Gulliver
TNPer
Legal Code 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. This Code will be divided into several Chapters, which may contain Sections. Clauses must be numbered consecutively within a Chapter beginning with the number 1. Clauses may have subclauses in the form of letters in the event that a list must be referenced in the clause. Clauses may be referenced by chapter, clause number, and if applicable sub-clause letter, but clause numbers and sub-clause letters will not be considered part of the law, nor will they have any legal effects. The Speaker will manage the numbering of clauses in accordance with the above requirements.
Chapter 1: Criminal Code
1. No criminal case may be brought before the Court of the North Pacific against any resident 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. 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, The Communist Bloc and The Brotherhood of Malice are at war with TNP. At this time TNP is allied with Balder, Carcassonne, Equilism, Europe, Europeia, Greater Dienstad, International Democratic Union, Lazarus, Stargate, The League and Concord, The Pacific, the Rejected Realms, The Wellspring and the West Pacific.
5. The Speaker will update the preceding clause as appropriate.
Section 1.2: Espionage
6. "Espionage" is defined as sharing information with a group or region when that act of sharing has not been legitimately sanctioned by the entity the information is gathered from, as limited by this section.
7. The information shared must not be accessible to a person who is not a member of the region or group it is gathered from except by cracking technical security measures.
8. The information must be gathered from The North Pacific or a foreign power the Regional Assembly has ratified a treaty of alliance with.
9. The preceding clause also applies to foreign powers that the Regional Assembly has, by treaties other than alliances, agreed to prohibit espionage against.
10. The Regional Assembly has ratified treaties of alliance with Balder, Carcassone, Equilism, Europe, Europeia, Greater Dienstad, International Democratic Union, Lazarus, Stargate, The League and Concord, The Pacific, the Rejected Realms, the Wellspring and the West Pacific.
11. The Speaker will update the preceding clause as appropriate.
Section 1.3: Fraud
12. "Election fraud" is defined as the willful deception of residents 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.
13. "Fraud" is defined as an intentional deception, by falsehood or omission, made for some benefit or to damage another individual.
Section 1.4: Perjury
14. "Perjury" is defined as the willful provision of deceptive testimony provided under oath with the intent to deceive in a criminal trial being heard by the Court of The North Pacific.
Section 1.5: Interference with Recruitment
15. "Interference with Recruitment" is defined as sending any non-residents unsolicited recruitment advertisement(s) for The North Pacific by:
Section 1.6: Evidence Tampering
17. "Evidence Tampering" is defined as the willful manipulation or destruction in any way of evidence with the intent to deceive in a criminal trial being heard by the Court of The North Pacific
Section 1.7: Crashing
18. "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.
Section 1.8: Phishing
19. "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.
20. Phishing also includes the collection of personal information kept at the Forum.
Section 1.9: Spamming
21. "Spamming" is defined as any actions to waste space or cause shock on any off-site property or regional message board to make it unusable.
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.
Section 1.10: Proxying
23. "Proxying" is defined as use of a proxy server to render a forum user anonymous or any practice which allows a member multiple accounts.
24. Forum administrators will inform the Government and Court of Proxying they observe.
Section 1.11: Adspam
25. Recruitment for other regions on the Regional Message board may be regulated or prohibited by Delegate Decree.
Section 1.12: Conspiracy
26. "Conspiracy" is defined as planning, attempting, or helping to commit any crime under this criminal code.
Section 1.13: Gross Misconduct
27. "Gross Misconduct" is defined as the violation of an individual's legally mandated sworn oath, either willfully or through negligence.
Section 1.14: Exceptions
28. 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. Perjury may be punished by the suspension of voting rights, restriction on standing for election, and/or restriction on serving as a government official for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.
5. Evidence Tampering may be punished by the removal from office, suspension of voting rights, and/or restriction on standing for election for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Adspam prohibited by the Delegate may be punished by adspam suppression and summary ejection and/or banning from the region.
9. Conspiracy will be punished by a sentence strictly less than what would be appropriate for the original crime.
10. Gross Misconduct will be punished by removal from office and the suspension of voting rights for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.
Chapter 3: Judicial Law
1. These procedures will govern the Judiciary.
Section 3.1: Chief Justice Selection
2. Whenever the position is vacant, the Justices shall elect a Chief Justice from among themselves by a majority vote.
3. In the event that a Chief Justice has not been elected by seven days after the conclusion of a Judicial election, including the conclusion of any required run-off votes, the Chief Justice shall be the Justice who first achieved a majority in that election.
Section 3.2: Appointment of Hearing Officers
4. A conflict of interest occurs when a Justice or Hearing Officer has a vested interest in a matter before the Court, or when they are otherwise unable to rule in a fair and unbiased manner.
5. Justices and Hearing Officers are required to recuse themselves from matters where they have a certain or potential conflict of interest.
6. If one or more Justice positions are vacant, or any Justice is absent or has recused themselves, the remaining Justices will promptly appoint replacements from among available citizens to participate as temporary Hearing Officers.
7. If all Justices are vacant, absent, or have recused themselves, the Delegate will promptly appoint the needed Hearing Officers from among available citizens with the agreement of the Speaker.
8. Any recusal or absence of a Hearing Officer will be treated as a vacancy.
9. The Court may recuse any Justice or Hearing Officer by majority vote.
10. The Court must hold a vote on whether to recuse a Justice or Hearing Officer when publicly requested by the prosecution, defense, or petitioner in any matter before the Court.
Section 3.3: Regional Bar of The North Pacific
11. All prosecutors in criminal trials must be members of the regional bar.
12. Any citizen who is not currently serving a judicially-imposed sentence may apply for admission to the regional bar. Any citizen who is given a judicially-imposed sentence while a member of the regional bar will have their admission to the regional bar revoked.
13. The regional bar will be governed by the Bar Commission, which consists of three citizens, one a Justice of the Court elected by a majority of the Court, one appointed by the Delegate, and one appointed by the Court and confirmed by a majority of the Regional Assembly. The citizens appointed by the Delegate and the Court may not be elected government officials, but will otherwise be exempt from constitutional restrictions on holding multiple government offices for purposes of their appointment to the Bar Commission.
14. The term of a Bar Commissioner will be six months, beginning on the day they take the Oath of Office. The Delegate and the Court do not have the power to remove Bar Commissioners.
15. Applicants to the regional bar must be evaluated by the Bar Commission for acceptability and must demonstrate adequate and reasonable knowledge of the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Legal Code of The North Pacific, and prior judicial rulings on requests for review.
16. A standard procedure for passing the bar evaluation, and for managing membership of the bar, will be established by majority agreement of the Bar Commission.
Section 3.4: Criminal Trial Procedure
17. A standard procedure for all criminal trials will be established by majority agreement of the Court.
18. Any person may present criminal charges to the Court. If the charges are accepted, the Delegate will appoint a prosecutor to manage the prosecution of the case. If the Delegate is the accused or unavailable, the next available person in the Line of Succession will appoint a prosecutor to manage prosecution of the case.
19. Any member of the regional bar may be appointed as a prosecutor and will be exempt from constitutional restrictions on holding multiple government offices for purposes of their appointment as a prosecutor.
20. The Delegate and other officials who may have appointed a prosecutor do not have the power to remove a prosecutor.
21. No one may prosecute or appoint prosecutors to a case in which they are the defendant or part of the defense.
22. If the original prosecutor is unable to see a case to completion, another prosecutor will be selected by the same procedure as the original prosecutor.
23. If the prosecutor discontinues management of the prosecution of a criminal case, then the complainant may, at their discretion, request another prosecutor be selected or withdraw the complaint.
24. If the complainant has not withdrawn the complaint within 7 days of the prosecutor discontinuing management of the case, the complaint will be considered withdrawn.
25. For the purposes of this section, "managing the prosecution of a case" includes but is not limited to:
Section 3.5: Pre-Sentencing Ejections and Bans
27. The Delegate may eject and/or ban a particular nation from the region pending criminal charges against them, or prior to the conclusion of an ongoing criminal trial in which they are the defendant, only when that nation poses a clear security threat and their removal is necessary for the protection of the region.
28. The Delegate must seek the approval of the Court for any such ejection or ban. Where possible, this approval must be sought prior to the nation's removal from the region. Otherwise, it must be sought within one day of the action.
29. If the ejection or ban is performed during a criminal trial against that nation, approval will be at the discretion of the justice moderating the trial. Otherwise, any single justice may approve or deny the Delegate's request.
30. Any nation ejected or banned under this section may file an appeal of the decision. These appeals may not be denied, and must be decided by the full court.
31. The Delegate must immediately provide any nation ejected or banned under this section with a link to the Courtroom and inform them of their right to file an appeal.
32. If criminal charges are not brought against a nation ejected or banned under this section, or if the criminal charges are rejected by the Court, or if the nation is not found Guilty at the conclusion of the trial, any ban against that nation which was imposed under this section must be revoked.
Section 3.6: The Court Examiner
33. Whenever the position is vacant, the Bar Commission shall select from among the members of the regional bar by a majority vote, and the Chief Justice shall appoint, a Court Examiner. Citizens will be exempt from constitutional restrictions on holding multiple government offices for purposes of their appointment as Court Examiner.
34. The Court Examiner will have standing in all cases of judicial review brought before the Court.
35. The term of the Court Examiner will last until the end of the next regular Judicial election.
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.
3. All government officials subject to confirmation by the Regional Assembly will be required to take the Oath of Office within one week of their confirmation, as verified by a member of the Speaker's Office.
4. All other government officials will be required to take the Oath of Office within one week of their appointment, as publicly announced.
5. The taking of the Oath constitutes assumption of the office. Failure to post the oath within the allotted time will result in the office being considered vacant.
Section 4.2: Election Law Definitions
6. "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 for quorum, activity, or other purposes.
7. "Candidates" are those citizens who, during the period of the election designated for candidacy declarations, declare themselves or accept a nomination by another citizen as a candidate for an office to be chosen at that election.
8. "Election" is defined as the period of time that begins on the first day on which candidacy declarations can be made and concludes with the final declaration of results for an election.
9. A "vacancy" in an office occurs when the holder of it resigns, is removed, or abandons it. An office is abandoned when its holder does not log onto the regional forums for two weeks, or when an election winner or appointee fails to post the Oath of Office. Pending an election, a vacancy may be temporarily filled as provided by the Constitution, this Legal Code, or a rule adopted by the appropriate body.
10. An "absence" in an office means that the holder of the office is by law temporarily prevented from exercising the duties of their office. An absent officer may be replaced for the duration of their absence as provided by the Constitution, this Legal Code, or a rule adopted by the appropriate body.
Section 4.3: The Election Commission
11. The Election Commission consists of at least five, but no more than nine citizens appointed by the Delegate and confirmed by a majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
12. Any citizen may be appointed to the Election Commission. Citizens will be exempt from constitutional restrictions on holding multiple government offices for purposes of their appointment to the Election Commission.
13. The term of an Election Commissioner will be six months, beginning on the day they take the Oath of Office, or at the conclusion of their previous term if they are reconfirmed and take the Oath of Office before their term expires. The Delegate does not have the power to remove an Election Commissioner.
14. All elections will be supervised by two Election Commissioners.
15. An Election Commissioner will be considered absent during any election in which they are a candidate, or during any election which began prior to the start of their term. Absent Election Commissioners may not supervise an election or participate in any decisions made by the Election Commission as a whole.
16. If there are fewer than five non-absent Election Commissioners, the remaining commissioners will appoint temporary replacements to bring their number up to five. If all Election Commissioners are absent, the delegate will appoint five temporary replacements. These replacements will serve until the number of non-absent commissioners is five or greater.
17. The Election Commission will have the power to make rules for the supervision of elections. Where no rules exist, the Election Commissioners supervising a given election may use their discretion.
18. Any citizen may petition the full Election Commission to review a decision made by the Election Commissioners supervising a given election. If necessary, the election may be halted while the Election Commission decides how to proceed.
19. If the full Election Commission determines that the actions under review are not in compliance with the law or their adopted rules, they will have the power, by majority vote, to overrule them. If deemed necessary, they will also have the power, by majority vote, to restart the election, or designate different commissioners to supervise the election.
Section 4.4: Overall Election Law
20. Citizens will be provided three days to declare their candidacy. Voting will begin two days after the candidacy declaration period has closed and last for five days.
21. Candidates may withdraw from the ballot anytime during an election.
22. Private votes may be sent by private message to a forum account designated for that purpose by the Election Commission. In such an event, the Election Commissioners supervising the election will promptly announce that a vote has been cast privately and who that vote was cast for. The Election Commissioners may not announce any other details about the vote.
23. The option to reopen nominations will appear on the ballot as a separate question for each race.
24. Should a majority vote to reopen nominations for a given race, a further two days will be provided for candidacy declarations.
25. Candidates for that race whose names appeared on the first ballot will retain their candidacy unless they choose to withdraw.
26. A second round of voting for that race will begin immediately after the candidacy declaration period has closed and last for five days. The option to reopen nominations will not appear on the new ballot.
27. The option to reopen nominations will not appear on the ballot for any runoff vote.
28. If during any voting round for a given race a candidate becomes invalid, then all votes for that candidate will be removed from voters' preferential ranking. The Election Commission will remove the candidate from the list of candidates and notify all citizens who have voted before the candidate became invalid.
29. If at any point in counting the votes for two or more candidates are tied for one position, the candidate who has the least votes at the latest stage of counting where there is a difference in votes will be eliminated. If this does not break a tie, a runoff vote will be held between the tied candidates.
Section 4.5: General Elections
30. The election of the Delegate, the Vice Delegate, and the Speaker will begin on the first day of the months of January, May, and September.
31. If there are more than two candidates for an election, voters may rank the candidates, with the candidate ranked 1 being the first preference, the candidate ranked 2 being the next preference, and so on.
32. All first preference votes shall be counted first. If no candidate achieves a majority, the candidate with the least votes shall be eliminated, and the next preference of all voters who had voted for the eliminated candidate as first preference shall be counted, with the process repeated until a candidate achieves a majority.
33. If all of a voter's preferences have been eliminated, the voter's ballot shall not be used in further counting.
Section 4.6: Judicial Elections
34. The election of the Justices will begin on the first day of the months of March, July, and November.
35. If there are more than three candidates for Justice, voters may rank the candidates, with the candidate ranked 1 being the first preference, the candidate ranked 2 being the next preference, and so on.
36. All first preference votes will be counted first. If no candidate achieves a majority, the candidate/s with the least votes will be eliminated, and the next preference of all voters who had voted for the eliminated candidate as first preference will be counted, with the process repeated until a candidate achieve a majority.
37. When a candidate achieves a majority, they will be elected. All votes will then be recounted using the same process, ignoring all preferences for the elected candidate. This will be repeated until three candidates are elected.
Section 4.7: Special Elections
38. A special election will be held in the event of a vacancy in any elected office or position, unless the election would be unable to conclude prior to two weeks before the beginning of the next scheduled election cycle for that office.
39. Special elections will follow the same procedures as regularly scheduled elections for the vacant office.
Chapter 5: Regional Security Law
1. Any laws regulating the Security Council or its activities must be listed in this chapter.
2. In this chapter, "Council" means the Security Council.
3. In this chapter, the Serving Delegate means the person holding the constitutionally-mandated elected office of Delegate or, in the case of a vacancy in that office, the person who has assumed the duties of that office. Serving Frontier Delegate means a person chosen by the Regional Assembly to hold the office of a Frontier Delegate, or in the case of a vacancy or absence in that office, the person that has assumed the duties of that office. The WA Delegate means the nation holding the WA Delegacy of the region The North Pacific. Frontier WA Delegate means a nation holding the WA Delegacy of a territory of The North Pacific.
Section 5.1: Requirements and Admission
4. Any person with an account on the regional forum and a nation in The North Pacific may apply to join the Council, as long as their nation satisfies any influence and endorsement requirements for membership. Any applicant who does not meet the appropriate requirements, or who ceases to meet them, is automatically rejected.
5. Security Councilors must meet the same influence and endorsement requirements as applicants to the Council, and may be suspended or removed if they fail to do so.
6. The influence requirement is a Soft Power Disbursement Rating within The North Pacific greater than or equal to 182,500, or an influence rank within The North Pacific greater than or equal to Apprentice, whichever is lower. The endorsement requirement is at least 500, or 50 percent of the Serving Delegate's endorsement count, whichever is lower.
7. By a two-thirds majority vote, the Security Council may exempt nations who have expended their influence in service to the region from any influence requirements to join the Council or to remain a member. Exemptions granted in such a manner remain valid until the exempted nation regains the required influence level.
Section 5.2: The Delegate and Vice Delegate
8. The Serving Delegate is responsible for maintaining an endorsement count that exceeds that of any other nation in The North Pacific. Serving Frontier Delegates are responsible for maintaining an endorsement count that exceeds that of any other nation in their respective territories of The North Pacific.
9. The Vice Delegate is responsible for maintaining an endorsement count at least that of 90 per cent of the WA Delegate's endorsement count. Frontier Vice Delegates are responsible for maintaining an endorsement count at least that of 70 per cent of the Frontier WA Delegate’s endorsement count in their respective territories of The North Pacific.
10. If the Delegate or Vice Delegate, or the Frontier Delegate or Frontier Vice Delegate, is below this level, they must promptly act to gather sufficient endorsements to meet or exceed the requirement.
11. Frontier Vice Delegates are responsible for setting an endorsement cap.
12. If the Delegate or Vice Delegate, or the Frontier Delegate or Frontier Vice Delegate nation ceases to exist, voluntarily departs The North Pacific, or the respective territory to which it is assigned; or resigns from the World Assembly, their office will be considered vacant.
13. If the Vice Delegate is temporarily unavailable, the Council may task one of its members with performing the duties of the Vice Delegate. The Council may hold a confirmation vote, but is not required to do so.
14. During any period when serving as acting Delegate, the Vice Delegate will be considered absent from the office of Vice Delegate. During any period when serving as acting Frontier Delegate, Frontier Vice Delegates will be considered absent from the office of Frontier Vice Delegate.
Section 5.3: Suspension and Removal
14. Whenever any Council member fails to meet the influence or endorsement count requirements to maintain their position without being granted an exemption, the Vice Delegate must promptly warn them. If the Council member does not come into compliance within eight days of the warning, the Vice Delegate must suspend them.
15. Suspended Council members will remain on the line of succession, but may not assume the duties of the Delegate or Vice Delegate if either position is vacated, nor may they participate in any votes conducted by the Council.
16. The Vice Delegate must promptly remove members of the Council whose member nations no longer exist, voluntarily depart The North Pacific, or resign from the World Assembly outside the needs of a NPA sanctioned mission.
17. The Vice Delegate must report any suspension or removal of a member of the Council to the Regional Assembly.
18. Suspended members that fail to come back into compliance within 45 days from the start of the suspension will be removed from the Security Council.
19. If a suspended member of the Council comes back into compliance with the endorsement and influence requirements, the Vice Delegate must promptly reinstate them.
20. If a Councilor's continued membership in the Council poses a security risk to The North Pacific, the Council may, by majority vote, request that the Regional Assembly vote on removing that Council member.
21. The Speaker's Office must submit any such request from the Council to an immediate two-thirds majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
Section 5.4: Reckless Endorsement Gathering
22. The Serving Delegate may eject or ban any nation in The North Pacific for reckless endorsement gathering that meets all of the following criteria:
23. The Serving Delegate may eject or ban any nation in The North Pacific for reckless endorsement gathering that exceeds 85 per cent of the WA Delegate's endorsement level.
24. Nations banned for reckless endorsement gathering must remain banned at least until they update outside The North Pacific.
25. Unless a delegacy emergency is in effect, any Council member who exceeds the Vice Delegate's endorsement count while the Vice Delegate is above the required minimum for their position must stop seeking endorsements until they have fewer than the Vice Delegate.
26. Serving Frontier Delegates may eject or ban any nation in their respective territories of The North Pacific for reckless endorsement gathering that exceeds the Frontier Vice Delegate’s required minimum endorsement count.
27. Nations banned for reckless endorsement gathering must remain banned at least until they update outside the territory of The North Pacific.
Section 5.5: Endorsement Campaigns
29. The Serving Delegate may eject or ban any nation in The North Pacific for solicitation of nations to unendorse government officials or endorse nations that meets all of the following criteria:
31. Disclosure of private Security Council records will be regulated in the same chapter regulating disclosure of executive government records.
Chapter 6: Regional Assembly Statutes
1. Any Law regulating the voting or membership of the Regional Assembly of The North Pacific must be listed in this chapter.
Section 6.1: Citizenship Applications
2. Any resident may apply for citizenship using their regional forum account, by providing the name of their nation in The North Pacific or one of its territories, and swearing an oath as follows:
3. A copy of the laws applicants are pledging to obey must be available to them at all times.
4. An application for citizenship ceases to be valid if at any time the applicant's declared nation in The North Pacific or one of its territories is not located in The North Pacific or one of its territories.
5. Forum administration will have 7 days to evaluate the citizenship applicant and verify that they are not using a proxy or evading a judicially-imposed penalty. The Vice Delegate will have 7 days to perform a security evaluation and pass or fail the applicant. The Vice Delegate must consult the Security Council if there is reasonable concern as to whether an applicant should be admitted.
6. The Vice Delegate will automatically fail any applicant who identifies as fascist or has engaged in the promotion of fascism.
7. The Vice Delegate will re-evaluate any applicant who failed an evaluation by forum administration if the applicant already passed an evaluation by the Vice Delegate, and the applicant's resident nation is in the World Assembly.
8. The Speaker will reject applicants who fail an evaluation by the Vice Delegate, or are confirmed by forum administration to be using more than one forum account or using a proxy.
9. The Speaker will reject applicants who fail an evaluation by forum administration and would not be subject to re-evaluation by the Vice Delegate.
10. If an applicant is rejected for failing an evaluation by the Vice Delegate, the Regional Assembly shall immediately debate the rejection and will hold a majority vote on whether to uphold it. The vote must begin two days after the rejection occurs.
11. The Regional Assembly may overturn a previous decision to uphold the rejection of an applicant by majority vote.
12. The Speaker will accept all other applicants with valid applications.
13. The Speaker will process applications within 7 days. If an applicant has not been approved or rejected within that time, they will be automatically granted citizenship.
Section 6.2: Administration and Loss of Citizenship
14. The Speaker will maintain a publicly viewable roster of citizens and their registered nations.
15. The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens whose removal is ordered by the Court, whose registered nations in The North Pacific or one of its territories leave or cease to exist, or whose citizenship is voluntarily renounced by notifying the Speaker.
16. The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens who, for over 30 consecutive days, neither post on the regional forum, nor post on the regional message board of The North Pacific or one of its territories with their registered nations.
17. The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens whose registered nations in The North Pacific or one of its territories are not in the World Assembly, except as part of an operation with the North Pacific Army, if their citizenship was granted after failing an evaluation by forum administration. This requirement will not apply if the citizens request and then pass another evaluation by forum administration.
18. The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens to whom they granted citizenship in error, if the error is discovered within 7 days of granting their citizenship.
19. The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens who are banned for maintaining a nation in a region or organization at war with The North Pacific.
20. The Speaker may request an evaluation by forum administration on any existing citizen at any time, and forum administration may evaluate any existing citizen at any time and inform the Speaker of its findings.
21. The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens who are confirmed to be using a second forum account or evading a judicially-imposed penalty.
22. The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens who are banned by forum administration.
23. The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens who passed an evaluation by the Vice Delegate but should have automatically failed that evaluation, if the Vice Delegate informs the Speaker of this error within 7 days of granting their citizenship.
Section 6.3: Voting
24. A citizen's vote will not be valid unless they maintain citizenship for the entire duration of the vote.
25. The number of votes required to achieve quorum for any legislative vote is equal to one third of the number of citizens who have voted in at least one of the three most recent legislative votes. A legislative vote is a vote of the Regional Assembly to enact, amend or repeal laws.
Chapter 7: Executive Government
1. Any Law regulating the executive government officials of The North Pacific may be listed in this chapter.
Section 7.1: Definitions
2. Executive Officers are government officials appointed by the Delegate to assist in the execution of their duties.
3. Advisors to the Delegate are government officials appointed by the Delegate who serve only to advise the Delegate, and are exempt from constitutional restrictions on holding multiple government offices for purposes of their appointment.
4. The Serving Delegate is the person holding the constitutionally-mandated elected office of the Delegate or, in the case of a vacancy or absence in that office, the person that has assumed the duties of that office.
5. The WA Delegate is the nation holding the WA Delegacy of the region The North Pacific.
6. A Serving Frontier Delegate is a person legally chosen to hold the office of a Frontier Delegate, or in the case of a vacancy or absence in that office, a person that has assumed the duties of that office. A Frontier WA Delegate is a nation holding the WA Delegacy of a territory of The North Pacific.
Section 7.2: Regional Officers
7. Regional Officers may only be appointed and granted powers as explicitly allowed under this section.
8. The Serving Delegate may assign any Regional Power, with the exception of Border Control, to any government official or nation created for the purpose of performing government functions.
9. The Serving Delegate may assign Border Control powers to any of the three members of the Security Council earliest in the Order of Succession.
10. In the event of a Delegate Emergency, or with the permission of a majority vote of the Regional Assembly, the Serving Delegate may assign Border Control powers to any member of the Security Council.
11. The WA Delegate will promptly grant all Regional Powers to the Serving Delegate and assign additional powers to other government officials or regional nations as instructed.
12. A Serving Frontier Delegate may assign any Regional Power, with the exception of Border Control, in territories of The North Pacific to any government official or nation created for the purpose of performing government functions.
13. A Serving Frontier Delegate may assign Border Control powers in territories of The North Pacific to any three Executive Officers as instructed by the Serving Delegate.
14. In the event of a Delegate Emergency, or with the permission of a majority vote of the Regional Assembly, a Serving Frontier Delegate may assign Border Control powers in territories of The North Pacific to any executive government official at their discretion.
15. A Frontier WA Delegate will promptly grant all Regional Powers in territories of The North Pacific to a Serving Frontier Delegate and assign additional powers to other government officials or nations created for the purpose of performing government functions.
Section 7.3: Onsite Authority
16. Violators of NationStates rules, residents banned offsite by forum administration, or residents who maintain a nation in a region or organization at war with The North Pacific, may be subject to summary ejection or banning.
17. Residents banned on the basis of forum bans imposed by forum administration may not be banned for longer than the length of the ban imposed by forum administration.
18. Nations recruiting for other regions may be subject to summary ejection or banning.
19. Nations for which the Court has issued an indictment permitting it may be ejected or banned.
20. Nations that have been so sentenced by the Court will be ejected or banned.
21. The official performing an ejection or ban will promptly inform the region and Government.
22. The Serving Delegate may regulate the Regional Message Board as they see fit.
23. Such regulations may not prohibit speech which is in the context of TNP politics.
24. Serving Frontier Delegates may regulate the Regional Message Board in territories of The North Pacific as they see fit, but the Serving Delegate may direct or overrule such regulation as they see fit.
25. Nations that have been banned for any of the above reasons may be subject to summary ejection or banning from any territories of The North Pacific.
26. All actions of the WA Delegate, the Serving Delegate, Frontier WA Delegate, Serving Frontier Delegate, or of their appointed Regional Officers related to this section will be subject to judicial review.
Section 7.4: Freedom of Information Act
27. For the purposes of this section "the government" refers to the Delegate and the Executive Officers, including the departments which they oversee, the Vice Delegate and Security Council, and the Speaker's office.
28. For the purposes of this section, “appropriate officers” are those officers responsible for the types of records being requested or released.
29. The Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive are responsible for records related to the Executive.
30. The Vice Delegate is responsible for records related to the Security Council.
31. The Speaker is responsible for records related to the Speaker's office.
32. For the purposes of this section, classified information is that which fits any of the below definitions:
34. For the purposes of this section, "government records" are those which are kept on any platform utilized by the government and are open to members of the government and anyone assisting them.
35. For the purposes of this section, “private government records” are those which are kept on any platform utilized by the government and are restricted to only the Delegate, the designated officers of the Executive, and any other individuals granted access by the Delegate; only the Speaker, the Deputy Speakers, and any other individuals granted access by the Speaker; or only the Vice Delegate, the Security Council, and any other individuals granted access by the Vice Delegate.
36. Private government records which reach one year of age will be relocated to the appropriate Declassified Archive visible to residents.
37. At any time a resident may request the release of any government record or private government record through the appropriate officers.
38. The appropriate officers will retrieve information requested from the different departments of the government.
39. Residents who do not receive this information for any reason not specifically designated in appropriate laws or regulations may file a request for the information to the court, where the appropriate officers may present evidence that addresses any claim that release of the information meets one or more of the acceptable criteria for classification.
40. Information appropriately not disclosed will be accepted as classified by a majority vote of the Court sitting as a three-member panel.
Section 7.5: Mandatory Ministries
41. 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 and will report on events in the region.
42. 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.
43. There will be at least one Executive Officer charged with focusing primarily on matters of internal interest to The North Pacific.
Section 7.6: The North Pacific Army
44. The North Pacific Army is the military of The North Pacific. The Executive Officer charged with military affairs will endeavor to maintain an active and well trained military, capable of executing both offensive and defensive operations.
45. When deployed in a foreign region, The North Pacific Army will act with respect towards the natives of the region.
46. The Regional Assembly must be informed of all operations undertaken by The North Pacific Army as soon as practicable, unless they are classified by the Delegate or the Executive Officer in charge of the military.
47. The Regional Assembly may declassify an operation by a majority vote.
48. The following are Class A restricted actions:
51. Members of The North Pacific Army may participate in joint operations with other militaries that perform restricted actions, and may serve as Regional Officers in foreign regions during such joint operations, but may not perform any restricted actions themselves in the joint operation, except where necessary to restore a region to a prior native-controlled state.
52. The Delegate may specifically or categorically exempt regions from some or all restricted actions. The Regional Assembly must be informed as soon as these exemptions are made. Exemptions to Class B restricted actions must be confirmed by a majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
53. Regions with which The North Pacific is at war are exempt from all restricted actions for the duration of the war. Natives of a region that request that The North Pacific Army perform restricted actions on them, whether independently or as part of a broader agreement, are exempt from those restricted actions.
54. The Regional Assembly may require The North Pacific Army to withdraw from any operation, and impose other requirements to reverse restricted actions it performed on that region during that operation, by majority vote.
55. Nations wishing to join The North Pacific Army must swear the following oath before being enlisted. All military rules that they are pledging to obey must be publicly visible.
Section 7.7: Diplomacy
56. The Delegate may choose to designate a region or organization to be prohibited from creating in-game embassies and forum embassies, hosting cultural events together or other formal collaborations with The North Pacific with a majority of the Regional Assembly confirming such.
57. These prohibitions may be repealed with a majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
58. Regions exempted by the Regional Assembly from the restrictions on the North Pacific Army will automatically have the diplomatic restrictions imposed on them.
59. The Delegate may establish agreements with other regions that are not treaties.
60. "Treaty" is defined as a formal agreement made between The North Pacific and one or more regions which binds all signatories to the terms in that agreement until it is formally revoked consistent with those terms; which is presented to and approved by all signatories' governments consistent with their own law's procedure for treaties; and which is mutually understood to be inseverable through any action but the aforementioned terms and regional laws.
Section 7.8: Absence
61. If the Delegate is temporarily unavailable, they may declare themselves absent.
62. In the event the Delegate ceases communication with the region or is otherwise not responsive for 7 days, the Executive Officers and the Vice Delegate may declare the Delegate absent by majority vote.
63. During an absence, the Delegate will continue to serve as the WA Delegate.
64. The absence will cease when the Delegate declares their return and resumes their duties.
Section 7.9: Territory Administration
65. The Delegate may propose the establishment of a new territory of The North Pacific, subject to approval by majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
66. Any other citizen may propose the establishment of a new territory of The North Pacific, subject to approval by two-thirds majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
67. An existing region may be established as a territory of The North Pacific through a treaty between that region and The North Pacific.
68. No territory will be established from an existing region without the consent of that region's community and formal approval of its legal government.
69. A territory may define for itself, in the form of a charter presented to the Regional Assembly, the proper assignment and use of its Regional Powers, with the exception of Border Control; the regulation of its Regional Message Board; residential voting policy; and the selection of its Frontier Delegate, Frontier Vice Delegate and Regional Officers; but may not contradict the Constitution or any Law of The North Pacific. Territories established through treaty may be exempted from this clause according to the terms of the treaty.
70. A territory may propose the establishment, amendment, or abolition of a charter, subject to approval by two-thirds majority vote of its residents and two-thirds majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
71. The Delegate may propose the amendment or abolition of a territory charter, subject to approval by two-thirds majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
72. A territory may propose the cessation of its territory status, subject to approval by two-thirds majority vote of its residents and majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
73. The Delegate may propose the cessation of territory status of a territory of The North Pacific, subject to approval by two-thirds majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
74. Any other citizen may propose the cessation of territory status of a territory of The North Pacific, subject to approval by three-quarters majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
75. The Delegate shall appoint a Frontier Delegate for each territory of The North Pacific, subject to confirmation by majority vote of the Regional Assembly. The Vice Delegate shall appoint a Frontier Vice Delegate for each territory of The North Pacific, subject to confirmation by a majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
76. Any citizen who is a resident of a territory of The North Pacific may be appointed Frontier Delegate or Frontier Vice Delegate of that territory. Citizens will be exempt from constitutional restrictions on holding multiple government offices for purposes of their appointment as Frontier Delegate or Frontier Vice Delegate.
77. In the event a territory charter provides for a method of selecting its Frontier Delegate or Frontier Vice Delegate, the Delegate and Vice Delegate shall appoint the people who are chosen by the charter's selection process.
78. Frontier Delegates and Frontier Vice Delegates will be appointed following the conclusion of every regular General Election. The Delegate and the Vice Delegate do not have the power to remove a Frontier Delegate or Vice Delegate.
79. In the case of a vacancy or absence in the office of Frontier Delegate, the Frontier Vice Delegate will assume the duties of the office. In the case of a vacancy or absence in the office of Frontier Vice Delegate, the Vice Delegate may appoint an acting Frontier Vice Delegate until a permanent replacement is confirmed by the Regional Assembly.
80. Frontier Delegates will safeguard their respective territories from invasion or subversion of outside forces, faithfully execute the laws and enforce the regional guidelines of The North Pacific, and lead efforts within their respective territories of The North Pacific to encourage community growth and stability and engagement with The North Pacific and its other territories.
81. Frontier Delegates will cast their vote in the World Assembly in accordance with the Delegate's vote, or as directed by the Delegate.
82. Frontier Vice Delegates will lead efforts within their respective territories of The North Pacific to maintain endorsement levels for the Frontier Delegate and Frontier Vice Delegate, and will regularly report on the security of their territory to the Security Council.
83. At this time, The North Pacific has no territories.
84. The Speaker will update the preceding clause as appropriate.
Chapter 8: Emergency Situations
Section 8.1: Emergency Powers
1. The Regional Assembly may declare an actual emergency by majority vote. Votes on declaring emergencies must be expedited, and may last no longer than three days.
2. Concurrent with the declaration of an emergency, or anytime afterward while the emergency is ongoing, the Regional Assembly may, by majority vote, make both binding and nonbinding recommendations related to the ongoing emergency to government officials regarding an appropriate course of action, enforcement of regional laws, or other similar matter.
Section 8.2: Disease Control
3. A NationStates event involving an outbreak of an infectious disease shall be considered an actual emergency, and does not require a declaration by the RA.
4. In advance of an outbreak, or promptly after an outbreak begins, the government must present a poll to the public regarding how the government should respond. The poll must contain at least three substantially different options. The government will respond according to the will of the public expressed through that poll.
5. During an outbreak, the delegate is authorized to act in any reasonable manner to pursue the adopted plan. This includes, but is not limited to, ejecting or banning nations from the region who have entered the region during the crisis, imposing restrictions on national movement into the region, and granting Border Control to other government officials for the duration of the event.
6. No more than 30 days before the historical start of the event, the Delegate may appoint a Citizen to assist in the regional response to an infectious disease outbreak. The appointee is exempt from constitutional restrictions on holding multiple government offices for purposes of their appointment. The appointee's term shall end at the conclusion of the event.
7. Nations ejected or banned because of the outbreak must be promptly unbanned and invited to return once the emergency is over.
8. During an outbreak, no nation may have their status as a resident or citizen removed solely for leaving the region, so long as they return within three days of the end of the emergency.
9. Following an outbreak, the Speaker must promptly contact any resident or citizen who remains outside the region, and inform them that they are at risk of losing their status if they do not return within three days.
Section 8.3: Forum Access
10. The existence of widespread obstacles that impede access to the official forum of The North Pacific, including, but not limited to, Denial of Service attacks and prolonged server downtime, shall be considered an actual emergency, and does not require a declaration by the RA.
11. The governmental authorities of the region must inform the public of any forum access emergency, and continue to provide updates to the extent that is practicable for the duration of the emergency.
12. During a forum access emergency, no resident may be penalized for failing to take actions for which access to the forum is required.
13. The governmental authorities of the region are authorized to take any reasonable actions which they deem appropriate and which are consistent with the spirit and intent of regional laws to preserve the continuity of both community and government for the duration of the emergency.
Section 8.4: WA Delegacy
14. The resignation, recall, or loss of World Assembly membership of the legal or acting Delegate, or a legal or acting Frontier Delegate; or any capture of the delegacy of The North Pacific or the delegacies of its territories by any nation not the legal or acting Delegate, or a legal or acting Frontier Delegate; shall be considered an actual emergency, and does not require a declaration by the RA.
15. Delegacy emergencies that fall outside the scope of the above clause may be declared by majority vote of the RA only with the recommendation of the legal or acting Vice Delegate, in consultation with the Security Council.
16. During a delegacy emergency, the legal or acting Delegate may authorize any individual in the Line of Succession to hold the delegacy and to take any actions related to that position, including, but not limited to, voting in the World Assembly, moderating the Regional Message Board, and ejecting and banning nations from the region. The legal or acting Delegate may authorize an Executive government official to hold the delegacy of any territory of The North Pacific and to take any actions related to that position, including, but not limited to, moderating the Regional Message Board and ejecting and banning nations from the territory.
17. The in-game Delegate or in-game Frontier Delegate must follow any instructions from the legal or acting Delegate as to the execution of their powers.
Section 8.5: On-Site Access
18. Loss of access to the NationStates site, or issues with essential mechanisms relating to nations, regions or the World Assembly which make it functionally unusable, is an actual emergency and does not require a declaration by the Regional Assembly.
19. During such an emergency, government business requiring the use of the NationStates site shall be suspended.
20. Suspended time-sensitive government business shall not count time during the emergency.
21. Such an emergency will end when access to the NationStates site is restored and the site is functional.
Chapter 9: Cultural Declarations
1. This Chapter will include laws concerning the North Pacific's history and culture.
Section 9.1: Arms, Flag, and Seal
2. The following Coat of Arms, based on a design by ThelDran and updated by the Ministry of Culture of The North Pacific, is adopted as the Coat of Arms of The North Pacific:
3. The Arms are blazoned as: Barry wavy of four argent and azure, on a chief azure the North Star or and argent, the shield ensigned with a Mural Crown or.
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 Coat of 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 updated by the Ministry of Culture of The North Pacific is adopted as the official flag of The North Pacific:
Section 9.2: Celebration Days
7. Flag Day will be observed on the twenty-sixth of April, to commemorate the adoption of the flag of The North Pacific.
8. Democracy Day will be observed on the seventh of July, to recognizes the day the Constitution was ratified, and honor the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Legal Code of The North Pacific.
9. Delegates' Day will be observed on the ninth of September, to acknowledge the hard work of delegates past and present and praise their great contributions to the region.
10. NationStates Day will be observed on the thirteenth of November, to celebrate the establishment of NationStates and provide an opportunity to extend fellowship throughout the NationStates communities.
11. Celebration Days may be observed by regional events, festivals, games, contests, or other activities designed to evoke the spirit of the holiday.
12. The Delegate may proclaim additional one-time Celebration Days during the year as desired.
Section 9.3: Memorial Days
13. Manumission Day will be observed on the twenty-sixth of May. It marks the end of the delegacy of Pixiedance and the return of democratic government to The North Pacific.
14. Liberation Day will be observed on the twenty-eighth of July. It marks the overthrow of Great Bight and the return of native government to The North Pacific.
15. Blue Day will be observed on the twenty-third of November. It marks the establishment of the first official forum of The North Pacific.
16. Memorial Days preserve and honor the memory of important historical events. They will be observed by a temporary halt to non-essential government business. Any open votes in the Regional Assembly must be temporarily closed for twenty-four hours, and their length must be extended by the same amount of time it was closed.
Section 9.4: Religious Observance
17. Flemingovianism shall be adopted as the religion and church of The North Pacific.
18. All nations are guaranteed freedom of expression of all, any, or no religious belief, and that freedom shall not be curtailed.
19. The Flemingovian religion shall receive no financial or tax advantages through being the religion of The North Pacific.
20. Holidays of the Flemingovian religion shall be observed regionally, and all nations shall have the right to take a day off work, unpaid, on those holidays. Government officials are excluded from the effects of this clause.
21. No nation shall serve on the cabinet or any other appointed government position by virtue of their status in the Flemingovian religion.
22. Flemingovian officials may participate, as invited by the delegate, at all state functions.
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. This Code will be divided into several Chapters, which may contain Sections. Clauses must be numbered consecutively within a Chapter beginning with the number 1. Clauses may have subclauses in the form of letters in the event that a list must be referenced in the clause. Clauses may be referenced by chapter, clause number, and if applicable sub-clause letter, but clause numbers and sub-clause letters will not be considered part of the law, nor will they have any legal effects. The Speaker will manage the numbering of clauses in accordance with the above requirements.
Chapter 1: Criminal Code
1. No criminal case may be brought before the Court of the North Pacific against any resident 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. 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, The Communist Bloc and The Brotherhood of Malice are at war with TNP. At this time TNP is allied with Balder, Carcassonne, Equilism, Europe, Europeia, Greater Dienstad, International Democratic Union, Lazarus, Stargate, The League and Concord, The Pacific, the Rejected Realms, The Wellspring and the West Pacific.
5. The Speaker will update the preceding clause as appropriate.
Section 1.2: Espionage
6. "Espionage" is defined as sharing information with a group or region when that act of sharing has not been legitimately sanctioned by the entity the information is gathered from, as limited by this section.
7. The information shared must not be accessible to a person who is not a member of the region or group it is gathered from except by cracking technical security measures.
8. The information must be gathered from The North Pacific or a foreign power the Regional Assembly has ratified a treaty of alliance with.
9. The preceding clause also applies to foreign powers that the Regional Assembly has, by treaties other than alliances, agreed to prohibit espionage against.
10. The Regional Assembly has ratified treaties of alliance with Balder, Carcassone, Equilism, Europe, Europeia, Greater Dienstad, International Democratic Union, Lazarus, Stargate, The League and Concord, The Pacific, the Rejected Realms, the Wellspring and the West Pacific.
11. The Speaker will update the preceding clause as appropriate.
Section 1.3: Fraud
12. "Election fraud" is defined as the willful deception of residents 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.
13. "Fraud" is defined as an intentional deception, by falsehood or omission, made for some benefit or to damage another individual.
Section 1.4: Perjury
14. "Perjury" is defined as the willful provision of deceptive testimony provided under oath with the intent to deceive in a criminal trial being heard by the Court of The North Pacific.
Section 1.5: Interference with Recruitment
15. "Interference with Recruitment" is defined as sending any non-residents unsolicited recruitment advertisement(s) for The North Pacific by:
- Using a message substantively different from any authorized by the Delegate.
- Posting on regional message boards.
- Violating NationStates rules.
Section 1.6: Evidence Tampering
17. "Evidence Tampering" is defined as the willful manipulation or destruction in any way of evidence with the intent to deceive in a criminal trial being heard by the Court of The North Pacific
Section 1.7: Crashing
18. "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.
Section 1.8: Phishing
19. "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.
20. Phishing also includes the collection of personal information kept at the Forum.
Section 1.9: Spamming
21. "Spamming" is defined as any actions to waste space or cause shock on any off-site property or regional message board to make it unusable.
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.
Section 1.10: Proxying
23. "Proxying" is defined as use of a proxy server to render a forum user anonymous or any practice which allows a member multiple accounts.
24. Forum administrators will inform the Government and Court of Proxying they observe.
Section 1.11: Adspam
25. Recruitment for other regions on the Regional Message board may be regulated or prohibited by Delegate Decree.
Section 1.12: Conspiracy
26. "Conspiracy" is defined as planning, attempting, or helping to commit any crime under this criminal code.
Section 1.13: Gross Misconduct
27. "Gross Misconduct" is defined as the violation of an individual's legally mandated sworn oath, either willfully or through negligence.
Section 1.14: Exceptions
28. 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. Perjury may be punished by the suspension of voting rights, restriction on standing for election, and/or restriction on serving as a government official for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.
5. Evidence Tampering may be punished by the removal from office, suspension of voting rights, and/or restriction on standing for election for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Adspam prohibited by the Delegate may be punished by adspam suppression and summary ejection and/or banning from the region.
9. Conspiracy will be punished by a sentence strictly less than what would be appropriate for the original crime.
10. Gross Misconduct will be punished by removal from office and the suspension of voting rights for whatever finite duration the Court sees fit.
Chapter 3: Judicial Law
1. These procedures will govern the Judiciary.
Section 3.1: Chief Justice Selection
2. Whenever the position is vacant, the Justices shall elect a Chief Justice from among themselves by a majority vote.
3. In the event that a Chief Justice has not been elected by seven days after the conclusion of a Judicial election, including the conclusion of any required run-off votes, the Chief Justice shall be the Justice who first achieved a majority in that election.
Section 3.2: Appointment of Hearing Officers
4. A conflict of interest occurs when a Justice or Hearing Officer has a vested interest in a matter before the Court, or when they are otherwise unable to rule in a fair and unbiased manner.
5. Justices and Hearing Officers are required to recuse themselves from matters where they have a certain or potential conflict of interest.
6. If one or more Justice positions are vacant, or any Justice is absent or has recused themselves, the remaining Justices will promptly appoint replacements from among available citizens to participate as temporary Hearing Officers.
7. If all Justices are vacant, absent, or have recused themselves, the Delegate will promptly appoint the needed Hearing Officers from among available citizens with the agreement of the Speaker.
8. Any recusal or absence of a Hearing Officer will be treated as a vacancy.
9. The Court may recuse any Justice or Hearing Officer by majority vote.
10. The Court must hold a vote on whether to recuse a Justice or Hearing Officer when publicly requested by the prosecution, defense, or petitioner in any matter before the Court.
Section 3.3: Regional Bar of The North Pacific
11. All prosecutors in criminal trials must be members of the regional bar.
12. Any citizen who is not currently serving a judicially-imposed sentence may apply for admission to the regional bar. Any citizen who is given a judicially-imposed sentence while a member of the regional bar will have their admission to the regional bar revoked.
13. The regional bar will be governed by the Bar Commission, which consists of three citizens, one a Justice of the Court elected by a majority of the Court, one appointed by the Delegate, and one appointed by the Court and confirmed by a majority of the Regional Assembly. The citizens appointed by the Delegate and the Court may not be elected government officials, but will otherwise be exempt from constitutional restrictions on holding multiple government offices for purposes of their appointment to the Bar Commission.
14. The term of a Bar Commissioner will be six months, beginning on the day they take the Oath of Office. The Delegate and the Court do not have the power to remove Bar Commissioners.
15. Applicants to the regional bar must be evaluated by the Bar Commission for acceptability and must demonstrate adequate and reasonable knowledge of the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Legal Code of The North Pacific, and prior judicial rulings on requests for review.
16. A standard procedure for passing the bar evaluation, and for managing membership of the bar, will be established by majority agreement of the Bar Commission.
Section 3.4: Criminal Trial Procedure
17. A standard procedure for all criminal trials will be established by majority agreement of the Court.
18. Any person may present criminal charges to the Court. If the charges are accepted, the Delegate will appoint a prosecutor to manage the prosecution of the case. If the Delegate is the accused or unavailable, the next available person in the Line of Succession will appoint a prosecutor to manage prosecution of the case.
19. Any member of the regional bar may be appointed as a prosecutor and will be exempt from constitutional restrictions on holding multiple government offices for purposes of their appointment as a prosecutor.
20. The Delegate and other officials who may have appointed a prosecutor do not have the power to remove a prosecutor.
21. No one may prosecute or appoint prosecutors to a case in which they are the defendant or part of the defense.
22. If the original prosecutor is unable to see a case to completion, another prosecutor will be selected by the same procedure as the original prosecutor.
23. If the prosecutor discontinues management of the prosecution of a criminal case, then the complainant may, at their discretion, request another prosecutor be selected or withdraw the complaint.
24. If the complainant has not withdrawn the complaint within 7 days of the prosecutor discontinuing management of the case, the complaint will be considered withdrawn.
25. For the purposes of this section, "managing the prosecution of a case" includes but is not limited to:
- acting as the prosecutor for the duration of all stages of the criminal trial heard for the case;
- and representing the prosecution in any separate judicial review hearings arising from the criminal trial.
Section 3.5: Pre-Sentencing Ejections and Bans
27. The Delegate may eject and/or ban a particular nation from the region pending criminal charges against them, or prior to the conclusion of an ongoing criminal trial in which they are the defendant, only when that nation poses a clear security threat and their removal is necessary for the protection of the region.
28. The Delegate must seek the approval of the Court for any such ejection or ban. Where possible, this approval must be sought prior to the nation's removal from the region. Otherwise, it must be sought within one day of the action.
29. If the ejection or ban is performed during a criminal trial against that nation, approval will be at the discretion of the justice moderating the trial. Otherwise, any single justice may approve or deny the Delegate's request.
30. Any nation ejected or banned under this section may file an appeal of the decision. These appeals may not be denied, and must be decided by the full court.
31. The Delegate must immediately provide any nation ejected or banned under this section with a link to the Courtroom and inform them of their right to file an appeal.
32. If criminal charges are not brought against a nation ejected or banned under this section, or if the criminal charges are rejected by the Court, or if the nation is not found Guilty at the conclusion of the trial, any ban against that nation which was imposed under this section must be revoked.
Section 3.6: The Court Examiner
33. Whenever the position is vacant, the Bar Commission shall select from among the members of the regional bar by a majority vote, and the Chief Justice shall appoint, a Court Examiner. Citizens will be exempt from constitutional restrictions on holding multiple government offices for purposes of their appointment as Court Examiner.
34. The Court Examiner will have standing in all cases of judicial review brought before the Court.
35. The term of the Court Examiner will last until the end of the next regular Judicial election.
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.
2. All elected government officials will be required to take the Oath of Office within one week of their election, as certified by the Election Commission.
3. All government officials subject to confirmation by the Regional Assembly will be required to take the Oath of Office within one week of their confirmation, as verified by a member of the Speaker's Office.
4. All other government officials will be required to take the Oath of Office within one week of their appointment, as publicly announced.
5. The taking of the Oath constitutes assumption of the office. Failure to post the oath within the allotted time will result in the office being considered vacant.
Section 4.2: Election Law Definitions
6. "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 for quorum, activity, or other purposes.
7. "Candidates" are those citizens who, during the period of the election designated for candidacy declarations, declare themselves or accept a nomination by another citizen as a candidate for an office to be chosen at that election.
8. "Election" is defined as the period of time that begins on the first day on which candidacy declarations can be made and concludes with the final declaration of results for an election.
9. A "vacancy" in an office occurs when the holder of it resigns, is removed, or abandons it. An office is abandoned when its holder does not log onto the regional forums for two weeks, or when an election winner or appointee fails to post the Oath of Office. Pending an election, a vacancy may be temporarily filled as provided by the Constitution, this Legal Code, or a rule adopted by the appropriate body.
10. An "absence" in an office means that the holder of the office is by law temporarily prevented from exercising the duties of their office. An absent officer may be replaced for the duration of their absence as provided by the Constitution, this Legal Code, or a rule adopted by the appropriate body.
Section 4.3: The Election Commission
11. The Election Commission consists of at least five, but no more than nine citizens appointed by the Delegate and confirmed by a majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
12. Any citizen may be appointed to the Election Commission. Citizens will be exempt from constitutional restrictions on holding multiple government offices for purposes of their appointment to the Election Commission.
13. The term of an Election Commissioner will be six months, beginning on the day they take the Oath of Office, or at the conclusion of their previous term if they are reconfirmed and take the Oath of Office before their term expires. The Delegate does not have the power to remove an Election Commissioner.
14. All elections will be supervised by two Election Commissioners.
15. An Election Commissioner will be considered absent during any election in which they are a candidate, or during any election which began prior to the start of their term. Absent Election Commissioners may not supervise an election or participate in any decisions made by the Election Commission as a whole.
16. If there are fewer than five non-absent Election Commissioners, the remaining commissioners will appoint temporary replacements to bring their number up to five. If all Election Commissioners are absent, the delegate will appoint five temporary replacements. These replacements will serve until the number of non-absent commissioners is five or greater.
17. The Election Commission will have the power to make rules for the supervision of elections. Where no rules exist, the Election Commissioners supervising a given election may use their discretion.
18. Any citizen may petition the full Election Commission to review a decision made by the Election Commissioners supervising a given election. If necessary, the election may be halted while the Election Commission decides how to proceed.
19. If the full Election Commission determines that the actions under review are not in compliance with the law or their adopted rules, they will have the power, by majority vote, to overrule them. If deemed necessary, they will also have the power, by majority vote, to restart the election, or designate different commissioners to supervise the election.
Section 4.4: Overall Election Law
20. Citizens will be provided three days to declare their candidacy. Voting will begin two days after the candidacy declaration period has closed and last for five days.
21. Candidates may withdraw from the ballot anytime during an election.
22. Private votes may be sent by private message to a forum account designated for that purpose by the Election Commission. In such an event, the Election Commissioners supervising the election will promptly announce that a vote has been cast privately and who that vote was cast for. The Election Commissioners may not announce any other details about the vote.
23. The option to reopen nominations will appear on the ballot as a separate question for each race.
24. Should a majority vote to reopen nominations for a given race, a further two days will be provided for candidacy declarations.
25. Candidates for that race whose names appeared on the first ballot will retain their candidacy unless they choose to withdraw.
26. A second round of voting for that race will begin immediately after the candidacy declaration period has closed and last for five days. The option to reopen nominations will not appear on the new ballot.
27. The option to reopen nominations will not appear on the ballot for any runoff vote.
28. If during any voting round for a given race a candidate becomes invalid, then all votes for that candidate will be removed from voters' preferential ranking. The Election Commission will remove the candidate from the list of candidates and notify all citizens who have voted before the candidate became invalid.
29. If at any point in counting the votes for two or more candidates are tied for one position, the candidate who has the least votes at the latest stage of counting where there is a difference in votes will be eliminated. If this does not break a tie, a runoff vote will be held between the tied candidates.
Section 4.5: General Elections
30. The election of the Delegate, the Vice Delegate, and the Speaker will begin on the first day of the months of January, May, and September.
31. If there are more than two candidates for an election, voters may rank the candidates, with the candidate ranked 1 being the first preference, the candidate ranked 2 being the next preference, and so on.
32. All first preference votes shall be counted first. If no candidate achieves a majority, the candidate with the least votes shall be eliminated, and the next preference of all voters who had voted for the eliminated candidate as first preference shall be counted, with the process repeated until a candidate achieves a majority.
33. If all of a voter's preferences have been eliminated, the voter's ballot shall not be used in further counting.
Section 4.6: Judicial Elections
34. The election of the Justices will begin on the first day of the months of March, July, and November.
35. If there are more than three candidates for Justice, voters may rank the candidates, with the candidate ranked 1 being the first preference, the candidate ranked 2 being the next preference, and so on.
36. All first preference votes will be counted first. If no candidate achieves a majority, the candidate/s with the least votes will be eliminated, and the next preference of all voters who had voted for the eliminated candidate as first preference will be counted, with the process repeated until a candidate achieve a majority.
37. When a candidate achieves a majority, they will be elected. All votes will then be recounted using the same process, ignoring all preferences for the elected candidate. This will be repeated until three candidates are elected.
Section 4.7: Special Elections
38. A special election will be held in the event of a vacancy in any elected office or position, unless the election would be unable to conclude prior to two weeks before the beginning of the next scheduled election cycle for that office.
39. Special elections will follow the same procedures as regularly scheduled elections for the vacant office.
Chapter 5: Regional Security Law
1. Any laws regulating the Security Council or its activities must be listed in this chapter.
2. In this chapter, "Council" means the Security Council.
3. In this chapter, the Serving Delegate means the person holding the constitutionally-mandated elected office of Delegate or, in the case of a vacancy in that office, the person who has assumed the duties of that office. Serving Frontier Delegate means a person chosen by the Regional Assembly to hold the office of a Frontier Delegate, or in the case of a vacancy or absence in that office, the person that has assumed the duties of that office. The WA Delegate means the nation holding the WA Delegacy of the region The North Pacific. Frontier WA Delegate means a nation holding the WA Delegacy of a territory of The North Pacific.
Section 5.1: Requirements and Admission
4. Any person with an account on the regional forum and a nation in The North Pacific may apply to join the Council, as long as their nation satisfies any influence and endorsement requirements for membership. Any applicant who does not meet the appropriate requirements, or who ceases to meet them, is automatically rejected.
5. Security Councilors must meet the same influence and endorsement requirements as applicants to the Council, and may be suspended or removed if they fail to do so.
6. The influence requirement is a Soft Power Disbursement Rating within The North Pacific greater than or equal to 182,500, or an influence rank within The North Pacific greater than or equal to Apprentice, whichever is lower. The endorsement requirement is at least 500, or 50 percent of the Serving Delegate's endorsement count, whichever is lower.
7. By a two-thirds majority vote, the Security Council may exempt nations who have expended their influence in service to the region from any influence requirements to join the Council or to remain a member. Exemptions granted in such a manner remain valid until the exempted nation regains the required influence level.
Section 5.2: The Delegate and Vice Delegate
8. The Serving Delegate is responsible for maintaining an endorsement count that exceeds that of any other nation in The North Pacific. Serving Frontier Delegates are responsible for maintaining an endorsement count that exceeds that of any other nation in their respective territories of The North Pacific.
9. The Vice Delegate is responsible for maintaining an endorsement count at least that of 90 per cent of the WA Delegate's endorsement count. Frontier Vice Delegates are responsible for maintaining an endorsement count at least that of 70 per cent of the Frontier WA Delegate’s endorsement count in their respective territories of The North Pacific.
10. If the Delegate or Vice Delegate, or the Frontier Delegate or Frontier Vice Delegate, is below this level, they must promptly act to gather sufficient endorsements to meet or exceed the requirement.
11. Frontier Vice Delegates are responsible for setting an endorsement cap.
12. If the Delegate or Vice Delegate, or the Frontier Delegate or Frontier Vice Delegate nation ceases to exist, voluntarily departs The North Pacific, or the respective territory to which it is assigned; or resigns from the World Assembly, their office will be considered vacant.
13. If the Vice Delegate is temporarily unavailable, the Council may task one of its members with performing the duties of the Vice Delegate. The Council may hold a confirmation vote, but is not required to do so.
14. During any period when serving as acting Delegate, the Vice Delegate will be considered absent from the office of Vice Delegate. During any period when serving as acting Frontier Delegate, Frontier Vice Delegates will be considered absent from the office of Frontier Vice Delegate.
Section 5.3: Suspension and Removal
14. Whenever any Council member fails to meet the influence or endorsement count requirements to maintain their position without being granted an exemption, the Vice Delegate must promptly warn them. If the Council member does not come into compliance within eight days of the warning, the Vice Delegate must suspend them.
15. Suspended Council members will remain on the line of succession, but may not assume the duties of the Delegate or Vice Delegate if either position is vacated, nor may they participate in any votes conducted by the Council.
16. The Vice Delegate must promptly remove members of the Council whose member nations no longer exist, voluntarily depart The North Pacific, or resign from the World Assembly outside the needs of a NPA sanctioned mission.
17. The Vice Delegate must report any suspension or removal of a member of the Council to the Regional Assembly.
18. Suspended members that fail to come back into compliance within 45 days from the start of the suspension will be removed from the Security Council.
19. If a suspended member of the Council comes back into compliance with the endorsement and influence requirements, the Vice Delegate must promptly reinstate them.
20. If a Councilor's continued membership in the Council poses a security risk to The North Pacific, the Council may, by majority vote, request that the Regional Assembly vote on removing that Council member.
21. The Speaker's Office must submit any such request from the Council to an immediate two-thirds majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
Section 5.4: Reckless Endorsement Gathering
22. The Serving Delegate may eject or ban any nation in The North Pacific for reckless endorsement gathering that meets all of the following criteria:
- It is not in the Council or holding the office of Delegate or Vice Delegate.
- It has been reported to the Delegate as a possible threat to regional security by the Council.
- It has continued actively gathering endorsements after two warnings against gathering endorsements sent at least two days apart from each other.
- It has more endorsements than 80 per cent of the WA Delegate's endorsement level.
23. The Serving Delegate may eject or ban any nation in The North Pacific for reckless endorsement gathering that exceeds 85 per cent of the WA Delegate's endorsement level.
24. Nations banned for reckless endorsement gathering must remain banned at least until they update outside The North Pacific.
25. Unless a delegacy emergency is in effect, any Council member who exceeds the Vice Delegate's endorsement count while the Vice Delegate is above the required minimum for their position must stop seeking endorsements until they have fewer than the Vice Delegate.
26. Serving Frontier Delegates may eject or ban any nation in their respective territories of The North Pacific for reckless endorsement gathering that exceeds the Frontier Vice Delegate’s required minimum endorsement count.
27. Nations banned for reckless endorsement gathering must remain banned at least until they update outside the territory of The North Pacific.
Section 5.5: Endorsement Campaigns
29. The Serving Delegate may eject or ban any nation in The North Pacific for solicitation of nations to unendorse government officials or endorse nations that meets all of the following criteria:
- It is not in the Council or holding the office of Delegate or Vice Delegate.
- It has been reported to the Delegate as a possible threat to regional security by the Council.
- It has continued to actively solicit unendorsement of the Delegate, Vice Delegate, or members of the Council, or refuses to cooperate in reversing its solicitations or assist in recovering endorsements after being warned by the Council; or it has continued to actively solicit endorsement of a nation so that it will have more endorsements than the Delegate, Vice Delegate, or members of the Council, or refuses to cooperate in reversing its solicitations or assist in lowering endorsements after being warned by the Council.
- It is not in the Council or holding the office of Delegate or Vice Delegate.
- It has been reported to the Delegate as a possible threat to regional security by the Council.
- It has continued to actively solicit the unendorsement of the Frontier Delegate or Frontier Vice Delegate, or refuses to cooperate in reversing its solicitations or assist in recovering endorsements after being warned by the Council; or it has continued to actively solicit endorsement of a nation so that it will have more endorsements than the Frontier Delegate or Frontier Vice Delegate, or refuses to cooperate in reversing its solicitations or assist in lowering endorsements after being warned by the Council.
31. Disclosure of private Security Council records will be regulated in the same chapter regulating disclosure of executive government records.
Chapter 6: Regional Assembly Statutes
1. Any Law regulating the voting or membership of the Regional Assembly of The North Pacific must be listed in this chapter.
Section 6.1: Citizenship Applications
2. Any resident may apply for citizenship using their regional forum account, by providing the name of their nation in The North Pacific or one of its territories, and swearing an oath as follows:
3. A copy of the laws applicants are pledging to obey must be available to them at all times.
4. An application for citizenship ceases to be valid if at any time the applicant's declared nation in The North Pacific or one of its territories is not located in The North Pacific or one of its territories.
5. Forum administration will have 7 days to evaluate the citizenship applicant and verify that they are not using a proxy or evading a judicially-imposed penalty. The Vice Delegate will have 7 days to perform a security evaluation and pass or fail the applicant. The Vice Delegate must consult the Security Council if there is reasonable concern as to whether an applicant should be admitted.
6. The Vice Delegate will automatically fail any applicant who identifies as fascist or has engaged in the promotion of fascism.
7. The Vice Delegate will re-evaluate any applicant who failed an evaluation by forum administration if the applicant already passed an evaluation by the Vice Delegate, and the applicant's resident nation is in the World Assembly.
8. The Speaker will reject applicants who fail an evaluation by the Vice Delegate, or are confirmed by forum administration to be using more than one forum account or using a proxy.
9. The Speaker will reject applicants who fail an evaluation by forum administration and would not be subject to re-evaluation by the Vice Delegate.
10. If an applicant is rejected for failing an evaluation by the Vice Delegate, the Regional Assembly shall immediately debate the rejection and will hold a majority vote on whether to uphold it. The vote must begin two days after the rejection occurs.
11. The Regional Assembly may overturn a previous decision to uphold the rejection of an applicant by majority vote.
12. The Speaker will accept all other applicants with valid applications.
13. The Speaker will process applications within 7 days. If an applicant has not been approved or rejected within that time, they will be automatically granted citizenship.
Section 6.2: Administration and Loss of Citizenship
14. The Speaker will maintain a publicly viewable roster of citizens and their registered nations.
15. The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens whose removal is ordered by the Court, whose registered nations in The North Pacific or one of its territories leave or cease to exist, or whose citizenship is voluntarily renounced by notifying the Speaker.
16. The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens who, for over 30 consecutive days, neither post on the regional forum, nor post on the regional message board of The North Pacific or one of its territories with their registered nations.
17. The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens whose registered nations in The North Pacific or one of its territories are not in the World Assembly, except as part of an operation with the North Pacific Army, if their citizenship was granted after failing an evaluation by forum administration. This requirement will not apply if the citizens request and then pass another evaluation by forum administration.
18. The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens to whom they granted citizenship in error, if the error is discovered within 7 days of granting their citizenship.
19. The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens who are banned for maintaining a nation in a region or organization at war with The North Pacific.
20. The Speaker may request an evaluation by forum administration on any existing citizen at any time, and forum administration may evaluate any existing citizen at any time and inform the Speaker of its findings.
21. The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens who are confirmed to be using a second forum account or evading a judicially-imposed penalty.
22. The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens who are banned by forum administration.
23. The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens who passed an evaluation by the Vice Delegate but should have automatically failed that evaluation, if the Vice Delegate informs the Speaker of this error within 7 days of granting their citizenship.
Section 6.3: Voting
24. A citizen's vote will not be valid unless they maintain citizenship for the entire duration of the vote.
25. The number of votes required to achieve quorum for any legislative vote is equal to one third of the number of citizens who have voted in at least one of the three most recent legislative votes. A legislative vote is a vote of the Regional Assembly to enact, amend or repeal laws.
Chapter 7: Executive Government
1. Any Law regulating the executive government officials of The North Pacific may be listed in this chapter.
Section 7.1: Definitions
2. Executive Officers are government officials appointed by the Delegate to assist in the execution of their duties.
3. Advisors to the Delegate are government officials appointed by the Delegate who serve only to advise the Delegate, and are exempt from constitutional restrictions on holding multiple government offices for purposes of their appointment.
4. The Serving Delegate is the person holding the constitutionally-mandated elected office of the Delegate or, in the case of a vacancy or absence in that office, the person that has assumed the duties of that office.
5. The WA Delegate is the nation holding the WA Delegacy of the region The North Pacific.
6. A Serving Frontier Delegate is a person legally chosen to hold the office of a Frontier Delegate, or in the case of a vacancy or absence in that office, a person that has assumed the duties of that office. A Frontier WA Delegate is a nation holding the WA Delegacy of a territory of The North Pacific.
Section 7.2: Regional Officers
7. Regional Officers may only be appointed and granted powers as explicitly allowed under this section.
8. The Serving Delegate may assign any Regional Power, with the exception of Border Control, to any government official or nation created for the purpose of performing government functions.
9. The Serving Delegate may assign Border Control powers to any of the three members of the Security Council earliest in the Order of Succession.
10. In the event of a Delegate Emergency, or with the permission of a majority vote of the Regional Assembly, the Serving Delegate may assign Border Control powers to any member of the Security Council.
11. The WA Delegate will promptly grant all Regional Powers to the Serving Delegate and assign additional powers to other government officials or regional nations as instructed.
12. A Serving Frontier Delegate may assign any Regional Power, with the exception of Border Control, in territories of The North Pacific to any government official or nation created for the purpose of performing government functions.
13. A Serving Frontier Delegate may assign Border Control powers in territories of The North Pacific to any three Executive Officers as instructed by the Serving Delegate.
14. In the event of a Delegate Emergency, or with the permission of a majority vote of the Regional Assembly, a Serving Frontier Delegate may assign Border Control powers in territories of The North Pacific to any executive government official at their discretion.
15. A Frontier WA Delegate will promptly grant all Regional Powers in territories of The North Pacific to a Serving Frontier Delegate and assign additional powers to other government officials or nations created for the purpose of performing government functions.
Section 7.3: Onsite Authority
16. Violators of NationStates rules, residents banned offsite by forum administration, or residents who maintain a nation in a region or organization at war with The North Pacific, may be subject to summary ejection or banning.
17. Residents banned on the basis of forum bans imposed by forum administration may not be banned for longer than the length of the ban imposed by forum administration.
18. Nations recruiting for other regions may be subject to summary ejection or banning.
19. Nations for which the Court has issued an indictment permitting it may be ejected or banned.
20. Nations that have been so sentenced by the Court will be ejected or banned.
21. The official performing an ejection or ban will promptly inform the region and Government.
22. The Serving Delegate may regulate the Regional Message Board as they see fit.
23. Such regulations may not prohibit speech which is in the context of TNP politics.
24. Serving Frontier Delegates may regulate the Regional Message Board in territories of The North Pacific as they see fit, but the Serving Delegate may direct or overrule such regulation as they see fit.
25. Nations that have been banned for any of the above reasons may be subject to summary ejection or banning from any territories of The North Pacific.
26. All actions of the WA Delegate, the Serving Delegate, Frontier WA Delegate, Serving Frontier Delegate, or of their appointed Regional Officers related to this section will be subject to judicial review.
Section 7.4: Freedom of Information Act
27. For the purposes of this section "the government" refers to the Delegate and the Executive Officers, including the departments which they oversee, the Vice Delegate and Security Council, and the Speaker's office.
28. For the purposes of this section, “appropriate officers” are those officers responsible for the types of records being requested or released.
29. The Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive are responsible for records related to the Executive.
30. The Vice Delegate is responsible for records related to the Security Council.
31. The Speaker is responsible for records related to the Speaker's office.
32. For the purposes of this section, classified information is that which fits any of the below definitions:
- Real life information about any NationStates player from which there is a risk of inferring that player's real life identity and which has not willingly been disclosed to the public, including, but not limited to, an individual's name, IP address, physical address or location, phone number, place of employment or education, appearance, social media accounts, and other knowledge about a player, unless the player in question provides explicit consent for this information not to be considered private.
- Real life information about any NationStates player for which there exists a reasonable real life expectation of privacy or discretion, including, but not limited to, health status, both mental and physical; financial status; personal tragedies; changes in personal status such as marriage, divorce, pregnancy, birth, or death; and other similar information, unless the player in question provides explicit consent for this information not to be considered private.
- Information that, upon being made public, would jeopardize any ongoing military or intelligence operations; or jeopardize the security of units and agents participating in them, or be harmful to the diplomatic interests, military interests, or security of The North Pacific.
- Information that, upon being made public, would jeopardize Security Council operations in response to threats and attempted coups.
34. For the purposes of this section, "government records" are those which are kept on any platform utilized by the government and are open to members of the government and anyone assisting them.
35. For the purposes of this section, “private government records” are those which are kept on any platform utilized by the government and are restricted to only the Delegate, the designated officers of the Executive, and any other individuals granted access by the Delegate; only the Speaker, the Deputy Speakers, and any other individuals granted access by the Speaker; or only the Vice Delegate, the Security Council, and any other individuals granted access by the Vice Delegate.
36. Private government records which reach one year of age will be relocated to the appropriate Declassified Archive visible to residents.
37. At any time a resident may request the release of any government record or private government record through the appropriate officers.
38. The appropriate officers will retrieve information requested from the different departments of the government.
39. Residents who do not receive this information for any reason not specifically designated in appropriate laws or regulations may file a request for the information to the court, where the appropriate officers may present evidence that addresses any claim that release of the information meets one or more of the acceptable criteria for classification.
40. Information appropriately not disclosed will be accepted as classified by a majority vote of the Court sitting as a three-member panel.
Section 7.5: Mandatory Ministries
41. 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 and will report on events in the region.
42. 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.
43. There will be at least one Executive Officer charged with focusing primarily on matters of internal interest to The North Pacific.
Section 7.6: The North Pacific Army
44. The North Pacific Army is the military of The North Pacific. The Executive Officer charged with military affairs will endeavor to maintain an active and well trained military, capable of executing both offensive and defensive operations.
45. When deployed in a foreign region, The North Pacific Army will act with respect towards the natives of the region.
46. The Regional Assembly must be informed of all operations undertaken by The North Pacific Army as soon as practicable, unless they are classified by the Delegate or the Executive Officer in charge of the military.
47. The Regional Assembly may declassify an operation by a majority vote.
48. The following are Class A restricted actions:
- changing a region's World Factbook Entry without providing the region with the original content of the World Factbook Entry or a straightforward way to access that content;
- closing embassies;
- altering a region's pinned dispatch list;
- suppressing posts on a Regional Message Board;
- closing or opening a regional poll;
- applying a password to a region;
- banning or ejecting nations native to a region;
51. Members of The North Pacific Army may participate in joint operations with other militaries that perform restricted actions, and may serve as Regional Officers in foreign regions during such joint operations, but may not perform any restricted actions themselves in the joint operation, except where necessary to restore a region to a prior native-controlled state.
52. The Delegate may specifically or categorically exempt regions from some or all restricted actions. The Regional Assembly must be informed as soon as these exemptions are made. Exemptions to Class B restricted actions must be confirmed by a majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
53. Regions with which The North Pacific is at war are exempt from all restricted actions for the duration of the war. Natives of a region that request that The North Pacific Army perform restricted actions on them, whether independently or as part of a broader agreement, are exempt from those restricted actions.
54. The Regional Assembly may require The North Pacific Army to withdraw from any operation, and impose other requirements to reverse restricted actions it performed on that region during that operation, by majority vote.
55. Nations wishing to join The North Pacific Army must swear the following oath before being enlisted. All military rules that they are pledging to obey must be publicly visible.
Section 7.7: Diplomacy
56. The Delegate may choose to designate a region or organization to be prohibited from creating in-game embassies and forum embassies, hosting cultural events together or other formal collaborations with The North Pacific with a majority of the Regional Assembly confirming such.
57. These prohibitions may be repealed with a majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
58. Regions exempted by the Regional Assembly from the restrictions on the North Pacific Army will automatically have the diplomatic restrictions imposed on them.
59. The Delegate may establish agreements with other regions that are not treaties.
60. "Treaty" is defined as a formal agreement made between The North Pacific and one or more regions which binds all signatories to the terms in that agreement until it is formally revoked consistent with those terms; which is presented to and approved by all signatories' governments consistent with their own law's procedure for treaties; and which is mutually understood to be inseverable through any action but the aforementioned terms and regional laws.
Section 7.8: Absence
61. If the Delegate is temporarily unavailable, they may declare themselves absent.
62. In the event the Delegate ceases communication with the region or is otherwise not responsive for 7 days, the Executive Officers and the Vice Delegate may declare the Delegate absent by majority vote.
63. During an absence, the Delegate will continue to serve as the WA Delegate.
64. The absence will cease when the Delegate declares their return and resumes their duties.
Section 7.9: Territory Administration
65. The Delegate may propose the establishment of a new territory of The North Pacific, subject to approval by majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
66. Any other citizen may propose the establishment of a new territory of The North Pacific, subject to approval by two-thirds majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
67. An existing region may be established as a territory of The North Pacific through a treaty between that region and The North Pacific.
68. No territory will be established from an existing region without the consent of that region's community and formal approval of its legal government.
69. A territory may define for itself, in the form of a charter presented to the Regional Assembly, the proper assignment and use of its Regional Powers, with the exception of Border Control; the regulation of its Regional Message Board; residential voting policy; and the selection of its Frontier Delegate, Frontier Vice Delegate and Regional Officers; but may not contradict the Constitution or any Law of The North Pacific. Territories established through treaty may be exempted from this clause according to the terms of the treaty.
70. A territory may propose the establishment, amendment, or abolition of a charter, subject to approval by two-thirds majority vote of its residents and two-thirds majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
71. The Delegate may propose the amendment or abolition of a territory charter, subject to approval by two-thirds majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
72. A territory may propose the cessation of its territory status, subject to approval by two-thirds majority vote of its residents and majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
73. The Delegate may propose the cessation of territory status of a territory of The North Pacific, subject to approval by two-thirds majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
74. Any other citizen may propose the cessation of territory status of a territory of The North Pacific, subject to approval by three-quarters majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
75. The Delegate shall appoint a Frontier Delegate for each territory of The North Pacific, subject to confirmation by majority vote of the Regional Assembly. The Vice Delegate shall appoint a Frontier Vice Delegate for each territory of The North Pacific, subject to confirmation by a majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
76. Any citizen who is a resident of a territory of The North Pacific may be appointed Frontier Delegate or Frontier Vice Delegate of that territory. Citizens will be exempt from constitutional restrictions on holding multiple government offices for purposes of their appointment as Frontier Delegate or Frontier Vice Delegate.
77. In the event a territory charter provides for a method of selecting its Frontier Delegate or Frontier Vice Delegate, the Delegate and Vice Delegate shall appoint the people who are chosen by the charter's selection process.
78. Frontier Delegates and Frontier Vice Delegates will be appointed following the conclusion of every regular General Election. The Delegate and the Vice Delegate do not have the power to remove a Frontier Delegate or Vice Delegate.
79. In the case of a vacancy or absence in the office of Frontier Delegate, the Frontier Vice Delegate will assume the duties of the office. In the case of a vacancy or absence in the office of Frontier Vice Delegate, the Vice Delegate may appoint an acting Frontier Vice Delegate until a permanent replacement is confirmed by the Regional Assembly.
80. Frontier Delegates will safeguard their respective territories from invasion or subversion of outside forces, faithfully execute the laws and enforce the regional guidelines of The North Pacific, and lead efforts within their respective territories of The North Pacific to encourage community growth and stability and engagement with The North Pacific and its other territories.
81. Frontier Delegates will cast their vote in the World Assembly in accordance with the Delegate's vote, or as directed by the Delegate.
82. Frontier Vice Delegates will lead efforts within their respective territories of The North Pacific to maintain endorsement levels for the Frontier Delegate and Frontier Vice Delegate, and will regularly report on the security of their territory to the Security Council.
83. At this time, The North Pacific has no territories.
84. The Speaker will update the preceding clause as appropriate.
Chapter 8: Emergency Situations
Section 8.1: Emergency Powers
1. The Regional Assembly may declare an actual emergency by majority vote. Votes on declaring emergencies must be expedited, and may last no longer than three days.
2. Concurrent with the declaration of an emergency, or anytime afterward while the emergency is ongoing, the Regional Assembly may, by majority vote, make both binding and nonbinding recommendations related to the ongoing emergency to government officials regarding an appropriate course of action, enforcement of regional laws, or other similar matter.
Section 8.2: Disease Control
3. A NationStates event involving an outbreak of an infectious disease shall be considered an actual emergency, and does not require a declaration by the RA.
4. In advance of an outbreak, or promptly after an outbreak begins, the government must present a poll to the public regarding how the government should respond. The poll must contain at least three substantially different options. The government will respond according to the will of the public expressed through that poll.
5. During an outbreak, the delegate is authorized to act in any reasonable manner to pursue the adopted plan. This includes, but is not limited to, ejecting or banning nations from the region who have entered the region during the crisis, imposing restrictions on national movement into the region, and granting Border Control to other government officials for the duration of the event.
6. No more than 30 days before the historical start of the event, the Delegate may appoint a Citizen to assist in the regional response to an infectious disease outbreak. The appointee is exempt from constitutional restrictions on holding multiple government offices for purposes of their appointment. The appointee's term shall end at the conclusion of the event.
7. Nations ejected or banned because of the outbreak must be promptly unbanned and invited to return once the emergency is over.
8. During an outbreak, no nation may have their status as a resident or citizen removed solely for leaving the region, so long as they return within three days of the end of the emergency.
9. Following an outbreak, the Speaker must promptly contact any resident or citizen who remains outside the region, and inform them that they are at risk of losing their status if they do not return within three days.
Section 8.3: Forum Access
10. The existence of widespread obstacles that impede access to the official forum of The North Pacific, including, but not limited to, Denial of Service attacks and prolonged server downtime, shall be considered an actual emergency, and does not require a declaration by the RA.
11. The governmental authorities of the region must inform the public of any forum access emergency, and continue to provide updates to the extent that is practicable for the duration of the emergency.
12. During a forum access emergency, no resident may be penalized for failing to take actions for which access to the forum is required.
13. The governmental authorities of the region are authorized to take any reasonable actions which they deem appropriate and which are consistent with the spirit and intent of regional laws to preserve the continuity of both community and government for the duration of the emergency.
Section 8.4: WA Delegacy
14. The resignation, recall, or loss of World Assembly membership of the legal or acting Delegate, or a legal or acting Frontier Delegate; or any capture of the delegacy of The North Pacific or the delegacies of its territories by any nation not the legal or acting Delegate, or a legal or acting Frontier Delegate; shall be considered an actual emergency, and does not require a declaration by the RA.
15. Delegacy emergencies that fall outside the scope of the above clause may be declared by majority vote of the RA only with the recommendation of the legal or acting Vice Delegate, in consultation with the Security Council.
16. During a delegacy emergency, the legal or acting Delegate may authorize any individual in the Line of Succession to hold the delegacy and to take any actions related to that position, including, but not limited to, voting in the World Assembly, moderating the Regional Message Board, and ejecting and banning nations from the region. The legal or acting Delegate may authorize an Executive government official to hold the delegacy of any territory of The North Pacific and to take any actions related to that position, including, but not limited to, moderating the Regional Message Board and ejecting and banning nations from the territory.
17. The in-game Delegate or in-game Frontier Delegate must follow any instructions from the legal or acting Delegate as to the execution of their powers.
Section 8.5: On-Site Access
18. Loss of access to the NationStates site, or issues with essential mechanisms relating to nations, regions or the World Assembly which make it functionally unusable, is an actual emergency and does not require a declaration by the Regional Assembly.
19. During such an emergency, government business requiring the use of the NationStates site shall be suspended.
20. Suspended time-sensitive government business shall not count time during the emergency.
21. Such an emergency will end when access to the NationStates site is restored and the site is functional.
Chapter 9: Cultural Declarations
1. This Chapter will include laws concerning the North Pacific's history and culture.
Section 9.1: Arms, Flag, and Seal
2. The following Coat of Arms, based on a design by ThelDran and updated by the Ministry of Culture of The North Pacific, 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 Coat of 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 updated by the Ministry of Culture of The North Pacific is adopted as the official flag of The North Pacific:
Section 9.2: Celebration Days
7. Flag Day will be observed on the twenty-sixth of April, to commemorate the adoption of the flag of The North Pacific.
8. Democracy Day will be observed on the seventh of July, to recognizes the day the Constitution was ratified, and honor the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Legal Code of The North Pacific.
9. Delegates' Day will be observed on the ninth of September, to acknowledge the hard work of delegates past and present and praise their great contributions to the region.
10. NationStates Day will be observed on the thirteenth of November, to celebrate the establishment of NationStates and provide an opportunity to extend fellowship throughout the NationStates communities.
11. Celebration Days may be observed by regional events, festivals, games, contests, or other activities designed to evoke the spirit of the holiday.
12. The Delegate may proclaim additional one-time Celebration Days during the year as desired.
Section 9.3: Memorial Days
13. Manumission Day will be observed on the twenty-sixth of May. It marks the end of the delegacy of Pixiedance and the return of democratic government to The North Pacific.
14. Liberation Day will be observed on the twenty-eighth of July. It marks the overthrow of Great Bight and the return of native government to The North Pacific.
15. Blue Day will be observed on the twenty-third of November. It marks the establishment of the first official forum of The North Pacific.
16. Memorial Days preserve and honor the memory of important historical events. They will be observed by a temporary halt to non-essential government business. Any open votes in the Regional Assembly must be temporarily closed for twenty-four hours, and their length must be extended by the same amount of time it was closed.
Section 9.4: Religious Observance
17. Flemingovianism shall be adopted as the religion and church of The North Pacific.
18. All nations are guaranteed freedom of expression of all, any, or no religious belief, and that freedom shall not be curtailed.
19. The Flemingovian religion shall receive no financial or tax advantages through being the religion of The North Pacific.
20. Holidays of the Flemingovian religion shall be observed regionally, and all nations shall have the right to take a day off work, unpaid, on those holidays. Government officials are excluded from the effects of this clause.
21. No nation shall serve on the cabinet or any other appointed government position by virtue of their status in the Flemingovian religion.
22. Flemingovian officials may participate, as invited by the delegate, at all state functions.
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