Fixing a drunk King’s mistakes (SANE, Rokkenjima, Josai, Krimeon)

[fuwapanzer]

OOC: Major Jaws has given me permission to post this.

To: The Foreign Offices of New Derusmia, SICR, Rokkenjima, Josai, and Krimeon

After reading the SANE charter written by the King of Quintelia, Emperor of SICR, an President of New Derusmia, I myself have been confused and baffled as to how a charter that is messy, inconsistent, and has a lot of loopholes be approved and written by three leaders of nations that altogether lead half a billion people. Therefore, I would like to invite the foreign ministers and secretaries of your nations to meet in Nueva Lungsod City to rewrite the charter and even the other proclamations made.

Truly Yours,

Minister of Foreign Affairs Sofia Aliena

The meeting hall in the Nueva Lungsod City Hall was used in the past to discuss SANE proclamations and even where the King Lapu and President Seiko met and talked. "First of all, I would like to thank you for coming to this very important meeting. I'm very sure that all of you are aware of the flaws this charter has, therefore, we should fix it. Now, I would like to ask some suggestions first and build on from there.”

Papers was handed across the room, and Sofia spoke.

“On these sheets are the original charter, not including recent proclamations. Please, tell us what you think.”

Section 1
1. South Ardian Alliance Members shall all be members of and should agree to every provisions of the Assembly of Ardia.

2. Member states shall appoint a representative for the alliance. This representative shall not hold any position in their home country for as long as they're representing their nation.

3. The Alliance shall meet at least once every month to discuss any issues concerning every member nation. Representatives shall meet in the city of Nueva Lungsod, Dagohoy Province, Quintelia.

Section 2
1. All nations agree to provide visa-free travel for 30 days or more to every citizen who carry IDs exclusive to members of the alliance.

2. All nations agree to lift any tariffs on any goods from any member of the alliance.

3. A railway line, as previously negotiated in Claith, and a highway shall be built across the nations that are part of the alliance.

4. All member nations shall be given access to the Exclusive Economic Zones of each other and shall have the right to do any commercial or industrial activity so long as it complies to the laws of the respective nations.

Section 3
1. All member nations may propose any amendments or additions to this treaty. For an amendment or addition to be approved, it must gain the approval of 60% or more of member nations.

2. Any nation that has interest to be part of the alliance shall be able to apply for as long as it fulfills the following requirements:
a. The applicant is a member of the Assembly of Ardia
b Have had a diplomatic treaty signed with at least one of the member nation
c. Accept all aspects and provisions of the treaty, and
d. Gain the support of at least 50% of the member nations.

Section 4
1. All member nations shall agree desist any aggressive military action against another member nation.

2. All member nations shall have a joint military exercise at least once a year.

3. Member nations shall agree to open borders to nomadic indigenous peoples and Wilder-Jagers for as long as the said peoples shall be informed of the country they currently are in and shall follow the law of the country they visit.

4. All member nations shall have signed the Uppsala Convention and the MCUR.

[fuwapanzer]

President Ebston Feish had arrived by plane, along with Foreign Minister Korhann and SANE Representative Oliverson. The journey was short, and uneventful. This sort of journey was usual business for Tobias Oliverson, but for both the President and Foreign Affairs Minister, this would be their first time in Quintelia.

The table which seated the ministers and heads of states was quite packed, with 5 other nations in attendance. Ebston was the first to speak.

“I believe Section 1, part 2, should be struck out completely. It’s just wouldn’t seem practical having a minister leave their post just to become a representative.”

[Baal]

Secretary of State Keiko Uwi representing Josai came into the room, her journey was a short one and flew business class at JAL (Josai Airlines). She gave her input. "I agree with you President Ebston on Section 1. I would however keep Section 2 as I think it is the meat of the alliance. If we take away section 2. It is nothing more than a non-agression pact and holds most of the benefits. Except the railway line, that would take too much time and funds."

[Achkaerin]

OOC - don't mind me just thought I'd use Emerson to drop a line in here to help out a little.

Emerson Ravenswood had sat in silence reading the charter over and then comparing it against his notes, personally the Rokkenjiman Viceregent wasn't a fan of the idea of Rokkenjima joining SANE believing it to run contrary to the Empress's direction of being against accumulations of military might and one could easily say that SANE had that potential. But that said if Rokkenjima was to join SANE it was going to join an organisation that had a charter that made sense.

"To a large extent the charter originally conceived makes sense it just needs the odd section striking out, loophole tightening up, unnecessary duplication removed and a level of common sense applied." Emerson said "If I may be so bold as to suggest that the charter should look something like this." he put a copy on the table with lines and highlights on it.

Section 1
1. Members of the South Ardian New Electorate (SANE) shall all be members of the Ardian Assembly and shall agree with all the decisions made by that body. (rewording and correcting)

2. Member states shall appoint a representative for the alliance. This representative shall not hold any position in their home country for as long as they're representing their nation. This representative shall be permanently based (with staff) at the Headquarters of SANE in the city of Nueva Lungsod, Dagohoy Province, Quintelia.

3. The Alliance shall meet at least once every month to discuss any issues concerning every member nation. Representatives shall meet in the city of Nueva Lungsod, Dagohoy Province, Quintelia.

4. Decisions of SANE are taken by the entire membership following a discussion in which the membership and any pertinent nation[1] may participate. Decisions are made by vote in which each member of SANE shall have a single vote with a simple majority carrying the ballot. (basic explanation of decision making process)
Section 2
1. All nations agree to provide visa-free travel for 30 days or more to every citizen who carry IDs exclusive to members of the alliance. (Duplication of Ardian Assembly and therefore unrequired)

2. All nations agree to lift any tariffs on any goods from any member of the alliance. Qualification needed as to circumstances.

3. A railway line, as previously negotiated in Claith, and a highway shall be built across the nations that are part of the alliance. Should be discussed separately when such a line is viable or reworded to reflect that.

4. All member nations shall be given access to the Exclusive Economic Zones of each other and shall have the right to do any commercial or industrial activity so long as it complies to the laws of the respective nations. subject to the provisions of articles 55-75 of the Fair Seas Concordat (The quoted section handles the duties of states in EEZ's)


Section 3

1. All member nations shall agree desist any aggressive military action against another member nation.

2. All member nations shall have a joint military exercise at least once a year. (Justification required)

3. Member nations shall agree to open borders to nomadic indigenous peoples and Wilder-Jagers for as long as the said peoples shall be informed of the country they currently are in and shall follow the law of the country they visit. (Covered by Ardian Assembly travel provisions)

4. All member nations shall have signed the Uppsala Convention and the MCUR.


Section 4
1. All member nations may propose any amendments or additions to this treaty. For an amendment or addition to be approved, it must gain the approval of 60% or more of member nations.

2. Any nation that has interest to be part of the alliance shall be able to apply for as long as it fulfills the following requirements:
a. The applicant is a member of or has applied to join the Assembly of Ardia
b Has an active diplomatic treaty signed with at least three of the member nations[2]
c. Accept all aspects and provisions of the treaty, and
d. Gain the support of at least 50% of the member nations.

3. A Nation may withdraw from SANE by giving 60 days written notice to the organisation, the notice shall effect from the date of notice being served. (completes membership article)

1.	eg if SANE were discussing taking military action against Toshikawa then Gowu and Phuebra would be considered pertinent as it could potentially affect them
2.	OOC - Must be concluded (signed) and the active treaty must be with a nation on the map at time of application

"I'm more than happy to explain my reasoning if you wish but this meeting concerns trying to make a charter that doesn't presently make a whole lot of sense actually make sense, the most effective way of doing is in my view to acknowledge that under section 1.1 you require membership of the Ardian Assembly and you are far better off making use of their mechanisms than you are reinventing the wheel, the truth is that your present charter and the Ardian Assembly say some of the same things but where your charter presently stops the Ardian Assembly's contains safeguards it's in the best interests of every nation here to not create confusion between the two and therefore utilize what is already in place. This will also help SANE in the long term should for example Ui Cenneslaig wished to negotiate an agreement with SANE because as Ui Cenneslaig are a member of the Ardian Assembly it means a lot of the legwork would not need to happen because of a common standard."

[fuwapanzer]

Sofia read over Emerson’s copy, and responded.

“Emerson, thank you for your contributions, however, I believe that because Section 1, Part 4, is covered by the Fair Seas Concordat’s articles 55 through 74, wouldn’t that mean that all SANE members would have to be signatory to the Fair Seas Concordat? This would mean that we would have to add an extra clause, stating that all SANE members would have to join the Fair Seas Concordat.”

Share read through again, and continued.

“Also, I believe that a military exercise between member nations would be highly beneficial, as it would allow us to work with high cooperation in the event of war. I believe we should keep that part as it is.”

Finally, Sofia gave her last response.

“Just a question, what would happen if a nation were to apply for membership to the Ardian Assembly, and were rejected, would they still be able to join SANE? We should elaborate more on that part.”

After taking a drink, Sofia addressed the table.

“Other than that, I believe this new charter is suitable for use. If anyone else would like to suggest a change, please do so now.”

[Achkaerin]

"If I may take those one at a time." Emerson said slowly, collecting his thoughts "Ideally yes it would be helpful for all SANE members to be signatories to the Fair Seas Concordat the proposed amendment simply points out that the activity you wish to allow for in the charter is subject to the rights of nations as defined in that section of the FSC, the reason for this being that under the wording of the charter as it presently stands a SANE member seems to abdicate all control over what happens in its own waters in respect of other members activities, that is not an acceptable state of affairs from any standpoint.

Second it's quite correct to say that military exercises allow for high levels of cooperation, if one were to look at the level of cooperation in military and humanitarian endeavours between Achkaerin and East Moreland over the last three years then the evidence is plain to see. And that is a level of cooperation with its foundation in the joint exercises they were part of when both nations were CIS members. But also consider that the CIS had as part of its governing treaty a mutual defence clause that made clear that to attack one member nation in an unprovoked manner was to attack all of the member nations. SANE doesn't have that, even in the one bi-lateral treaty between existing members this clause does not exist, so the odds of the cooperation you talk about come down a fair bit. Therefore something that you need to decide is whether you want to include that element.

Thirdly it's appropriate to say that a potential SANE member must either be a member of the Assembly of Ardia or an applicant, the reasoning here is a time factor but a valid point is raised in the event of the Ardian Assembly refusing membership to a nation. I would suggest that if a SANE applicant has their membership application to the Ardian Assembly rejected then that nation cannot fulfil the criteria of the SANE charter and therefore would not be able to join SANE. It must also therefore follow that if a SANE member that is a member of the Ardian Assembly has their Assembly membership suspended or is excluded from the Assembly then there must be a consequence in SANE, which I would suggest should include  suspension of their voting rights and exclusion from military exercises if they are had. On balance therefore it may be best to revert that particular article to the position of having membership of the Ardian Assembly as a prerequisite for joining SANE.

With that said what I believe now needs to be decided are the answers to following questions

1) Do we want to require potential SANE members to have to be Ardian Assembly members before they can apply to join SANE?

2) Do we want SANE members to be required to sign the Fair Seas Concordat?

3) Do we want to include a Mutual Defence clause in the SANE Charter?

4) If a SANE member is suspended or excluded from the Ardian Assembly what consequences should they face in SANE?

I think answering these questions will enable us to formulate a reasonable draft of the charter that we can then consider."

[fuwapanzer]

Ebston listened on, and gave his reply.

“I reckon that we should have our members be part of, or at least applied for membership of the Ardian Assembly. We’re not called the South Ardian New Electorate for nothing. Many of the nations and prospective members of SANE have large access to the sea, so I believe it would be in our best interests if we signed the Fair Seas Concordat.”

Taking a sip of water, Feish continued.

“Obviously, we’d need a mutual defence clause in there. I’m surprised how I didn’t think of that before when we wrote the original charter.

Also believe that it would be best if the SANE members voted for what sort of disciplinary action would follow in the event a SANE member is ejected from the Ardian Assembly.”

[Achkaerin]

Emerson waited a few more moments, with no one else seemingly about to contribute his hand, with pen in it, went to work again producing another draft.

Charter of the South Ardian New Electorate (SANE)

Section 1

1. Members of the South Ardian New Electorate (SANE) shall all be members of the Ardian Assembly and shall agree with all the decisions made by that body.

2. Member states shall appoint a representative for the alliance. This representative shall be permanently based (with staff) at the Headquarters of SANE in the city of Nueva Lungsod, Dagohoy Province, Quintelia.

3. Decisions of SANE are taken by the entire membership following a discussion in which the membership and any pertinent nation[1] may participate. Decisions are made by vote in which each member of SANE shall have a single vote with a simple majority carrying the ballot. In the case of amendments to the SANE Charter a two thirds (66%) super majority will be required.

Section 2

1. All nations agree to lift any tariffs on any goods from any member of the alliance.

2. All member nations shall be given access to the Exclusive Economic Zones of each other and shall have the right to do any commercial or industrial activity subject to the provisions of articles 55-75 of the Fair Seas Concordat.

Section 3

1. All member nations shall agree desist any aggressive military action against another member nation.

2. All member nations agree that an unprovoked attack against one is an attack against all.

3. All member nations agree that the use of military force of any kind is a final resort.

4. When deploying military force sanctioned by a vote of the SANE membership the members of SANE shall agree upon a commander for that operation and offer all reasonable support to that person.

5. All member nations agree to abide by the terms of the Uppsala Convention in any military action.

6. The member nations shall have a joint military exercise at once a year, the format to be determined by the SANE membership.

Section 4

1. Any nation that has interest to be part of the alliance shall be able to apply for as long as it fulfills the following requirements:
a. The applicant is a member of the Assembly of Ardia
b Has an active diplomatic treaty signed with at least three of the member nations[2]
c. Accept all aspects and provisions of the treaty, and
d. Gain the support of a majority (50%+1) of the member nations.

2. Any successful applicant nation must, unless they have already done so, within seven (7) days of admission into SANE[3] sign the MCUR, Uppsala Convention and Fair Seas Concordat.

3. A Nation may withdraw from SANE by giving 60 days written notice to the organisation, the notice shall effect from the date of notice being served.

1.	eg if SANE were discussing taking military action against Toshikawa then Gowu and Phuebra would be considered pertinent as it could potentially affect them
2.	OOC - Must be concluded (signed) and the active treaty must be with a nation on the map at time of application
3.	OOC - Defined as the day SANE posts "Nation X is hereby admitted into SANE" or similar

"I believe then that this is the foundation you need based on the articles you already had in the charter." Emerson said "Obviously it has the potential to expand should you at any point wish to venture into the realms of science, education or sport for example but based on what had at the start this is now the streamlined version that does what I think you need it to do."

[RobertAgira]

OOC- I know I'm not a member but I do love a treaty so thought to perhaps put some advice forward.

"Member states shall appoint a representative for the alliance. This representative shall be permanently based (with staff) at the Headquarters of SANE in the city of Nueva Lungsod, Dagohoy Province, Quintelia." Representative for what? What is their role/purpose.

"d. Gain the support of a majority (50%+1) of the member nations." With people going AWOL etc you may want to consider this saying "support of the majority of voting nations." otherwise you may end up as the group expands with people not able to have SANE do anything because two are active but four members are AWOL.

" Any successful applicant nation must, unless they have already done so, within seven (7) days of admission into SANE[3] sign the MCUR, Uppsala Convention and Fair Seas Concordat." I believe only one member of SANE has signed all these.

[fuwapanzer]

After being handed the charter, Sofia made a few edits before showing it to the rest of the table.

“This here is what I believe is the completed charter of SANE. If anybody has any objections, please say so now,”

Charter of the South Ardian New Electorate (SANE)

Hosted and signed at Nanjing, Republic of China, April 2019

Rewritten at Nueva Lungsod, September 2019

Having determined that an alliance would be beneficial for the betterment of the continent and the member nations, a charter was made to bring the Southern nations of Ardia together.

Section 1

1. Members of the South Ardian New Electorate (SANE) shall all be members of the Ardian Assembly and shall agree with all the decisions made by that body.

2. Member states shall appoint a representative for the alliance. This representative shall be permanently based (with staff) at the Headquarters of SANE in the city of Nueva Lungsod, Dagohoy Province, Quintelia. This representative will vote in SANE meetings, taking into account the nation’s current opinions, stances, and beliefs.

3. Decisions of SANE are taken by the entire membership following a discussion in which the membership and any pertinent nation may participate. Decisions are made by vote in which each member of SANE shall have a single vote with a simple majority carrying the ballot. In the case of amendments to the SANE Charter a two thirds (66%) super majority will be required.

Section 2

1. All nations agree to lift any tariffs on any goods from any member of the alliance.

2. All member nations shall be given access to the Exclusive Economic Zones of each other and shall have the right to do any commercial or industrial activity subject to the provisions of articles 55-75 of the Fair Seas Concordat.

3. Citizens who come from SANE member nations can apply for a special visa that will allow 30-days travel between SANE member nations. Citizens with a criminal record cannot apply for said visa. If a citizen from a SANE member nation commits a crime, overseas or within their nation’s borders, their visa will be revoked.

Section 3

1. All member nations shall agree desist any aggressive military action against another member nation.

2. All member nations agree that an unprovoked attack against one is an attack against all.

3. All member nations agree that the use of military force of any kind is a final resort.

4. When deploying military force sanctioned by a vote of the SANE membership the members of SANE shall agree upon a commander for that operation and offer all reasonable support to that person.

5. All member nations agree to abide by the terms of the Uppsala Convention in any military action.

6. The member nations shall have a joint military exercise at once a year. Each member nation will have a turn at hosting the exercise each year.

Section 4

1. Any nation that has interest to be part of the alliance shall be able to apply for as long as it fulfills the following requirements:
a. The applicant is a member of the Assembly of Ardia
b. Accept all aspects and provisions of the treaty, and
c. Gain the support of the majority of voting

2. Any successful applicant nation must, unless they have already done so, within seven (7) days of admission into SANE sign the MCUR, Uppsala Convention and Fair Seas Concordat. If they have not, but are still a member of SANE, they must apply for the said organisations within 7 days of the passing of this treaty.

3.Observer states will assign a representative to take part in SANE meetings to voice their opinion, however, said representative does not have the right to vote. The representative will also be permanently based at the SANE Headquarters. Observer nations must also go through the same application process as other prospective members.

4. A Nation may withdraw from SANE by giving 60 days written notice to the organisation, the notice shall effect from the date of notice being served.

Originally written by King Ferdinand ‘Lapu’ Adartse (Quintelia), Emperor-Admiral Jingduming von Nanjing (SICR), and President Ebston Feish (New Derusmia)

Rewritten by Lord Emerson Ravenswood (Achkaerin), Empress Beatrice Anselmo (Rokkenjima), Emperor Axel Poniatowski-Esterházy (Krimeon), Secretary of State Keiko Uwi (Josai), Emperor-Admiral Jingduming von Nanjing (SICR) and President Ebston Feish (New Derusmia)

(OOC: I assume everybody invited attended.)