own.
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Offline Pandect

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #17 on: January 23, 2018, 11:35:54 PM »
A link would be handy, thanks. And perhaps something to say if it affects the Region Board or not.
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Online Achkaerin

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #18 on: January 24, 2018, 01:22:59 AM »
Considering our interpretation of what counts as a forum post the Amendment does not as far as I can see actually affect the RMB in any way different than the present Constitution does as per article 2(d):

"Administering the forum, the official chatroom of the region, the NationStates region, and any other official off-forum locations;"

I believe that to be the only mention of the RMB under the Constitution or what the Constitution would be if the Amendment passed and that's purely identifying an admin-ship over the RMB which is presently fulfilled by the Vice Chancellor though will hopefully be corrected quickly.

The only other potential affects on the RMB in light of the amendment should it pass is in regards to the WAD this is a regional officer post so if one is maintained then it will need looking at in due course and then possibly in relation to some people who've caused trouble in the past for the region.

In short as far as I am aware the Regional Government has never set the rules on the Regions NS page. the Admins exercise their reasonable judgement there in terms of the WFE, suppression of posts etc. It would probably be worth considering that in the event when a law does affect the RMB that it is made known to the RMB.

Offline Pandect

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #19 on: January 24, 2018, 03:06:17 PM »
Thanks for the response.
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Online DaveIronside

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #20 on: February 01, 2018, 07:18:36 PM »
We getting this thing done or what??

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #21 on: February 01, 2018, 07:24:38 PM »
It still needs one more second to go to vote.

Offline Phonx

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #22 on: February 02, 2018, 05:16:17 PM »
It still needs one more second to go to vote.
you haven't seconded yet >.<

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #23 on: February 02, 2018, 05:30:12 PM »
good point. in the interests of bringing this to vote and resolving it. Seconded.

Offline CGJ

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Re: Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)
« Reply #24 on: February 02, 2018, 07:32:11 PM »
With 3 seconds I'll move this to vote.
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