FD: Updating Law 22 and Law 27

Grosseschnauzer

Grosseschnauzer

TNPer
As proposed by Grosseschnauzer:

Amendments to Legal Code updating references to government agencies and other minor changes:

I. Amendment to Law 22

TNP LAW 22
Enumeration of Prohibited Acts

The following acts shall be illegal for Nations of The North Pacific, in both the NationStates region "The North Pacific" and on the off-site forum, unless specifically specified otherwise. Other laws subsequently passed that pertain to these crimes shall modify the articles herein.

Section 1: Treason
A - "Treason" is defined as taking arms or providing material support to a group or region for the purpose of undermining or overthrowing the lawful government of The North Pacific or any of its treatied allied groups and regions as governed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
B - Exceptions may be given to North Pacific Army and North Pacific Intelligence Agency members, with the consent of and notification by both: 1) the Minister of Defense or NPIA Director, respectively, and 2) the Delegate. This exception is only valid when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of preserving regional security and the Constitution. Exceptions may be given to members of the military and intelligence services of The North Pacific, with the consent of the Delegate and the appointee of the Delegate who commands the military or intelligence services of The North Pacific. This exception is only valid when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of perserving Regional security and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Section 2: Espionage
A - "Espionage" is defined as the use of a Nation or Persona within The North Pacific for the purpose of gathering information for a group or region not officially sanctioned by the lawful government of The North Pacific as governed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
B - The information gathered must be of a nature that a person that has not registered on the official forums or has not attained Regional Assembly status would be unable to access it without circumventing real-life legal means.
C - Exceptions may be given to North Pacific Army and North Pacific Intelligence Agency members, with the consent of and notification by the Minister of Defense or NPIA Director, respectively, when on officially sanctioned missions. Exceptions may be given to members of the military and intelligence services of The North Pacific, with the consent of the Delegate and the appointee of the Delegate who commands the military or intelligence services of The North Pacific. This exception is only valid when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of perserving Regional security and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Section 3: Sedition
A - "Sedition" is defined as an intentional attempt on the official forums or within the NationStates region "The North Pacific" to incite the Nations of The North Pacific to revolt in a manner not sanctioned by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Section 4: Election Fraud
A - "Election fraud" is defined as the willful deception of voters or residents of The North Pacific with regards to the candidates running, the time and venue of the elections, or the requirements and methods by which one may be eligible to vote or run for office.
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II. Amendment to Law 27
TNP LAW 27
Proxy Server Usage Law

Article I

Section One

The use of a proxy server by a forum user to conceal a forum user's host server is declared to be a security risk to the region.

1. The use of a proxy server by a Member Nation that is a member of The North Pacific Army or Intelligence Agencies military or intelligence services shall require the prior express authorization of said official entity which may be disclosed confidentially to other government officials only in the performance of their official duties.

2. Use of a proxy server by a member Nation that applies for Regional Assembly membership is prohibited, and constitutes a criminal offense that may subject the violator to a permanent ban from the regional forum, ejection from the region by the UN WA Delegate, or both. This provision may be enforced prior to, or subsequent to, a trial in the manner provided by law.

Section Two

1. Proxy server usage is defined as the use of an IP connection with the intent of rendering a forum user anonymous, aka proxy spoofing, or any such practice designed to allow a member to have multiple accounts on the TNP forum.

Article II

This law shall go into effect immediately upon passage.
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This proposal is now in formal discussion. When there is no further issues for discussion on this Legal Code amendment, it will proceed to a vote.

Typos fixed.
 
I confess to not having kept abreast of affairs, but I'd like to know: Have the NPIA and NPA been renamed, or is the generic wording of the new version chosen in anticipation of future renaming of these organizations?
 
The NPIA was closed and abolshed last year. The successor function is under the control of the Delegate's appointee, and its title can be changed by the Delegate.

The NPA no longer has a statutory existence. It too is under the control of the Delegate's appointee, and the name can be changed by the Delegate.

That's the primary reason to have the change from the titles to descriptors as this avoids having to amend laws every time a sitting Delegate decides to change the names,
 
I move that the amendments be voted on separately instead of as a single issue since all the modifications are not related.

I would support voting for them together if the "and the Bill of Rights" additions were removed and submitted as a separate amendment.
 
To speak specifically to my issue above, the Constitution guarantees every nation access and protection under the Bill of Rights per Article I, Section 1, paragraph 1.

It is the most essential and first tenet of the Constitution. It is redundant, in my opinion, to reference both the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, which automatically includes reference to the former in the Legal Code.
 
In response to Gracius Maximus' posts above:

Laws 22 and 27 are the two laws that specifically declare certain types of conduct as being illegal. A complete appreciation of the scope of what conduct is illegal is determined by both the COnstitution, and by the Bill of Rights.

While the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are of equal force, they are separate documents. In the area of declaring definitions of criminal conduct, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights independently act on how such definitions will be applied in a particular set of facts on putative criminal defendants in a judicial proceeding. That alone is in my mind sufficient reason to have Laws 22 and 27 refer to both documents.

A second reason is that both laws were carried forward from the last Constitution, when the Bill of Rights was part of the Constitution in a single document; and thus it was unnecessary to refer to both. Now that they are separate documents, updating both laws so as to not introduce a substantial change means including a reference to both the Constitution and the Legal Code.

Arguing that the Constitution makes a reference to the Bill of Rights and thereby implies its scope to include both seems to me to be a insufficient assurance that the Bill of Rights will not be ignored through sole references to the Constitution in laws enacted by the Regional Assembly.

There has been a tendency by some to ignore the equal weight of the Bill of Rights with the Constitution in some of the proposals that have come before the Regional Assembly over the past 15 months, and it is my position that it would be prudent to have clarity in such circumstances by including explixit references to both.

For these reasons, as sponsor of the proposal, I do not accept the motion to divide the bill or to separate out the references to the Bill of Rights as separate proposals.
 
The announced start time is about two hours from now. Just wait, the vote threads will be opened at the announced time. (If you voted early, I wouldn't be able to count your vote, so I am doing you a favor.)
 
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