Draft Revamped Legal Code

[Eluvatar]

And now to make it a finalized bill.

1. The entire TNP Legal Code will be repealed and put aside.
2. Any Treaties which have been entered into by TNP are not part of the Legal Code and are therefore not repealed, voided, or anulled by this bill.
3. A new and revamped Legal Code will be adopted as follows:

Codified Law of The North Pacific


In order to present a clearer and more comprehensible legal system, the Regional Assembly undertakes to keep the law of the North Pacific organized and clear. If a minor error is found in this Legal Code, the Speaker will update it on the published instructions of the Court, unless a Regional Assembly member objects within five days. This Code will be divided into several Chapters, which may contain Sections. Every operative sentence must be a numbered clause, numbered within a Chapter. Clauses may be referenced by chapter and clause number.


Chapter 1: Criminal Code

1. No citizen holding no public office may be punished for any crime not listed in the Criminal Code.

Section 1.1: Treason
2. "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 allies as governed by the Constitution.
3. Specifically, no player maintaining a nation in a region or organization at war with TNP may maintain a nation within TNP, or participate in the governance thereof, for the duration of hostilities.
4. At this time, there are no regions or organizations at war with TNP. At this time TNP has no treatied allies.
5. The Speaker will update the preceding clause as appropriate.

Section 1.2: Espionage
6. "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.
7. The information gathered must be of a nature that a person that has not registered on the official forums or attained public office would be unable to access it without cracking technical security measures.

Section 1.3: Sedition
8. "Sedition" is defined as an intentional attempt to incite the Nations of The North Pacific to revolt in a manner not sanctioned by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Section 1.4: Fraud
9. "Election fraud" is defined as the willful deception of citizens 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.
10. “Fraud” is defined as an intentional deception, by falsehood or omission, made for some benefit or to damage another individual.

Section 1.5. Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming
11. "Crashing" is defined as any unauthorized action which could cause a forum to go out of service or lose information, including the deletion of posts, the deletion of a forum, spamming, or any other act of such kind.
12. "Phishing" is defined as any attempts to gain access to off-site property controls or passwords by deception, especially by posing as administrators or moderators for any unauthorized use.
13. Phishing also includes the collection of personal information kept at the Forum.
14. "Spamming" is defined as any action by non-region nationals to waste space or cause shock on any off-site property or regional message board to make it unusable.
15. Spamming includes any attempts to force a DOS error on forums and any attempts to flood the RMB of a region which is not that nation's normal abode.
16. No Nation of The North Pacific may perform, order, condone, or accept as legal, Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming.

Section 1.6: Proxying
17. "Proxying" is defined as use of a proxy server to render a forum user anonymous or any practice which allows a member multiple accounts.
18. Forum administrators will inform the Government and Court of Proxying they observe.

Section 1.7. Adspam
19. Recruitment for other regions on the Regional Message board may be regulated or prohibited by Delegate Decree.

Section 1.8. Conspiracy
20. "Conspiracy" is defined as planning, attempting, or helping to commit any crime under this criminal code.

Section 1.9. Exceptions
21. Exceptions for treason, espionage or proxying may be given to members of the military and intelligence services with the consent of the Delegate and the appropriate Minister when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of preserving regional security.

Chapter 2: Penal Code

1. Criminal acts may be punished by restrictions on basic rights, in a manner proportionate to the crime at the discretion of the Court unless specified in this chapter.
2. Treason will be punished by ejection and banning, and removal of any basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit.
3. Espionage will be punished by the suspension of speech and/or voting rights for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.
4. Sedition will be punished by the suspension of speech and/or voting rights and ejection and banning if necessary for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.
5. Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming may be punished by ejection and banning, the removal of any and all basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration.
6. Proxying may be punished by ejection and banning, the removal of any basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration.
7. Adspam prohibited by the Delegate may be punished by adspam suppression and summary ejection and/or banning from the region.
8. Conspiracy will be punished by a sentence strictly less than what would be appropriate for the original crime.


Chapter 3: Judicial Law

1. These procedures will govern the Judiciary.

Section 3.1: The Attorney General
2. The Attorney General will be elected during Judicial Elections.
3. The Attorney General must not have been convicted of any crime in the North Pacific.
4. The Attorney General will serve as Chief Prosecutor in all cases brought before the Court of the North Pacific.
5. It is the duty of the Attorney General to see to completion any proceeding they are prosecuting.
6. If the original Attorney General is unable to complete a pending case, the successor Attorney General will take over as prosecutor and complete the pending proceedings.
7. The Attorney General may request expedited judicial review of any executive action by any official.

Section 3.2: Appointment of Hearing Officers
8. If there is a vacancy on the Court, or any Justice is unavailable or has a conflict of interest the remaining Justices will promptly appoint a hearing officer to participate as temporary Justices.
9. Any hearing officer appointed under this Section may not hold any other office while serving as a judicial hearing officer.

Section 3.3: Criminal Trial Procedure
10. When seeking an indictment to eject or ban, or expel from the RA due to oath violation, pending a trial, the Government must inform all the Justices.
11. Any Justice may approve or deny an indictment, and their decision will be final.
12. Once an ejection is performed, the Government must notify the ejected nation of their rights within one hour, and publicly submit a criminal proceeding to the court within six hours.
13. Once a criminal proceeding is presented, the defendant will have 48 hours to enter a plea, or a plea of "Not Guilty" may be entered for them.
14. Once a plea is entered, a period of time set by the Court for the discovery of evidence and witness testimony will begin. This period is normally 7 days.
15. Once discovery ends a period of time for arguments on the evidence and law will begin, its duration set by the Court. This period is normally 5 days.
16. During discovery and arguments, either side may make objections or requests publicly on the forum.
17. Once arguments end, the Court will have 72 hours to decide on a verdict and, if necessary, sentence.


Chapter 4: Election and Appointment Procedure

Section 4.1: Oath of Office
1. All government officials will take the Oath of Office below before assuming their role within the government of The North Pacific.

I, [forum username], do hereby solemnly swear that during my term as [government position], I will uphold the ideals of Democracy, Freedom, and Justice of The Region of The North Pacific. I will use the powers and rights granted to me through The North Pacific Constitution and Legal Code in a legal, responsible, and unbiased manner, not abusing my power, committing misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, in any gross or excessive manner. I will act only in the best interests of The North Pacific, not influenced by personal gain or any outside force, and within the restraints of my legally granted power. As such, I hereby take up the office of [government position], with all the powers, rights, and responsibilities held therein.

2. All government officials will be required to take the Oath of Office within one week of attaining office or be subject to removal from office following an automatic recall vote.
3. This Oath will be binding and violations are grounds for a recall.

Section 4.2: Election Law Definitions
4. "Abstentions" are not votes for or against any candidate, and may not be used to determine the results of any election. They may be used to for quorum, activity, or other purposes.
5. "Candidates" are those citizens who declare themselves, or have accepted a nomination by another Assembly member preceding the close of nominations, as a candidate for an office to be chosen at that election. Candidates may only stand for one office during a given Election Cycle.
6. "Election Commissioner" is an individual designated to supervise a given election. No one who may be a candidate in an election may serve as an Election Commissioner during it.
7. "Election Cycle" is defined as the period of time that begins on the first day on which nominations, or a declaration, of candidacy are made and concludes with the final declaration of results for an election. The dates for the Election Cycle will be designated at least 30 days in advance by the Delegate .
8. A "vacancy" in an office occurs when the holder of it resigns, is removed, abandons it . Vacancies are filled through a special election unless a it cannot be completed prior to the beginning of the general or judicial election cycle. Pending an election, however, a vacancy may be temporarily filled as provided by the Constitution, the Legal Code, or a rule adopted by the appropriate body.

Section 4.3: Overall Election Law
9. In General and Judicial elections, Election Commissioners will be appointed by the Delegate to oversee the nomination and election processes at least one week before the month in which the election begins. If an appointment of Election Commissioners has not been made by that time, the Chief Justice shall promptly make the appointment within 48 hours.
10. The period for nominations or declarations of candidacy shall last for seven days.
11. Voting will begin three days after the period for nominations or declarations has closed and last for seven days.
12. If a run-off vote is required it will begin within two days of the first vote ending and it shall last for five days.

Section 4.3: General Elections
13. The election cycle for the terms of the Delegate and Vice Delegate will begin on the first day of the months of January, May, and September.
14. Non-incumbent candidates for Delegate or Vice Delegate may not obtain an endorsement level during the election cycle greater than the level authorized for members of the Security Council under Chapter 5.

Section 4.4: Judicial Elections
15. The election cycle for the 6-month term of the Chief Justice, the two Associate Justices, and the Attorney General will begin on the first days of the months of April and October.

Section 4.5: Special Elections
16. A special election will be held in the event of a vacancy in any elected office or position.
17. The Delegate, or if the Delegate is not available, the Speaker, or if the Delegate and Speaker are not available, any Court Justice, will serve as Election Commissioner for the special election.
18. The period for nominations or declarations of candidacy in the special election will last for five days, beginning within two days after the vacancy is noticed.
19. Voting will begin one day after the period for nominations or declarations has closed and last for five days, unless there is only one candidate for each vacancy in which case they will take office immediately.


Chapter 5: Security Council Law

1. Any laws regulating the activities of the Security Council must be listed in this chapter.
2. In this chapter, "Council" means the Security Council.

Section 5.1: Requirements
3. Members of the Council will maintain an influence level equal to or greater than Vassal.
4. Members of the Council will maintain an endorsement level within the range described in this Section.
5. The minimum level is defined as being 50 endorsements, or fifty per cent of the serving Delegate's endorsement count, whichever is least.
6. The maximum level is defined as 20 fewer endorsements than the serving Delegate's endorsement count, or eighty-five percent of said count, whichever is greatest.
7. Where the computation results in fractions, the count shall be rounded down.
8. The required range is to be applied in a reasonable manner, taking into account such factors as transitions between elected Delegates, the recall of a Delegate, or periods of Delegate inactivity.
9. The legitimate Delegate is exempt from endorsement requirements.

Section 5.2: Enforcement
10. If any Council member does not have the required influence level, or exceeds or does not meet the required endorsement level, the Vice Delegate will warn them. If the Council member does not come into compliance within at least fifteen days of the warning, the Vice Delegate will suspend them.
11. The Vice Delegate shall remove members of the Council whose member nation no longer exists or no longer resides in The North Pacific or resigns from the World Assembly.
12. The Vice Delegate will report any suspension or removal of a member of the Council to the Regional Assembly.
13. If a suspended member of the Council comes back into compliance with the endorsement and influence requirements, the Vice Delegate will reinstate them.
14. A majority of the Council may vote to determine that the continued membership in the Council of a member poses a security risk to The North Pacific and request approval from the Regional Assembly to remove the member from the Council.
15. The Speaker of the Regional Assembly will submit the request to an immediate vote of the Regional Assembly; approval will require a two-thirds majority.


Chapter 6: Government Regulations

1. Any Law regulating the operations of the government of the North Pacific other than the Election Commission, the Judiciary, and the Security Council must be listed in this chapter.

Section 6.1: Regional Assembly Membership Act
2. The Speaker will work with forum administration to process Regional Assembly applicants.
3. Assembly members must maintain a nation in the North Pacific.
4. Applicants must swear an oath, as follows:

[nation]TNP Nation[/nation]
[nation]WA Nation[/nation]

I, [forum user name], leader of The North Pacific nation of (your TNP nation's name), pledge loyalty to the region, to abide by its laws, and to act as a responsible member of its society. I pledge to only register one Nation to vote in The North Pacific. I pledge that no nation under my control will wage war against the North Pacific. I understand that if I break this oath I may immediately lose my voting privileges, permanently. In this manner, I petition the Speaker for membership in the Regional Assembly of the North Pacific.

5. New forum members may who register as citizens or join the Regional Assembly must be made aware of the Criminal Code they are pledging to respect..
6. The Speaker will accept applicants with valid applications who are verified by forum administration not to be using a proxy or evading a judicially-imposed penalty.
7. The Speaker will process applications within 14 days. If the applicant is not rejected within 14 days, they will be automatically accepted to the Regional Assembly.
8. Regional Assembly members may not vote in any vote which began before they were last admitted.
9. The Speaker's office will maintain a publicly viewable roster of Regional Assembly members.
10. The Speaker's office will promptly remove any members whose removal is ordered by the Court, whose North Pacific nation leaves or ceases to exist, who fail to log in to the North Pacific forum for over 30 days.

Section 6.2: RA WA Verification and Confidentiality Act

11. The Speaker will designate a person who is not involved in any military operations to be the registrar of confidential puppets.
12. Assembly members with a World Assembly nation must inform the registrar of any nation of theirs which may attain World Assembly membership before it does so.
13. Unless granted permission otherwise by the Assembly member in question, if the registrar is informed of possible future World Assembly nations the registrar will keep that information in confidence and will not share it with anyone on pain of a minimum three months ban from the region unless the registrar observes such a nation waging war against the North Pacific.
14. The registrar will not inform their successor of confidential potential World Assembly nations; they may only report which Assembly Members have submitted such lists.

Section 6.3: Freedom of Information Act

15. The Delegate and appointed government officials will be delegated the task of informing the Assembly of any governmental action not already disclosed by the respective officers of the Executive.
16. All registered citizens residing in The North Pacific may request information from the Government through the Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive.
17. The Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive will endeavour to retrieve information requested from the different departments of the government, who are obligated to release this information provided it will not and/or does not present a threat to regional security or unduly impinge on the privacy of private citizens, and
18. Citizens which do not receive this information for any reason not specifically designated in appropriate laws or regulations may file a request for the information in a regional court, where the Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive may present evidence that addresses any claim that release of the information impairs Regional security.
19. Information not disclosed because of issues pertaining to Regional security will be classified by the majority vote of the Court sitting as a three-member panel.
20. Information whose disclosure is deemed a security threat to the Region will be released by the affirmative vote of a majority of a three-member panel of the Court, no sooner than 2 months after the original request, once the threat no longer exists.
21. All activities by the designated regional intelligence services are exempt from this law.

Section 6.4: Mandatory Ministries

22. There will be an Executive Officer charged with the North Pacific's foreign affairs. They will ensure the continued operation of any embassies of the North Pacific.
23. There will be an Executive Officer charged with welcoming. They will be tasked with ensuring that nations founded in the North Pacific are appropriately greeted, that newcomers to the regional forum and to regional internet relay chats shall be welcomed and helped with any questions, and with the maintenance of regional FAQs.
24. There will be an Executive Officer charged with military affairs. They will carry out such legal missions as are authorized by the Delegate, expressly or categorically.
25. There will be an Executive Officer charged with governmental communications. They will report on events in the region.
26. An Executive Officer may sustain multiple roles defined by this Act.
27. The Regional Assembly may elect an Executive Officer should one of the roles defined by this act remain vacant for seven days or in connection with the Regional Assembly removing the Executive Officer charged with that role.

Section 6.5: War

28. A region or organization "at war" with TNP is one which has made a formal declaration, or made acts of war against The North Pacific, or vice versa, as deemed by a three-fifths majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
29. War does not constitute actions taken by or against any army of the North Pacific abroad unless the conflict meets the conditions above.
30. A state of war exists until a formal peace treaty, surrender terms, or similar, are recognized by the Regional Assembly.

Chapter 7: Cultural Declarations

1. This Chapter will include laws concerning the North Pacific's history and culture.

Section 7.1: Arms, Flag, and Seal
2. The following arms as designed by ThelDRan and revised by Eluvatar and Gulliver is adopted as the coat of arms of the North Pacific:

3. Each institution in the North Pacific's government may establish for itself a seal which uses the arms of the North Pacific.
4. The arms of the North Pacific may not be used except to represent the North Pacific or an official regional entity.
5. The following flag, as designed by ThelDRan and revised by Eluvatar and Gulliver is adopted as the official flag of the North Pacific:

Section 7.2: Holidays
6. The first of January shall be known as Remembrance Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to remember those players who have left the region and the game of Nationstates.
7. The twenty-sixth of May shall be Manumission Day, and shall commemorate the end of the delegacy of Pixiedance, and celebrate the return of a democratic government to the region.
8. The seventh of July shall be Constitution Day, and shall commemorate the ratification of the Constitution of the North Pacific.
9. The twenty-eighth of July shall be Liberation Day, and shall commemorate and celebrate the overthrow of Great Bight and return of a native government to the region.
10. The thirteenth of November shall be Creation Day, and shall commemorate and celebrate the establishment of Nationstates; and provide an opportunity to extend fellowship throughout the NationStates communities.
11. The twenty-third of November shall be Founders' Day, and shall commemorate and celebrate the establishment of the first official forum of The North Pacific, and through it the community which has kept The North Pacific as the preeminent region in Nationstates.

4. Treaties entered into by TNP will be listed separately from the new and revamped legal code.
5. Despite the change in RA oath, no current member will be required to re-swear their oath as no new pledges are being added.
6. The Attorney General defined under the repealed legal code will continue their office as now governed by the new and revamped legal code.
7. This bill may not take effect if it fails to pass a three-fifths majority vote and the Delegate does not sign it within one week of its passing a simple majority vote in favor.

 

[Eluvatar]

Spoiler: v1.3

Codified Law of the North Pacific


In order to present a clearer and more comprehensible legal system, the Regional Assembly undertakes to keep the law of the North Pacific organized and clear. If any part of this Code is in conflict with the Constitution or subsequent legislation, the Speaker will update it on the instructions of the Court, unless a Regional Assembly member objects. This Code will be divided into several Chapters, which may contain Sections. Every operative sentence must be a numbered clause, numbered within a Chapter. Clauses may be referenced by chapter and clause number.


Chapter 1: Criminal Code

1. The Criminal Code will be complete.
2. No private citizen (a private citizen being a citizen holding no public office) may be punished for any crime not listed in the Criminal Code.

Section 1.1: Treason
3. "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 allies as governed by the Constitution.
4. Specifically, no player maintaining a nation in a region or organization at war with TNP may maintain a nation within TNP, or participate in the governance thereof, for the duration of hostilities.
5. A region or organization "at war" with TNP is one which has made a formal declaration, or made acts of war against The North Pacific, or vice versa, as deemed by a qualified majority of the Regional Assembly.
6. War does not constitute actions taken by or against any army of the North Pacific abroad unless the conflict meets the conditions above.
7. A state of war exists until a formal peace treaty, surrender terms, or similar, are recognized by the Regional Assembly.
8. At this time, there are no regions or organizations at war with TNP.
9. The Speaker will update the preceding clause as appropriate.
10. Exceptions may be given to members of the military and intelligence services of the North Pacific, with the consent of the Delegate and the appropriate Minister.
11. This exception is only valid when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of preserving Regional security and the Constitution.

Section 1.2: Espionage
12. "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.
13. The information gathered must be of a nature that a person that has not registered on the official forums or attained public office would be unable to access it without cracking technical security measures.
14. Exceptions may be given to members of the military and intelligence services of The North Pacific, with the consent of the Delegate and the appropriate Minister.
15. This exception is only valid when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of preserving Regional security and the Constitution.

Section 1.3: Sedition
16. "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 1.4: Election Fraud
17. "Election fraud" is defined as the willful deception of citizens 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.

Section 1.5. Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming
18. "Crashing" refers to any unauthorized action which could cause a forum to go out of service or lose information, including the deletion of posts, the deletion of a forum, spamming, or any other act of such kind.
19. "Forum" refers to the official offsite forums of The North Pacific.
20. "Off-site property" refers to any forums, websites or Wiki pages owned or maintained by resident citizens of The North Pacific, or any other Nationstates nation, organization or region, outside of nationstates.net.
21. "Phishing" refers to any attempts to gain access to off-site property controls or passwords by deception, especially by posing as administrators or moderators for any unauthorized use.
22. Phishing also includes the collection of personal information kept at the Forum.
23. "Spamming" refers to any action undertaken by non-region nationals to waste space on the any off-site property to cause it to crash.
24. Spamming includes any attempts to force a DOS error on forums and any attempts to flood the RMB of a region which is not that nation's normal abode.
25. No Nation of The North Pacific may perform, order, condone, or accept as legal, Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming.

Section 1.6: Proxying
26. 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.
27. The use of a proxy server by a citizen who is a member of the military or intelligence services will 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.
28. "Proxying" is defined as use of a proxy server by a citizen who seeks office.
29. 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 forum.
30. Forum administrators will inform the Government and Court of Proxying they observe.

Section 1.7. Adspam
31. Recruitment for other regions on the Regional Message board may be regulated or prohibited by Delegate Decree.


Chapter 2: Penal Code

1. Criminal acts may be punished by restrictions on basic rights, in a manner proportionate to the crime at the discretion of the Court unless specified in this chapter.
2. Treason will be punished by ejection and banning, and removal of any and all basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit.
3. Espionage will be punished by the suspension of speech and/or voting rights for some finite duration at the discretion of the Court.
4. Sedition will be punished by the suspension of speech and/or voting rights and ejection and banning if necessary for some finite duration at the discretion of the Court.
5. Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming may be punished by ejection and banning, the removal of any and all basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration.
6. Proxying may be punished by ejection and banning, the removal of any and all basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration.


Chapter 3: Judicial Law

1. These procedures will govern the Judiciary.

Section 3.1: The Attorney General
2. The Attorney General will be elected during Judicial Elections.
3. The Attorney General must not have been convicted of any crime in the North Pacific.
4. The Attorney General is to serve as Chief Prosecutor to all cases brought before the Court of the North Pacific.
5. It is the duty of the Attorney General to see to completion any proceeding they are prosecuting.
6. If for any reason, should the original Attorney General be unable to complete a pending case, then the successor Attorney General will take over as prosecutor and complete the pending proceedings.
7. The Attorney General may request expedited judicial review of any executive action by any official.

Section 3.2: Appointment of Hearing Officers
8. Whenever, due to conflict of interest, unavailability, or other cause, the Chief Justice (or the Associate Justice with greatest seniority in the case of vacancy, absence, or unavailability of the Chief Justice) determines it appropriate, a hearing officer will be promptly appointed to preside for a particular proceeding.
9. Whenever there are one or more vacancies on the Court, or one or more Justices are unavailable, have a conflict of interest, or other cause, that prevent the participation of the full number of Justices created under the Constitution or by law, the remaining Justice or Justices will promptly appoint one or more hearing officers to participate in an en banc proceeding as temporary Justices.
10. Any hearing officer that is appointed under this Section must be a private citizen while serving as a judicial hearing officer.

Section 3.3: Criminal Trial Procedure
11. When seeking an indictment to eject or ban pending a trial, the Government must inform all the Justices.
12. Any Justice may approve or deny an indictment.
13. Once an ejection is performed, the Government must notify the ejected nation of their rights within one hour, and publicly submit ca criminal proceeding within six hours.
14. Once a criminal proceeding is publicly presented to the court, the defendant will have 48 hours to enter a plea, or a plea of "Not Guilty" may be entered for them.
15. Once a plea is entered in a criminal proceeding a period of time for the discovery of evidence and the compilation of witness testimony will begin, its duration set by the Court.
16. Once discovery ends a period of time for arguments on the evidence and law will begin, its duration set by the Court.
17. During discovery and arguments, either side may make objections or requests at any time publicly and on the forum.
18. Once arguments end, the Court will have 72 hours to decide on a verdict and sentence.


Chapter 4: Election and Appointment Procedure

Section 4.1: Oath of Office
1. All government officials, elected or appointed, will be required to take the Oath of Office listed below before assuming their elected or appointed role within the government of The North Pacific.

I, (insert forum username), do hereby solemnly swear that during my duly elected/appointed term as (insert government position), I will uphold the ideals of Democracy, Freedom, and Justice of The Region of The North Pacific. I will use the powers and rights granted to me through The North Pacific Constitution and Legal Code in a legal, responsible, and unbiased manner, not abusing my power, committing misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, in any gross or excessive manner. I will act only in the best interests of The North Pacific, not influenced by personal gain or any outside force, and within the restraints of my legally granted power. As such, I hereby take up the office of (insert government position), with all the powers, rights, and responsibilities held therein.

2. All government officials will be required to take the Oath of Office within one week of attaining office or be subject to removal from office following an automatic recall vote.
3. This Oath will be binding on all government officials, and violations of said Oath may be grounds for a recall or impeachment.

Section 4.2: Election Law Definitions
4. "Absentions" are not votes for or against any candidate, and may not be used to determine the results of any election. They may be used to signify a voter's presence for quorum, activity, or other purposes.
5. "Candidates" are those citizens who either declare themselves, or who have accepted a nomination by another Assembly member preceding the close of nominations, as a candidate for an office or position to be chosen at that election. Candidates may only stand for one office or position during a given Election Cycle.
6. "Election Commissioner" is an individual designated under this Law to oversee and supervise a given general or judicial election. No one who may be a candidate in an election may serve as an Election Commissioner during that election. More than one Commissioner may be designated.
7. "Election Cycle" is defined as the period of time that begins on the first day on which nominations, or a declaration, of candidacy are made, includes all voting periods, and concludes with the final declaration of results for an election. The exact dates for the Election Cycle will not include any legal holidays provided in Chapter 7, and those dates will be designated at least 30 days in advance by the Delegate so as to encourage the greatest level of participation by eligible voters during the designated month.
8. "Vacancy" in an office or position occurs when the holder of an elected office or position resigns, is removed, abandons, or is recalled. Vacancies are filled through a special election unless an special election cannot be completed prior to the beginning of the general or judicial election cycle; or in all cases pending an election, however, a vacancy may be temporarily filled as provided by the Constitution, the Legal Code, or by rule adopted by the appropriate body.
9. "Citizens" are those nations of the North Pacific who register on the official regional forum and are confirmed by Forum Administration to not be using a proxy, including the verification as part of the Regional Assembly admission process.

Section 4.3: Overall Election Law
10. In General and Judicial elections, Election Commissioners will be appointed by the Delegate to oversee the nomination and election processes at least one week before the month in which the election begins. If an appointment of Election Commissioners has not been made by that time, the Chief Justice shall promptly make the appointment within 48 hours.
11. The period for nominations or declarations of candidacy shall last for seven days.
12. Voting will begin three days after the period for nominations or declarations has closed.
13. Voting will last for seven days.
14. During any Election cycle, all Citizens will be considered to be Regional Assembly members.
15. The Regional Assembly will not vote on legislation during any Election.

Section 4.3: General Elections
16. The election cycle for the 4-month term of the Delegate and Vice Delegate will begin on the first day of the months of January, May, and September.
17. Non-incumbent candidates for Delegate or Vice Delegate may not obtain an endorsement level during the election cycle greater than the level authorized for members of the Security Council under Chapter 5.

Section 4.4: Judicial Elections
18. The election cycle for the 6-month term of the Chief Justice, the two Associate Justices, and the Attorney General will begin on the first days of the months of April and October.

Section 4.5: Special Elections
19. A special election will be held in the event of a vacancy in any elected office or position.
20. A special election cycle will last for no more than fourteen days, which must be completed prior to the beginning of the next election cycle for the vacated office or position.
21. The Delegate, or if the Delegate is not available, the Chair of the General Council, or if the Delegate and Chair are not available, any Court Justice, will serve as Election Commissioner for the special election.
22. The period for nominations or declarations of candidacy in the special election will last for five days, beginning within two days after the vacancy occurs or is noticed.
23. Voting will begin one day after the period for nominations or declarations has closed.
24. Voting will last for five days.


Chapter 5: Security Council Law

1. Any laws regulating the activities of the Security Council must be listed in this chapter.
2. In this chapter, "Council" means the Security Council.

Section 5.1: Requirements
3. Members of the Council will maintain an influence level equal to or greater than Vassal.
4. Members of the Council will maintain an endorsement level within the range described in this Section.
5. The minimum level is defined as being either at least (1) 50 endorsements, or (2) fifty per cent of the serving Delegate's endorsement count, whichever is least.
6. The maximum level is defined as being either (1) that number of endorsements that is 20 fewer than the serving Delegate's endorsement count, or (2) no more than eighty-five percent of said count, whichever is least.
7. Where the computation results in fractions, the count shall be rounded down.
8. The required range is to be applied in a reasonable manner, taking into account such factors as the handover transition between elected Delegates, the recall of an elected Delegate from office, or periods of Delegate inactivity.
9. Should Council members not meet or exceed the required endorsement level for a period of at least fifteen days, the Vice Delegate is required to act pursuant to Section Two of this Law.
10. The elected and legitimate Delegate is exempt from endorsement requirements.

Section 5.2: Enforcement
11. The Vice Delegate shall suspend members of the Council who violate the endorsement and influence level requirements of this Act.
12. Suspension takes places if, after a warning by the Vice Delegate, a Council member fails to come into compliance with the endorsement and influence level requirements within a reasonable amount of time specified in the warning, which is usually fifteen days.
13. The Vice Delegate shall remove members of the Council whose World Assembly nation no longer exists or no longer resides in The North Pacific or resigns from the World Assembly (except as part of a formal redesignation of a resident World Assembly member nation within The North Pacific).
14. The Vice Delegate will report any suspension or removal of members of the Council to the General Council.
15. Should a suspended member of the Council comes back into compliance with the endorsement and influence level requirements of this Act, the Vice Delegate will reinstate the Council member.
16. 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 will submit such determination to the General Council for approval to remove that member from the Council.
17. The Chair of the General Council will submit the determination to an immediate vote of the General Council; approval will require a qualified majority.

This is where most of the Endocap law would go if it were law. I'll add it in if that's the consensus.

Chapter 6: Government Regulations

1. Any Law regulating the operations of the government of the North Pacific other than the Election Commission and the Judiciary must be listed in this chapter.

Section 6.1: Regional Assembly Membership Act
2. The Speaker will work with forum administration to process Regional Assembly applicants.
3. Assembly members must maintain a nation in the North Pacific.
4. Applicants must swear an oath, as follows:

[nation]TNP Nation[/nation]
[nation]WA Nation[/nation]

I, (forum user name), as the leader of The North Pacific nation of (your TNP nation's name), pledge loyalty to the Constitution, Bill of Rights 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 for official government business, 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. I pledge that no nation under my control will wage war against the North Pacific. I further understand that if any nation under my control directly wages war against the North Pacific, or allies themselves with a region waging war, declared or not, against the North Pacific, this 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 Speaker of The Regional Assembly of The North Pacific region for membership in the Regional Assembly of the North Pacific.

5. New forum members may be solicited to register as citizens or join the Regional Assembly.
6. The Speaker will accept applicants with valid applications who are verified by forum administration not to be using a proxy or evading a judicially-imposed penalty.
7. The Speaker's office will maintain a publicly viewable roster of Regional Assembly members.
8. The Speaker's office will remove with immediate effect any members who's removal is ordered by the Court, who's North Pacific nation leaves or ceases to exist, who fail to log in to the North Pacific forum for over 15 days, or who fail to vote in two consecutive, non-overlapping Regional Assembly votes with at least 3 days between them.

Section 6.2: RA WA Verification and Confidentiality Act
9. Assembly members with a World Assembly nation must inform the Speaker of any nation of theirs which may attain World Assembly membership before it does so.
10. Unless told otherwise by the Assembly member in question, if the Speaker is informed of possible future World Assembly nations the Speaker will keep that information in confidence and will not share it with anyone on pain of a minimum three months ban from the region unless the Speaker observes such a nation waging war against the North Pacific.
11. The Speaker will not inform their successor of confidential potential World Assembly nations; they may only report which Assembly Members have submitted such lists.

Section 6.3: Freedom of Information Act
12. The North Pacific government exists specifically to serve the people of the region and to act in the best interest of all resident nations of The North Pacific.
13. The Delegate and appointed government officials will be delegated the task of informing the Assembly of any governmental action not already disclosed by the respective officers of the Executive.
14. All registered citizens and/or governments residing in The North Pacific have the right to request information from the Government through the Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive, and
15. The Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive will endeavour to retrieve information requested from the different departments of the government, whom are obligated to release this information provided it will not and/or does not present a threat to regional security or unduly impinge on the privacy of private citizens, and
16. Citizens or governments which do not receive this information for any reason not specifically designated in appropriate laws or regulations may file a request for the information in a regional court, where the Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive may present evidence that addresses any claim that release of the information impairs Regional security.
17. Information not disclosed because of issues pertaining to Regional security will be classified by the majority vote of the Court sitting as a three-member panel.
18. Information whose disclosure is deemed a security threat to the Region will be released by the affirmative vote of a majority of a three-member panel of the Court, no sooner than 2 months after the original request, once the threat no longer exists.
19. All activities by the designated regional intelligence services are exempt from this law.


Chapter 7: Cultural Declarations

1. The North Pacific is a free region, proud of its history of resistance to Tyranny.
2. This Chapter will include law concerning the North Pacific's history and culture.

Section 7.1: Arms, Flag, and Seal
3. The following arms as designed by ThelDRan and revised by Eluvatar and Gulliver is adopted as the coat of arms of the North Pacific:

4. Each institution in the North Pacific's government may establish for itself a seal which uses the arms of the North Pacific.
5. The arms of the North Pacific may not be used except to represent the North Pacific or an official regional entity.
6. The following flag, as designed by ThelDRan and revised by Eluvatar and Gulliver is adopted as the official flag of the North Pacific:

The flag and arms are not 100% done: windows need to be added in on the towers of the castle crown, and the thickness of some lines may need adjusting. I'll be replacing the images as I do that, and I'll add a note to this comment when I'm done.

Section 7.2: Holidays
7. Cognizant of the role of shared national events in shaping and maintaining the culture of a region, and mindful of the importance of a region's history and the lessons it may contain, The North Pacific hereby recognizes the following annual holidays.
8. The first day of January shall be known as Remembrance Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to reflect upon and remember those players who have left the region and the game of Nationstates.
9. The twenty-sixth day of May shall be known as Manumission Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to commemorate the end of the delegacy of Pixiedance, and celebrate the return of a democratic government to the region.
10. The seventh day of July shall be known as Constitution Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to commemorate the ratification of the Constitution of the North Pacific.
11. The twenty-eighth day of July shall be known as Liberation Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to commemorate and celebrate the overthrow of Great Bight, and the return of a native government to the region.
12. The thirteenth day of November shall be known as Creation Day, and shall provide an opportunity for Nations to commemorate and celebrate the establishment of that first and greatest of games, Nationstates; as well as provide an opportunity to enjoy and extend fellowship to our counterparts throughout the NationStates communities.
13. The twenty-third day of November shall be known as Founders' Day, and shall provide an opportunity for Nations to commemorate and celebrate the establishment of the first official forum of The North Pacific, and the establishment through it of the community which has kept The North Pacific as the preeminent region in Nationstates.

Notes: the biggest single change is in the election law, allowing registered Citizens to vote. This can be done without altering the constitution because the law can define the RA however it wishes, so long as the admission process is "uniform".

Saving the first published version for reference (the top post will be edited as discussions go).

 

[Eluvatar]

Spoiler: v1.4

Codified Law of the North Pacific


In order to present a clearer and more comprehensible legal system, the Regional Assembly undertakes to keep the law of the North Pacific organized and clear. If any part of this Code is in conflict with the Constitution or subsequent legislation, the Speaker will update it on the instructions of the Court, unless a Regional Assembly member objects. This Code will be divided into several Chapters, which may contain Sections. Every operative sentence must be a numbered clause, numbered within a Chapter. Clauses may be referenced by chapter and clause number.


Chapter 1: Criminal Code

1. The Criminal Code will be complete.
2. No private citizen (a private citizen being a citizen holding no public office) may be punished for any crime not listed in the Criminal Code.

Section 1.1: Treason
3. "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 allies as governed by the Constitution.
4. Specifically, no player maintaining a nation in a region or organization at war with TNP may maintain a nation within TNP, or participate in the governance thereof, for the duration of hostilities.
5. A region or organization "at war" with TNP is one which has made a formal declaration, or made acts of war against The North Pacific, or vice versa, as deemed by a qualified majority of the Regional Assembly.
6. War does not constitute actions taken by or against any army of the North Pacific abroad unless the conflict meets the conditions above.
7. A state of war exists until a formal peace treaty, surrender terms, or similar, are recognized by the Regional Assembly.
8. At this time, there are no regions or organizations at war with TNP.
9. The Speaker will update the preceding clause as appropriate.
10. Exceptions may be given to members of the military and intelligence services of the North Pacific, with the consent of the Delegate and the appropriate Minister.
11. This exception is only valid when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of preserving Regional security and the Constitution.

Section 1.2: Espionage
12. "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.
13. The information gathered must be of a nature that a person that has not registered on the official forums or attained public office would be unable to access it without cracking technical security measures.
14. Exceptions may be given to members of the military and intelligence services of The North Pacific, with the consent of the Delegate and the appropriate Minister.
15. This exception is only valid when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of preserving Regional security and the Constitution.

Section 1.3: Sedition
16. "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 1.4: Election Fraud
17. "Election fraud" is defined as the willful deception of citizens 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.

Section 1.5. Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming
18. "Crashing" refers to any unauthorized action which could cause a forum to go out of service or lose information, including the deletion of posts, the deletion of a forum, spamming, or any other act of such kind.
19. "Forum" refers to the official offsite forums of The North Pacific.
20. "Off-site property" refers to any forums, websites or Wiki pages owned or maintained by resident citizens of The North Pacific, or any other Nationstates nation, organization or region, outside of nationstates.net.
21. "Phishing" refers to any attempts to gain access to off-site property controls or passwords by deception, especially by posing as administrators or moderators for any unauthorized use.
22. Phishing also includes the collection of personal information kept at the Forum.
23. "Spamming" refers to any action undertaken by non-region nationals to waste space on the any off-site property to cause it to crash.
24. Spamming includes any attempts to force a DOS error on forums and any attempts to flood the RMB of a region which is not that nation's normal abode.
25. No Nation of The North Pacific may perform, order, condone, or accept as legal, Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming.

Section 1.6: Proxying
26. 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.
27. The use of a proxy server by a citizen who is a member of the military or intelligence services will 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.
28. "Proxying" is defined as use of a proxy server by a citizen who seeks office.
29. 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 forum.
30. Forum administrators will inform the Government and Court of Proxying they observe.

Section 1.7. Adspam
31. Recruitment for other regions on the Regional Message board may be regulated or prohibited by Delegate Decree.

Section 1.8. Conspiracy
32. "Conspiracy" is defined as conspiracy to perform any crime under this criminal code, and is also a crime.

Chapter 2: Penal Code

1. Criminal acts may be punished by restrictions on basic rights, in a manner proportionate to the crime at the discretion of the Court unless specified in this chapter.
2. Treason will be punished by ejection and banning, and removal of any and all basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit.
3. Espionage will be punished by the suspension of speech and/or voting rights for some finite duration at the discretion of the Court.
4. Sedition will be punished by the suspension of speech and/or voting rights and ejection and banning if necessary for some finite duration at the discretion of the Court.
5. Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming may be punished by ejection and banning, the removal of any and all basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration.
6. Proxying may be punished by ejection and banning, the removal of any and all basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration.
7. Adspam prohibited by the Delegate may be punished by adspam suppression and summary ejection and/or banning from the region.
8. Conspiracy will be punished by a sentence strictly less than the sentence that would be appropriate for the crime.


Chapter 3: Judicial Law

1. These procedures will govern the Judiciary.

Section 3.1: The Attorney General
2. The Attorney General will be elected during Judicial Elections.
3. The Attorney General must not have been convicted of any crime in the North Pacific.
4. The Attorney General is to serve as Chief Prosecutor to all cases brought before the Court of the North Pacific.
5. It is the duty of the Attorney General to see to completion any proceeding they are prosecuting.
6. If for any reason, should the original Attorney General be unable to complete a pending case, then the successor Attorney General will take over as prosecutor and complete the pending proceedings.
7. The Attorney General may request expedited judicial review of any executive action by any official.

Section 3.2: Appointment of Hearing Officers
8. Whenever, due to conflict of interest, unavailability, or other cause, the Chief Justice (or the Associate Justice with greatest seniority in the case of vacancy, absence, or unavailability of the Chief Justice) determines it appropriate, a hearing officer will be promptly appointed to preside for a particular proceeding.
9. Whenever there are one or more vacancies on the Court, or one or more Justices are unavailable, have a conflict of interest, or other cause, that prevent the participation of the full number of Justices created under the Constitution or by law, the remaining Justice or Justices will promptly appoint one or more hearing officers to participate in an en banc proceeding as temporary Justices.
10. Any hearing officer that is appointed under this Section must be a private citizen while serving as a judicial hearing officer.

Section 3.3: Criminal Trial Procedure
11. When seeking an indictment to eject or ban pending a trial, the Government must inform all the Justices.
12. Any Justice may approve or deny an indictment.
13. Once an ejection is performed, the Government must notify the ejected nation of their rights within one hour, and publicly submit a criminal proceeding within six hours.
14. Once a criminal proceeding is publicly presented to the court, the defendant will have 48 hours to enter a plea, or a plea of "Not Guilty" may be entered for them.
15. Once a plea is entered in a criminal proceeding a period of time for the discovery of evidence and the compilation of witness testimony will begin, its duration set by the Court.
16. Once discovery ends a period of time for arguments on the evidence and law will begin, its duration set by the Court.
17. During discovery and arguments, either side may make objections or requests at any time publicly and on the forum.
18. Once arguments end, the Court will have 72 hours to decide on a verdict and/or sentence.


Chapter 4: Election and Appointment Procedure

Section 4.1: Oath of Office
1. All government officials, elected or appointed, will be required to take the Oath of Office listed below before assuming their elected or appointed role within the government of The North Pacific.

I, (insert forum username), do hereby solemnly swear that during my duly elected/appointed term as (insert government position), I will uphold the ideals of Democracy, Freedom, and Justice of The Region of The North Pacific. I will use the powers and rights granted to me through The North Pacific Constitution and Legal Code in a legal, responsible, and unbiased manner, not abusing my power, committing misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, in any gross or excessive manner. I will act only in the best interests of The North Pacific, not influenced by personal gain or any outside force, and within the restraints of my legally granted power. As such, I hereby take up the office of (insert government position), with all the powers, rights, and responsibilities held therein.

2. All government officials will be required to take the Oath of Office within one week of attaining office or be subject to removal from office following an automatic recall vote.
3. This Oath will be binding on all government officials, and violations of said Oath may be grounds for a recall or impeachment.

Section 4.2: Election Law Definitions
4. "Absentions" are not votes for or against any candidate, and may not be used to determine the results of any election. They may be used to signify a voter's presence for quorum, activity, or other purposes.
5. "Candidates" are those citizens who either declare themselves, or who have accepted a nomination by another Assembly member preceding the close of nominations, as a candidate for an office or position to be chosen at that election. Candidates may only stand for one office or position during a given Election Cycle.
6. "Election Commissioner" is an individual designated under this Law to oversee and supervise a given general or judicial election. No one who may be a candidate in an election may serve as an Election Commissioner during that election. More than one Commissioner may be designated.
7. "Election Cycle" is defined as the period of time that begins on the first day on which nominations, or a declaration, of candidacy are made, includes all voting periods, and concludes with the final declaration of results for an election. The exact dates for the Election Cycle will not include any legal holidays provided in Chapter 7, and those dates will be designated at least 30 days in advance by the Delegate so as to encourage the greatest level of participation by eligible voters during the designated month.
8. "Vacancy" in an office or position occurs when the holder of an elected office or position resigns, is removed, abandons, or is recalled. Vacancies are filled through a special election unless an special election cannot be completed prior to the beginning of the general or judicial election cycle; or in all cases pending an election, however, a vacancy may be temporarily filled as provided by the Constitution, the Legal Code, or by rule adopted by the appropriate body.
9. "Citizens" are those nations of the North Pacific who register on the official regional forum and are confirmed by Forum Administration to not be using a proxy, including the verification as part of the Regional Assembly admission process.

Section 4.3: Overall Election Law
10. In General and Judicial elections, Election Commissioners will be appointed by the Delegate to oversee the nomination and election processes at least one week before the month in which the election begins. If an appointment of Election Commissioners has not been made by that time, the Chief Justice shall promptly make the appointment within 48 hours.
11. The period for nominations or declarations of candidacy shall last for seven days.
12. Voting will begin three days after the period for nominations or declarations has closed.
13. Voting will last for seven days.
14. Should a run-off vote be required it shall begin within two days of the first vote ending and it shall last for five days.
15. During any Election cycle, all Citizens will be considered to be Regional Assembly members.
16. The Regional Assembly will not vote on legislation during any Election.

Section 4.3: General Elections
16. The election cycle for the 4-month term of the Delegate and Vice Delegate will begin on the first day of the months of January, May, and September.
17. Non-incumbent candidates for Delegate or Vice Delegate may not obtain an endorsement level during the election cycle greater than the level authorized for members of the Security Council under Chapter 5.

Section 4.4: Judicial Elections
18. The election cycle for the 6-month term of the Chief Justice, the two Associate Justices, and the Attorney General will begin on the first days of the months of April and October.

Section 4.5: Special Elections
19. A special election will be held in the event of a vacancy in any elected office or position.
20. A special election cycle will last for no more than fourteen days, which must be completed prior to the beginning of the next election cycle for the vacated office or position.
21. The Delegate, or if the Delegate is not available, the Speaker, or if the Delegate and Chair are not available, any Court Justice, will serve as Election Commissioner for the special election.
22. The period for nominations or declarations of candidacy in the special election will last for five days, beginning within two days after the vacancy occurs or is noticed.
23. Voting will begin one day after the period for nominations or declarations has closed.
24. Voting will last for five days.


Chapter 5: Security Council Law

1. Any laws regulating the activities of the Security Council must be listed in this chapter.
2. In this chapter, "Council" means the Security Council.

Section 5.1: Requirements
3. Members of the Council will maintain an influence level equal to or greater than Vassal.
4. Members of the Council will maintain an endorsement level within the range described in this Section.
5. The minimum level is defined as being either at least (1) 50 endorsements, or (2) fifty per cent of the serving Delegate's endorsement count, whichever is least.
6. The maximum level is defined as being either (1) that number of endorsements that is 20 fewer than the serving Delegate's endorsement count, or (2) no more than eighty-five percent of said count, whichever is least.
7. Where the computation results in fractions, the count shall be rounded down.
8. The required range is to be applied in a reasonable manner, taking into account such factors as the handover transition between elected Delegates, the recall of an elected Delegate from office, or periods of Delegate inactivity.
9. Should Council members not meet or exceed the required endorsement level for a period of at least fifteen days, the Vice Delegate is required to act pursuant to Section Two of this Law.
10. The elected and legitimate Delegate is exempt from endorsement requirements.

Section 5.2: Enforcement
11. The Vice Delegate shall suspend members of the Council who violate the endorsement and influence level requirements of this Act.
12. Suspension takes places if, after a warning by the Vice Delegate, a Council member fails to come into compliance with the endorsement and influence level requirements within a reasonable amount of time specified in the warning, which is usually fifteen days.
13. The Vice Delegate shall remove members of the Council whose World Assembly nation no longer exists or no longer resides in The North Pacific or resigns from the World Assembly (except as part of a formal redesignation of a resident World Assembly member nation within The North Pacific).
14. The Vice Delegate will report any suspension or removal of members of the Council to the Regional Assembly.
15. Should a suspended member of the Council comes back into compliance with the endorsement and influence level requirements of this Act, the Vice Delegate will reinstate the Council member.
16. 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 will submit such determination to the Regional Assembly for approval to remove that member from the Council.
17. The Speaker will submit the determination to an immediate vote of the Regional Assembly; approval will require a qualified majority.

This is where most of the Endocap law would go if it were law. I'll add it in if that's the consensus.

Chapter 6: Government Regulations

1. Any Law regulating the operations of the government of the North Pacific other than the Election Commission and the Judiciary must be listed in this chapter.

Section 6.1: Regional Assembly Membership Act
2. The Speaker will work with forum administration to process Regional Assembly applicants.
3. Assembly members must maintain a nation in the North Pacific.
4. Applicants must swear an oath, as follows:

[nation]TNP Nation[/nation]
[nation]WA Nation[/nation]

I, (forum user name), as the leader of The North Pacific nation of (your TNP nation's name), pledge loyalty to the Constitution, Bill of Rights 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 for official government business, 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. I pledge that no nation under my control will wage war against the North Pacific. I further understand that if any nation under my control directly wages war against the North Pacific, or allies themselves with a region waging war, declared or not, against the North Pacific, this 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 Speaker of The Regional Assembly of The North Pacific region for membership in the Regional Assembly of the North Pacific.

5. New forum members may be solicited to register as citizens or join the Regional Assembly.
6. The Speaker will accept applicants with valid applications who are verified by forum administration not to be using a proxy or evading a judicially-imposed penalty.
7. The Speaker's office will maintain a publicly viewable roster of Regional Assembly members.
8. The Speaker's office will remove with immediate effect any members who's removal is ordered by the Court, who's North Pacific nation leaves or ceases to exist, who fail to log in to the North Pacific forum for over 15 days, or who fail to vote in two consecutive, non-overlapping Regional Assembly votes with at least 3 days between them.

Section 6.2: RA WA Verification and Confidentiality Act
9. Assembly members with a World Assembly nation must inform the Speaker of any nation of theirs which may attain World Assembly membership before it does so.
10. Unless told otherwise by the Assembly member in question, if the Speaker is informed of possible future World Assembly nations the Speaker will keep that information in confidence and will not share it with anyone on pain of a minimum three months ban from the region unless the Speaker observes such a nation waging war against the North Pacific.
11. The Speaker will not inform their successor of confidential potential World Assembly nations; they may only report which Assembly Members have submitted such lists.

Section 6.3: Freedom of Information Act
12. The North Pacific government exists specifically to serve the people of the region and to act in the best interest of all resident nations of The North Pacific.
13. The Delegate and appointed government officials will be delegated the task of informing the Assembly of any governmental action not already disclosed by the respective officers of the Executive.
14. All registered citizens and/or governments residing in The North Pacific have the right to request information from the Government through the Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive, and
15. The Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive will endeavour to retrieve information requested from the different departments of the government, whom are obligated to release this information provided it will not and/or does not present a threat to regional security or unduly impinge on the privacy of private citizens, and
16. Citizens or governments which do not receive this information for any reason not specifically designated in appropriate laws or regulations may file a request for the information in a regional court, where the Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive may present evidence that addresses any claim that release of the information impairs Regional security.
17. Information not disclosed because of issues pertaining to Regional security will be classified by the majority vote of the Court sitting as a three-member panel.
18. Information whose disclosure is deemed a security threat to the Region will be released by the affirmative vote of a majority of a three-member panel of the Court, no sooner than 2 months after the original request, once the threat no longer exists.
19. All activities by the designated regional intelligence services are exempt from this law.


Chapter 7: Cultural Declarations

1. The North Pacific is a free region, proud of its history of resistance to Tyranny.
2. This Chapter will include law concerning the North Pacific's history and culture.

Section 7.1: Arms, Flag, and Seal
3. The following arms as designed by ThelDRan and revised by Eluvatar and Gulliver is adopted as the coat of arms of the North Pacific:

4. Each institution in the North Pacific's government may establish for itself a seal which uses the arms of the North Pacific.
5. The arms of the North Pacific may not be used except to represent the North Pacific or an official regional entity.
6. The following flag, as designed by ThelDRan and revised by Eluvatar and Gulliver is adopted as the official flag of the North Pacific:

The flag and arms are not 100% done: windows need to be added in on the towers of the castle crown, and the thickness of some lines may need adjusting. I'll be replacing the images as I do that, and I'll add a note to this comment when I'm done.

Section 7.2: Holidays
7. Cognizant of the role of shared national events in shaping and maintaining the culture of a region, and mindful of the importance of a region's history and the lessons it may contain, The North Pacific hereby recognizes the following annual holidays.
8. The first day of January shall be known as Remembrance Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to reflect upon and remember those players who have left the region and the game of Nationstates.
9. The twenty-sixth day of May shall be known as Manumission Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to commemorate the end of the delegacy of Pixiedance, and celebrate the return of a democratic government to the region.
10. The seventh day of July shall be known as Constitution Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to commemorate the ratification of the Constitution of the North Pacific.
11. The twenty-eighth day of July shall be known as Liberation Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to commemorate and celebrate the overthrow of Great Bight, and the return of a native government to the region.
12. The thirteenth day of November shall be known as Creation Day, and shall provide an opportunity for Nations to commemorate and celebrate the establishment of that first and greatest of games, Nationstates; as well as provide an opportunity to enjoy and extend fellowship to our counterparts throughout the NationStates communities.
13. The twenty-third day of November shall be known as Founders' Day, and shall provide an opportunity for Nations to commemorate and celebrate the establishment of the first official forum of The North Pacific, and the establishment through it of the community which has kept The North Pacific as the preeminent region in Nationstates.

Notes: the biggest single change is in the election law, allowing registered Citizens to vote. This can be done without altering the constitution because the law can define the RA however it wishes, so long as the admission process is "uniform".

 

[Eluvatar]

Spoiler: v1.5

Codified Law of the North Pacific


In order to present a clearer and more comprehensible legal system, the Regional Assembly undertakes to keep the law of the North Pacific organized and clear. If any part of this Code is in conflict with the Constitution or subsequent legislation, the Speaker will update it on the instructions of the Court, unless a Regional Assembly member objects. This Code will be divided into several Chapters, which may contain Sections. Every operative sentence must be a numbered clause, numbered within a Chapter. Clauses may be referenced by chapter and clause number.


Chapter 1: Criminal Code

1. The Criminal Code will be complete.
2. No private citizen (a private citizen being a citizen holding no public office) may be punished for any crime not listed in the Criminal Code.

Section 1.1: Treason
3. "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 allies as governed by the Constitution.
4. Specifically, no player maintaining a nation in a region or organization at war with TNP may maintain a nation within TNP, or participate in the governance thereof, for the duration of hostilities.
5. A region or organization "at war" with TNP is one which has made a formal declaration, or made acts of war against The North Pacific, or vice versa, as deemed by a qualified majority of the Regional Assembly.
6. War does not constitute actions taken by or against any army of the North Pacific abroad unless the conflict meets the conditions above.
7. A state of war exists until a formal peace treaty, surrender terms, or similar, are recognized by the Regional Assembly.
8. At this time, there are no regions or organizations at war with TNP. At this time TNP has no treatied allies.
9. The Speaker will update the preceding clause as appropriate.
10. Exceptions may be given to members of the military and intelligence services of the North Pacific, with the consent of the Delegate and the appropriate Minister.
11. This exception is only valid when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of preserving Regional security and the Constitution.

Section 1.2: Espionage
12. "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.
13. The information gathered must be of a nature that a person that has not registered on the official forums or attained public office would be unable to access it without cracking technical security measures.
14. Exceptions may be given to members of the military and intelligence services of The North Pacific, with the consent of the Delegate and the appropriate Minister.
15. This exception is only valid when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of preserving Regional security and the Constitution.

Section 1.3: Sedition
16. "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 1.4: Election Fraud
17. "Election fraud" is defined as the willful deception of citizens 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.
18. “Fraud” is defined as an intentional deception, by falsehood or omission, made for some benefit or to damage another individual.

Section 1.5. Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming
19. "Crashing" refers to any unauthorized action which could cause a forum to go out of service or lose information, including the deletion of posts, the deletion of a forum, spamming, or any other act of such kind.
20. "Forum" refers to the official offsite forums of The North Pacific.
21. "Off-site property" refers to any forums, websites or Wiki pages owned or maintained by resident citizens of The North Pacific, or any other Nationstates nation, organization or region, outside of nationstates.net.
22. "Phishing" refers to any attempts to gain access to off-site property controls or passwords by deception, especially by posing as administrators or moderators for any unauthorized use.
23. Phishing also includes the collection of personal information kept at the Forum.
24. "Spamming" refers to any action undertaken by non-region nationals to waste space on the any off-site property to cause it to crash.
25. Spamming includes any attempts to force a DOS error on forums and any attempts to flood the RMB of a region which is not that nation's normal abode.
26. No Nation of The North Pacific may perform, order, condone, or accept as legal, Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming.

Section 1.6: Proxying
27. 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.
28. The use of a proxy server by a citizen who is a member of the military or intelligence services will 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.
29. "Proxying" is defined as use of a proxy server by a citizen who seeks office.
30. 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 forum.
31. Forum administrators will inform the Government and Court of Proxying they observe.

Section 1.7. Adspam
32. Recruitment for other regions on the Regional Message board may be regulated or prohibited by Delegate Decree.

Section 1.8. Conspiracy
33. "Conspiracy" is defined as conspiracy to perform any crime under this criminal code, and is also a crime.

Chapter 2: Penal Code

1. Criminal acts may be punished by restrictions on basic rights, in a manner proportionate to the crime at the discretion of the Court unless specified in this chapter.
2. Treason will be punished by ejection and banning, and removal of any and all basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit.
3. Espionage will be punished by the suspension of speech and/or voting rights for some finite duration at the discretion of the Court.
4. Sedition will be punished by the suspension of speech and/or voting rights and ejection and banning if necessary for some finite duration at the discretion of the Court.
5. Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming may be punished by ejection and banning, the removal of any and all basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration.
6. Proxying may be punished by ejection and banning, the removal of any and all basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration.
7. Adspam prohibited by the Delegate may be punished by adspam suppression and summary ejection and/or banning from the region.
8. Conspiracy will be punished by a sentence strictly less than the sentence that would be appropriate for the crime.


Chapter 3: Judicial Law

1. These procedures will govern the Judiciary.

Section 3.1: The Attorney General
2. The Attorney General will be elected during Judicial Elections.
3. The Attorney General must not have been convicted of any crime in the North Pacific.
4. The Attorney General is to serve as Chief Prosecutor to all cases brought before the Court of the North Pacific.
5. It is the duty of the Attorney General to see to completion any proceeding they are prosecuting.
6. If for any reason, should the original Attorney General be unable to complete a pending case, then the successor Attorney General will take over as prosecutor and complete the pending proceedings.
7. The Attorney General may request expedited judicial review of any executive action by any official.

Section 3.2: Appointment of Hearing Officers
8. Whenever, due to conflict of interest, unavailability, or other cause, the Chief Justice (or the Associate Justice with greatest seniority in the case of vacancy, absence, or unavailability of the Chief Justice) determines it appropriate, a hearing officer will be promptly appointed to preside for a particular proceeding.
9. Whenever there are one or more vacancies on the Court, or one or more Justices are unavailable, have a conflict of interest, or other cause, that prevent the participation of the full number of Justices created under the Constitution or by law, the remaining Justice or Justices will promptly appoint one or more hearing officers to participate in an en banc proceeding as temporary Justices.
10. Any hearing officer that is appointed under this Section must be a private citizen while serving as a judicial hearing officer.

Section 3.3: Criminal Trial Procedure
11. When seeking an indictment to eject or ban pending a trial, the Government must inform all the Justices.
12. Any Justice may approve or deny an indictment.
13. Once an ejection is performed, the Government must notify the ejected nation of their rights within one hour, and publicly submit a criminal proceeding within six hours.
14. Once a criminal proceeding is publicly presented to the court, the defendant will have 48 hours to enter a plea, or a plea of "Not Guilty" may be entered for them.
15. Once a plea is entered in a criminal proceeding a period of time for the discovery of evidence and the compilation of witness testimony will begin, its duration set by the Court.
16. Once discovery ends a period of time for arguments on the evidence and law will begin, its duration set by the Court.
17. During discovery and arguments, either side may make objections or requests at any time publicly and on the forum.
18. Once arguments end, the Court will have 72 hours to decide on a verdict and/or sentence.


Chapter 4: Election and Appointment Procedure

Section 4.1: Oath of Office
1. All government officials, elected or appointed, will be required to take the Oath of Office listed below before assuming their elected or appointed role within the government of The North Pacific.

I, (insert forum username), do hereby solemnly swear that during my duly elected/appointed term as (insert government position), I will uphold the ideals of Democracy, Freedom, and Justice of The Region of The North Pacific. I will use the powers and rights granted to me through The North Pacific Constitution and Legal Code in a legal, responsible, and unbiased manner, not abusing my power, committing misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, in any gross or excessive manner. I will act only in the best interests of The North Pacific, not influenced by personal gain or any outside force, and within the restraints of my legally granted power. As such, I hereby take up the office of (insert government position), with all the powers, rights, and responsibilities held therein.

2. All government officials will be required to take the Oath of Office within one week of attaining office or be subject to removal from office following an automatic recall vote.
3. This Oath will be binding on all government officials, and violations of said Oath may be grounds for a recall or impeachment.

Section 4.2: Election Law Definitions
4. "Absentions" are not votes for or against any candidate, and may not be used to determine the results of any election. They may be used to signify a voter's presence for quorum, activity, or other purposes.
5. "Candidates" are those citizens who either declare themselves, or who have accepted a nomination by another Assembly member preceding the close of nominations, as a candidate for an office or position to be chosen at that election. Candidates may only stand for one office or position during a given Election Cycle.
6. "Election Commissioner" is an individual designated under this Law to oversee and supervise a given general or judicial election. No one who may be a candidate in an election may serve as an Election Commissioner during that election. More than one Commissioner may be designated.
7. "Election Cycle" is defined as the period of time that begins on the first day on which nominations, or a declaration, of candidacy are made, includes all voting periods, and concludes with the final declaration of results for an election. The exact dates for the Election Cycle will not include any legal holidays provided in Chapter 7, and those dates will be designated at least 30 days in advance by the Delegate so as to encourage the greatest level of participation by eligible voters during the designated month.
8. "Vacancy" in an office or position occurs when the holder of an elected office or position resigns, is removed, abandons, or is recalled. Vacancies are filled through a special election unless an special election cannot be completed prior to the beginning of the general or judicial election cycle; or in all cases pending an election, however, a vacancy may be temporarily filled as provided by the Constitution, the Legal Code, or by rule adopted by the appropriate body.
9. "Citizens" are those nations of the North Pacific who register on the official regional forum and are confirmed by Forum Administration to not be using a proxy, including the verification as part of the Regional Assembly admission process.

Section 4.3: Overall Election Law
10. In General and Judicial elections, Election Commissioners will be appointed by the Delegate to oversee the nomination and election processes at least one week before the month in which the election begins. If an appointment of Election Commissioners has not been made by that time, the Chief Justice shall promptly make the appointment within 48 hours.
11. The period for nominations or declarations of candidacy shall last for seven days.
12. Voting will begin three days after the period for nominations or declarations has closed.
13. Voting will last for seven days.
14. Should a run-off vote be required it shall begin within two days of the first vote ending and it shall last for five days.
15. During any Election cycle, all Citizens will be considered to be Regional Assembly members.
16. The Regional Assembly will not vote on legislation during any Election.

Section 4.3: General Elections
16. The election cycle for the 4-month term of the Delegate and Vice Delegate will begin on the first day of the months of January, May, and September.
17. Non-incumbent candidates for Delegate or Vice Delegate may not obtain an endorsement level during the election cycle greater than the level authorized for members of the Security Council under Chapter 5.

Section 4.4: Judicial Elections
18. The election cycle for the 6-month term of the Chief Justice, the two Associate Justices, and the Attorney General will begin on the first days of the months of April and October.

Section 4.5: Special Elections
19. A special election will be held in the event of a vacancy in any elected office or position.
20. A special election cycle will last for no more than fourteen days, which must be completed prior to the beginning of the next election cycle for the vacated office or position.
21. The Delegate, or if the Delegate is not available, the Chair of the General Council, or if the Delegate and Chair are not available, any Court Justice, will serve as Election Commissioner for the special election.
22. The period for nominations or declarations of candidacy in the special election will last for five days, beginning within two days after the vacancy occurs or is noticed.
23. Voting will begin one day after the period for nominations or declarations has closed.
24. Voting will last for five days.


Chapter 5: Security Council Law

1. Any laws regulating the activities of the Security Council must be listed in this chapter.
2. In this chapter, "Council" means the Security Council.

Section 5.1: Requirements
3. Members of the Council will maintain an influence level equal to or greater than Vassal.
4. Members of the Council will maintain an endorsement level within the range described in this Section.
5. The minimum level is defined as being either at least (1) 50 endorsements, or (2) fifty per cent of the serving Delegate's endorsement count, whichever is least.
6. The maximum level is defined as being either (1) that number of endorsements that is 20 fewer than the serving Delegate's endorsement count, or (2) no more than eighty-five percent of said count, whichever is least.
7. Where the computation results in fractions, the count shall be rounded down.
8. The required range is to be applied in a reasonable manner, taking into account such factors as the handover transition between elected Delegates, the recall of an elected Delegate from office, or periods of Delegate inactivity.
9. Should Council members not meet or exceed the required endorsement level for a period of at least fifteen days, the Vice Delegate is required to act pursuant to Section Two of this Law.
10. The elected and legitimate Delegate is exempt from endorsement requirements.

Section 5.2: Enforcement
11. The Vice Delegate shall suspend members of the Council who violate the endorsement and influence level requirements of this Act.
12. Suspension takes places if, after a warning by the Vice Delegate, a Council member fails to come into compliance with the endorsement and influence level requirements within a reasonable amount of time specified in the warning, which is usually fifteen days.
13. The Vice Delegate shall remove members of the Council whose World Assembly nation no longer exists or no longer resides in The North Pacific or resigns from the World Assembly (except as part of a formal redesignation of a resident World Assembly member nation within The North Pacific).
14. The Vice Delegate will report any suspension or removal of members of the Council to the Regional Assembly.
15. Should a suspended member of the Council comes back into compliance with the endorsement and influence level requirements of this Act, the Vice Delegate will reinstate the Council member.
16. 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 will submit such determination to the Regional Assembly for approval to remove that member from the Council.
17. The Speaker of the Regional Assembly will submit the determination to an immediate vote of the Regional Assembly; approval will require a qualified majority.

This is where most of the Endocap law would go if it were law. I'll add it in if that's the consensus.

Chapter 6: Government Regulations

1. Any Law regulating the operations of the government of the North Pacific other than the Election Commission and the Judiciary must be listed in this chapter.

Section 6.1: Regional Assembly Membership Act
2. The Speaker will work with forum administration to process Regional Assembly applicants.
3. Assembly members must maintain a nation in the North Pacific.
4. Applicants must swear an oath, as follows:

[nation]TNP Nation[/nation]
[nation]WA Nation[/nation]

I, (forum user name), as the leader of The North Pacific nation of (your TNP nation's name), pledge loyalty to the region, to abide by its laws, Constitution, Bill of Rights 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 for official government business, 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. I pledge that no nation under my control will wage war against the North Pacific. I further understand that if any nation under my control directly wages war against the North Pacific, or allies themselves with a region waging war, declared or not, against the North Pacific, this 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. I understand that if I break this oath I may immediately lose my voting privileges, permanently. In this manner, I petition the Speaker of The Regional Assembly of The North Pacific region for membership in the Regional Assembly of the North Pacific.

5. New forum members may be solicited to register as citizens or join the Regional Assembly but must be made aware of the Criminal Code they are pledging to respect..
6. The Speaker will accept applicants with valid applications who are verified by forum administration not to be using a proxy or evading a judicially-imposed penalty.
7. The Speaker will take no longer than 14 days to process an applicant. If the applicant is not rejected within 14 days, they will be automatically accepted to the Regional Assembly.
8. Regional Assembly members may not vote in any vote which began before they were last admitted.
9. The Speaker's office will maintain a publicly viewable roster of Regional Assembly members.
10. The Speaker's office will remove with immediate effect any members whose removal is ordered by the Court, whose North Pacific nation leaves or ceases to exist, who fail to log in to post the North Pacific forum for over 15 30 days, or who fail to vote in two consecutive, non-overlapping Regional Assembly votes with at least 3 days between them.

Section 6.2: RA WA Verification and Confidentiality Act
11. Assembly members with a World Assembly nation must inform the Speaker of any nation of theirs which may attain World Assembly membership before it does so.
12. Unless told otherwise by the Assembly member in question, if the Speaker is informed of possible future World Assembly nations the Speaker will keep that information in confidence and will not share it with anyone on pain of a minimum three months ban from the region unless the Speaker observes such a nation waging war against the North Pacific.
13. The Speaker will not inform their successor of confidential potential World Assembly nations; they may only report which Assembly Members have submitted such lists.

Section 6.3: Freedom of Information Act
14. The North Pacific government exists specifically to serve the people of the region and to act in the best interest of all resident nations of The North Pacific.
15. The Delegate and appointed government officials will be delegated the task of informing the Assembly of any governmental action not already disclosed by the respective officers of the Executive.
16. All registered citizens and/or governments residing in The North Pacific have the right to request information from the Government through the Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive, and
17. The Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive will endeavour to retrieve information requested from the different departments of the government, whom are obligated to release this information provided it will not and/or does not present a threat to regional security or unduly impinge on the privacy of private citizens, and
18. Citizens or governments which do not receive this information for any reason not specifically designated in appropriate laws or regulations may file a request for the information in a regional court, where the Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive may present evidence that addresses any claim that release of the information impairs Regional security.
19. Information not disclosed because of issues pertaining to Regional security will be classified by the majority vote of the Court sitting as a three-member panel.
20. Information whose disclosure is deemed a security threat to the Region will be released by the affirmative vote of a majority of a three-member panel of the Court, no sooner than 2 months after the original request, once the threat no longer exists.
21. All activities by the designated regional intelligence services are exempt from this law.

Section 6.4: Mandatory Ministries

22. There will be an Executive Officer charged with the North Pacific's foreign affairs. They will ensure the continued operation of any embassies of the North Pacific.
23. There will be an Executive Officer charged with welcoming. They will be tasked with ensuring that nations founded in the North Pacific are appropriately greeted, that newcomers to the regional forum and to regional internet relay chats shall be welcomed and helped with any questions, and with the maintenance of regional FAQs.
24. There will be an Executive Officer charged with military affairs. They will carry out such legal missions as are authorized by the Delegate, expressly or categorically.
25. An Executive Officer may sustain multiple roles defined by this Act.
26. The Regional Assembly may elect an Executive Officer should one of the roles defined by this act remain vacant for seven days or in connection with the Regional Assembly removing the Executive Officer charged with that role.


Chapter 7: Cultural Declarations

1. The North Pacific is a free region, proud of its history of resistance to Tyranny.
2. This Chapter will include law concerning the North Pacific's history and culture.

Section 7.1: Arms, Flag, and Seal
3. The following arms as designed by ThelDRan and revised by Eluvatar and Gulliver is adopted as the coat of arms of the North Pacific:

4. Each institution in the North Pacific's government may establish for itself a seal which uses the arms of the North Pacific.
5. The arms of the North Pacific may not be used except to represent the North Pacific or an official regional entity.
6. The following flag, as designed by ThelDRan and revised by Eluvatar and Gulliver is adopted as the official flag of the North Pacific:

Section 7.2: Holidays
7. Cognizant of the role of shared national events in shaping and maintaining the culture of a region, and mindful of the importance of a region's history and the lessons it may contain, The North Pacific hereby recognizes the following annual holidays.
8. The first day of January shall be known as Remembrance Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to reflect upon and remember those players who have left the region and the game of Nationstates.
9. The twenty-sixth day of May shall be known as Manumission Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to commemorate the end of the delegacy of Pixiedance, and celebrate the return of a democratic government to the region.
10. The seventh day of July shall be known as Constitution Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to commemorate the ratification of the Constitution of the North Pacific.
11. The twenty-eighth day of July shall be known as Liberation Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to commemorate and celebrate the overthrow of Great Bight, and the return of a native government to the region.
12. The thirteenth day of November shall be known as Creation Day, and shall provide an opportunity for Nations to commemorate and celebrate the establishment of that first and greatest of games, Nationstates; as well as provide an opportunity to enjoy and extend fellowship to our counterparts throughout the NationStates communities.
13. The twenty-third day of November shall be known as Founders' Day, and shall provide an opportunity for Nations to commemorate and celebrate the establishment of the first official forum of The North Pacific, and the establishment through it of the community which has kept The North Pacific as the preeminent region in Nationstates.

Notes: the biggest single change is in the election law, allowing registered Citizens to vote. This can be done without altering the constitution because the law can define the RA however it wishes, so long as the admission process is "uniform".

 

[Grosseschnauzer]

I have to disagree with the proposed changes in the R.A. oath. There were reasons why each provision was included (as some were added over time), but as written it would open the doors to a number of problems the current oath addresses.
You need to explain the rationale for each change in the oath and how the problem the current oath language addresses would be dealt with because I don't see it.

The Constitution requires that the Regional Assembly elect the Delegate, Vice Delegate, the Court, the Attorney General, and the Speaker, and this cannot be changed through the legal code by itself.

I'll get to other issues as I have time and I see them, but these two come to mind first.

 

[Eluvatar]

Let me address this in two parts. First, the RA oath.

I, (forum user name), as the leader of The North Pacific nation of (your TNP nation's name), pledge loyalty to the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Laws of The North Pacific Region, and to act as a responsible member of its society.[c] So far so good. [c] I understand that if my Nation leaves The North Pacific region for reasons other than for official government business, that I may be stripped of my right to vote and required to reapply. [c] Verbose and obvious. It's in the RA law. [c] I pledge to only register one Nation to vote in The North Pacific.[c] This is worth making clear. [c] 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. [c] Redundant and, what's worse, threatening sounding to newbies. [c] I pledge that no nation under my control will wage war against the North Pacific. [c] replaces the following block... [c] I further understand that if any nation under my control directly wages war against the North Pacific, or allies themselves with a region waging war, declared or not, against the North Pacific, this 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. [c] Long and scary. Again we want completely new nations to the region signing this thing! [c] In this manner, I petition the Speaker of The Regional Assembly of The North Pacific region for membership in the Regional Assembly of the North Pacific .[c]Just seems to flow better this way to me.

Second, Elections.

The Constitution says:

1. The Assembly is tasked with creating and maintaining a uniform procedure for membership in and removal from the Assembly.

The procedure whereby members join one of two registries, one of which is always the RA and the other entirely joined to the RA during elections and then removed seems quite uniform to me. Each applicant is treated uniformly; they have completely equal access to the franchise. This creates no discrimination.

 

[Flemingovia]

I think my basic problem with this whole process is that, as I feared, these redrafts are essentially tinkering with the system that already exists - a system that most people can see does not work.

Like rearranging deckchairs on the titanic, it does nothing to address the essential problems in the region.

A simplified version of a flawed system is still a flawed system.

I would favour a new, radically different system. Obviously I like the idea of the Flemingovian constitution, but whatever system we come up with let's think a little more outside of the box than this.

 

[Romanoffia]

Good reduction of redundant text.

Just out of curiosity:

Section 5.1: Requirements

3. Members of the Council will maintain an influence level equal to or greater than Vassal.

What is the calculation to derive this determination?

Just curious.

 

[Grosseschnauzer]

Let me address this in two parts. First, the RA oath.

I, (forum user name), as the leader of The North Pacific nation of (your TNP nation's name), pledge loyalty to the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Laws of The North Pacific Region, and to act as a responsible member of its society.[c] So far so good. [c] I understand that if my Nation leaves The North Pacific region for reasons other than for official government business, that I may be stripped of my right to vote and required to reapply. [c] Verbose and obvious. It's in the RA law. [c] I pledge to only register one Nation to vote in The North Pacific.[c] This is worth making clear. [c] 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.

Ro [c] Redundant and, what's worse, threatening sounding to newbies. [c] I pledge that no nation under my control will wage war against the North Pacific. [c] replaces the following block... [c] I further understand that if any nation under my control directly wages war against the North Pacific, or allies themselves with a region waging war, declared or not, against the North Pacific, this 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. [c] Long and scary. Again we want completely new nations to the region signing this thing! [c] In this manner, I petition the Speaker of The Regional Assembly of The North Pacific region for membership in the Regional Assembly of the North Pacific .[c]Just seems to flow better this way to me.

Second, Elections.

The Constitution says:

1. The Assembly is tasked with creating and maintaining a uniform procedure for membership in and removal from the Assembly.

The procedure whereby members join one of two registries, one of which is always the RA and the other entirely joined to the RA during elections and then removed seems quite uniform to me. Each applicant is treated uniformly; they have completely equal access to the franchise. This creates no discrimination.

The "joining/unjoining" business is just a backdoor way of creating two classes of citizens. And I don't like the sound of how its being done through a "revision" of the Legal Code. It ought to be done in the Constitution in a more straightforward way, if it were to be done at all. We had that before (all become registered voters, and those who wanted to join the RA did so separately.) Some deemed this to be too complicated, and in the name of simplification executed a merger of the registered voters into the R.A. Personally, I still think we should abolish the Regional Assembly and head back to just having registered voters who can vote on bills or not when they wish. That was the system we had before the R.A., and we didn't have all these complications. The only difference from that system I would make is to keep the Speaker as the moderator of debates and votes among the class of registrants.

I'm not comfortable about the ways you want to change the oath. First, it is not clear to me that any limitation acknowledged in the oath in its current form will continue in any form under this "revision." If the substance is retained, then show me exactly where and in what form of wording, and how the applicant will know of it. Second, the oath as it is currently makes clear what the penalty is for violation, and I want to see those kept; again, I'd like to see exactly where and how. Finally, I think the oath and application process is opening the door to multiple members/votes for single players, which is something in my book should be totally verboten; we can't have anything that will remotely allow that type of duality to rear its ugly head again.

Roman, the influence rating is something generated in-game under [Violet]'s auspices, we just look at the nation page and see what it says (same as with the number of endorsements a nation has.)

 

[Abstain]

Perhaps it would work best to also have a draft of things to change in the constitution to go along with this. Then things that could be better placed in the constitution can be done so and everything gets taken care of all at once as a set.

No point tweaking the Legal Code a bunch just to create issue with the constitution we'd be immediately forced to iron out.

As for influence the Vassal rankings is based on your share of the sum total of influence within the region. I'm not sure what percentage things fall into right now but Vassal is the next step up from Minnow and requires somewhere in the neighborhood of 350 influence points. From there the acquiring of influence is still a bit unknown, however if you and a new nation were to both maintain the same number of endorsements they would gain slightly more influence than you per day until they got close to the amount you have.

 

[Eluvatar]

Revised the proposal, significant changes:

Section 1.8. Conspiracy
32. "Conspiracy" is defined as conspiracy to perform any crime under this criminal code, and is also a crime.

...

7. Adspam prohibited by the Delegate may be punished by adspam suppression and summary ejection and/or banning from the region.
8. Conspiracy will be punished by a sentence strictly less than the sentence that would be appropriate for the crime.

...

14. Should a run-off vote be required it shall begin within two days of the first vote ending and it shall last for five days.

 

[Eluvatar]

Limi suggests that a simple "I understand that if I break this oath I may immediately lose my voting privileges, permanently." clause near the end would suffice if we feel the need to explicitly state that breaking the pledges = losing the office gained by swearing them.

 

[Grosseschnauzer]

Let's try this again:

Let me address this in two parts. First, the RA oath.

I, (forum user name), as the leader of The North Pacific nation of (your TNP nation's name), pledge loyalty to the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Laws of The North Pacific Region, and to act as a responsible member of its society.[c] So far so good. [c] I understand that if my Nation leaves The North Pacific region for reasons other than for official government business, that I may be stripped of my right to vote and required to reapply. [c] Verbose and obvious. It's in the RA law. [c] I pledge to only register one Nation to vote in The North Pacific.[c] This is worth making clear. [c] 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.

Ro [c] Redundant and, what's worse, threatening sounding to newbies. [c] I pledge that no nation under my control will wage war against the North Pacific. [c] replaces the following block... [c] I further understand that if any nation under my control directly wages war against the North Pacific, or allies themselves with a region waging war, declared or not, against the North Pacific, this 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. [c] Long and scary. Again we want completely new nations to the region signing this thing! [c] In this manner, I petition the Speaker of The Regional Assembly of The North Pacific region for membership in the Regional Assembly of the North Pacific .[c]Just seems to flow better this way to me.

To the extent you're determined to take things out, I'm going to insist on seeing where the item would be moved to. Some of the clauses in the oath are there because of problems that we went through, and I say this not as an author but as a participant. The most recent addition, in fact, was proposed by Flem in response to the conduct of Limi and others during that particular affair, and ended up requiring new oaths from the entire RA as a result.

Getting to the specifics:

I understand that if my Nation leaves The North Pacific region for reasons other than for official government business, that I may be stripped of my right to vote and required to reapply.

While this is implemented in Law 28, the rule originated from the oath in a period when it was included in the Constitution. It probably needs to be in the Criminal Code Section since you've seen fit to add the adspammers provision in there (even though by court decision, adspammers by definition are not citizens and do not have the protection of citizens under the Bill of Rights.)

It would seem to me then, that the requirement/penalty would have to be in the crimes section if not in the oath itself. As long as it is in our laws in a way that makes clear that coming and leaving without notice by a nation with voting rights has a penalty of losing the right to vote.

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.

This addresses the issue of duality (or Multi-ality, actually) which is the concept of "one player, one vote." Just where is this preserved? You call it "threatening". Well, the idea was to make clear that the practice would not be tolerated. Having an applicant acknowledge that fact is not an unfair or a unreasonable requirement. I'm not in favor of repealing this fundamental concept of TNP that wars were fought over. It it's going to be removed from the oath it need to be preserved as a defined crime, with the same penalty, and acknowledging that it may be "summarily" done.

further understand that if any nation under my control directly wages war against the North Pacific, or allies themselves with a region waging war, declared or not, against the North Pacific, this 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.

The clause in the oath covers certain conduct that your proposed addition to the your draft Legal Code does not, especially the "or allies themselves with a region waging war, declared or not, against the North Pacific." Indirectly aiding war against a region you have sworn allegiance is currently forbidden by the oath provision, it is not explicitly included in the language you are proposing.

This was a provision that was added as a result of hard experience; it would be stupid to undo the hard lesson learned. This phrase needs to be put in the crimes definition section somehow and somewhere if its going to be taken out of the oath. And as to the penalty, again, if it is added in the crimes definition to make clear these "summary" punishments can be implemented in a way that allows action first and a long trial later I'll live with it.

Again, my position currently is this -- if these limitations on registered members of the RA or on citizens are explicitly included as crimes and penalties in the Legal Code outside of the oath, then I can live with them.

As to Limi's suggestion, perhaps that will work, but I'd like to have something that has applicants read and acknowledge the crimes and penalties so that we don't have the "ignorance as defense" problem. It may be an axiom in the real world, but in game play here, it's been used often enough.

As to the election "joining and unjoining mechanism, it really is more complicated than you think it is. I think it would be simpler to have a class of registered voters, have them execute an oath that acknowledges their rights, obligations and responsibilities as citizens, and let whoever among them who wants to vote on legislation, vote on legislation. That will be even simplier than what what in the later era of the last constitution where the registered voters were merged into the RA. If it had been done the other way, it would have simplified things to begin with.

Maybe I'll have time to put a partial draft together. Would it even be seriously considered given the political climate? I'm not in a mood these days to waste my time. (what I have of it.)

 

[Eluvatar]

Revised again. See maroon bits in this googledoc to find the changes:

(some of them are just places where I hadn't noticed I was changing the law as it stands, marked appropriately)

here

 

[Todd McCloud]

I have to say. This thing is huge.

 

[Eluvatar]

A point of question: for the Endocap law, there apparently turns out to have been some controversy about letting the Security Council set an endocap within the prescribed range.

If not them, who?

Or do we want to stick with not having a formal endocap at all?

 

[Grosseschnauzer]

The law passed by the R.A. is still sitting on the Delegate's desk awaiting an approval or veto. Been there for a couple of months now. Don't know what the answer is.

By using the same flexible range system that is in Law 30, it becomes a matter of calculation rather than something that had to be adopted every month, I would prefer that system because it adapts to what happens rather than trying to force a hard cap on something that varies day to day or hour to hour.

 

[Eluvatar]

The law passed by the R.A. is still sitting on the Delegate's desk awaiting an approval or veto. Been there for a couple of months now. Don't know what the answer is.

By using the same flexible range system that is in Law 30, it becomes a matter of calculation rather than something that had to be adopted every month, I would prefer that system because it adapts to what happens rather than trying to force a hard cap on something that varies day to day or hour to hour.

The Delegate has made clear to us that he is pocket-vetoing it.

The question is, do we agree with the objection about the Security Council or not?

 

[Felasia]

I disagree. It's when we needs to calculate the endocap that it's become inflexible as the region is not allow to increase or decrease the cap based on the real situation. We could be at war and the region would still needs to allow these unknown nation to seeks high endorsement because we can't change the cap.

Endocap can not be calculate if it's to be an effective tool in defending this region.

As for who should decide, if it's not the security council then I think we could have the Delegate and Vice Delegate agreeing on the number instead.

Edit Note: Also curious about the veto thing.

6. The Delegate may veto bills passed through the Assembly that do not attain at least 60% supermajority in favor.

The wording seems to indicate that the law passed unless the delegate veto it... so shouldn't the Delegate actually have to said he is vetoing it?

 

[Eluvatar]

So they have to agree to change it? That could work.

What if the boundaries shift and it ceases to be an allowed cap? Should we specify that the cap then becomes the minimum/maximum allowed cap as appropriate?

An example of what I'm talking about:

• The law allows the endocap to be between 60% of the delegate's endocount and the Vice Delegate's endocount.
• The Delegate has 300 endorsements
• The Vice Delegate has 280 endorsements
• A large region declares war on us, endocap gets set to 180 (the minimum)
• The Delegate gathers more endorsements to improve security, and gets to 400.
• The lowest permitted level for the cap is now 220.
• What is the cap?

 

[Grosseschnauzer]

Inasmuch as we have the means to calculate and display a current range for endorsements below the range reserved for the Security Council members, the Vice Delegate, and the Delegate, we should be able to show that display as it is automatically adjusted for changes in the permitted endo range for those outside of those three levels.
I think it will create more problems unless the range floats to reflect the current situation, especially if there is a rapid rise or fall in the Delegate's endo level, which affects all the other levels.

 

[Eluvatar]

If the endocap can be changed with the dual consent of the Delegate and Vice Delegate, I think it should be fine.

 

[Eluvatar]

Spoiler: v1.6

Codified Law of the North Pacific


In order to present a clearer and more comprehensible legal system, the Regional Assembly undertakes to keep the law of the North Pacific organized and clear. If any part of this Code is in conflict with the Constitution or subsequent legislation, the Speaker will update it on the instructions of the Court, unless a Regional Assembly member objects. This Code will be divided into several Chapters, which may contain Sections. Every operative sentence must be a numbered clause, numbered within a Chapter. Clauses may be referenced by chapter and clause number.


Chapter 1: Criminal Code

1. The Criminal Code will be complete.
2. No private citizen (a private citizen being a citizen holding no public office) may be punished for any crime not listed in the Criminal Code.

Section 1.1: Treason
3. "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 allies as governed by the Constitution.
4. Specifically, no player maintaining a nation in a region or organization at war with TNP may maintain a nation within TNP, or participate in the governance thereof, for the duration of hostilities.
5. At this time, there are no regions or organizations at war with TNP. At this time TNP has no treatied allies.
6. The Speaker will update the preceding clause as appropriate.
7. Exceptions may be given to members of the military and intelligence services of the North Pacific, with the consent of the Delegate and the appropriate Minister.
8. This exception is only valid when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of preserving Regional security and the Constitution.

Section 1.2: Espionage
9. "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.
10. The information gathered must be of a nature that a person that has not registered on the official forums or attained public office would be unable to access it without cracking technical security measures.
11. Exceptions may be given to members of the military and intelligence services of The North Pacific, with the consent of the Delegate and the appropriate Minister.
12. This exception is only valid when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of preserving Regional security and the Constitution.

Section 1.3: Sedition
13. "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 1.4: Election Fraud
14. "Election fraud" is defined as the willful deception of citizens 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.
15. “Fraud” is defined as an intentional deception, by falsehood or omission, made for some benefit or to damage another individual.

Section 1.5. Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming
16. "Crashing" refers to any unauthorized action which could cause a forum to go out of service or lose information, including the deletion of posts, the deletion of a forum, spamming, or any other act of such kind.
17. "Forum" refers to the official offsite forums of The North Pacific.
18. "Off-site property" refers to any forums, websites or Wiki pages owned or maintained by resident citizens of The North Pacific, or any other Nationstates nation, organization or region, outside of nationstates.net.
19. "Phishing" refers to any attempts to gain access to off-site property controls or passwords by deception, especially by posing as administrators or moderators for any unauthorized use.
20. Phishing also includes the collection of personal information kept at the Forum.
21. "Spamming" refers to any action undertaken by non-region nationals to waste space on the any off-site property to cause it to crash.
22. Spamming includes any attempts to force a DOS error on forums and any attempts to flood the RMB of a region which is not that nation's normal abode.
23. No Nation of The North Pacific may perform, order, condone, or accept as legal, Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming.

Section 1.6: Proxying
24. 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.
25. The use of a proxy server by a citizen who is a member of the military or intelligence services will 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.
26. "Proxying" is defined as use of a proxy server by a citizen who seeks office.
27. 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 forum.
28. Forum administrators will inform the Government and Court of Proxying they observe.

Section 1.7. Adspam
29. Recruitment for other regions on the Regional Message board may be regulated or prohibited by Delegate Decree.

Section 1.8. Conspiracy
30. "Conspiracy" is defined as conspiracy to perform any crime under this criminal code, and is also a crime.

Chapter 2: Penal Code

1. Criminal acts may be punished by restrictions on basic rights, in a manner proportionate to the crime at the discretion of the Court unless specified in this chapter.
2. Treason will be punished by ejection and banning, and removal of any and all basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit.
3. Espionage will be punished by the suspension of speech and/or voting rights for some finite duration at the discretion of the Court.
4. Sedition will be punished by the suspension of speech and/or voting rights and ejection and banning if necessary for some finite duration at the discretion of the Court.
5. Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming may be punished by ejection and banning, the removal of any and all basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration.
6. Proxying may be punished by ejection and banning, the removal of any and all basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration.
7. Adspam prohibited by the Delegate may be punished by adspam suppression and summary ejection and/or banning from the region.
8. Conspiracy will be punished by a sentence strictly less than the sentence that would be appropriate for the crime.


Chapter 3: Judicial Law

1. These procedures will govern the Judiciary.

Section 3.1: The Attorney General
2. The Attorney General will be elected during Judicial Elections.
3. The Attorney General must not have been convicted of any crime in the North Pacific.
4. The Attorney General is to serve as Chief Prosecutor to all cases brought before the Court of the North Pacific.
5. It is the duty of the Attorney General to see to completion any proceeding they are prosecuting.
6. If for any reason, should the original Attorney General be unable to complete a pending case, then the successor Attorney General will take over as prosecutor and complete the pending proceedings.
7. The Attorney General may request expedited judicial review of any executive action by any official.

Section 3.2: Appointment of Hearing Officers
8. Whenever, due to conflict of interest, unavailability, or other cause, the Chief Justice (or the Associate Justice with greatest seniority in the case of vacancy, absence, or unavailability of the Chief Justice) determines it appropriate, a hearing officer will be promptly appointed to preside for a particular proceeding.
9. Whenever there are one or more vacancies on the Court, or one or more Justices are unavailable, have a conflict of interest, or other cause, that prevent the participation of the full number of Justices created under the Constitution or by law, the remaining Justice or Justices will promptly appoint one or more hearing officers to participate in an en banc proceeding as temporary Justices.
10. Any hearing officer that is appointed under this Section must be a private citizen while serving as a judicial hearing officer.

Section 3.3: Criminal Trial Procedure
11. When seeking an indictment to eject or ban pending a trial, the Government must inform all the Justices.
12. Any Justice may approve or deny an indictment.
13. Once an ejection is performed, the Government must notify the ejected nation of their rights within one hour, and publicly submit a criminal proceeding within six hours.
14. Once a criminal proceeding is publicly presented to the court, the defendant will have 48 hours to enter a plea, or a plea of "Not Guilty" may be entered for them.
15. Once a plea is entered in a criminal proceeding a period of time for the discovery of evidence and the compilation of witness testimony will begin, its duration set by the Court.
16. Once discovery ends a period of time for arguments on the evidence and law will begin, its duration set by the Court.
17. During discovery and arguments, either side may make objections or requests at any time publicly and on the forum.
18. Once arguments end, the Court will have 72 hours to decide on a verdict and/or sentence.


Chapter 4: Election and Appointment Procedure

Section 4.1: Oath of Office
1. All government officials, elected or appointed, will be required to take the Oath of Office listed below before assuming their elected or appointed role within the government of The North Pacific.

I, (insert forum username), do hereby solemnly swear that during my duly elected/appointed term as (insert government position), I will uphold the ideals of Democracy, Freedom, and Justice of The Region of The North Pacific. I will use the powers and rights granted to me through The North Pacific Constitution and Legal Code in a legal, responsible, and unbiased manner, not abusing my power, committing misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, in any gross or excessive manner. I will act only in the best interests of The North Pacific, not influenced by personal gain or any outside force, and within the restraints of my legally granted power. As such, I hereby take up the office of (insert government position), with all the powers, rights, and responsibilities held therein.

2. All government officials will be required to take the Oath of Office within one week of attaining office or be subject to removal from office following an automatic recall vote.
3. This Oath will be binding on all government officials, and violations of said Oath may be grounds for a recall or impeachment.

Section 4.2: Election Law Definitions
4. "Abstentions" are not votes for or against any candidate, and may not be used to determine the results of any election. They may be used to signify a voter's presence for quorum, activity, or other purposes.
5. "Candidates" are those citizens who either declare themselves, or who have accepted a nomination by another Assembly member preceding the close of nominations, as a candidate for an office or position to be chosen at that election. Candidates may only stand for one office or position during a given Election Cycle.
6. "Election Commissioner" is an individual designated under this Law to oversee and supervise a given general or judicial election. No one who may be a candidate in an election may serve as an Election Commissioner during that election. More than one Commissioner may be designated.
7. "Election Cycle" is defined as the period of time that begins on the first day on which nominations, or a declaration, of candidacy are made, includes all voting periods, and concludes with the final declaration of results for an election. The exact dates for the Election Cycle will not include any legal holidays provided in Chapter 7, and those dates will be designated at least 30 days in advance by the Delegate so as to encourage the greatest level of participation by eligible voters during the designated month.
8. "Vacancy" in an office or position occurs when the holder of an elected office or position resigns, is removed, abandons, or is recalled. Vacancies are filled through a special election unless a special election cannot be completed prior to the beginning of the general or judicial election cycle; or in all cases pending an election, however, a vacancy may be temporarily filled as provided by the Constitution, the Legal Code, or by rule adopted by the appropriate body.
9. "Citizens" are those nations of the North Pacific who register on the official regional forum and are confirmed by Forum Administration to not be using a proxy, including the verification which is part of the Regional Assembly admission process.

Section 4.3: Overall Election Law
10. In General and Judicial elections, Election Commissioners will be appointed by the Delegate to oversee the nomination and election processes at least one week before the month in which the election begins. If an appointment of Election Commissioners has not been made by that time, the Chief Justice shall promptly make the appointment within 48 hours.
11. The period for nominations or declarations of candidacy shall last for seven days.
12. Voting will begin three days after the period for nominations or declarations has closed.
13. Voting will last for seven days.
14. Should a run-off vote be required it shall begin within two days of the first vote ending and it shall last for five days.
15. During any Election cycle, all Citizens will be considered to be Regional Assembly members.
16. The Regional Assembly will not vote on legislation during any Election.

Section 4.3: General Elections
17. The election cycle for the 4-month term of the Delegate and Vice Delegate will begin on the first day of the months of January, May, and September.
18. Non-incumbent candidates for Delegate or Vice Delegate may not obtain an endorsement level during the election cycle greater than the level authorized for members of the Security Council under Chapter 5.

Section 4.4: Judicial Elections
19. The election cycle for the 6-month term of the Chief Justice, the two Associate Justices, and the Attorney General will begin on the first days of the months of April and October.

Section 4.5: Special Elections
20. A special election will be held in the event of a vacancy in any elected office or position.
21. A special election cycle will last for no more than fourteen days, which must be completed prior to the beginning of the next election cycle for the vacated office or position.
22. The Delegate, or if the Delegate is not available, the Speaker, or if the Delegate and Speaker are not available, any Court Justice, will serve as Election Commissioner for the special election.
23. The period for nominations or declarations of candidacy in the special election will last for five days, beginning within two days after the vacancy occurs or is noticed.
24. Voting will begin one day after the period for nominations or declarations has closed.
25. Voting will last for five days.


Chapter 5: Security Council Law

1. Any laws regulating the activities of the Security Council must be listed in this chapter.
2. In this chapter, "Council" means the Security Council.

Section 5.1: Requirements
3. Members of the Council will maintain an influence level equal to or greater than Vassal.
4. Members of the Council will maintain an endorsement level within the range described in this Section.
5. The minimum level is defined as being either at least (1) 50 endorsements, or (2) fifty per cent of the serving Delegate's endorsement count, whichever is least.
6. The maximum level is defined as being either (1) that number of endorsements that is 20 fewer than the serving Delegate's endorsement count, or (2) no more than eighty-five percent of said count, whichever is greatest.
7. Where the computation results in fractions, the count shall be rounded down.
8. The required range is to be applied in a reasonable manner, taking into account such factors as the handover transition between elected Delegates, the recall of an elected Delegate from office, or periods of Delegate inactivity.
9. Should Council members not meet or exceed the required endorsement level for a period of at least fifteen days, the Vice Delegate is required to act pursuant to Section Two of this Law.
10. The elected and legitimate Delegate is exempt from endorsement requirements.

Section 5.2: Enforcement
11. The Vice Delegate shall suspend members of the Council who violate the endorsement and influence level requirements of this Act.
12. Suspension takes places if, after a warning by the Vice Delegate, a Council member fails to come into compliance with the endorsement and influence level requirements within a reasonable amount of time specified in the warning, which is usually fifteen days.
13. The Vice Delegate shall remove members of the Council whose World Assembly nation no longer exists or no longer resides in The North Pacific or resigns from the World Assembly (except as part of a formal redesignation of a resident World Assembly member nation within The North Pacific).
14. The Vice Delegate will report any suspension or removal of members of the Council to the Regional Assembly.
15. Should a suspended member of the Council comes back into compliance with the endorsement and influence level requirements of this Act, the Vice Delegate will reinstate the Council member.
16. 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 will submit such determination to the Regional Assembly for approval to remove that member from the Council.
17. The Speaker of the Regional Assembly will submit the determination to an immediate vote of the Regional Assembly; approval will require a qualified majority.

This is where most of the Endocap law would go if it were law. I'll add it in if that's the consensus.

Chapter 6: Government Regulations

1. Any Law regulating the operations of the government of the North Pacific other than the Election Commission and the Judiciary must be listed in this chapter.

Section 6.1: Regional Assembly Membership Act
2. The Speaker will work with forum administration to process Regional Assembly applicants.
3. Assembly members must maintain a nation in the North Pacific.
4. Applicants must swear an oath, as follows:

[nation]TNP Nation[/nation]
[nation]WA Nation[/nation]

I, (forum user name), as the leader of The North Pacific nation of (your TNP nation's name), pledge loyalty to the region, to abide by its laws, Constitution, Bill of Rights 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 for official government business, 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. I pledge that no nation under my control will wage war against the North Pacific. I further understand that if any nation under my control directly wages war against the North Pacific, or allies themselves with a region waging war, declared or not, against the North Pacific, this 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. I understand that if I break this oath I may immediately lose my voting privileges, permanently. In this manner, I petition the Speaker of The Regional Assembly of The North Pacific region for membership in the Regional Assembly of the North Pacific.

5. New forum members may be solicited to register as citizens or join the Regional Assembly but must be made aware of the Criminal Code they are pledging to respect..
6. The Speaker will accept applicants with valid applications who are verified by forum administration not to be using a proxy or evading a judicially-imposed penalty.
7. The Speaker will take no longer than 14 days to process an applicant. If the applicant is not rejected within 14 days, they will be automatically accepted to the Regional Assembly.
8. Regional Assembly members may not vote in any vote which began before they were last admitted.
9. The Speaker's office will maintain a publicly viewable roster of Regional Assembly members.
10. The Speaker's office will remove with immediate effect any members whose removal is ordered by the Court, whose North Pacific nation leaves or ceases to exist, who fail to log in to post the North Pacific forum for over 15 30 days, or who fail to vote in two three consecutive, non-overlapping Regional Assembly votes with at least 3 days between them.

Section 6.2: RA WA Verification and Confidentiality Act
11. Assembly members with a World Assembly nation must inform the Speaker of any nation of theirs which may attain World Assembly membership before it does so.
12. Unless told otherwise by the Assembly member in question, if the Speaker is informed of possible future World Assembly nations the Speaker will keep that information in confidence and will not share it with anyone on pain of a minimum three months ban from the region unless the Speaker observes such a nation waging war against the North Pacific.
13. The Speaker will not inform their successor of confidential potential World Assembly nations; they may only report which Assembly Members have submitted such lists.

Section 6.3: Freedom of Information Act
14. The North Pacific government exists specifically to serve the people of the region and to act in the best interest of all resident nations of The North Pacific.
15. The Delegate and appointed government officials will be delegated the task of informing the Assembly of any governmental action not already disclosed by the respective officers of the Executive.
16. All registered citizens and/or governments residing in The North Pacific have the right to request information from the Government through the Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive, and
17. The Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive will endeavour to retrieve information requested from the different departments of the government, whom are obligated to release this information provided it will not and/or does not present a threat to regional security or unduly impinge on the privacy of private citizens, and
18. Citizens or governments which do not receive this information for any reason not specifically designated in appropriate laws or regulations may file a request for the information in a regional court, where the Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive may present evidence that addresses any claim that release of the information impairs Regional security.
19. Information not disclosed because of issues pertaining to Regional security will be classified by the majority vote of the Court sitting as a three-member panel.
20. Information whose disclosure is deemed a security threat to the Region will be released by the affirmative vote of a majority of a three-member panel of the Court, no sooner than 2 months after the original request, once the threat no longer exists.
21. All activities by the designated regional intelligence services are exempt from this law.

Section 6.4: Mandatory Ministries

22. There will be an Executive Officer charged with the North Pacific's foreign affairs. They will ensure the continued operation of any embassies of the North Pacific.
23. There will be an Executive Officer charged with welcoming. They will be tasked with ensuring that nations founded in the North Pacific are appropriately greeted, that newcomers to the regional forum and to regional internet relay chats shall be welcomed and helped with any questions, and with the maintenance of regional FAQs.
24. There will be an Executive Officer charged with military affairs. They will carry out such legal missions as are authorized by the Delegate, expressly or categorically.
25. An Executive Officer may sustain multiple roles defined by this Act.
26. The Regional Assembly may elect an Executive Officer should one of the roles defined by this act remain vacant for seven days or in connection with the Regional Assembly removing the Executive Officer charged with that role.

Section 6.5: War

29. A region or organization "at war" with TNP is one which has made a formal declaration, or made acts of war against The North Pacific, or vice versa, as deemed by a qualified three-fifths majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
30. War does not constitute actions taken by or against any army of the North Pacific abroad unless the conflict meets the conditions above.
31. A state of war exists until a formal peace treaty, surrender terms, or similar, are recognized by the Regional Assembly.

Chapter 7: Cultural Declarations

1. The North Pacific is a free region, proud of its history of resistance to Tyranny.
2. This Chapter will include law concerning the North Pacific's history and culture.

Section 7.1: Arms, Flag, and Seal
3. The following arms as designed by ThelDRan and revised by Eluvatar and Gulliver is adopted as the coat of arms of the North Pacific:

4. Each institution in the North Pacific's government may establish for itself a seal which uses the arms of the North Pacific.
5. The arms of the North Pacific may not be used except to represent the North Pacific or an official regional entity.
6. The following flag, as designed by ThelDRan and revised by Eluvatar and Gulliver is adopted as the official flag of the North Pacific:

Section 7.2: Holidays
7. Cognizant of the role of shared national events in shaping and maintaining the culture of a region, and mindful of the importance of a region's history and the lessons it may contain, The North Pacific hereby recognizes the following annual holidays.
8. The first day of January shall be known as Remembrance Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to reflect upon and remember those players who have left the region and the game of Nationstates.
9. The twenty-sixth day of May shall be known as Manumission Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to commemorate the end of the delegacy of Pixiedance, and celebrate the return of a democratic government to the region.
10. The seventh day of July shall be known as Constitution Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to commemorate the ratification of the Constitution of the North Pacific.
11. The twenty-eighth day of July shall be known as Liberation Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to commemorate and celebrate the overthrow of Great Bight, and the return of a native government to the region.
12. The thirteenth day of November shall be known as Creation Day, and shall provide an opportunity for Nations to commemorate and celebrate the establishment of that first and greatest of games, Nationstates; as well as provide an opportunity to enjoy and extend fellowship to our counterparts throughout the NationStates communities.
13. The twenty-third day of November shall be known as Founders' Day, and shall provide an opportunity for Nations to commemorate and celebrate the establishment of the first official forum of The North Pacific, and the establishment through it of the community which has kept The North Pacific as the preeminent region in Nationstates.

Notes: the biggest single change is in the election law, allowing registered Citizens to vote. This can be done without altering the constitution because the law can define the RA however it wishes, so long as the admission process is "uniform".

 

[Eluvatar]

The significant changes in v1.6 are changing 2 votes to 3 votes for the inactivity rule and moving the war recognition procedure from Chapter 1 (criminal code) to Chapter 6 (govt regs).

 

[Grosseschnauzer]

Issues I think need to be addressed:
1. We need a provision to enforce the "one player, one vote" that has traditionally been enforced through the application oath. As this is currently written, it could not be enforced and there would be nothing stopping a player from having multiple member nations in the R.A.
2. I would seriously suggest dropping either the log in requirement or the "three vote" rule requirement. Having both, and enforcing both is terribly complicated, and it is not practical to limit each vote (and election voting) to either one or the other in every voting period.
3. I'm not fond of the 15 day period; considering that the nationstates.net requirement is 28 days for activity unless in vacation mode when it is 60 days, and given nationstates.net is able to send out emails. Either there needs to be a way to contact all RA members in danger by email (since PMs would not work unless they log in) or consideration should be given to some other period such as 21 days (as a midpoint between the 15 and 28 day periods.
4. I'd like to see communications added as a mandatory ministry along the lines of the other areas. We discussed this during the run-up to the Omnibus bill vote, and you asked if I could hold off on that and have it included in this bill.
5. There's a lot of confusion about when votes and elections open and close. I'd like to at least see something adopting UTC/GMT as the official manner of stating the time of such events, if not actually adopting specific times such as 0000 GMT or 1200 GMT. Confusion always ensues when times are not stated in GMT as those are sometimes mistranslated into specific time zones, and-or DST.
6. I think we need to clarify the Speaker's vote. I think it looks inappropriate to have the Speaker, Acting Speaker, Deputy Speaker, or Speaker Pro Tempore having to vote during the vote when they are supposed to be the moderator of the debate and the vote. It makes more sense and avoid the appearance of pressure on the membership for the Speaker not to vote until the voting is closing. Having the chair's vote treated as an absention unless they actively choose to vote to influence the final result (to make a required plurality or majority or create a tie) is a much sounder practice. Since recent court cases appear to reject solving this sort of thing by a rule, we probably need to add it to the Legal Code. I don't think it needs to be in the Constitution, but it might; I'm not really sure.
7. I'm also a little concerned about the wide open time frame for trial proceedings both in terms of discovery and trial. Even it that wide open without any boundaries will continue to cause trials to continue for months and months, and that is a bad consequence of the language in the proposal.
That's it for the moment, I may see others, but all of those jumped out at me looking at the current draft.

 

[Eluvatar]

Issues I think need to be addressed:
1. We need a provision to enforce the "one player, one vote" that has traditionally been enforced through the application oath. As this is currently written, it could not be enforced and there would be nothing stopping a player from having multiple member nations in the R.A.

27. 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 forum.

While that may well cover it, the suggestion is taken under advisement. It may well help to make that explicitly clear.

2. I would seriously suggest dropping either the log in requirement or the "three vote" rule requirement. Having both, and enforcing both is terribly complicated, and it is not practical to limit each vote (and election voting) to either one or the other in every voting period.

I have no strong opinion on this. Whatever the opinion of the RA is, we should do.

3. I'm not fond of the 15 day period; considering that the nationstates.net requirement is 28 days for activity unless in vacation mode when it is 60 days, and given nationstates.net is able to send out emails. Either there needs to be a way to contact all RA members in danger by email (since PMs would not work unless they log in) or consideration should be given to some other period such as 21 days (as a midpoint between the 15 and 28 day periods.

I don't really think a 15 days to log in to the forum requirement is at all onerous.

4. I'd like to see communications added as a mandatory ministry along the lines of the other areas. We discussed this during the run-up to the Omnibus bill vote, and you asked if I could hold off on that and have it included in this bill.

Sure thing, will add. If you have suggestions for a description of its tasks, that would be welcome of course.

5. There's a lot of confusion about when votes and elections open and close. I'd like to at least see something adopting UTC/GMT as the official manner of stating the time of such events, if not actually adopting specific times such as 0000 GMT or 1200 GMT. Confusion always ensues when times are not stated in GMT as those are sometimes mistranslated into specific time zones, and-or DST.

That might possibly be sensible.

6. I think we need to clarify the Speaker's vote. I think it looks inappropriate to have the Speaker, Acting Speaker, Deputy Speaker, or Speaker Pro Tempore having to vote during the vote when they are supposed to be the moderator of the debate and the vote. It makes more sense and avoid the appearance of pressure on the membership for the Speaker not to vote until the voting is closing. Having the chair's vote treated as an absention unless they actively choose to vote to influence the final result (to make a required plurality or majority or create a tie) is a much sounder practice. Since recent court cases appear to reject solving this sort of thing by a rule, we probably need to add it to the Legal Code. I don't think it needs to be in the Constitution, but it might; I'm not really sure.

I don't agree at all. I don't think we should institute any requirements as to how the Speaker votes. It's a question of their rights, I think.

7. I'm also a little concerned about the wide open time frame for trial proceedings both in terms of discovery and trial. Even it that wide open without any boundaries will continue to cause trials to continue for months and months, and that is a bad consequence of the language in the proposal.
That's it for the moment, I may see others, but all of those jumped out at me looking at the current draft.

I wished to leave the court with flexibility to have different periods depending on the nature of the case. IF the court is incompetent, it won't work anyway.

 

[Grosseschnauzer]

On my first point in my earlier post, the proxy server prohibition would not cover the situation where a player has multiple devices by which to access the internet, and each such device has a different IP. (Even wireless networks assign different IPs to each device, that at least is the case with my home network with a notebook, a tablet, a printer, and a bluetooth enabled cellphone.) The use of such multiple IPs is not covered by the proxy server law; and if a player has other devices that can be accessed through work or other accounts, that can multiply the issue. So we do need to do something. (Ans many of us have multiple e-mail addresses, so that becomes an contact issue.) And it might be a good idea to add something about it to the Criminal Law, and include the penalty of immediate loss of the right to vote for all of the player's nations in the penalty section for completeness, and to avoid a claim that such a penalty is illegal because it wasn't included in that section.

Communications -- the main thing that should be reference is the communications with all nations of The North Pacific, and through our diplomatic embassies, consulates, and outposts with other regions. The type of information for both is similar, I would think, so I think the language should address both.

Second, I think some sort of default timeline needs to be in the trial calendar; I agree the Court should have authority to modify it; but not even having a default will lead to no change in the months-long saga of trials. Leaving something like that out completely would be a very bad idea.

Third, what in the heck is this about?

Section 6.2: RA WA Verification and Confidentiality Act
11. Assembly members with a World Assembly nation must inform the Speaker of any nation of theirs which may attain World Assembly membership before it does so.
12. Unless told otherwise by the Assembly member in question, if the Speaker is informed of possible future World Assembly nations the Speaker will keep that information in confidence and will not share it with anyone on pain of a minimum three months ban from the region unless the Speaker observes such a nation waging war against the North Pacific.
13. The Speaker will not inform their successor of confidential potential World Assembly nations; they may only report which Assembly Members have submitted such lists.

Why do we even need it? And is it really appropriate to prohibit communication with successors in the office of Speaker? Until I better understand why this is there in the first place, I'll withhold any further reaction.

 

[Eluvatar]

The current practice is that we ask for WA if they have one, but invaders pretend they don't have a WA and we pretend we don't know they actually have one.

The result is we have no idea what they might be doing. Currently we have no allies, but if we had them, we'd have no idea if our invader citizens were secretly breaking the law and invading them.

Similarly, defenders are stuck with the implicit procedure of notifying the Speaker every time they change WA, or just ignoring the question. Given that active defenders might change WA a dozen times in a single update (1 hour period), this presents a problem.

The draft for the RA WA law is very strict on privacy however, as a defender with access to this information could use it against our invader citizens.

 

[Eluvatar]

Spoiler: v1.7

Codified Law of the North Pacific


In order to present a clearer and more comprehensible legal system, the Regional Assembly undertakes to keep the law of the North Pacific organized and clear. If any part of this Code is in conflict with the Constitution or subsequent legislation, the Speaker will update it on the instructions of the Court, unless a Regional Assembly member objects. This Code will be divided into several Chapters, which may contain Sections. Every operative sentence must be a numbered clause, numbered within a Chapter. Clauses may be referenced by chapter and clause number.


Chapter 1: Criminal Code

1. No citizen holding no public office may be punished for any crime not listed in the Criminal Code.

Section 1.1: Treason
2. "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 allies as governed by the Constitution.
3. Specifically, no player maintaining a nation in a region or organization at war with TNP may maintain a nation within TNP, or participate in the governance thereof, for the duration of hostilities.
4. At this time, there are no regions or organizations at war with TNP. At this time TNP has no treatied allies.
5. The Speaker will update the preceding clause as appropriate.
6. Exceptions may be given to members of the military and intelligence services of the North Pacific, with the consent of the Delegate and the appropriate Minister.
7. This exception is only valid when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of preserving Regional security and the Constitution.

Section 1.2: Espionage
8. "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.
9. The information gathered must be of a nature that a person that has not registered on the official forums or attained public office would be unable to access it without cracking technical security measures.
10. Exceptions may be given to members of the military and intelligence services of The North Pacific, with the consent of the Delegate and the appropriate Minister.
11. This exception is only valid when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of preserving Regional security and the Constitution.

Section 1.3: Sedition
12. "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 1.4: Election Fraud
13. "Election fraud" is defined as the willful deception of citizens 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.
14. “Fraud” is defined as an intentional deception, by falsehood or omission, made for some benefit or to damage another individual.

Section 1.5. Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming
15. "Crashing" is defined as any unauthorized action which could cause a forum to go out of service or lose information, including the deletion of posts, the deletion of a forum, spamming, or any other act of such kind.
16. "Phishing" is defined as any attempts to gain access to off-site property controls or passwords by deception, especially by posing as administrators or moderators for any unauthorized use.
17. Phishing also includes the collection of personal information kept at the Forum.
18. "Spamming" is defined as any action by non-region nationals to waste space or cause shock on any off-site property or regional message board to make it unusable.
19. Spamming includes any attempts to force a DOS error on forums and any attempts to flood the RMB of a region which is not that nation's normal abode.
20. No Nation of The North Pacific may perform, order, condone, or accept as legal, Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming.

Section 1.6: Proxying
21. 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.
22. The use of a proxy server by a citizen who is a member of the military or intelligence services will 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.
21. "Proxying" is defined as use of a proxy server by a citizen who seeks office. to render a forum user anonymous or any practice which allows a member multiple accounts.
27. 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 forum.
22. Forum administrators will inform the Government and Court of Proxying they observe.

Section 1.7. Adspam
23. Recruitment for other regions on the Regional Message board may be regulated or prohibited by Delegate Decree.

Section 1.8. Conspiracy
24. "Conspiracy" is defined as planning, attempting, or helping to commit any crime under this criminal code.

Section 1.9. Exceptions
25. Exceptions for treason, espionage or proxying may be given to members of the military and intelligence services with the consent of the Delegate and the appropriate Minister when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of preserving regional security.

Chapter 2: Penal Code

1. Criminal acts may be punished by restrictions on basic rights, in a manner proportionate to the crime at the discretion of the Court unless specified in this chapter.
2. Treason will be punished by ejection and banning, and removal of any basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit.
3. Espionage will be punished by the suspension of speech and/or voting rights for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.
4. Sedition will be punished by the suspension of speech and/or voting rights and ejection and banning if necessary for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.
5. Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming may be punished by ejection and banning, the removal of any and all basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration.
6. Proxying may be punished by ejection and banning, the removal of any basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration.
7. Adspam prohibited by the Delegate may be punished by adspam suppression and summary ejection and/or banning from the region.
8. Conspiracy will be punished by a sentence strictly less than what would be appropriate for the original crime.


Chapter 3: Judicial Law

1. These procedures will govern the Judiciary.

Section 3.1: The Attorney General
2. The Attorney General will be elected during Judicial Elections.
3. The Attorney General must not have been convicted of any crime in the North Pacific.
4. The Attorney General will serve as Chief Prosecutor in all cases brought before the Court of the North Pacific.
5. It is the duty of the Attorney General to see to completion any proceeding they are prosecuting.
6. If for any reason, should the original Attorney General is unable to complete a pending case, then the successor Attorney General will take over as prosecutor and complete the pending proceedings.
7. The Attorney General may request expedited judicial review of any executive action by any official.

Section 3.2: Appointment of Hearing Officers
8. Whenever, due to conflict of interest, unavailability, or other cause, the Chief Justice (or the Associate Justice with greatest seniority in the case of vacancy, absence, or unavailability of the Chief Justice) determines it appropriate, a hearing officer will be promptly appointed to preside for a particular proceeding.
9. Whenever there are one or more vacancies If there is a vacancy[color] on the Court, or one or more [color]any Justice is s are unavailable or has have a conflict of interest or other cause, that prevent the participation of the full number of Justices created under the Constitution or by law, the remaining Justices will promptly appoint one or more a hearing officer to participate in an en banc proceeding as temporary Justices.
10. Any hearing officer that is appointed under this Section may not hold any other office while serving as a judicial hearing officer.

Section 3.3: Criminal Trial Procedure
11. When seeking an indictment to eject or ban pending a trial, the Government must inform all the Justices.
12. Any Justice may approve or deny an indictment.
13. Once an ejection is performed, the Government must notify the ejected nation of their rights within one hour, and publicly submit a criminal proceeding to the court within six hours.
14. Once a criminal proceeding is presented, the defendant will have 48 hours to enter a plea, or a plea of "Not Guilty" may be entered for them.
15. Once a plea is entered, a period of time set by the Court for the discovery of evidence and witness testimony will begin.
16. Once discovery ends a period of time for arguments on the evidence and law will begin, its duration set by the Court.
17. During discovery and arguments, either side may make objections or requests publicly on the forum.
18. Once arguments end, the Court will have 72 hours to decide on a verdict and, if necessary, sentence.


Chapter 4: Election and Appointment Procedure

Section 4.1: Oath of Office
1. All government officials elected or appointed, will be required to take the Oath of Office listed below before assuming their elected or appointed role within the government of The North Pacific.

I, [forum username], do hereby solemnly swear that during my duly elected/appointed term as [government position], I will uphold the ideals of Democracy, Freedom, and Justice of The Region of The North Pacific. I will use the powers and rights granted to me through The North Pacific Constitution and Legal Code in a legal, responsible, and unbiased manner, not abusing my power, committing misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, in any gross or excessive manner. I will act only in the best interests of The North Pacific, not influenced by personal gain or any outside force, and within the restraints of my legally granted power. As such, I hereby take up the office of [government position], with all the powers, rights, and responsibilities held therein.

2. All government officials will be required to take the Oath of Office within one week of attaining office or be subject to removal from office following an automatic recall vote.
3. This Oath will be binding on all government officials, and violations of said Oath may be are grounds for a recall or impeachment.

Section 4.2: Election Law Definitions
4. "Abstentions" are not votes for or against any candidate, and may not be used to determine the results of any election. They may be used to signify a voter's presence for quorum, activity, or other purposes.
5. "Candidates" are those citizens who either declare themselves, or who have accepted a nomination by another Assembly member preceding the close of nominations, as a candidate for an office or position to be chosen at that election. Candidates may only stand for one office or position during a given Election Cycle.
6. "Election Commissioner" is an individual designated under this Law to oversee and supervise a given general or judicial election. No one who may be a candidate in an election may serve as an Election Commissioner during that election it. More than one Commissioner may be designated.
7. "Election Cycle" is defined as the period of time that begins on the first day on which nominations, or a declaration, of candidacy are made, includes all voting periods, and concludes with the final declaration of results for an election. The exact dates for the Election Cycle will not include any legal holidays provided in Chapter 7, and those dates will be designated at least 30 days in advance by the Delegate so as to encourage the greatest level of participation by eligible voters during the designated month.
8. A "vacancy" in an office or position occurs when the holder of it an elected office or position resigns, is removed, abandons it ,or is recalled. Vacancies are filled through a special election unless a special election it cannot be completed prior to the beginning of the general or judicial election cycle. or in all cases Pending an election, however, a vacancy may be temporarily filled as provided by the Constitution, the Legal Code, or a rule adopted by the appropriate body.
9. "Citizens" are those nations of the North Pacific who register on the official regional forum and are confirmed by Forum Administration to not be using a proxy, including the verification which is part of the Regional Assembly admission process.

Section 4.3: Overall Election Law
10. In General and Judicial elections, Election Commissioners will be appointed by the Delegate to oversee the nomination and election processes at least one week before the month in which the election begins. If an appointment of Election Commissioners has not been made by that time, the Chief Justice shall promptly make the appointment within 48 hours.
11. The period for nominations or declarations of candidacy shall last for seven days.
12. Voting will begin three days after the period for nominations or declarations has closed and last for seven days.
13. If a run-off vote is required it will begin within two days of the first vote ending and it shall last for five days.
14. During any Election cycle, all Citizens will be considered to be Regional Assembly members.
15. The Regional Assembly will not vote on legislation during any Election.

Section 4.3: General Elections
16. The election cycle for the terms of the Delegate and Vice Delegate will begin on the first day of the months of January, May, and September.
17. Non-incumbent candidates for Delegate or Vice Delegate may not obtain an endorsement level during the election cycle greater than the level authorized for members of the Security Council under Chapter 5.

Section 4.4: Judicial Elections
18. The election cycle for the 6-month term of the Chief Justice, the two Associate Justices, and the Attorney General will begin on the first days of the months of April and October.

Section 4.5: Special Elections
19. A special election will be held in the event of a vacancy in any elected office or position.
21. A special election cycle will last for no more than fourteen days, which must be completed prior to the beginning of the next election cycle for the vacated office or position.
20. The Delegate, or if the Delegate is not available, the Speaker, or if the Delegate and Speaker are not available, any Court Justice, will serve as Election Commissioner for the special election.
21. The period for nominations or declarations of candidacy in the special election will last for five days, beginning within two days after the vacancy occurs or is noticed.
22. Voting will begin one day after the period for nominations or declarations has closed and last for five days.


Chapter 5: Security Council Law

1. Any laws regulating the activities of the Security Council must be listed in this chapter.
2. In this chapter, "Council" means the Security Council.

Section 5.1: Requirements
3. Members of the Council will maintain an influence level equal to or greater than Vassal.
4. Members of the Council will maintain an endorsement level within the range described in this Section.
5. The minimum level is defined as being either at least (1) 50 endorsements, or (2) fifty per cent of the serving Delegate's endorsement count, whichever is least.
6. The maximum level is defined as being either (1) that number of endorsements that is 20 fewer endorsements than the serving Delegate's endorsement count, or (2) no more than eighty-five percent of said count, whichever is greatest.
7. Where the computation results in fractions, the count shall be rounded down.
8. The required range is to be applied in a reasonable manner, taking into account such factors as transitions between elected Delegates, the recall of a n elected Delegate from office, or periods of Delegate inactivity.
9. Should Council members not meet or exceed the required endorsement level for a period of at least fifteen days, the Vice Delegate is required to act pursuant to Section Two of this Law.
9. The elected and legitimate Delegate is exempt from endorsement requirements.

Section 5.2: Enforcement
11. The Vice Delegate shall suspend members of the Council who violate the endorsement and influence level requirements of this Act.
12. Suspension takes places if, after a warning by the Vice Delegate, a Council member fails to come into compliance with the endorsement and influence level requirements within a reasonable amount of time specified in the warning, which is usually fifteen days.
10. If any Council member does not the required influence level, or exceeds or does not meet the required endorsement level, the Vice Delegate warn them. If the Council member does not come into compliance within at least fifteen days of the warning, the Vice Delegate will suspend them.
11. The Vice Delegate shall remove members of the Council whose World Assembly member nation no longer exists or no longer resides in The North Pacific or resigns from the World Assembly (except as part of a formal redesignation of a resident World Assembly member nation within The North Pacific).
12. The Vice Delegate will report any suspension or removal of a member of the Council to the Regional Assembly.
13. If a suspended member of the Council comes back into compliance with the endorsement and influence level requirements of this Act, the Vice Delegate will reinstate them.
14. 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 will submit such determination to the Regional Assembly for approval to remove that request approval from the Regional Assembly to remove the member from the Council.
15. The Speaker of the Regional Assembly will submit the determination request to an immediate vote of the Regional Assembly; approval will require a qualified two-thirds majority.


Chapter 6: Government Regulations

1. Any Law regulating the operations of the government of the North Pacific other than the Election Commission and the Judiciary must be listed in this chapter.

Section 6.1: Regional Assembly Membership Act
2. The Speaker will work with forum administration to process Regional Assembly applicants.
3. Assembly members must maintain a nation in the North Pacific.
4. Applicants must swear an oath, as follows:

[nation]TNP Nation[/nation]
[nation]WA Nation[/nation]

I, [forum user name], as the leader of The North Pacific nation of (your TNP nation's name), pledge loyalty to the region, to abide by its laws, Constitution, Bill of Rights 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 for official government business, 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. I pledge that no nation under my control will wage war against the North Pacific. I further understand that if any nation under my control directly wages war against the North Pacific, or allies themselves with a region waging war, declared or not, against the North Pacific, this 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. I understand that if I break this oath I may immediately lose my voting privileges, permanently. In this manner, I petition the Speaker of The Regional Assembly of The North Pacific region for membership in the Regional Assembly of the North Pacific.

5. New forum members may who register as citizens or join the Regional Assembly must be made aware of the Criminal Code they are pledging to respect..
6. The Speaker will accept applicants with valid applications who are verified by forum administration not to be using a proxy or evading a judicially-imposed penalty.
7. The Speaker will process applications within 14 days. If the applicant is not rejected within 14 days, they will be automatically accepted to the Regional Assembly.
8. Regional Assembly members may not vote in any vote which began before they were last admitted.
9. The Speaker's office will maintain a publicly viewable roster of Regional Assembly members.
10. The Speaker's office will promptly remove any members whose removal is ordered by the Court, whose North Pacific nation leaves or ceases to exist, who fail to log in to post the North Pacific forum for over 15 30 days, or who fail to vote in two three consecutive, non-overlapping Regional Assembly votes with at least 3 days between them.

Section 6.2: RA WA Verification and Confidentiality Act
11. Assembly members with a World Assembly nation must inform the Speaker of any nation of theirs which may attain World Assembly membership before it does so.
12. Unless told otherwise by the Assembly member in question, if the Speaker is informed of possible future World Assembly nations the Speaker will keep that information in confidence and will not share it with anyone on pain of a minimum three months ban from the region unless the Speaker observes such a nation waging war against the North Pacific.
13. The Speaker will not inform their successor of confidential potential World Assembly nations; they may only report which Assembly Members have submitted such lists.

Section 6.3: Freedom of Information Act
14. The North Pacific government exists specifically to serve the people of the region and to act in the best interest of all resident nations of The North Pacific.
14. The Delegate and appointed government officials will be delegated the task of informing the Assembly of any governmental action not already disclosed by the respective officers of the Executive.
15. All registered citizens and/or governments residing in The North Pacific have the right to may request information from the Government through the Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive.
17. The Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive will endeavour to retrieve information requested from the different departments of the government, who are obligated to release this information provided it will not and/or does not present a threat to regional security or unduly impinge on the privacy of private citizens, and
18. Citizens or governments which do not receive this information for any reason not specifically designated in appropriate laws or regulations may file a request for the information in a regional court, where the Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive may present evidence that addresses any claim that release of the information impairs Regional security.
19. Information not disclosed because of issues pertaining to Regional security will be classified by the majority vote of the Court sitting as a three-member panel.
20. Information whose disclosure is deemed a security threat to the Region will be released by the affirmative vote of a majority of a three-member panel of the Court, no sooner than 2 months after the original request, once the threat no longer exists.
21. All activities by the designated regional intelligence services are exempt from this law.

Section 6.4: Mandatory Ministries

22. There will be an Executive Officer charged with the North Pacific's foreign affairs. They will ensure the continued operation of any embassies of the North Pacific.
23. There will be an Executive Officer charged with welcoming. They will be tasked with ensuring that nations founded in the North Pacific are appropriately greeted, that newcomers to the regional forum and to regional internet relay chats shall be welcomed and helped with any questions, and with the maintenance of regional FAQs.
24. There will be an Executive Officer charged with military affairs. They will carry out such legal missions as are authorized by the Delegate, expressly or categorically.
25. There will be an Executive Officer charged with governmental communications. They will report on events in the region.
26. An Executive Officer may sustain multiple roles defined by this Act.
27. The Regional Assembly may elect an Executive Officer should one of the roles defined by this act remain vacant for seven days or in connection with the Regional Assembly removing the Executive Officer charged with that role.

Section 6.5: War

28. A region or organization "at war" with TNP is one which has made a formal declaration, or made acts of war against The North Pacific, or vice versa, as deemed by a qualified three-fifths majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
29. War does not constitute actions taken by or against any army of the North Pacific abroad unless the conflict meets the conditions above.
30. A state of war exists until a formal peace treaty, surrender terms, or similar, are recognized by the Regional Assembly.

Chapter 7: Cultural Declarations

1. This Chapter will include laws concerning the North Pacific's history and culture.

Section 7.1: Arms, Flag, and Seal
2. The following arms as designed by ThelDRan and revised by Eluvatar and Gulliver is adopted as the coat of arms of the North Pacific:

3. Each institution in the North Pacific's government may establish for itself a seal which uses the arms of the North Pacific.
4. The arms of the North Pacific may not be used except to represent the North Pacific or an official regional entity.
5. The following flag, as designed by ThelDRan and revised by Eluvatar and Gulliver is adopted as the official flag of the North Pacific:

Section 7.2: Holidays
6. The first of January shall be known as Remembrance Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to reflect upon and remember those players who have left the region and the game of Nationstates.
9. The twenty-sixth of May shall be Manumission Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to commemorate the end of the delegacy of Pixiedance, and celebrate the return of a democratic government to the region.
10. The seventh of July shall be Constitution Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to commemorate the ratification of the Constitution of the North Pacific.
11. The twenty-eighth of July shall be Liberation Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to commemorate and celebrate the overthrow of Great Bight and return of a native government to the region.
12. The thirteenth of November shall be Creation Day, and shall provide an opportunity for Nations to commemorate and celebrate the establishment of that first and greatest of games, Nationstates; as well as and provide an opportunity to enjoy and extend fellowship to our counterparts throughout the NationStates communities.
13. The twenty-third of November shall be Founders' Day, and shall provide an opportunity for Nations to commemorate and celebrate the establishment of the first official forum of The North Pacific, and the establishment through it the community which has kept The North Pacific as the preeminent region in Nationstates.

 

[Eluvatar]

I would like to open a final week of debate on this bill, and move that it be voted on beginning Sunday June 3rd.

 

[mcmasterdonia]

24. There will be an Executive Officer charged with military affairs. They will carry out such legal missions as are authorized by the Delegate, expressly or categorically.

We have been discussing this in The North Pacific Army. We feel that it is impractical. If we receive a call to defend an ally etc it may be impractical to wait for the Delegates approval.

 

[Eluvatar]

A categorical authorization from the Delegate to defend our allies should be likely expected.

 

[Grosseschnauzer]

Chapter 1:
Suggested addition:

Section 1.10. Oaths
26. The knowing violation of an oath required in the Legal Code is a criminal act.

Chapter 2:
Suggested addition:

9. A knowing violation of an oath may be punished by the suspension of the right to hold office, or to serve as a Regional Assembly member for a specified period.

Comment: We need something in the law that enforces oaths taken. At the moment we don’t have anything that can be used when an oath is intentionally violated.

Chapter 3:
Section 3.2 has several editing issues:
It should read
1. If there is a vacancy on the Court, or any Justice is unavailable, or has a conflict of interest, the remaining Justices will promptly appoint one or more a hearing officer to participate in as a temporary Justice.
Comment: There have been and can be circumstances where a Justice is unavailable (such as a posted announced absence) and a three judge panel is required.

Section 3.3

15. Once a plea is entered, a period of time set by the Court for the discovery of evidence and witness testimony will begin. This period is normally 7 days.
16. 16. Once discovery ends a period of time for arguments on the evidence and law will begin, its duration set by the Court. This period is normally 5 days.

Comment: Not including any time frame invites open ended trials that go on for months and months. These two provisions needs some default time stated or they will not work to provide speedy, much less speedier, trials.

Chapter 4

Section 4.1

3. This Oath will be binding on all government officials, and violations of said Oath may be are grounds for a recall or impeachment.

Comment: There’s no such thing in TNP anymore called impeachment. Recall is the name we gave the old “impeachment” process when it became a vote in the R.A.

Section 4.3
14. Comment: I still have a philosophical problem with this device being used, and I think it will create confusion at the time when we least need it.

15. The Regional Assembly will not vote on legislation during any Election.

Comment: This is vague. While “Election Cycle” is defined, “Election” as a period of time is not. When exactly is the time period votes are not to take place? And what if an emergency arises? Is this the actual dates of voting only? and what about runoffs? It needs to be clearer.

Chapter 5

Section 5.2:

10. If any Council member does not [?] the required influence level, or exceeds or does not meet the required endorsement level, the Vice Delegate warn them. If the Council member does not come into compliance within at least fifteen days of the warning, the Vice Delegate will suspend them.

Comment: a couple of words seem to be missing in these two sentences. And how long does the V.D. have to issue a warning or suspension?

Chapter 6

1. Any Law regulating the operations of the government of the North Pacific other than the Election Commission and the Judiciary must be listed in this chapter.

Comment: The Security Council also needs to be added to this sentence.

Section 6.1

10. The Speaker's office will promptly remove any members whose removal is ordered by the Court, whose North Pacific nation leaves or ceases to exist, or who fail to log into the North Pacific forum for over 30 days.

Comment: There was a three-step polling process in the Constitution Committee to determine what the consensus was on this. (A dozen or more RA members participated in each stage.) This is what the result of that process was. (I believe Elu, you were away from the forums during that period, so you may not not seen it.)

There may be more, but this is what I noticed reading through it just now.

 

[Isimud]

I agree with Grosse on the last item above. There were 3 polls that were indicative of a desire for a 30 day log-in requirement.

 

[peoples empire]

I like Most of this Draft to The Revamped Legal code except for the following:

I was wondering why The security check needs to take two weeks to be admitted to the Regional Assembly?

I think the Regional Assembly Shutting down for elections sets a potentially dangerous Precedent, and makes no sense since our Legislative body Is Voluntary and therefore we do not need the extra time to run for Re- election.

Also I agree with Grosse and Isimud . I to believe since A Majority of People want a 30 day requirement not a 15 day requirement than the 30 Day requirement should be written in instead.

 

[Eluvatar]

I like Most of this Draft to The Revamped Legal code except for the following:

I was wondering why The security check needs to take two weeks to be admitted to the Regional Assembly?

I think the Regional Assembly Shutting down for elections sets a potentially dangerous Precedent, and makes no sense since our Legislative body Is Voluntary and therefore we do not need the extra time to run for Re- election.

Also I agree with Grosse and Isimud . I to believe since A Majority of People want a 30 day requirement not a 15 day requirement than the 30 Day requirement should be written in instead.

I don't understand the question about security checks.

The RA is not to legislate during elections under this proposal because under this proposal all citizens are added to the RA for the duration of elections. This may not be necessary as we're seriously reforming the activity requirements for RA members.

 

[Eluvatar]

Spoiler: v1.8

Codified Law of the North Pacific


In order to present a clearer and more comprehensible legal system, the Regional Assembly undertakes to keep the law of the North Pacific organized and clear. If any part of this Code is in conflict with the Constitution or subsequent legislation, the Speaker will update it on the instructions of the Court, unless a Regional Assembly member objects. This Code will be divided into several Chapters, which may contain Sections. Every operative sentence must be a numbered clause, numbered within a Chapter. Clauses may be referenced by chapter and clause number.


Chapter 1: Criminal Code

1. No citizen holding no public office may be punished for any crime not listed in the Criminal Code.

Section 1.1: Treason
2. "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 allies as governed by the Constitution.
3. Specifically, no player maintaining a nation in a region or organization at war with TNP may maintain a nation within TNP, or participate in the governance thereof, for the duration of hostilities.
4. At this time, there are no regions or organizations at war with TNP. At this time TNP has no treatied allies.
5. The Speaker will update the preceding clause as appropriate.
6. Exceptions may be given to members of the military and intelligence services of the North Pacific, with the consent of the Delegate and the appropriate Minister.
7. This exception is only valid when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of preserving Regional security and the Constitution.

Section 1.2: Espionage
6. "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.
7. The information gathered must be of a nature that a person that has not registered on the official forums or attained public office would be unable to access it without cracking technical security measures.
10. Exceptions may be given to members of the military and intelligence services of The North Pacific, with the consent of the Delegate and the appropriate Minister.
11. This exception is only valid when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of preserving Regional security and the Constitution.

Section 1.3: Sedition
8. "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 1.4: Election Fraud
9. "Election fraud" is defined as the willful deception of citizens 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.
10. “Fraud” is defined as an intentional deception, by falsehood or omission, made for some benefit or to damage another individual.

Section 1.5. Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming
11. "Crashing" is defined as any unauthorized action which could cause a forum to go out of service or lose information, including the deletion of posts, the deletion of a forum, spamming, or any other act of such kind.
12. "Phishing" is defined as any attempts to gain access to off-site property controls or passwords by deception, especially by posing as administrators or moderators for any unauthorized use.
13. Phishing also includes the collection of personal information kept at the Forum.
14. "Spamming" is defined as any action by non-region nationals to waste space or cause shock on any off-site property or regional message board to make it unusable.
15. Spamming includes any attempts to force a DOS error on forums and any attempts to flood the RMB of a region which is not that nation's normal abode.
16. No Nation of The North Pacific may perform, order, condone, or accept as legal, Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming.

Section 1.6: Proxying
21. 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.
17. The use of a proxy server by a citizen who is a member of the military or intelligence services will 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.
18. "Proxying" is defined as use of a proxy server by a citizen who seeks office. to render a forum user anonymous or any practice which allows a member multiple accounts.
27. 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 forum.
19. Forum administrators will inform the Government and Court of Proxying they observe.

Section 1.7. Adspam
19. Recruitment for other regions on the Regional Message board may be regulated or prohibited by Delegate Decree.

Section 1.8. Conspiracy
20. "Conspiracy" is defined as planning, attempting, or helping to commit any crime under this criminal code.

Section 1.9. Exceptions
21. Exceptions for treason, espionage or proxying may be given to members of the military and intelligence services with the consent of the Delegate and the appropriate Minister when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of preserving regional security.

Chapter 2: Penal Code

1. Criminal acts may be punished by restrictions on basic rights, in a manner proportionate to the crime at the discretion of the Court unless specified in this chapter.
2. Treason will be punished by ejection and banning, and removal of any basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit.
3. Espionage will be punished by the suspension of speech and/or voting rights for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.
4. Sedition will be punished by the suspension of speech and/or voting rights and ejection and banning if necessary for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.
5. Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming may be punished by ejection and banning, the removal of any and all basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration.
6. Proxying may be punished by ejection and banning, the removal of any basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration.
7. Adspam prohibited by the Delegate may be punished by adspam suppression and summary ejection and/or banning from the region.
8. Conspiracy will be punished by a sentence strictly less than what would be appropriate for the original crime.


Chapter 3: Judicial Law

1. These procedures will govern the Judiciary.

Section 3.1: The Attorney General
2. The Attorney General will be elected during Judicial Elections.
3. The Attorney General must not have been convicted of any crime in the North Pacific.
4. The Attorney General will serve as Chief Prosecutor in all cases brought before the Court of the North Pacific.
5. It is the duty of the Attorney General to see to completion any proceeding they are prosecuting.
6. If for any reason, should the original Attorney General is unable to complete a pending case, then the successor Attorney General will take over as prosecutor and complete the pending proceedings.
7. The Attorney General may request expedited judicial review of any executive action by any official.

Section 3.2: Appointment of Hearing Officers
8. Whenever, due to conflict of interest, unavailability, or other cause, the Chief Justice (or the Associate Justice with greatest seniority in the case of vacancy, absence, or unavailability of the Chief Justice) determines it appropriate, a hearing officer will be promptly appointed to preside for a particular proceeding.
9. Whenever there are one or more vacancies If there is a vacancy on the Court, or one or more [color]any[/color] Justice is s are unavailable or has have a conflict of interest or other cause, that prevent the participation of the full number of Justices created under the Constitution or by law, the remaining Justices will promptly appoint one or more a hearing officer to participate in an en banc proceeding as temporary Justices.
9. Any hearing officer that is appointed under this Section may not hold any other office while serving as a judicial hearing officer.

Section 3.3: Criminal Trial Procedure
10. When seeking an indictment to eject or ban, or expel from the RA due to oath violation, pending a trial, the Government must inform all the Justices.
11. Any Justice may approve or deny an indictment, and their decision will be final.
12. Once an ejection is performed, the Government must notify the ejected nation of their rights within one hour, and publicly submit a criminal proceeding to the court within six hours.
13. Once a criminal proceeding is presented, the defendant will have 48 hours to enter a plea, or a plea of "Not Guilty" may be entered for them.
14. Once a plea is entered, a period of time set by the Court for the discovery of evidence and witness testimony will begin. This period is normally 7 days.
15. Once discovery ends a period of time for arguments on the evidence and law will begin, its duration set by the Court. This period is normally 5 days.
16. During discovery and arguments, either side may make objections or requests publicly on the forum.
17. Once arguments end, the Court will have 72 hours to decide on a verdict and, if necessary, sentence.


Chapter 4: Election and Appointment Procedure

Section 4.1: Oath of Office
1. All government officials elected or appointed, will be required to take the Oath of Office listed below before assuming their elected or appointed role within the government of The North Pacific.

I, [forum username], do hereby solemnly swear that during my duly elected/appointed term as [government position], I will uphold the ideals of Democracy, Freedom, and Justice of The Region of The North Pacific. I will use the powers and rights granted to me through The North Pacific Constitution and Legal Code in a legal, responsible, and unbiased manner, not abusing my power, committing misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, in any gross or excessive manner. I will act only in the best interests of The North Pacific, not influenced by personal gain or any outside force, and within the restraints of my legally granted power. As such, I hereby take up the office of [government position], with all the powers, rights, and responsibilities held therein.

2. All government officials will be required to take the Oath of Office within one week of attaining office or be subject to removal from office following an automatic recall vote.
3. This Oath will be binding on all government officials, and violations of said Oath may be are grounds for a recall.

Section 4.2: Election Law Definitions
4. "Abstentions" are not votes for or against any candidate, and may not be used to determine the results of any election. They may be used to signify a voter's presence for quorum, activity, or other purposes.
5. "Candidates" are those citizens who either declare themselves, or who have accepted a nomination by another Assembly member preceding the close of nominations, as a candidate for an office or position to be chosen at that election. Candidates may only stand for one office or position during a given Election Cycle.
6. "Election Commissioner" is an individual designated under this Law to oversee and supervise a given general or judicial election. No one who may be a candidate in an election may serve as an Election Commissioner during that election it. More than one Commissioner may be designated.
7. "Election Cycle" is defined as the period of time that begins on the first day on which nominations, or a declaration, of candidacy are made, includes all voting periods, and concludes with the final declaration of results for an election. The exact dates for the Election Cycle will not include any legal holidays provided in Chapter 7, and those dates will be designated at least 30 days in advance by the Delegate so as to encourage the greatest level of participation by eligible voters during the designated month.
8. A "vacancy" in an office or position occurs when the holder of it an elected office or position resigns, is removed, abandons it ,or is recalled. Vacancies are filled through a special election unless a special election it cannot be completed prior to the beginning of the general or judicial election cycle. or in all cases Pending an election, however, a vacancy may be temporarily filled as provided by the Constitution, the Legal Code, or a rule adopted by the appropriate body.

Section 4.3: Overall Election Law
11. In General and Judicial elections, Election Commissioners will be appointed by the Delegate to oversee the nomination and election processes at least one week before the month in which the election begins. If an appointment of Election Commissioners has not been made by that time, the Chief Justice shall promptly make the appointment within 48 hours.
12. The period for nominations or declarations of candidacy shall last for seven days.
13. Voting will begin three days after the period for nominations or declarations has closed and last for seven days.
14. If a run-off vote is required it will begin within two days of the first vote ending and it shall last for five days.

Section 4.3: General Elections
15. The election cycle for the terms of the Delegate and Vice Delegate will begin on the first day of the months of January, May, and September.
16. Non-incumbent candidates for Delegate or Vice Delegate may not obtain an endorsement level during the election cycle greater than the level authorized for members of the Security Council under Chapter 5.

Section 4.4: Judicial Elections
17. The election cycle for the 6-month term of the Chief Justice, the two Associate Justices, and the Attorney General will begin on the first days of the months of April and October.

Section 4.5: Special Elections
18. A special election will be held in the event of a vacancy in any elected office or position.
21. A special election cycle will last for no more than fourteen days, which must be completed prior to the beginning of the next election cycle for the vacated office or position.
19. The Delegate, or if the Delegate is not available, the Speaker, or if the Delegate and Speaker are not available, any Court Justice, will serve as Election Commissioner for the special election.
20. The period for nominations or declarations of candidacy in the special election will last for five days, beginning within two days after the vacancy occurs or is noticed.
22. Voting will begin one day after the period for nominations or declarations has closed and last for five days.


Chapter 5: Security Council Law

1. Any laws regulating the activities of the Security Council must be listed in this chapter.
2. In this chapter, "Council" means the Security Council.

Section 5.1: Requirements
3. Members of the Council will maintain an influence level equal to or greater than Vassal.
4. Members of the Council will maintain an endorsement level within the range described in this Section.
5. The minimum level is defined as being either at least (1) 50 endorsements, or (2) fifty per cent of the serving Delegate's endorsement count, whichever is least.
6. The maximum level is defined as being either (1) that number of endorsements that is 20 fewer endorsements than the serving Delegate's endorsement count, or (2) no more than eighty-five percent of said count, whichever is greatest.
7. Where the computation results in fractions, the count shall be rounded down.
8. The required range is to be applied in a reasonable manner, taking into account such factors as transitions between elected Delegates, the recall of a n elected Delegate from office, or periods of Delegate inactivity.
9. Should Council members not meet or exceed the required endorsement level for a period of at least fifteen days, the Vice Delegate is required to act pursuant to Section Two of this Law.
9. The elected and legitimate Delegate is exempt from endorsement requirements.

Section 5.2: Enforcement
11. The Vice Delegate shall suspend members of the Council who violate the endorsement and influence level requirements of this Act.
12. Suspension takes places if, after a warning by the Vice Delegate, a Council member fails to come into compliance with the endorsement and influence level requirements within a reasonable amount of time specified in the warning, which is usually fifteen days.
10. If any Council member does not have the required influence level, or exceeds or does not meet the required endorsement level, the Vice Delegate will warn them. If the Council member does not come into compliance within at least fifteen days of the warning, the Vice Delegate will suspend them.
11. The Vice Delegate shall remove members of the Council whose World Assembly member nation no longer exists or no longer resides in The North Pacific or resigns from the World Assembly (except as part of a formal redesignation of a resident World Assembly member nation within The North Pacific).
12. The Vice Delegate will report any suspension or removal of a member of the Council to the Regional Assembly.
13. If a suspended member of the Council comes back into compliance with the endorsement and influence level requirements of this Act, the Vice Delegate will reinstate them.
14. 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 will submit such determination to the Regional Assembly for approval to remove that request approval from the Regional Assembly to remove the member from the Council.
15. The Speaker of the Regional Assembly will submit the determination request to an immediate vote of the Regional Assembly; approval will require a qualified two-thirds majority.


Chapter 6: Government Regulations

1. Any Law regulating the operations of the government of the North Pacific other than the Election Commission, the Judiciary, and the Security Council must be listed in this chapter.

Section 6.1: Regional Assembly Membership Act
2. The Speaker will work with forum administration to process Regional Assembly applicants.
3. Assembly members must maintain a nation in the North Pacific.
4. Applicants must swear an oath, as follows:

[nation]TNP Nation[/nation]
[nation]WA Nation[/nation]

I, [forum user name], as the leader of The North Pacific nation of (your TNP nation's name), pledge loyalty to the region, to abide by its laws, Constitution, Bill of Rights 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 for official government business, 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. I pledge that no nation under my control will wage war against the North Pacific. I further understand that if any nation under my control directly wages war against the North Pacific, or allies themselves with a region waging war, declared or not, against the North Pacific, this 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. I understand that if I break this oath I may immediately lose my voting privileges, permanently. In this manner, I petition the Speaker of The Regional Assembly of The North Pacific region for membership in the Regional Assembly of the North Pacific.

5. New forum members may who register as citizens or join the Regional Assembly must be made aware of the Criminal Code they are pledging to respect..
6. The Speaker will accept applicants with valid applications who are verified by forum administration not to be using a proxy or evading a judicially-imposed penalty.
7. The Speaker will process applications within 14 days. If the applicant is not rejected within 14 days, they will be automatically accepted to the Regional Assembly.
8. Regional Assembly members may not vote in any vote which began before they were last admitted.
9. The Speaker's office will maintain a publicly viewable roster of Regional Assembly members.
10. The Speaker's office will promptly remove any members whose removal is ordered by the Court, whose North Pacific nation leaves or ceases to exist, who fail to log in to post the North Pacific forum for over 30 days, or who fail to vote in two consecutive, non-overlapping Regional Assembly votes with at least 3 days between them.

Section 6.2: RA WA Verification and Confidentiality Act

11. The Speaker will designate a person who is not involved in any military operations to be the registrar of confidential puppets.
12. Assembly members with a World Assembly nation must inform the registrar of any nation of theirs which may attain World Assembly membership before it does so.
13. Unless granted permission otherwise by the Assembly member in question, if the registrar is informed of possible future World Assembly nations the registrar will keep that information in confidence and will not share it with anyone on pain of a minimum three months ban from the region unless the registrar observes such a nation waging war against the North Pacific.
14. The registrar will not inform their successor of confidential potential World Assembly nations; they may only report which Assembly Members have submitted such lists.

Section 6.3: Freedom of Information Act
14. The North Pacific government exists specifically to serve the people of the region and to act in the best interest of all resident nations of The North Pacific.
15. The Delegate and appointed government officials will be delegated the task of informing the Assembly of any governmental action not already disclosed by the respective officers of the Executive.
16. All registered citizens and/or governments residing in The North Pacific have the right to may request information from the Government through the Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive.
17. The Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive will endeavour to retrieve information requested from the different departments of the government, who are obligated to release this information provided it will not and/or does not present a threat to regional security or unduly impinge on the privacy of private citizens, and
18. Citizens or governments which do not receive this information for any reason not specifically designated in appropriate laws or regulations may file a request for the information in a regional court, where the Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive may present evidence that addresses any claim that release of the information impairs Regional security.
19. Information not disclosed because of issues pertaining to Regional security will be classified by the majority vote of the Court sitting as a three-member panel.
20. Information whose disclosure is deemed a security threat to the Region will be released by the affirmative vote of a majority of a three-member panel of the Court, no sooner than 2 months after the original request, once the threat no longer exists.
21. All activities by the designated regional intelligence services are exempt from this law.

Section 6.4: Mandatory Ministries

22. There will be an Executive Officer charged with the North Pacific's foreign affairs. They will ensure the continued operation of any embassies of the North Pacific.
23. There will be an Executive Officer charged with welcoming. They will be tasked with ensuring that nations founded in the North Pacific are appropriately greeted, that newcomers to the regional forum and to regional internet relay chats shall be welcomed and helped with any questions, and with the maintenance of regional FAQs.
24. There will be an Executive Officer charged with military affairs. They will carry out such legal missions as are authorized by the Delegate, expressly or categorically.
25. There will be an Executive Officer charged with governmental communications. They will report on events in the region.
26. An Executive Officer may sustain multiple roles defined by this Act.
27. The Regional Assembly may elect an Executive Officer should one of the roles defined by this act remain vacant for seven days or in connection with the Regional Assembly removing the Executive Officer charged with that role.

Section 6.5: War

28. A region or organization "at war" with TNP is one which has made a formal declaration, or made acts of war against The North Pacific, or vice versa, as deemed by a qualified three-fifths majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
29. War does not constitute actions taken by or against any army of the North Pacific abroad unless the conflict meets the conditions above.
30. A state of war exists until a formal peace treaty, surrender terms, or similar, are recognized by the Regional Assembly.

Chapter 7: Cultural Declarations

1. This Chapter will include laws concerning the North Pacific's history and culture.

Section 7.1: Arms, Flag, and Seal
2. The following arms as designed by ThelDRan and revised by Eluvatar and Gulliver is adopted as the coat of arms of the North Pacific:

3. Each institution in the North Pacific's government may establish for itself a seal which uses the arms of the North Pacific.
4. The arms of the North Pacific may not be used except to represent the North Pacific or an official regional entity.
5. The following flag, as designed by ThelDRan and revised by Eluvatar and Gulliver is adopted as the official flag of the North Pacific:

Section 7.2: Holidays
6. The first of January shall be known as Remembrance Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to reflect upon and remember those players who have left the region and the game of Nationstates.
9. The twenty-sixth of May shall be Manumission Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to commemorate the end of the delegacy of Pixiedance, and celebrate the return of a democratic government to the region.
10. The seventh of July shall be Constitution Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to commemorate the ratification of the Constitution of the North Pacific.
11. The twenty-eighth of July shall be Liberation Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to commemorate and celebrate the overthrow of Great Bight and return of a native government to the region.
12. The thirteenth of November shall be Creation Day, and shall provide an opportunity for Nations to commemorate and celebrate the establishment of that first and greatest of games, Nationstates; as well as and provide an opportunity to enjoy and extend fellowship to our counterparts throughout the NationStates communities.
13. The twenty-third of November shall be Founders' Day, and shall provide an opportunity for Nations to commemorate and celebrate the establishment of the first official forum of The North Pacific, and the establishment through it the community which has kept The North Pacific as the preeminent region in Nationstates.

 

[Eluvatar]

Spoiler: v1.8 unannotated

Codified Law of The North Pacific


In order to present a clearer and more comprehensible legal system, the Regional Assembly undertakes to keep the law of the North Pacific organized and clear. If any part of this Code is in conflict with the Constitution or subsequent legislation, the Speaker will update it on the instructions of the Court, unless a Regional Assembly member objects. This Code will be divided into several Chapters, which may contain Sections. Every operative sentence must be a numbered clause, numbered within a Chapter. Clauses may be referenced by chapter and clause number.


Chapter 1: Criminal Code

1. No citizen holding no public office may be punished for any crime not listed in the Criminal Code.

Section 1.1: Treason
2. "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 allies as governed by the Constitution.
3. Specifically, no player maintaining a nation in a region or organization at war with TNP may maintain a nation within TNP, or participate in the governance thereof, for the duration of hostilities.
4. At this time, there are no regions or organizations at war with TNP. At this time TNP has no treatied allies.
5. The Speaker will update the preceding clause as appropriate.

Section 1.2: Espionage
6. "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.
7. The information gathered must be of a nature that a person that has not registered on the official forums or attained public office would be unable to access it without cracking technical security measures.

Section 1.3: Sedition
8. "Sedition" is defined as an intentional attempt to incite the Nations of The North Pacific to revolt in a manner not sanctioned by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Section 1.4: Fraud
9. "Election fraud" is defined as the willful deception of citizens 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.
10. “Fraud” is defined as an intentional deception, by falsehood or omission, made for some benefit or to damage another individual.

Section 1.5. Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming
11. "Crashing" is defined as any unauthorized action which could cause a forum to go out of service or lose information, including the deletion of posts, the deletion of a forum, spamming, or any other act of such kind.
12. "Phishing" is defined as any attempts to gain access to off-site property controls or passwords by deception, especially by posing as administrators or moderators for any unauthorized use.
13. Phishing also includes the collection of personal information kept at the Forum.
14. "Spamming" is defined as any action by non-region nationals to waste space or cause shock on any off-site property or regional message board to make it unusable.
15. Spamming includes any attempts to force a DOS error on forums and any attempts to flood the RMB of a region which is not that nation's normal abode.
16. No Nation of The North Pacific may perform, order, condone, or accept as legal, Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming.

Section 1.6: Proxying
17. "Proxying" is defined as use of a proxy server to render a forum user anonymous or any practice which allows a member multiple accounts.
18. Forum administrators will inform the Government and Court of Proxying they observe.

Section 1.7. Adspam
19. Recruitment for other regions on the Regional Message board may be regulated or prohibited by Delegate Decree.

Section 1.8. Conspiracy
20. "Conspiracy" is defined as planning, attempting, or helping to commit any crime under this criminal code.

Section 1.9. Exceptions
21. Exceptions for treason, espionage or proxying may be given to members of the military and intelligence services with the consent of the Delegate and the appropriate Minister when on officially sanctioned missions for the purposes of preserving regional security.

Chapter 2: Penal Code

1. Criminal acts may be punished by restrictions on basic rights, in a manner proportionate to the crime at the discretion of the Court unless specified in this chapter.
2. Treason will be punished by ejection and banning, and removal of any basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit.
3. Espionage will be punished by the suspension of speech and/or voting rights for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.
4. Sedition will be punished by the suspension of speech and/or voting rights and ejection and banning if necessary for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.
5. Crashing, Phishing, or Spamming may be punished by ejection and banning, the removal of any and all basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration.
6. Proxying may be punished by ejection and banning, the removal of any basic rights for whatever duration the Court sees fit, and/or banning by forum administration.
7. Adspam prohibited by the Delegate may be punished by adspam suppression and summary ejection and/or banning from the region.
8. Conspiracy will be punished by a sentence strictly less than what would be appropriate for the original crime.


Chapter 3: Judicial Law

1. These procedures will govern the Judiciary.

Section 3.1: The Attorney General
2. The Attorney General will be elected during Judicial Elections.
3. The Attorney General must not have been convicted of any crime in the North Pacific.
4. The Attorney General will serve as Chief Prosecutor in all cases brought before the Court of the North Pacific.
5. It is the duty of the Attorney General to see to completion any proceeding they are prosecuting.
6. If the original Attorney General is unable to complete a pending case, the successor Attorney General will take over as prosecutor and complete the pending proceedings.
7. The Attorney General may request expedited judicial review of any executive action by any official.

Section 3.2: Appointment of Hearing Officers
8. If there is a vacancy on the Court, or any Justice is unavailable or has a conflict of interest the remaining Justices will promptly appoint a hearing officer to participate as temporary Justices.
9. Any hearing officer appointed under this Section may not hold any other office while serving as a judicial hearing officer.

Section 3.3: Criminal Trial Procedure
11. When seeking an indictment to eject or ban, or expel from the RA due to oath violation, pending a trial, the Government must inform all the Justices.
12. Any Justice may approve or deny an indictment, and their decision will be final.
13. Once an ejection is performed, the Government must notify the ejected nation of their rights within one hour, and publicly submit a criminal proceeding to the court within six hours.
14. Once a criminal proceeding is presented, the defendant will have 48 hours to enter a plea, or a plea of "Not Guilty" may be entered for them.
15. Once a plea is entered, a period of time set by the Court for the discovery of evidence and witness testimony will begin. This period is normally 7 days.
16. Once discovery ends a period of time for arguments on the evidence and law will begin, its duration set by the Court. This period is normally 5 days.
17. During discovery and arguments, either side may make objections or requests publicly on the forum.
18. Once arguments end, the Court will have 72 hours to decide on a verdict and, if necessary, sentence.


Chapter 4: Election and Appointment Procedure

Section 4.1: Oath of Office
1. All government officials will take the Oath of Office below before assuming their role within the government of The North Pacific.

I, [forum username], do hereby solemnly swear that during my term as [government position], I will uphold the ideals of Democracy, Freedom, and Justice of The Region of The North Pacific. I will use the powers and rights granted to me through The North Pacific Constitution and Legal Code in a legal, responsible, and unbiased manner, not abusing my power, committing misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, in any gross or excessive manner. I will act only in the best interests of The North Pacific, not influenced by personal gain or any outside force, and within the restraints of my legally granted power. As such, I hereby take up the office of [government position], with all the powers, rights, and responsibilities held therein.

2. All government officials will be required to take the Oath of Office within one week of attaining office or be subject to removal from office following an automatic recall vote.
3. This Oath will be binding and violations are grounds for a recall.

Section 4.2: Election Law Definitions
4. "Abstentions" are not votes for or against any candidate, and may not be used to determine the results of any election. They may be used to for quorum, activity, or other purposes.
5. "Candidates" are those citizens who declare themselves, or have accepted a nomination by another Assembly member preceding the close of nominations, as a candidate for an office to be chosen at that election. Candidates may only stand for one office during a given Election Cycle.
6. "Election Commissioner" is an individual designated to supervise a given election. No one who may be a candidate in an election may serve as an Election Commissioner during it.
7. "Election Cycle" is defined as the period of time that begins on the first day on which nominations, or a declaration, of candidacy are made and concludes with the final declaration of results for an election. The dates for the Election Cycle will be designated at least 30 days in advance by the Delegate .
8. A "vacancy" in an office occurs when the holder of it resigns, is removed, abandons it . Vacancies are filled through a special election unless a it cannot be completed prior to the beginning of the general or judicial election cycle. Pending an election, however, a vacancy may be temporarily filled as provided by the Constitution, the Legal Code, or a rule adopted by the appropriate body.

Section 4.3: Overall Election Law
11. In General and Judicial elections, Election Commissioners will be appointed by the Delegate to oversee the nomination and election processes at least one week before the month in which the election begins. If an appointment of Election Commissioners has not been made by that time, the Chief Justice shall promptly make the appointment within 48 hours.
12. The period for nominations or declarations of candidacy shall last for seven days.
13. Voting will begin three days after the period for nominations or declarations has closed and last for seven days.
14. If a run-off vote is required it will begin within two days of the first vote ending and it shall last for five days.

Section 4.3: General Elections
15. The election cycle for the terms of the Delegate and Vice Delegate will begin on the first day of the months of January, May, and September.
16. Non-incumbent candidates for Delegate or Vice Delegate may not obtain an endorsement level during the election cycle greater than the level authorized for members of the Security Council under Chapter 5.

Section 4.4: Judicial Elections
17. The election cycle for the 6-month term of the Chief Justice, the two Associate Justices, and the Attorney General will begin on the first days of the months of April and October.

Section 4.5: Special Elections
18. A special election will be held in the event of a vacancy in any elected office or position.
19. The Delegate, or if the Delegate is not available, the Speaker, or if the Delegate and Speaker are not available, any Court Justice, will serve as Election Commissioner for the special election.
20. The period for nominations or declarations of candidacy in the special election will last for five days, beginning within two days after the vacancy is noticed.
22. Voting will begin one day after the period for nominations or declarations has closed and last for five days.


Chapter 5: Security Council Law

1. Any laws regulating the activities of the Security Council must be listed in this chapter.
2. In this chapter, "Council" means the Security Council.

Section 5.1: Requirements
3. Members of the Council will maintain an influence level equal to or greater than Vassal.
4. Members of the Council will maintain an endorsement level within the range described in this Section.
5. The minimum level is defined as being 50 endorsements, or fifty per cent of the serving Delegate's endorsement count, whichever is least.
6. The maximum level is defined as 20 fewer endorsements than the serving Delegate's endorsement count, or eighty-five percent of said count, whichever is greatest.
7. Where the computation results in fractions, the count shall be rounded down.
8. The required range is to be applied in a reasonable manner, taking into account such factors as transitions between elected Delegates, the recall of a Delegate, or periods of Delegate inactivity.
9. The legitimate Delegate is exempt from endorsement requirements.

Section 5.2: Enforcement
10. If any Council member does not have the required influence level, or exceeds or does not meet the required endorsement level, the Vice Delegate will warn them. If the Council member does not come into compliance within at least fifteen days of the warning, the Vice Delegate will suspend them.
11. The Vice Delegate shall remove members of the Council whose member nation no longer exists or no longer resides in The North Pacific or resigns from the World Assembly.
12. The Vice Delegate will report any suspension or removal of a member of the Council to the Regional Assembly.
13. If a suspended member of the Council comes back into compliance with the endorsement and influence requirements, the Vice Delegate will reinstate them.
14. A majority of the Council may vote to determine that the continued membership in the Council of a member poses a security risk to The North Pacific and request approval from the Regional Assembly to remove the member from the Council.
15. The Speaker of the Regional Assembly will submit the request to an immediate vote of the Regional Assembly; approval will require a two-thirds majority.


Chapter 6: Government Regulations

1. Any Law regulating the operations of the government of the North Pacific other than the Election Commission, the Judiciary, and the Security Council must be listed in this chapter.

Section 6.1: Regional Assembly Membership Act
2. The Speaker will work with forum administration to process Regional Assembly applicants.
3. Assembly members must maintain a nation in the North Pacific.
4. Applicants must swear an oath, as follows:

[nation]TNP Nation[/nation]
[nation]WA Nation[/nation]

I, [forum user name], leader of The North Pacific nation of (your TNP nation's name), pledge loyalty to the region, to abide by its laws, and to act as a responsible member of its society. I pledge to only register one Nation to vote in The North Pacific. I pledge that no nation under my control will wage war against the North Pacific. I understand that if I break this oath I may immediately lose my voting privileges, permanently. In this manner, I petition the Speaker for membership in the Regional Assembly of the North Pacific.

5. New forum members may who register as citizens or join the Regional Assembly must be made aware of the Criminal Code they are pledging to respect..
6. The Speaker will accept applicants with valid applications who are verified by forum administration not to be using a proxy or evading a judicially-imposed penalty.
7. The Speaker will process applications within 14 days. If the applicant is not rejected within 14 days, they will be automatically accepted to the Regional Assembly.
8. Regional Assembly members may not vote in any vote which began before they were last admitted.
9. The Speaker's office will maintain a publicly viewable roster of Regional Assembly members.
10. The Speaker's office will promptly remove any members whose removal is ordered by the Court, whose North Pacific nation leaves or ceases to exist, who fail to log in to the North Pacific forum for over 30 days.

Section 6.2: RA WA Verification and Confidentiality Act

11. The Speaker will designate a person who is not involved in any military operations to be the registrar of confidential puppets.
12. Assembly members with a World Assembly nation must inform the registrar of any nation of theirs which may attain World Assembly membership before it does so.
13. Unless granted permission otherwise by the Assembly member in question, if the registrar is informed of possible future World Assembly nations the registrar will keep that information in confidence and will not share it with anyone on pain of a minimum three months ban from the region unless the registrar observes such a nation waging war against the North Pacific.
14. The registrar will not inform their successor of confidential potential World Assembly nations; they may only report which Assembly Members have submitted such lists.

Section 6.3: Freedom of Information Act

15. The Delegate and appointed government officials will be delegated the task of informing the Assembly of any governmental action not already disclosed by the respective officers of the Executive.
16. All registered citizens residing in The North Pacific may request information from the Government through the Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive.
17. The Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive will endeavour to retrieve information requested from the different departments of the government, who are obligated to release this information provided it will not and/or does not present a threat to regional security or unduly impinge on the privacy of private citizens, and
18. Citizens which do not receive this information for any reason not specifically designated in appropriate laws or regulations may file a request for the information in a regional court, where the Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive may present evidence that addresses any claim that release of the information impairs Regional security.
19. Information not disclosed because of issues pertaining to Regional security will be classified by the majority vote of the Court sitting as a three-member panel.
20. Information whose disclosure is deemed a security threat to the Region will be released by the affirmative vote of a majority of a three-member panel of the Court, no sooner than 2 months after the original request, once the threat no longer exists.
21. All activities by the designated regional intelligence services are exempt from this law.

Section 6.4: Mandatory Ministries

22. There will be an Executive Officer charged with the North Pacific's foreign affairs. They will ensure the continued operation of any embassies of the North Pacific.
23. There will be an Executive Officer charged with welcoming. They will be tasked with ensuring that nations founded in the North Pacific are appropriately greeted, that newcomers to the regional forum and to regional internet relay chats shall be welcomed and helped with any questions, and with the maintenance of regional FAQs.
24. There will be an Executive Officer charged with military affairs. They will carry out such legal missions as are authorized by the Delegate, expressly or categorically.
25. There will be an Executive Officer charged with governmental communications. They will report on events in the region.
26. An Executive Officer may sustain multiple roles defined by this Act.
27. The Regional Assembly may elect an Executive Officer should one of the roles defined by this act remain vacant for seven days or in connection with the Regional Assembly removing the Executive Officer charged with that role.

Section 6.5: War

28. A region or organization "at war" with TNP is one which has made a formal declaration, or made acts of war against The North Pacific, or vice versa, as deemed by a three-fifths majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
29. War does not constitute actions taken by or against any army of the North Pacific abroad unless the conflict meets the conditions above.
30. A state of war exists until a formal peace treaty, surrender terms, or similar, are recognized by the Regional Assembly.

Chapter 7: Cultural Declarations

1. This Chapter will include laws concerning the North Pacific's history and culture.

Section 7.1: Arms, Flag, and Seal
2. The following arms as designed by ThelDRan and revised by Eluvatar and Gulliver is adopted as the coat of arms of the North Pacific:

3. Each institution in the North Pacific's government may establish for itself a seal which uses the arms of the North Pacific.
4. The arms of the North Pacific may not be used except to represent the North Pacific or an official regional entity.
5. The following flag, as designed by ThelDRan and revised by Eluvatar and Gulliver is adopted as the official flag of the North Pacific:

Section 7.2: Holidays
6. The first of January shall be known as Remembrance Day, and shall provide an occasion for Nations to remember those players who have left the region and the game of Nationstates.
9. The twenty-sixth of May shall be Manumission Day, and shall commemorate the end of the delegacy of Pixiedance, and celebrate the return of a democratic government to the region.
10. The seventh of July shall be Constitution Day, and shall commemorate the ratification of the Constitution of the North Pacific.
11. The twenty-eighth of July shall be Liberation Day, and shall commemorate and celebrate the overthrow of Great Bight and return of a native government to the region.
12. The thirteenth of November shall be Creation Day, and shall commemorate and celebrate the establishment of Nationstates; and provide an opportunity to extend fellowship throughout the NationStates communities.
13. The twenty-third of November shall be Founders' Day, and shall commemorate and celebrate the establishment of the first official forum of The North Pacific, and through it the community which has kept The North Pacific as the preeminent region in Nationstates.

 

[Grosseschnauzer]

In Section 5.2. I think you're missing a "will":

10. If any Council member does not have the required influence level, or exceeds or does not meet the required endorsement level, the Vice Delegate will warn them. If the Council member does not come into compliance within at least fifteen days of the warning, the Vice Delegate will suspend them.

 

[Eluvatar]

Added in most of Grosse's suggestions, but changed the explicit criminalization of the oath to allowing a RA removal indictment process based on oath violations (which are I believe all crimes under the criminal code).

Dropped the expansion of elections to include "Registered Citizens" for now. Let's see how the RA with a shorter oath and without voting requirements works first.