Regional Updates banner

The North Pacific Update
9 December, 2007
UN Delegate: The Salty Dogs of Great Bights Mum
Regional Power: Extremely High
The North Pacific contains 3,717 nations.


The North Pacific Regional Assembly and Cabinet has ratified a new Constitution:

Constitution of The North Pacific

Preamble

We, the people of The North Pacific, recognizing the shortcomings of the previous constitution and united in our loyalty and efforts, hereby undertake to correct any failings by entering into this new Constitution. Out of strife and division, we look to this new document to guide our region into long-lasting peace and prosperity. It is our hope that this Constitution will make The North Pacific a more vibrant region and create a better gameplay environment for all.

Article I: Stipulations

Section 1: Bill of Rights

1. All Nations and/or Players will be afforded a list of rights to be detailed in "Bill of Rights" to be passed shortly after this Constitution.

Section 2: Amendment Procedure

1. The Constitution and Declaration of Rights and Obligations may only be changed via constitutional amendment in the form of 75% Assembly approval in a vote lasting ten full days.
2. Proposals for constitutional amendment are immune to veto.

Section 3: Miscellany

1. Upon passage of this document as an amendment to the previous Constitution, all legislation previously passed is nullified, except for TNP Laws 1, 2, 6, 14, 22, and 23 (previous to the passage of this Constitution), which shall each be entered into the Legal Code as laws.
2. The Constitution and Declaration of Rights shall share full, constitutional authority with all the rights and privileges that come with that authority. The Legal Code is second only to the previous in legal force. In case of conflict in wording, the Constitution and Declaration of Rights take precedence. Any and all other regulations and guidelines are lower in authority than the Legal Code unless otherwise specified.
3. All Government bodies are allowed to create rules for its own governance.
4. The Speaker of the Assembly, CLO members, and Delegate shall each be elected to 4-month terms. The members of the Judiciary (including the Chief Justice) shall each be elected to 6-month terms. All elections shall be held on the region's official off-site forum.

Article II: Legislative Branch

Section 1: Registration and Membership

1. The Assembly is tasked with creating and maintaining a uniform procedure for membership in and removal from the Assembly.
2. Holding other office in the Government does not eliminate Assembly-members from the rights and obligations of Assembly-members.

Section 2: Speaker of the Assembly

1. The Assembly is led by the Speaker, whose task it is to lay out a uniform set of guidelines by which proposed legislation and other actions may be considered and voted upon.
2. The Speaker decides the order in which bills will be voted upon and is responsible for opening and closing each vote.

Section 3: Legislative Action

1. The Assembly is authorized to create, maintain, and amend as needed the North Pacific's legal documents and institutions, which shall serve as a body of laws binding upon the region, the forums, and its Nations and/or Players.
2. Only Assembly-members may bring up impeachment charges against any member of the Government. The Assembly is the jury for all impeachment cases.
3. The Assembly may subpoena members of the Government to give sworn testimony before the Assembly.
4. The Assembly may remove any member of the Government not elected by popular election.
5. Any agreement or treaty signed with a foreign region or organization must be introduced to the Assembly by the Minister of External Affairs or Delegate.
6. The Assembly is granted the power to legislate rules and institutions necessary and proper to carry out the mandates of this Constitution.

Article III: Executive Branch

The authority to formulate and guide regional policy, command the armies, diplomats and intelligence agents in the service of TNP is vested in the Executive Branch.  The Executive shall consist of the the Delegate and the Cabinet.

Section 1: Delegate

1. The Delegate shall serve as TNP UN Delegate and as Head of State.
2. The Delegate is authorized to style his own title.
3. The Delegate is responsible to ensure the good governance of the Executive Branch of TNP and may appoint and remove at will executive officers that serve under him.
4. The Delegate is responsible for the legal management and update of the Regional World Factbook Entry.
5. The Delegate is responsible for the security of the region, and is charged with the use of regional controls to eject and ban nations from the region in accordance with the laws of TNP.
6. The Delegate may veto bills passed through the Assembly that do not attain at least 60% supermajority in favor.
7. Candidates for the Delegacy must have served in at least one Ministry in the preceding term.
a. Each Player may, at most, only serve two terms as Delegate consecutively.

Article IV: Council of Lower Officers

Section 1: Membership and Powers

1. The Council of Lower Officers (CLO) is to be comprised of the Speaker of the Assembly and three specially-elected members of the Assembly.
2. The CLO is to be given access and speaking privileges within the private Cabinet areas but are not allowed to take part in votes of the Cabinet.
3. The CLO may, with supermajority vote, place an emergency temporary halt on any specific action undertaken by a Ministry, officer, or agent of the Executive branch.
4. The CLO may vote to immediately bring any piece of legislation to an emergency vote before the Assembly.

Article V: Judicial Branch

The Judicial Branch is invested with the powers and obligation to investigate the constitutionality of Government policies, actions, and laws. It is also tasked to provide an impartial platform by which suspects of crimes against the region or against others are tried.

Section 1: Membership and Responsibilities

1. The Chief Justice is responsible for organizing the proper distribution of cases to maintain timeliness and impartiality.
2. The presiding justice shall serve as arbiter of rule disputes, maintain courtroom decorum, and consider all requests of the Court with the intent of pursuing truth impartially.
3. No sitting justice shall fire a request for judicial review.

Section 2: Court Powers

1. The Judiciary is vested with the responsbility to oversee all trial proceedings.
2. All matters of judicial review to examine the constitutionality of Government policies, actions, and laws are to be brought before the full three-member Judiciary.
3. The official opinions crafted as a result of judicial review are to be binding upon all agents, officers, agencies, and Government bodies of TNP. If a policy, action, or law is deemed unconstitutional, any evidence collected via these unconstitutional means is inadmissible in the Assembly or in any TNP court of law.

Article VI: Ejection and Banning

Section 1: Use of Ejection and/or Banning

1. Ejection and/or banning from the region The North Pacific may be prescribed as a punishment for violations of regional, NationStates.net, or real-life laws.
2. The Delegate is permitted to eject and/or ban violators of NationStates rules without prior or further consultation from the Government.
3. The Delegate is required to eject and/or ban Nations and/or Players that have been sentenced in the Courts to be ejected or banned from the region for breaking regional laws.
4. The Delegate is to inform the region and the Government of all ejections or bannings carried out in a timely manner.
5. The Delegate, in carrying out these duties, must maintain an adequate level of regional influence.

Section 2: Legal Recourse

1. In the case where a Nation feels that their banning or ejection was unwarranted, they may appeal their case to the full three-person Court that shall have the power to overturn the Delegate's ruling and order the unbanning of the nation.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Passed The North Pacific Regional Assembly
November 20, 2007

Ratified by The North Pacific Cabinet
December 2 2007

Click to expand...

A separate Bill of Rights was also ratified by the region:

The Bill of Rights for all Nations of The North Pacific


1. All Nations of The North Pacific are sovereign. Each Nation has the right of self-determination in that Nation's domestic policies, including, but not limited to, issue selection and UN membership.

2. Each Nation's rights to free speech, free press, and the free expression of religion shall not be infringed, and shall be encouraged, by the governmental authorities of the region. Each Nation has the right to assemble, and to petition the governmental authorities of the region, including the UN Delegate, for the redress of grievances. The governmental authorities of the region shall act only in the best interests of the Region, as permitted and limited under this Constitution.

3. Participation in the governmental authorities of the region is voluntary. Participation in the United Nations shall not be a condition of participation in the governmental authorities of the region.

4. No Nation of The North Pacific holding UN member status in NationStates shall be obligated to endorse any official of a government authority of the region. The right to add an endorsement or withdraw an endorsement is a sovereign right of that Nation as a UN member.

5. All Nations of The North Pacific have the right to be protected against the abuse of powers by any official of a government authority of the region. Any Nation of The North Pacific has the right to request the impeachment of any official of a government authority of the region in accordance with this Constitution, that is deemed to have participated in such acts.

6. No Nation shall be held to answer for a crime in a manner not prescribed by this Constitution or the Legal Code. No Nation shall be subjected to being twice put in jeopardy for the same offense. No Nation shall ever be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against itself.

7. When charged with criminal acts, Nations of The North Pacific shall have a fair, impartial, and public trial before a neutral and impartial judicial officer. In any criminal proceeding, a Nation is presumed innocent unless guilt is proven to the fact finder by reasonably certain evidence. A Nation may be represented by any counsel of the Nation's choosing. No Nation convicted of a crime shall be subject to a punishment disproportionate to that crime.

8. No Nation shall be ejected from the region, or banned from any forum, except as expressly authorized by this Constitution or the Legal Code. Should any official of a government authority of the region with authority to act, declare that the immediate ejection or banning of a Nation is an urgent matter of regional security, the ejected or banned Nation shall have prompt and immediate recourse to judicial review of the matter. The UN Delegate shall not exercise the power of ejection or banning unless expressly authorized by a specific action of a government authority of the region pursuant to this Constitution or to the Legal Code.

9. Each Nation in The North Pacific is guaranteed the organization and operation of the governmental authorities of the region on fundamental principles of democracy, accountability, and transparency. No action by the governmental authorities of the region shall deny to any Nation of The North Pacific, due process of law, including prior notice and the opportunity to be heard, nor deny to any Nation of The North Pacific the equal and fair treatment and protection of the provisions of this Constitution. No governmental authority shall have power to adopt or impose an ex post facto law or a bill of attainder as to any act for purposes of criminal proceedings.

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.

11. No governmental authority of the region has the power to suspend or disregard this Constitution or the Legal Code In the event of an actual emergency, the governmental authorities of the region, with the express consent of the Nations of the region or their representatives, is authorized to act in any reasonable manner that is consistent as practicable with the pertinent provisions of this Constitution.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Passed The North Pacific Regional Assembly
November 20, 2007

Ratified by The North Pacific Cabinet
December 2 2007

Click to expand...

Regional Assembly

- TNP has begun the next steps, to develop our policies and procedures, our Ministerial structure, and an election schedule among other issues. Several proposals have been presented for discussion and consideration in the Regional Assembly.

UN Delegate

- Delegate Great Bights Mum has proposed a new Secretary of State position, to engage in recruitment to encourage and increase activity in the region.

Ministry of External Affairs

- The North Pacific Interim Ministry of External Affairs has recently added two new members to the Diplomatic Corp:

Lewis and Clark
Outer Kharkistania

Court of The North Pacific

- A temporary break was announced in the trial of The TNP vs. Emperor Matthius due to RL health issues of the presiding judge:

The Court announces a temporary break due to health issues of the presiding judge. The participants will be notified as soon as the trial can be resumed

Click to expand...

We wish Mr.Gaunt well, and look forward to his good health.

Quotes

"I have been known as the Prince of Darkness, the Devourer of Worlds. Does that count? "
- Pierconium

"I'm not paranoid, I'm a citizen of the North Pacific."
- Mr. Sniffles

And so closes this edition of The North Pacific Update

Click to expand...