Duties and Abilities of the Speaker

[A mean old man]

To make my life easier I'm compiling all information on the role of the Speaker here.

CONSTITUTION:

4. The Speaker of the Assembly, and the Delegate and Vice Delegate shall each be elected to 4-month terms.
8. Election of the Speaker of the Assembly and Judiciary officials shall require a plurality vote of the Assembly,
10. If any elected official should fail to check into their account for two weeks without prior notice, the dual consent of either the Speaker, the Delegate, or the Chief Justice will commence the special election of a replacement. This replacement will fulfill the remainder of the term.

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.
3. The Speaker is to be given access and speaking privileges within the private Cabinet areas but is not allowed to take part in votes of the Cabinet.

4. At the request of either (a) any four members of the Regional Assembly who do not currently hold the elected offices of Vice Delegate or as a Justice of the Court, or (b) of the Speaker, or an Assembly member then acting as the presiding officer of the Assembly in the absence of the Speaker, a presiding judicial officer may issue an emergency order enjoining an actual or intended Executive action pending prompt further proceedings before the Court. A majority of the three-member panel of the Court may thereafter temporarily enjoin an actual or intended Executive action pending final disposition of the matter either by the Court, or otherwise by an expedited vote of the Regional Assembly within parameters proposed in the request by the Speaker or members of the Regional Assembly as set by a Court order under such terms as deemed appropriate under Clause 11 of the Bill of Rights.

5. The Council may advise the Delegate and the Speaker of the Assembly concerning existing or potential security threats to the Region.

LEGAL CODE:

Section 1:
1. The election cycle for the 4-month terms of The Delegate, The Vice Delegate, and The Speaker of the Assembly, shall begin on the first day of the months of January, May, and September.

Section 2:
2. The Delegate must select one or more Election Commissioners to oversee the nomination and election processes, at least one week before the month in which the Election Cycle begins. If an appointment of Election Commissioners has not been made by that time, the Speaker shall promptly make the appointment within 48 hours.

Section 3:
2. The Delegate, or if the Delegate is not available, the Speaker, or if the Delegate and Speaker are not available, any Court Justice, shall serve as Election Commissioner for the special election.
3. The period for nominations or declarations of candidacy in the special election shall last for five days, beginning within two days after the vacancy occurs or is noticed.

Article I, Section 2:
All Assembly applicants are required to post the following Oath, as their application to join. The Oath will be posted by the applicant in the thread provided by the Speaker of The Assembly.

Article II, Section 1:
The Speaker of the Assembly, or a deputy so appointed by the Speaker, shall be responsible for processing and confirming the Assembly membership of applicants.

1. The Speaker shall provide and maintain a forum thread for the posting of Assembly applications.

2. The Speaker or assigned deputy, shall respond to applicant requests within 14 days. Failure to respond to the applicant within the specified period will result in automatic admittance of the applicant to the Assembly.

3. The Speaker will work with the forum Administrators and any Intelligence information provided to the Speaker, to ensure applicant compliance with membership eligibiliy.

4. The Speaker or assigned deputy will be responsible to maintain and post an updated list of Assembly members. The list shall be updated no less than once a month.

5. No one shall be admitted or re-admitted to the Assembly when a vote is in progress on any legislative matter within the Assembly. Admission shall be effective at the conclusion of such voting.

6. No one shall be admitted or re-admitted to the Assembly when an election or special election is in progress. Admission shall be effective once the election results are announced.

Article III, Section 1:
1. Any Assembly member that has been found by due process to be in violation of the Constitution and Laws of The North Pacific shall be removed with immediate effect by The Speaker.

Article III, Section 2:
1. Assembly members whose] nation has CTE'd (Ceased to Exist) or who have moved out of The North Pacific when not on official business shall be removed from membership automatically by the Speaker.

2. Assembly members who fail to indicate their activity on the forum by posting for over 15 days shall be removed from membership automatically by the Speaker unless a notice of absence was submitted to the Speaker before the absence takes place.

3. Assembly members who have missed two consecutive votes on any Regional Assembly items shall be removed from membership automatically by the Speaker, unless a notice of absence was submitted to the Speaker before two consecutive votes occur.

4. As used in this Section.

A. "Two consecutive votes" are defined as two votes on any items that are conducted at different time intervals of at least 3 days between the start of each vote, but are voted one after another. Votes on two or more items at the same time are not defined as two consecutive votes.

Article III, Section 3:
1. Forum administrators shall inform the Speaker in the event that an Assembly member is found to be engaged in the use of a proxy server to access the forum.

2. Upon notification, the Speaker shall immedately remove the offending member from the Assembly.

Section 2:
5. A majority of the Council may vote to determine that the continued membership in the Council of a Council member poses a Security Risk to The North Pacific and shall submit such determination to the Regional Assembly for approval to remove that member from the Council. The Speaker shall submit the determination to an immediate vote of the Regional Assembly; approval shall require a two-thirds supermajority vote.

A. Any member of the Regional Assembly may notify the Speaker and the Chief Justice of the need for making an change in the governing documents of The North Pacific to reflect the enacted legislation, which was not included in such legislation prior to enactment.
B. Within three days after notification of an oversight error, the Speaker and the Chief Justice shall compile a list of such items related to a specific enactment that are identified as co-ordinated changes that were not included in the text of the enactment.
C. That list shall be presented to the Regional Assembly, and unless a Regional Assembly member makes an objection within 72 hours thereafter as to a specific item, the Speaker and Chief Justice shall authorize the corrections for which no objection is given to be made to the official text of the legal documents governing The North Pacific.

 

[Grosseschnauzer]

There's also two R.A. rules that have been adopted, the second of which directly related to the Speaker:

Rule 2

Absence of Speaker; Acting Speaker; Speaker Pro Tempore

A. Whenever the Speaker is absent or unavailable for more than 24 hours (or when there is a vacancy in the office of Speaker), the Regional Assembly member who is available and who (1) is not holding an office and (2) has the longest period of seniority, shall take the chair of the Regional Assembly and preside as Speaker Pro Tempore.
B. In the event the Speaker has designated an Acting Speaker from among the membership of the Regional Assembly, this Rule shall apply with respect to any absence or unavailability of the Acting Speaker that extends beyond 24 hours. The authority of an Acting Speaker shall be stated by the Speaker when the designation is made for a specific absence of the Speaker from the Regional Assembly.
C. The Speaker Pro Tempore (or an Acting Speaker when designated by the Speaker) may perform any act previously noticed by the Speaker within the Regional Assembly, or which is deemed required or necessary for the timely conduct of the business of the Regional Assembly.
D. The Speaker (or Acting Speaker) shall take the chair and resume their duties upon their return to the Regional Assembly (or upon posting the oath of office when there has been a vacancy in the Office of Speaker.)
E. After each general, judicial, or special election, (or after the admission or removal of members under Law 28,) the incumbent Speaker shall post an updated list of Regional Assembly members, listed according to their seniority. This list shall determine which member may act as Speaker Pro Tempore when the need arises under this Rule.
F. As used in this Rule:
1. “Absent or unavailable for more than 24 hours” means that the Speaker has not logged onto the forums, or posted in a Regional Assembly thread within the preceding 24 hours; or that some anticipated act by the Speaker within the Regional Assembly is due to be taken, and has not been taken.
2. “Seniority” is determined by the amount of elapsed time since a member’s most recent admission to the Regional Assembly without an interruption, but no longer than the amount of time since the adoption of the current Constitution.
3. “Holding an office” refers to the Delegate, the Vice Delegate, the head of a Cabinet office, the Attorney General, and any Court justice, but does not include members of the Security Council.

Adopted 13 October 2010; amended 7 February 2011.

Rule 1 deals with abstentions.

 

[A mean old man]

Thanks.

 

[Grosseschnauzer]

In a ruling by the Court in response to a request from the Attorney General, made at my request as the current Speaker Pro Tempore, Chief Justice Grimalkin has posted a response this evening, which in pertinent part says:

Given that the relevant portion of TNP Law 28 deals specifically with the RA and was passed by the RA, does this count as the RA setting its own procedures? Yes, with the unfortunate side effect that it must be repealed in order to be changed.

However, given the intent behind TNP Law 28, this court rules that the Speaker Pro Tempore may be invested with the normal duties of the Speaker of the Assembly in accordance with TNP Law 28 and RA procedure.