Delegate Succession Review

Hileville

Hileville

TNPer
TNP Nation
Hileville
Discord
Dennrick#0489
Review filed here: http://forum.thenorthpacific.org/topic/7029388/1/#new

We need to rule on this sooner rather than later so your input is needed ASAP.

Article 6. General Provisions

1. All government officials must maintain membership in the Regional Assembly. Candidates in any election must maintain membership in the Regional Assembly for the fifteen days before the opening of nominations.
2. All government officials will swear an oath of office. The content of these oaths will be determined by law and be legally binding.
3. No person may simultaneously hold more than one elected office or simultaneously hold offices in more than one judicial, legislative or executive category.
4. Government bodies may create rules for their own governance subordinate to this constitution and the laws.
5. No law or government policy may contradict this constitution.
6. Procedures to fill vacancies in elected offices may be established by law.
Article 3. The Delegate and Vice Delegate

1. The Delegate will be the head of state and government of The North Pacific and hold the in-game position of delegate.
2. The Delegate may eject and ban nations from the region as permitted by law, and will eject or ban nations from the region when required by law.
3. The Delegate may negotiate treaties with foreign powers. No treaty will come into effect unless approved by a two-thirds majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
4. The Delegate may veto a proposal of the Regional Assembly to enact, amend or repeal a law within one week of its passage. The Regional Assembly may override such a veto by a two-thirds majority vote.
5. The Delegate may appoint executive officers to assist them and may dismiss these officers freely. Executive offices may be regulated by law.
6. The Vice Delegate will chair the Security Council and enforce the continued eligibility of its members as determined by law.
7. The Vice Delegate will hold the second most endorsements in the region. The Delegate may eject or ban any nation which exceeds the Vice Delegate’s endorsement count.
8. If the Delegate is removed or unable to serve, the Vice Delegate will assume the duties of the Delegate. If the Vice Delegate is also unable to serve, the first available person in the line of succession will assume the duties of the Delegate.
9. The Delegate and Vice Delegate will be elected by the Regional Assembly by a majority vote every four months. No person may serve more than two consecutive terms as Delegate.
Section 4.2: Election Law Definitions
4. "Abstentions" are not votes for or against any candidate, and may not be used to determine the results of any election. They may be used for quorum, activity, or other purposes.
5. "Candidates" are those citizens who declare themselves, or have accepted a nomination by another Assembly member preceding the close of nominations, as a candidate for an office to be chosen at that election. Candidates may only stand for one office during a given Election Cycle.
6. "Election Commissioner" is an individual designated to supervise a given election. No one who may be a candidate in an election may serve as an Election Commissioner during it.
7. "Election Cycle" is defined as the period of time that begins on the first day on which nominations, or a declaration, of candidacy are made and concludes with the final declaration of results for an election. The dates for the Election Cycle will be designated at least 30 days in advance by the Delegate .
8. A "vacancy" in an office occurs when the holder of it resigns, is removed, or abandons it. An office is abandoned when its holder does not log onto the regional forums for two weeks without prior notice, or when an election winner or appointee fails to post the Oath of Office. Vacancies of elected offices are filled through a special election unless a it cannot be completed prior to the beginning of the appropriate scheduled election cycle. Pending an election, however, a vacancy may be temporarily filled as provided by the Constitution, this Legal Code, or a rule adopted by the appropriate body. Vacancies of appointed positions may be filled in accordance with proper appointment procedures.

Bold mine.

I would say since the Constitution allows for the Law to be established on Vacancies the intent was to have elections in the Delegate election as well. However the Constitution also says when the Delegate is unable to serve the VD will assume the Duties of the Delegate. I think that can be interpreted a couple of different ways.

1. The VD automatically becomes Delegate (What Cormac and BW believe - as per their IRC convo that led to this review)
2. The VD can assume the office until an election is held (Which is how we handled it when Elu was recalled)

I think we can really go either way here based on the wording in the Constitution.
 
I'm not sure. While the Constitution does say that vacancies can be filled by law, it also says that when the Delegate is removed or unable to serve, the VD assumes his duties, i.e. becomes Delegate. So the Constitution outlines the procedure when the Delegacy is vacant.

I'm more inclined to say the Vice Delegate assumes the duties for the remainder of the term, because when the VD assumes the office, there is, technically, no vacancy to be filled.
 
I would disagree that the phrasing "assume the duties" is meaning for the remainder of the term. The Constitution does not say that. The thing is it does not say that the Vice Delegate assumes the office it specifically says duties. Which would mean to me that in the absence of the Delegate the Vice Delegate becomes "Acting Delegate".

I think this is a rather tricky review to be honest. I have gone back and forth on this every time I think about it
 
In the context of the game, though, the Vice-Delegate has to assume the office of the Delegate in order to carry out the duties. I think in any other position a distinction can be made, but the Delegacy is unique because of its ingame existence.

Because the Vice-Delegate has to assume the office to assume the duties, it then follows that the office is not vacant, so no election should be held.

Just my two cents.
 
Gah, I'm not sure. Gimme a few hours, and disregard the above until I look into the Constitution some more.
 
Ok, third post in a row, but this is after much thought and closer inspection of the constitution.

The Constitution refers to "office" throughout when referring to government positions. However, when it comes to detailing what happens in the event of a Delegate resigning, it says only that the VD will assume the duties. I think that is this a conscious decision, and that this means that the Vice-Delegate may not assume the office, but only the duties.

However, the VD must assume the ingame position to carry out the duties of the Delegate. Despite my earlier belief, I am now certain that holding the ingame position does not mean the VD assumes the office too. My reasoning is as follows:

Article 3.1 of the Constitution:
The Delegate will be the head of state and government of The North Pacific and hold the in-game position of delegate.
Click to expand...

My reading of this is that the Delegate must be both the HoS&G and hold the in-game position of Delegate. Although the VD assumes the latter, he is not recognised to assume the office of the former, and since both must be held to be Delegate, we can consider the Vice-Delegate to be assuming the duties, without assuming the office.

However, this also means that in the event a rogue takes the ingame position, the legal Delegate must be assumed to have vacated the office, as he no longer holds both.

***

As for whether resigning constitutes being unable to serve, I would argue the following. By resigning, the Delegate has shown an unwillingness to serve. I would argue that this is a severe impediment to his ability to serve, indeed, rendering him unable to serve, which is what the Constitution provides for. As such, I find that resignation does indeed constitute being unable to serve.
 
I'll have a response and a draft ruling tomorrow - I think there's an underlying theme to both of your opinions which reconciles with what I'm thinking.
 
Gaspo:
I'll have a response and a draft ruling tomorrow - I think there's an underlying theme to both of your opinions which reconciles with what I'm thinking.
Click to expand...
Were you able to get to this?
 
Working on this now, sorry for delay. Should have something tonight, RL is just rearing its head.
 
Ok so I got drunk. Here's my thinking, though...

I'm mostly in agreement with Sanct, but with a couple differences. When I see the Constitution say "Assume the duties of Delegate", I read that as the Duties being everything the Delegate has to do. 3.1 says that the Delegate shall be Head of State etc etc, and ingame Delegate. I don't agree with Sanct's implication (if I'm reading correctly) that the two are inseparable. Assuming the duties of Delegate means doing everything the Delegate does - head of state and ingame and head of government. All of it. I agree that resignation constitutes inability to serve. Lack of ability doesn't have to be an unwilling lack of ability - I could decide that I can't serve because of finals which I choose to focus on, and that would still have me being unwilling to serve by my own choice.

Now, the Constitution says that procedures to fill vacancies will be established by law. Except that there *is no vacancy* in the Delegacy. The VD assumes it immediately upon the Delegate being unable to serve. So the empty office is Vice-Delegate, not Delegate, and we should have an election for *that* office, rather than for the Delegacy. Yes, there needs to be an election, but a new election for Delegate is the wrong election to be having. The Legal Code doesn't even come into it, for me, because the Constitution trumps the legal code, and if there's no Vacancy in the Delegacy (and the Constitution specifically outlines how there cannot ever be a vacancy, by specifically outlining Order of Succession) then the Legal Code doesn't apply, because following that law in contradiction to the constitution would be unconstitutional. (Lol at that sentence).
 
The argument, though is that assuming duties are different to assuming office.

The Constitution mentions office throughout, so why wouldn't it use office when referring to the succession, unless it was specific in that the VD didn't assume the office, but only the duties.

And my side argument, not exactly relevant, was that although the VD assumes the ingame office of Delegate to carry out the duties, it doesn't mean he assumes the actual office of Delegate. The actual office is Head of State and Government, *and* ingame Delegate. And since Constitution says assumes duties, I read it as doing the duties of being Head of State & Government, but not being the Head of State & Government. So because he is not that, although he is the ingame Delegate, because he is not both, he cannot be Delegate.
 
I guess I just don't see why we make that big of a distinction between the two - I read 3.1 to place emphasis on the And, such that the two are construed to be intertwined for purposes of the constitution.
 
You should probably wait until you've seen my opinion though. I dunno what I'm going to include in it (i.e. whether or not my stuff about ingame delegacy not constituting the whole office of Delegate is actually relevant).

I'm also not sure whether public dissents are permitted, though as you have a right to free speech, I can't see why they wouldn't be.
 
The issues before the Court are: whether or not Article 6.6 of the Constitution covers the procedure when a Delegate vacates his office, or if it does not and the procedures for the situation when a Delegate vacate his office is covered by Article 3.8 of the Constitution; whether or not being "unable to serve", as said by the Constitution, includes a resignation; does the Vice Delegate succeed the Delegate for the remainder of the Delegate's term, or just until a special election for the office can be concluded. The Court shall take address each issue separately in this opinion.

***

On the first issue, it is the opinion of the Court that both Articles, 3.8 and 6.6, need not be exclusive and can indeed be complimentary. The Court shall expand on this in the last issue.

***

It is the further opinion of the Court that a resignation should be taken as being "unable to serve". A resignation is and of itself a severe and serious impediment on the ability for the Delegate to serve; indeed, it should be understood as not wanting to serve. The Court finds such to be implicitly included in Article 3.8 of the Constitution, specifically where it reads "unable to serve".

***

Finally, and more importantly as the Court has found this to be the major crux of the issues at hand, it is the opinion of the Court that where Article 3.8 of the Constitution refers to the Vice Delegate assuming the duties of the Delegate where he is removed or unable to serve, that clause mandates the Vice Delegate exercise the duties of the office but not the office itself. The Court further finds that Article 6.6 includes the elected office of the Delegate in its remit.

The Court reasons this due to the Constitution referring to "offices" in other provisions of the Constitution (2.3; 3.5; 6.3), however when referring to the situations where the Vice Delegate succeeds the Delegate, it specifies "duties" only. The Court believes that this is a conscious reference and should be read as different to the "office" mentioned in other articles of the Constitution.

It is the opinion of this Court that upon the removal or resignation of the Delegate, and indeed when he is unable to serve as written, that the Vice Delegate should assume the duties of the Delegate, but only the duties, and only until a special election electing a new Delegate has concluded and the new Delegate installed.

To clarify, a Vice Delegate does not succeed the Delegate in office, only his duties for a temporary period of time until a new Delegate elected, currently covered by Section 4.2.8 of the Legal Code which is allowed for by Article 6.6 of the Constitution.

***

Anticipating questions wherein it is asked "does not the Vice Delegate assume the office by virtue of his assuming the ingame office", the Court advises the following:

Article 3.1 of the Constitutions stipulates that "the Delegate will be the head of state and government of The North Pacific and hold the in-game position of delegate". It is the opinion of the Court that the Delegate must hold all positions in order to fulfil what the Constitution defines as the office. That is, the Delegate must be both the Head of State and Government, and hold the ingame position of Delegate. While the Vice Delegate may occupy the latter position, he does not occupy the former, and therefore this Court dismisses the opinion that he holds the office of Delegate just because he sits in the ingame Delegacy.
 
Ruling of the Court of the North Pacific​
In regards to the Judicial Inquiry filed by Cormac Stark on Vice Delegate Succession​

Opinion drafted by Sancatria, joined by Hileville and Gaspo​

The Court took into consideration the Inquiry filed here by Cormac Stark.

The Court took into consideration the Relevant Sections of the Constitution of the North Pacific:
Article 3: The Delegate and Vice Delegate:
1. The Delegate will be the head of state and government of The North Pacific and hold the in-game position of delegate.
2. The Delegate may eject and ban nations from the region as permitted by law, and will eject or ban nations from the region when required by law.
3. The Delegate may negotiate treaties with foreign powers. No treaty will come into effect unless approved by a two-thirds majority vote of the Regional Assembly.
4. The Delegate may veto a proposal of the Regional Assembly to enact, amend or repeal a law within one week of its passage. The Regional Assembly may override such a veto by a two-thirds majority vote.
5. The Delegate may appoint executive officers to assist them and may dismiss these officers freely. Executive offices may be regulated by law.
6. The Vice Delegate will chair the Security Council and enforce the continued eligibility of its members as determined by law.
7. The Vice Delegate will hold the second most endorsements in the region. The Delegate may eject or ban any nation which exceeds the Vice Delegate’s endorsement count.
8. If the Delegate is removed or unable to serve, the Vice Delegate will assume the duties of the Delegate. If the Vice Delegate is also unable to serve, the first available person in the line of succession will assume the duties of the Delegate.
9. The Delegate and Vice Delegate will be elected by the Regional Assembly by a majority vote every four months. No person may serve more than two consecutive terms as Delegate.
Click to expand...
Article 6. General Provisions:
1. All government officials must maintain membership in the Regional Assembly. Candidates in any election must maintain membership in the Regional Assembly for the fifteen days before the opening of nominations.
2. All government officials will swear an oath of office. The content of these oaths will be determined by law and be legally binding.
3. No person may simultaneously hold more than one elected office or simultaneously hold offices in more than one judicial, legislative or executive category.
4. Government bodies may create rules for their own governance subordinate to this constitution and the laws.
5. No law or government policy may contradict this constitution.
6. Procedures to fill vacancies in elected offices may be established by law.
Click to expand...
The Court took into consideration the Relevant Section of the Legal Code of the North Pacific:
Section 4.2: Election Law Definitions:
4. "Abstentions" are not votes for or against any candidate, and may not be used to determine the results of any election. They may be used for quorum, activity, or other purposes.
5. "Candidates" are those citizens who declare themselves, or have accepted a nomination by another Assembly member preceding the close of nominations, as a candidate for an office to be chosen at that election. Candidates may only stand for one office during a given Election Cycle.
6. "Election Commissioner" is an individual designated to supervise a given election. No one who may be a candidate in an election may serve as an Election Commissioner during it.
7. "Election Cycle" is defined as the period of time that begins on the first day on which nominations, or a declaration, of candidacy are made and concludes with the final declaration of results for an election. The dates for the Election Cycle will be designated at least 30 days in advance by the Delegate .
8. A "vacancy" in an office occurs when the holder of it resigns, is removed, or abandons it. An office is abandoned when its holder does not log onto the regional forums for two weeks without prior notice, or when an election winner or appointee fails to post the Oath of Office. Vacancies of elected offices are filled through a special election unless a it cannot be completed prior to the beginning of the appropriate scheduled election cycle. Pending an election, however, a vacancy may be temporarily filled as provided by the Constitution, this Legal Code, or a rule adopted by the appropriate body. Vacancies of appointed positions may be filled in accordance with proper appointment procedures.
Click to expand...
The Court opines the following:

The issues before the Court are: whether or not Article 6.6 of the Constitution covers the procedure when a Delegate vacates his office, or if it does not and the procedures for the situation when a Delegate vacate his office is covered by Article 3.8 of the Constitution; whether or not being "unable to serve", as said by the Constitution, includes a resignation; does the Vice Delegate succeed the Delegate for the remainder of the Delegate's term, or just until a special election for the office can be concluded. The Court shall take address each issue separately in this opinion.

On the first issue, it is the opinion of the Court that both Articles, 3.8 and 6.6, need not be exclusive and can indeed be complimentary. The Court shall expand on this in the last issue.

It is the further opinion of the Court that a resignation should be taken as being "unable to serve". A resignation is and of itself a severe and serious impediment on the ability for the Delegate to serve; indeed, it should be understood as not wanting to serve. The Court finds such to be implicitly included in Article 3.8 of the Constitution, specifically where it reads "unable to serve".

Finally, and more importantly as the Court has found this to be the major crux of the issues at hand, it is the opinion of the Court that where Article 3.8 of the Constitution refers to the Vice Delegate assuming the duties of the Delegate where he is removed or unable to serve, that clause mandates the Vice Delegate exercise the duties of the office but not the office itself. The Court further finds that Article 6.6 includes the elected office of the Delegate in its remit.

The Court reasons this due to the Constitution referring to "offices" in other provisions of the Constitution (2.3; 3.5; 6.3), however when referring to the situations where the Vice Delegate succeeds the Delegate, it specifies "duties" only. The Court believes that this is a conscious reference and should be read as different to the "office" mentioned in other articles of the Constitution.

It is the opinion of this Court that upon the removal or resignation of the Delegate, and indeed when he is unable to serve as written, that the Vice Delegate should assume the duties of the Delegate, but only the duties, and only until a special election electing a new Delegate has concluded and the new Delegate installed.

To clarify, a Vice Delegate does not succeed the Delegate in office, only his duties for a temporary period of time until a new Delegate elected, currently covered by Section 4.2.8 of the Legal Code which is allowed for by Article 6.6 of the Constitution.

Anticipating questions wherein it is asked "does not the Vice Delegate assume the office by virtue of his assuming the in-game office", the Court advises the following:

Article 3.1 of the Constitutions stipulates that "the Delegate will be the head of state and government of The North Pacific and hold the in-game position of delegate". It is the opinion of the Court that the Delegate must hold all positions in order to fulfill what the Constitution defines as the office. That is, the Delegate must be both the Head of State and Government, and hold the in-game position of Delegate. While the Vice Delegate may occupy the latter position, he does not occupy the former, and therefore this Court dismisses the opinion that he holds the office of Delegate just because he sits in the in-game Delegacy.

The Court also notes this decision was not the unanimous opinion of the Court.
 
You can't say it was unanimous and then say it was joined by every other Justice :P
 
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