Constitutional Editing -- Article II

[Unterwasserseestaat]

Here are my thoughts on what we could do with Article II. Blue is for additions
Red is for deletions
and <Green in triangle brackets> is for running commentary, and is not meant to be in the actual amendment.

ARTICLE II. Membership and Registration.

Section 1: Requirements.

In order to remain as legal members of The North Pacific, a Nation is expected to adhere to the following requirements:
1) Each member Nation will abide by the Constitution of The North Pacific and The North Pacific Legal Code enacted pursuant to Article IV of this Constitution.
2) Each member Nation shall refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any other nation or region in a manner inconsistent with the Constitution of The North Pacific.
3) Each member Nation shall refrain from giving assistance to any nation or region against which The North Pacific is taking defensive or enforcement action. Exceptions shall be given to Nations acting with official authorization of the North Pacific Army or the North Pacific Intelligence Agency, and is subject to the consent of the Cabinet minister having appropriate jurisdiction.

Section 2: Registration.

In the interest of Regional security, Member Nations shall be required to register with the Regional Assembly prior to voting in Regional elections or referenda, as prescribed by the following procedures:
1) The Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs shall oversee the process of registration, aided by the Prime Minister and the Regional off-site forum administrators.
2) Nations that reside in The North Pacific and who agree to abide by the requirements of membership outlined in Article II, Section 1, of this Constitution will request Regional Assembly membership at the Regional off-site forum by posting a request in a thread for that exclusive purpose, created by the Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs.
3) In their request, Nations will be required to post a link to their TNP member Nation and their UN member Nation at NationStates.net, and in doing so, verify that they have taken the following oath:

QUOTE
"I, (Forum Name), as the leader of the (Official Full National Name), pledge to obey the Constitution and Laws of The North Pacific Region, and to act as a responsible member of its society.  I understand that if my Nation leaves The North Pacific region for reasons other than participation in North Pacific Army deployments that I may be stripped of my right to vote and required to reapply.  I pledge to only register one Nation to vote in The North Pacific.  I understand that my registration of, or attempt to register, multiple Nations to vote in The North Pacific shall warrant the summary withdrawal of my right to vote from all my Nations, past, present, and future, as well as possible expulsion from the Region. In this manner, I petition the Regional Government of The North Pacific region for membership in the Regional Assembly."
/QUOTE

4) The Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs, the Prime Minister, the Regional off-site forum administrators, and any other support personnel of the Regional Government deemed necessary are empowered to conduct investigations and make inquiries deemed necessary for the enforcement of The North Pacific voter registration provisions outlined in this Constitution, The North Pacific Legal Code, or other laws enacted pursuant to this Constitution.
<This is dealt with in Art. III 2 and Art. III.2.3>

5) The Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs shall expeditiously process each such registration request, and shall place any Nation accepted as a member of the Regional Assembly in a public listing of current members maintained for that purpose at the Regional off-site forum.
6) At any time, should sufficient evidence be brought to the Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs that proves that a Regional Assembly Member fails to meet the requirements for membership due to the deletion of a Nation from NationStates through inactivity or NationStates Moderator intervention, that Nation's name may be purged from the list of members. Should a Nation, whose membership has been purged, later be found to have been resurrected in NationStates, or that the Nation become a member of the Region once again, they may re-apply for voting rights according to the procedures in the preceding clauses of this Section.
<The MoIA should have the power to purge any member failing to meet the requirements for membership given sufficient evidence (admittedly, this may sometimes require a trial. All applicants should be on equal standing, not only ones deleted or expelled for other regions and not specifically barred from reapplying.>

7) The act of expulsion or banning of a Nation from the Region prior to a trial or a referendum does not affect its status as a member until and unless a final judgment is entered in a judicial proceeding or a final certification is entered in a referendum, whichever is applicable to the given situation. The North Pacific Legal Code may provide authority to the Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs for the periodic purging of the names of member who are no longer eligible to vote in the Region, upon due notice because they no longer meet the requirements of this Section.
<Either it does, or it doesn’t, and should be covered in II.3.6 anyway. I also don't see where this is addressed in the Legal Code. It only mentions that the MoIA shall update the list of Registered Voters, and doesn't stipulate nations found in violation of elegibility criteria should be purged). I think this should be an explcit power of the office, but that likely goes outside the idea of 'editing.'>

Section 3. Jurisdiction, Review of Regional Government Action.

1) Nations who register to vote in this Region are subject to all the provisions of this Constitution, The North Pacific Legal Code, or other laws including but not limited to the provisions of Article III; Section 1, Clause 5 of this Constitution. Each Nation entitled to a vote in the manner prescribed under this Constitution or The North Pacific Legal Code, is entitled to the equal treatment of that Nation's right to vote.
2) The UN Delegate for The North Pacific, the Prime Minister, any Cabinet Minister, any deputy Cabinet minister, and the Attorney General shall act only in the best interests of the Region. Should any Regional Assembly member believe that the actions of the Delegate, the Prime Minister, or any other official in the Regional Government are inappropriate, or would serve the Region better if enacted as permanent law, that Nation may draft a petition, describing the action taken, to be signed by at least one other member, and then posted in a appropriate thread in the Regional off-site forum for the Prime Minister's office. The Cabinet shall review all such petitions. After deciding on the proper action to be taken, whether it is to overturn that action or to adopt that action as permanent law, the Cabinet shall put its decision up for a referendum of the Regional Assembly. If a majority vote is cast by the Regional Assembly (with a quorum of voters participating) in favor of ratification of the Cabinet's decision, it shall be carried out immediately.
3) No government official shall have the authority to change the designated off-site forum for regional governance without approval of a majority of the members of the Regional Assembly.

<Part 1 of this section is a restatement of Art II section 1 part 1, and is better stated there. The content of parts 2 and 3 would be put into Article I section 2, outlining the restrictions on the power of the government>

Section 4. Political, Diplomatic and Military Relationships With Other Regions.

A - The North Pacific may establish and maintain appropriate political, diplomatic, or military relationships with other regions in NationStates, in accordance with provisions enacted as part of the North Pacific Legal Code.
B - Political, diplomatic, or military relationships shall only be established by agreement or treaty. Either the Minister of External Affairs or the Prime Minister has the power to create, change or remove basic military or diplomatic treaties, as defined by law. The creation, change or removal of a Mutual Defence Treaty, or any other Military treaty short of an Alliance or Entente must have the support of a majority of the Cabinet. Proposals for the creation, change or removal of any documents dealing with alliances or ententes (as in a coalition) or other types of interregional agreements, conventions, or treaties that affect regional law must be submitted to the Speaker for approval of such proposed action by a majority of the Regional Assembly in a referendum with a quorum participating. The voting period for the referendum shall be for five consecutive days. Should the action be approved, action to implement the proposal shall be taken by the Prime Minister, the Minister of External Affairs, or the Cabinet of the Regional Government, as appropriate in the circumstances.

<Here I would delete text with the understanding that a section should be added to Art IV to give a definition of “approval of the RA” to be applied to the rest of the document>

C - Provisions for the establishment of political relationships with other regions shall be established in the North Pacific Legal Code. In the event of the establishment of a commonwealth relationship the citizens of the partner region shall enjoy the full rights of nations of The North Pacific and shall be eligible to apply for Regional Assembly membership. The Legal Code shall also set out guidelines for diplomatic missions in The North Pacific, but no embassy may be established except by a formal treaty or agreement.

C - Provisions for the establishment of a commonwealth relationship, a protectorate relationship, a colony relationship or other political relationships with other regions by treaty or agreement shall be established in the North Pacific Legal Code. A treaty or agreement that provides for establishment of a commonwealth relationship shall expressly provide for the rights of nations of the other region to acquire full and equal citizenship and Regional Assembly Membership in The North Pacific under the provisions of this Constitution.
D - Provisions for military alliances, military co-operation, and joint military operations by treaty or agreement shall be established in the North Pacific Legal Code. Such provisions may provide for approval of deployments by the Security Council in appropriate circumstances as provided by law.
E - Provisions for the establishment of embassies, consulates, and interest sections by treaty or agreement shall be established in the North Pacific Legal Code. Such provisions of law may provide for establishment of consulates or interest sections on request of another region or multi-regional organization, but no embassy may be established except by a formal treaty or agreement.
F. Negotiators can reject any proposal deemed unsuitable, before it is presented for vote (should that be required.)
<here C and E are collapsed into a single part. I would delete part F with the intent on adding the power of appointing individuals with the power to negotiate with foreign powers having the ability to reject proposals.>

 

[Heft]

Hmm, seems good to me.

 

[Zemnaya Svoboda]

I'll go with Heft here

 

[MybeliaPresident]

I wish there was something I could see that would be good grist for debate. But then that's why you're delegate to the UN- you're good at this stuff.

 

[Haor Chall]

Looks good.

 

[Heft]

So....formal discussion time?

 

[Grosseschnauzer]

I respectfully request this not go to formal discussion just yet.

I had planned to spend time carefully reviewing this, but current events (with the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, and what are said to be Lexiconian activities) have required my time and attention elsewhere. I'll get back to this as soon as possible.

 

[Grosseschnauzer]

Unter: A technical point.
Not all of us are able to see red, blue and green in our browser settings. It makes it impossible to read what you are suggesting.
I've copied the text and inserted bold, strikeout and italic where the coding indicate changes in one of the three colors.
Want to confirm I did that right? Then I can get to my comments on what you are proposing. (And yes, I do have comments since some of what you are suggesting amounts to substantive changes in the Constitution, and some of them invoke areas that are current issues of discussion; others involve areas where there were Constitutional amendments that resulted in compromises that really should be left alone.

ARTICLE II. Membership and Registration.

Section 1: Requirements.

In order to remain as legal members of The North Pacific, a Nation is expected to adhere to the following requirements:
1) Each member Nation will abide by the Constitution of The North Pacific and The North Pacific Legal Code enacted pursuant to Article IV of this Constitution.
2) Each member Nation shall refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any other nation or region in a manner inconsistent with the Constitution of The North Pacific.
3) Each member Nation shall refrain from giving assistance to any nation or region against which The North Pacific is taking defensive or enforcement action. Exceptions shall be given to Nations acting with official authorization of the North Pacific Army or the North Pacific Intelligence Agency, and is subject to the consent of the Cabinet minister having appropriate jurisdiction.

Section 2: Registration.

In the interest of Regional security, Member Nations shall be required to register with the Regional Assembly prior to voting in Regional elections or referenda, as prescribed by the following procedures:
1) The Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs shall oversee the process of registration, aided by the Prime Minister and the Regional off-site forum administrators.
2) Nations that reside in The North Pacific and who agree to abide by the requirements of membership outlined in Article II, Section 1, of this Constitution will request Regional Assembly membership at the Regional off-site forum by posting a request in a thread for that exclusive purpose, created by the Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs.
3) In their request, Nations will be required to post a link to their TNP member Nation and their UN member Nation at NationStates.net, and in doing so, verify that they have taken the following oath:

QUOTE
"I, (Forum Name), as the leader of the (Official Full National Name), pledge to obey the Constitution and Laws of The North Pacific Region, and to act as a responsible member of its society.  I understand that if my Nation leaves The North Pacific region for reasons other than participation in North Pacific Army deployments that I may be stripped of my right to vote and required to reapply.  I pledge to only register one Nation to vote in The North Pacific.  I understand that my registration of, or attempt to register, multiple Nations to vote in The North Pacific shall warrant the summary withdrawal of my right to vote from all my Nations, past, present, and future, as well as possible expulsion from the Region. In this manner, I petition the Regional Government of The North Pacific region for membership in the Regional Assembly."
/QUOTE

4) The Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs, the Prime Minister, the Regional off-site forum administrators, and any other support personnel of the Regional Government deemed necessary are empowered to conduct investigations and make inquiries deemed necessary for the enforcement of The North Pacific voter registration provisions outlined in this Constitution, The North Pacific Legal Code, or other laws enacted pursuant to this Constitution.
<This is dealt with in Art. III 2 and Art. III.2.3>

5) The Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs shall expeditiously process each such registration request, and shall place any Nation accepted as a member of the Regional Assembly in a public listing of current members maintained for that purpose at the Regional off-site forum.
6) At any time, should sufficient evidence be brought to the Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs that proves that a Regional Assembly Member fails to meet the requirements for membership due to the deletion of a Nation from NationStates through inactivity or NationStates Moderator intervention, that Nation's name may be purged from the list of members. Should a Nation, whose membership has been purged, later be found to have been resurrected in NationStates, or that the Nation become a member of the Region once again, they may re-apply for voting rights according to the procedures in the preceding clauses of this Section.
<The MoIA should have the power to purge any member failing to meet the requirements for membership given sufficient evidence (admittedly, this may sometimes require a trial. All applicants should be on equal standing, not only ones deleted or expelled for other regions and not specifically barred from reapplying.>

7) The act of expulsion or banning of a Nation from the Region prior to a trial or a referendum does not affect its status as a member until and unless a final judgment is entered in a judicial proceeding or a final certification is entered in a referendum, whichever is applicable to the given situation. The North Pacific Legal Code may provide authority to the Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs for the periodic purging of the names of member who are no longer eligible to vote in the Region, upon due notice because they no longer meet the requirements of this Section.
<Either it does, or it doesn’t, and should be covered in II.3.6 anyway. I also don't see where this is addressed in the Legal Code. It only mentions that the MoIA shall update the list of Registered Voters, and doesn't stipulate nations found in violation of elegibility criteria should be purged). I think this should be an explcit power of the office, but that likely goes outside the idea of 'editing.'>

Section 3. Jurisdiction, Review of Regional Government Action.

1) Nations who register to vote in this Region are subject to all the provisions of this Constitution, The North Pacific Legal Code, or other laws including but not limited to the provisions of Article III; Section 1, Clause 5 of this Constitution. Each Nation entitled to a vote in the manner prescribed under this Constitution or The North Pacific Legal Code, is entitled to the equal treatment of that Nation's right to vote.
2) The UN Delegate for The North Pacific, the Prime Minister, any Cabinet Minister, any deputy Cabinet minister, and the Attorney General shall act only in the best interests of the Region. Should any Regional Assembly member believe that the actions of the Delegate, the Prime Minister, or any other official in the Regional Government are inappropriate, or would serve the Region better if enacted as permanent law, that Nation may draft a petition, describing the action taken, to be signed by at least one other member, and then posted in a appropriate thread in the Regional off-site forum for the Prime Minister's office. The Cabinet shall review all such petitions. After deciding on the proper action to be taken, whether it is to overturn that action or to adopt that action as permanent law, the Cabinet shall put its decision up for a referendum of the Regional Assembly. If a majority vote is cast by the Regional Assembly (with a quorum of voters participating) in favor of ratification of the Cabinet's decision, it shall be carried out immediately.
3) No government official shall have the authority to change the designated off-site forum for regional governance without approval of a majority of the members of the Regional Assembly.

<Part 1 of this section is a restatement of Art II section 1 part 1, and is better stated there. The content of parts 2 and 3 would be put into Article I section 2, outlining the restrictions on the power of the government>

Section 4. Political, Diplomatic and Military Relationships With Other Regions.

A - The North Pacific may establish and maintain appropriate political, diplomatic, or military relationships with other regions in NationStates, in accordance with provisions enacted as part of the North Pacific Legal Code.
B - Political, diplomatic, or military relationships shall only be established by agreement or treaty. Either the Minister of External Affairs or the Prime Minister has the power to create, change or remove basic military or diplomatic treaties, as defined by law. The creation, change or removal of a Mutual Defence Treaty, or any other Military treaty short of an Alliance or Entente must have the support of a majority of the Cabinet. Proposals for the creation, change or removal of any documents dealing with alliances or ententes (as in a coalition) or other types of interregional agreements, conventions, or treaties that affect regional law must be submitted to the Speaker for approval of such proposed action by a majority of the Regional Assembly in a referendum with a quorum participating. The voting period for the referendum shall be for five consecutive days. Should the action be approved, action to implement the proposal shall be taken by the Prime Minister, the Minister of External Affairs, or the Cabinet of the Regional Government, as appropriate in the circumstances.

<Here I would delete text with the understanding that a section should be added to Art IV to give a definition of “approval of the RA” to be applied to the rest of the document>

C - Provisions for the establishment of political relationships with other regions shall be established in the North Pacific Legal Code. In the event of the establishment of a commonwealth relationship the citizens of the partner region shall enjoy the full rights of nations of The North Pacific and shall be eligible to apply for Regional Assembly membership. The Legal Code shall also set out guidelines for diplomatic missions in The North Pacific, but no embassy may be established except by a formal treaty or agreement.

C - Provisions for the establishment of a commonwealth relationship, a protectorate relationship, a colony relationship or other political relationships with other regions by treaty or agreement shall be established in the North Pacific Legal Code. A treaty or agreement that provides for establishment of a commonwealth relationship shall expressly provide for the rights of nations of the other region to acquire full and equal citizenship and Regional Assembly Membership in The North Pacific under the provisions of this Constitution.
D - Provisions for military alliances, military co-operation, and joint military operations by treaty or agreement shall be established in the North Pacific Legal Code. Such provisions may provide for approval of deployments by the Security Council in appropriate circumstances as provided by law.
E - Provisions for the establishment of embassies, consulates, and interest sections by treaty or agreement shall be established in the North Pacific Legal Code. Such provisions of law may provide for establishment of consulates or interest sections on request of another region or multi-regional organization, but no embassy may be established except by a formal treaty or agreement.
F. Negotiators can reject any proposal deemed unsuitable, before it is presented for vote (should that be required.)
<here C and E are collapsed into a single part. I would delete part F with the intent on adding the power of appointing individuals with the power to negotiate with foreign powers having the ability to reject proposals.>

 

[Unterwasserseestaat]

Yes, the above is accurate. I apologize for any inconvenience my system of formatting may have caused.

 

[Grosseschnauzer]

Here are my comments and observations:

ARTICLE II. Membership and Registration.

Section 1: Requirements.

In order to remain as legal members of The North Pacific, a Nation is expected to adhere to the following requirements:
1) Each member Nation will abide by the Constitution of The North Pacific and The North Pacific Legal Code enacted pursuant to Article IV of this Constitution.
2) Each member Nation shall refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any other nation or region in a manner inconsistent with the Constitution of The North Pacific.
3) Each member Nation shall refrain from giving assistance to any nation or region against which The North Pacific is taking defensive or enforcement action. Exceptions shall be given to Nations acting with official authorization of the North Pacific Army or the North Pacific Intelligence Agency, and is subject to the consent of the Cabinet minister having appropriate jurisdiction.

Section 2: Registration.

In the interest of Regional security, Member Nations shall be required to register with the Regional Assembly prior to voting in Regional elections or referenda, as prescribed by the following procedures:

There was a signifcant legal reason for the phrase “in the interest of Regional security” to be included. Since some would otherwise argue that any eligibility requirement violated the right to be admitted to the Regional Assembly, that clause was added to emphasize that regional security is the reason for a registration requirement. I would say that removing the clause would open up the registration process to the very kinds of legal attack which this clause makes possible to avoid. The entire process is designed to protect regional security.

1) The Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs shall oversee the process of registration, aided by the Prime Minister and the Regional off-site forum administrators.
2) Nations that reside in The North Pacific and who agree to abide by the requirements of membership outlined in Article II, Section 1, of this Constitution will request Regional Assembly membership at the Regional off-site forum by posting a request in a thread for that exclusive purpose, created by the Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs.
3) In their request, Nations will be required to post a link to their TNP member Nation and their UN member Nation at NationStates.net, and in doing so, verify that they have taken the following oath:

QUOTE
"I, (Forum Name), as the leader of the (Official Full National Name), pledge to obey the Constitution and Laws of The North Pacific Region, and to act as a responsible member of its society.  I understand that if my Nation leaves The North Pacific region for reasons other than participation in North Pacific Army deployments that I may be stripped of my right to vote and required to reapply.  I pledge to only register one Nation to vote in The North Pacific.  I understand that my registration of, or attempt to register, multiple Nations to vote in The North Pacific shall warrant the summary withdrawal of my right to vote from all my Nations, past, present, and future, as well as possible expulsion from the Region. In this manner, I petition the Regional Government of The North Pacific region for membership in the Regional Assembly."
/QUOTE

I’m aware that Flem has already suggested a change to the oath, and other parts of Section 1 and 2, even before recent events were uncovered. But those are proposals for substantive changes and should be dealt with separately.

4) The Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs, the Prime Minister, the Regional off-site forum administrators, and any other support personnel of the Regional Government deemed necessary are empowered to conduct investigations and make inquiries deemed necessary for the enforcement of The North Pacific voter registration provisions outlined in this Constitution, The North Pacific Legal Code, or other laws enacted pursuant to this Constitution.
<This is dealt with in Art. III 2 and Art. III.2.3>

This section is an example of trying to keep all the provisions connected with registration in the same place. Remove (or move it) and it won’t be very long before there will be complaints that the provisions related to registration are scattered throughout the Constitution and Legal Code. The power to “conduct investigations and make inquires deemed necessary for the enforcement of The North Pacific voter registration provisions” is one of the few instances of specific powers used in the Constitution, and removal of this provision would weaken the ability of this group of officials to deal with circumstances that require investigations or inquiries, as well as making clear that there are others besides the Minister of Immigation and Internal Affairs who have that authority. The language in Article III, Section 2 and subparagraph 2(3) deal with this authority only to the extent that it makes the MIIA primarily responsible for the registration process, but those other sections do not deal with the power to conduct investigations and make inquiries, which is exclusively dealt with here. I would point out that this provision gave the PM the specific authority to act in connection with the recent events. Removing this specific power would be a substantive change in the Constitution. That power needs to be specifically retained.

5) The Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs shall expeditiously process each such registration request, and shall place any Nation accepted as a member of the Regional Assembly in a public listing of current members maintained for that purpose at the Regional off-site forum.
6) At any time, should sufficient evidence be brought to the Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs that proves that a Regional Assembly Member fails to meet the requirements for membership due to the deletion of a Nation from NationStates through inactivity or NationStates Moderator intervention, that Nation's name may be purged from the list of members. Should a Nation, whose membership has been purged, later be found to have been resurrected in NationStates, or that the Nation become a member of the Region once again, they may re-apply for voting rights according to the procedures in the preceding clauses of this Section.
<The MoIA should have the power to purge any member failing to meet the requirements for membership given sufficient evidence (admittedly, this may sometimes require a trial. All applicants should be on equal standing, not only ones deleted or expelled for other regions and not specifically barred from reapplying.>

This is, without question proposals for substantive change. These are changes that be accomplished by enactment of a law without amending the Constitution.

7) The act of expulsion or banning of a Nation from the Region prior to a trial or a referendum does not affect its status as a member until and unless a final judgment is entered in a judicial proceeding or a final certification is entered in a referendum, whichever is applicable to the given situation. The North Pacific Legal Code may provide authority to the Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs for the periodic purging of the names of member who are no longer eligible to vote in the Region, upon due notice because they no longer meet the requirements of this Section.
<Either it does, or it doesn’t, and should be covered in II.3.6 anyway. I also don't see where this is addressed in the Legal Code. It only mentions that the MoIA shall update the list of Registered Voters, and doesn't stipulate nations found in violation of elegibility criteria should be purged). I think this should be an explcit power of the office, but that likely goes outside the idea of 'editing.'>

The intent of that TNP Law (which Tresville drafted as part of a omnibus bill during his term as Prime Minister) was that there was to be a check of the member list (outside of the check before elections) at some point during each term of office, and if during that check, it was found that the player’s nation listed with the MIIA was no longer in TNP, they would be removed after notice. That law implemented this clause. While notice is required as a matter of due process, its inclusion here was to emphasize that notice had to be provided before the name could be purged. While I agree that this would not be a substantive change, I am concerned about retaining the emphasis of prior notice before a name is purged.

Section 3. Jurisdiction, Review of Regional Government Action.

1) Nations who register to vote in this Region are subject to all the provisions of this Constitution, The North Pacific Legal Code, or other laws including but not limited to the provisions of Article III; Section 1, Clause 5 of this Constitution. Each Nation entitled to a vote in the manner prescribed under this Constitution or The North Pacific Legal Code, is entitled to the equal treatment of that Nation's right to vote.
2) The UN Delegate for The North Pacific, the Prime Minister, any Cabinet Minister, any deputy Cabinet minister, and the Attorney General shall act only in the best interests of the Region. Should any Regional Assembly member believe that the actions of the Delegate, the Prime Minister, or any other official in the Regional Government are inappropriate, or would serve the Region better if enacted as permanent law, that Nation may draft a petition, describing the action taken, to be signed by at least one other member, and then posted in a appropriate thread in the Regional off-site forum for the Prime Minister's office. The Cabinet shall review all such petitions. After deciding on the proper action to be taken, whether it is to overturn that action or to adopt that action as permanent law, the Cabinet shall put its decision up for a referendum of the Regional Assembly. If a majority vote is cast by the Regional Assembly (with a quorum of voters participating) in favor of ratification of the Cabinet's decision, it shall be carried out immediately.
3) No government official shall have the authority to change the designated off-site forum for regional governance without approval of a majority of the members of the Regional Assembly.

<Part 1 of this section is a restatement of Art II section 1 part 1, and is better stated there. The content of parts 2 and 3 would be put into Article I section 2, outlining the restrictions on the power of the government>

Part 1) of Section 3 serves a totally different purpose than Article II section 1 part 1. That earlier part merely imposes an obligation on members to comply with regional law. Part 1) of Section 3 declares that the regional government has jurisdiction over those who registered “to vote” and included a specific reference to what was, initially, Article III, Section 1, part 5):

5) Only Nations who are registered to vote when the voting period commences shall be entitled to vote at the Regional off-site forum. Nations that register to vote after a voting period commences shall not be able to vote in the election of the Prime Minister, any Cabinet minister, the UN Delegate for the Region, or on referenda as to any other matter subject to a vote of registered voters as provided in this Constitution, or The North Pacific Legal Code, until the next election or referendum that occurs after that Nation's registration is validated and accepted.

That is the language of that provision as it appeared when it was approved after the Constitutional Convention. A subsequent revision of election procedure re-wrote all of those provisions, in part to reconcile the procedures for delegate and Cabinet election, so there is no exact cross-reference that now fits. The intent however, was to avoid any disputes over nre registrants wanting to vote in an on-going election or referendum. I believe that the part of the first sentence of section 3 1) should be retained as the statement of jurisdiction, while the cross-reference and the second sentence could be safely deleted, as the second sentence is clause 10 of the Declaration of Rights.
As to part 2, that is a significant, substantive provision that permits cabinet and RA review of actions by the listed officials (and approval by the RA). Prior to the Constitutional Convention, the Declaration of Rights was part of this Article (now Article II). The convention decided that the Declaration was important enough to be separated into its own Article, and the remaining parts of that general article became Article II. I’m not sure whether any part of this Section should be added into the Declaration of Rights (other than to reconcile actual duplication). Part 2 probably needs a little tweaking to more precisely reflect the way it has been used in practice, but that to me is still a substantive change that should be raised separately.
As I recall, you haven’t yet proposed how those provisions would be transferred into Article I Section 2 as you perceive, so I will hold off making any further comments until I see what you have in mind.
As to part 3, while that is a limitation on official power, it did not deal with the rights and liberties of the nations of TNP, but rather dealt with a specific issue that had arisen several times – the change in designation of the official forum. It was place in current Article II as one of those provision of general nature that really did not fit in well elsewhere.

Section 4. Political, Diplomatic and Military Relationships With Other Regions.

A - The North Pacific may establish and maintain appropriate political, diplomatic, or military relationships with other regions in NationStates, in accordance with provisions enacted as part of the North Pacific Legal Code.
B - Political, diplomatic, or military relationships shall only be established by agreement or treaty. Either the Minister of External Affairs or the Prime Minister has the power to create, change or remove basic military or diplomatic treaties, as defined by law. The creation, change or removal of a Mutual Defence Treaty, or any other Military treaty short of an Alliance or Entente must have the support of a majority of the Cabinet. Proposals for the creation, change or removal of any documents dealing with alliances or ententes (as in a coalition) or other types of interregional agreements, conventions, or treaties that affect regional law must be submitted to the Speaker for approval of such proposed action by a majority of the Regional Assembly in a referendum with a quorum participating. The voting period for the referendum shall be for five consecutive days. Should the action be approved, action to implement the proposal shall be taken by the Prime Minister, the Minister of External Affairs, or the Cabinet of the Regional Government, as appropriate in the circumstances.

<Here I would delete text with the understanding that a section should be added to Art IV to give a definition of “approval of the RA” to be applied to the rest of the document>

If you look closely at how the number of votes requiring approval in the RA is defined in this section, it is different than elsewhere in the Constitution. While it requires a quorum (as do all other votes in the RA other than elections and IIRC, rule-making within the RA). Here the language requires a majority of the Regional Assembly, not just a majority of those voting with a quorum. Deletion of that language would constitute a substantive change. This section has a very convoluted, sensitive history. It is the product not only of a careful development process at the constitutional convention, it was also the subject of two constitutional amendments on the treaty provisions (which Hoar Chall and I debated back and forth trying to find a balance as to what the RA would vote on and what would be required for approval.) The language you propose to remove is part of the product of that compromise, and I would not want to reopen that issue. Changing it would be a substantive change.

C - Provisions for the establishment of political relationships with other regions shall be established in the North Pacific Legal Code. In the event of the establishment of a commonwealth relationship the citizens of the partner region shall enjoy the full rights of nations of The North Pacific and shall be eligible to apply for Regional Assembly membership. The Legal Code shall also set out guidelines for diplomatic missions in The North Pacific, but no embassy may be established except by a formal treaty or agreement.

C - Provisions for the establishment of a commonwealth relationship, a protectorate relationship, a colony relationship or other political relationships with other regions by treaty or agreement shall be established in the North Pacific Legal Code. A treaty or agreement that provides for establishment of a commonwealth relationship shall expressly provide for the rights of nations of the other region to acquire full and equal citizenship and Regional Assembly Membership in The North Pacific under the provisions of this Constitution.
D - Provisions for military alliances, military co-operation, and joint military operations by treaty or agreement shall be established in the North Pacific Legal Code. Such provisions may provide for approval of deployments by the Security Council in appropriate circumstances as provided by law.
E - Provisions for the establishment of embassies, consulates, and interest sections by treaty or agreement shall be established in the North Pacific Legal Code. Such provisions of law may provide for establishment of consulates or interest sections on request of another region or multi-regional organization, but no embassy may be established except by a formal treaty or agreement.
F. Negotiators can reject any proposal deemed unsuitable, before it is presented for vote (should that be required.)
<here C and E are collapsed into a single part. I would delete part F with the intent on adding the power of appointing individuals with the power to negotiate with foreign powers having the ability to reject proposals.>

The way you are proposing to combine Parts C and E (on their face) would amount to a substantive change in the Constitution, since TNP Law 9 is based on the authority of this Section, and implements it. Here is how I could see combining parts C and E and avoid any substantive change:

The North Pacific Legal Code shall contain provisions for the establishment of political or diplomatic relationships with other regions by treaty or agreement in a manner defined by law. A treaty or agreement that provides for establishment of a commonwealth relationship shall expressly provide for the rights of nations of the other region to acquire full and equal citizenship, including membership in the Regional Assembly under the provisions of this Constitution. Consulates or interest sections may be established on the request of another region or multi-regional organization in the manner provided by law, but no embassy may be established except by a formal treaty or agreement.

I’ll have to see what you have in mind for part F before I can comment. I know Hoar Chall was quite insistent on that being added.

Finally, let me point out a device that has been used several times. As part of a constitutional amendment that revised portions of the then existing constitutional text (for elections and criminal procedure), language of proposed new law or amendment of existing law for inclusion in the Legal Code was included as part of the Constitutional Amendment. While this meant the new provisions for the Legal Code has to be enacted under Constitutional Amendment procedires, it did allow use of a single legislative proposal to transfer provisions out of the Constitution into the Legal Code. I have thought about using it for a couple of the sections in the next Article related to the Deputy Ministers and the Cabinet Rules and Regulations but its only been a thought.

 

[Unterwasserseestaat]

There was a signifcant legal reason for the phrase “in the interest of Regional security” to be included...

I could just as easily cite the present Art. I part 10 as a reason to require regristration prior to voting: "10. Each Nation entitled to a vote in any manner under the fundamental laws of the region is entitled to the equal treatment and protection of that Nation's right to vote." My vote isn't being treated equally if other players are able to vote multiple times under various pseudonyms.
Members who are security threats are in clear violation of the third requirement of legal membership and the Membership Oath.

I’m aware that Flem has already suggested...

I'm not doing anything substantive here, just removing a passage pointing to the previous section, which is unnecessary as the previous section is several sentences above with a nice heading which says "Requirements."

This section is an example of trying to keep all the provisions connected with registration in the same place...

My problem with this passage is that these rights are conferred upon the MoIIA twice in the Constitution. It should be sufficient to point out that the MoIIA is directing the process and confer rights, including enlisting the PM, Admin and others to make inquiries. Art II section 2 part A lays out the pertinant actors, and Art III section 2 part 3 describes the powers.

The Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs, the Prime Minister, the Regional off-site forum administrators, and any other support personnel of the Regional Government deemed necessary are empowered to conduct investigations and make inquiries deemed necessary for the enforcement of The North Pacific voter registration provisions outlined in this Constitution, The North Pacific Legal Code, or other laws enacted pursuant to this Constitution.

- The Minister shall be responsible for overseeing the Regional Assembly registration process and procedures in conjunction and with the support of, the Prime Minister, the Regional off-site forum administrators, and other support personnel within the Regional Government, as designated by either the Prime Minister and/or the Cabinet of the North Pacific Regional Government.

Comparing these two statements, in light that all Cabinet ministers are given all necessary power to fufill their duties of office lends me to think that this part of the text can be erased without effecting the MoIIA's powers or the RA validation process.

This is, without question proposals for substantive change.

The reason I would change Art II section 2 part 6 is that to a large extent, it doesn't make sense to me to carve out an additional category of people who have fallen out of the membership requirements, then say they will be treated like any other category of people who have fallen out of the membership requirements.
I believe my problem with this passage is that I can't see any contribution of substance that is made by the text here. Please correct me if I'm wrong

I agree with your desire to retain the notice clause, and I think that it would fit best in part 6. I'll write it in or change it accordingly after I know more about the intended meaning of Art II section 2 part 6.

Part 1) of Section 3 serves a totally different purpose...

For part 1, all nations pledge to obey the Constitution and Legal Code, then it reaffirms part 10 in the Bill of Rights. I admit that I am approaching this from a more philosophical perspective, but any nation which has pleged to obey a set of laws is necessarily subject to it, including provisions requiring registering prior to the opening of a vote. This has been a cornerstone of any group working under the rule of law well before Socrates drank the hemlock. Any nation wishing to call into question four thousand years of precedent is highly irrational.

The content of Section 2 can be seen in the following passages:

(Modified Art I section 2)
1. Any nation holding office in the Regional Government of The North Pacific shall act only in the best interests of the Region.

5. If a nation submits a petition co-signed by a fellow nation taking issue with Regional governance, the Cabinet shall be required to review and issue a statement addressing the petition.

(Art IV, sec. 3 part A) Any member of the Regional Assembly may submit a bill to the Regional Assembly as a proposed law or submit a proposal for a constitutional amendment. Proposals shall be submitted to the Speaker.

We could justify putting Part 3 into Article I by nation's rights to a transparent government, and changes in forum without debate will limit a nation's speech and right to assemble. Otherwise I don't see much use in creating separate sections for greater and lesser limits on governmental power.

For my change to Art II Section 4 part B, there seem to be a number of different requirements to obtain RA approval for different actions, some more subtle than others. How would you feel about making an section in Article IV making a laundry list of actions and requirements for RA approval?

Here's my idea for Section 4 part F, is it sufficient to retain the powers of the MoEA?

4) Minister of External Affairs.
A - The Minister shall be responsible for establishing and maintaining relations and alliances between The North Pacific and other regions and multi-regional organizations, in accordance with the wishes of the majority of the registered voters of the Region.
B - The Minister shall recruit, oversee, and direct The North Pacific Diplomatic Corps, subject to the provisions of this Constitution and The North Pacific Legal Code.
C - The Minister shall have the authority to appoint liaisons to act on behalf of The North Pacific who may reject proposals before submittal to the Speaker of the Regional Assembly.