Sol Accords - An Alernative Space Treaty

[Ceretis]

SOL ACCORDS / TERRAN DEFENSE FORCE:

OBJECTIVES:
Create an equitable framework and organization to organize the colonization, development, exploration, defense, and environmental protection of space and mediate disputes between individuals, groups, nations, or organizations. These accords are to do so in a manner that upholds the individual as the sovereign core of society and seeks to protect individual rights. The accords seek to uphold equality and the application of liberty, life, health, dignity, and estate.

Recognizing a need for an outer space treaty to protect these rights of an individual either individually or collectively, the accords are hereby established for deliberation, formation, and ratification.

Initial considerations have been laid forth below:



POLITICAL:
The outer space organization would be a multiple part system. The organization starts out as a political understanding of the rules of space allowing it to grow for everyone's benefit in a realistic manner without placing unrealistic expectations upon the situation. This organization recognizes conflict in one manner or another is inevitable, and operates to remediate these events as a neutral arbiter. The organization would be composed of those nations and groups that sign on as supporters vowing to abide by the laws, rules, and guidelines. The organization would set about rules for claiming and holding your claim, as well as your rights and responsibilities. These would protect your right to enjoy your claim limiting individuals and groups from imposing themselves upon another or being imposed upon except by the limited unifying framework required to operate an equitable social order and protect individuals rights. There would be a set minimum of unifying laws and regulations creating a readily understood set of basic rights allowing each group can set their own rules, rights, and regulations beyond those unifying laws. This may include a requirement to allow designated safe passage / travel routes through to other sections of space allowing further expansion / colonization by others. On planets it may require a travel route through to essential resources or civilization/the spaceport.



CLAIMS:
The organization would come up with the basics of rules governing the realistic claiming of territory without claims being 'I own everything.' Realistic fair guidelines that would allow for settlement, territorial expansion, private rights, etc without people claiming whole planets (unless it fits in the guidelines somehow.) Think of claims as seeds, if your claim/seed establishes itself and grows, then it can expand.

The claims process would be handled as a registry of claims through the treaty organization and enforced by the organization and its members. Nations and organizations can only claim and hold territory if they have the ability to do so effectively. If you stake a claim and can't get into space, you lose the claim. If you stake your claim and visit it only once, it's like RL national borders and you lose it if you don't exert power over the claim or over the life of the claim. (After fair warning to prevent unintended hostile action.) Exerting power over your claim may be as complex as placing operating colonies, administration of lease holders, or automated harvesters/etc within the claim while maintaining order over invasion/anarchy by military or other means. Claim holding can also be accomplished by regular census/surveys of idle parts of the claim while maintaining protection against invasion/anarchy by military or other means, or simply regular force patrols of given areas by your military forces.



LEGAL:
Recognizing that there will be conflict, and the best prevention is equitable mediation.
There would be a court system for settling of disputes, and compensation for realistic damages. Sets basic human rights and guidelines for travel/trade and protection against accidental violation of neighboring claim laws. This would be similar to state right to rule with common laws held nationally, local laws set specifics. Nation wide court acts as mediator and prevents or remediates issues with travelers running into very different laws and punishments for laws.



MILITARY:
This would also be a military alliance to defend against hostile invaders (nations, corporations, aliens, etc) Each organization/nation/signatory is to provide a quantity of support for the accord organization's defense, enforcement, and operational arms based on their size. They are also encouraged/required to maintain their own force. If attacked or overwhelmed (not out of lack of effort,) they will be supported by the Alliance Defense Force.



RESEARCH/SCIENCE:
There would be collaborative research and development of advanced offensive and defensive systems to defend the alliance and exert power regarding its sovereignty/interests. However if a member has advanced tech they are willing to sell/manufacture for the alliance at a fair cost, the alliance will use those systems until a better system is identified.

Research and development of technologies planetary/orbital/etc is encouraged for individual members of the organization. However, there is also a collaborative research and development arm of the organization that will research tech beneficial to the whole alliance. These projects will be announced, voted on, and all member nations would provide resources for the project and share in the benefits. (Resources: Scientists, funding, or materials.) There will also be opportunities for collaborative research and development of technologies shared only among nations participating in the research. For example, if 3 nations research and complete an advanced communications system, they will hold the rights to that system and can sell its services / equipment to others.




EXPLORATION / JOINT VENTURE:
The organization will also provide exploration/research of alliance held space and new uncharted space for expansion. There will be plenty of opportunity for joint missions, research, and investment in opportunities. There will be private launch and transportation systems on worlds and between worlds, as well as an alliance system to prevent gouging in distant colonies.

 

[Ceretis]

PREAMBLE:
THE PARTIES TO THIS ACCORD AND TREATY DETERMINED:

• to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilization of their peoples, founded on the principles of liberty, life, health, safety, happiness, dignity, and estate.
• to promote social advancement and better standards of life in larger freedom and liberty of its members.
• to preserve fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person
• to establish conditions under which justice and respect can be maintained
• to promote and preserve stability, peace, security, and well-being in the Sol Accords and its sphere of interest.

AND FOR THESE ENDS:

• to practice sympathetic understanding living together peacefully as good neighbors
• to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security for members
• to employ machinery and knowledge promoting economic and social advancement of its members to maintain competitive advantage, strength, and self sufficiency.
• to ensure that armed force shall be properly employed:

• When all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective
• When there is a serious prospects of success
• In a manner that the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated
• Where damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain
• In a manner that the response be commensurate with the evil; use of more violence than is strictly necessary would constitute an unjust war.

HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS
Accordingly, our respective Governments, Individuals, and Organizations through representatives assembled in the city of <<CITY TO BE DETERMINED>>, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the Sol Accords and do hereby establish a interstellar alliance to be known as the Sol Accords.

 

[Ceretis]

THEY THEREFORE AGREE TO THIS SOL ACCORDS TREATY:

Article 1
The Parties undertake, as set forth in the Charter of the World Assembly and modified by ratification herein, to settle any international dispute in which they may be involved by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security and justice are not endangered, and to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the previously mentioned rules on the use of force.

Article 2
The Parties will contribute toward the further development of peaceful and friendly interstellar relations by strengthening their free institutions, by bringing about a better understanding of the principles upon which these institutions are founded, and by promoting conditions of stability and well-being. They will seek to eliminate conflict in their interstellar economic policies and will encourage economic collaboration between any or all of them.

Article 3
In order more effectively to achieve the objectives of this Treaty, the Parties, separately and jointly, by means of continuous and effective self-help and mutual aid, will maintain and develop their individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack.

Article 4 (1)
The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.

Article 4 (2)
The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them the equality or application of liberty, life, health, dignity, or estate is unjustly threatened.

Article 5
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self defense recognized by *** RESOLUTION # ??? OR ARTICLE # ETC *** of the World Assembly, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force or other means, to restore and maintain the security of the Sol Accords.

Such measures shall be terminated upon satisfactory restoration of peace and security and the establishment of any required measures, doctrines, procedures, or other steps ensuring the continued peace and security of the Sol Accords.

Article 6 (1)
For the purpose of Article 5, an attack on one or more of the Parties is deemed to include an attack:
on the territory of any of the Parties in The North Pacific or trans regional territory or colony, on the territory of or on the islands under the jurisdiction of any of the Parties in The North Pacific or trans regional holdings;
on the forces, vessels, or aircraft of any of the Parties, when in or over these territories or any other area in The North Pacific or any trans regional locations in which occupation forces of any of the Parties were stationed on the date when the Treaty entered into force.
Special action zones may be included in this list if voted upon by the assembly and enacted with a two thirds majority vote.

Article 6 (2)
For the purpose of Article 5, an attack on one or more of the Parties is deemed to include an attack:
by means of direct or indirect force application by a nation, state, organization, or coherent group or entity causing recognizable grievous long term harm.
By conventional means (e.g. standard weaponry, etc) or unconventional means (terrorism, chemical, biological, nuclear, digital, etc), or by an alternate party (mercenary forces, auxiliaries, organizations, intelligence services, etc), in a manner that causes recognizable grievous long term harm.

Article 7
This Treaty does not affect, and shall not be interpreted as affecting in any way the rights and obligations of the World Assembly, or the primary responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security.

Article 8 (1)
Each Party declares that none of the international engagements now in force between it and any other of the Parties or any third State is in conflict with the provisions of this Treaty, and undertakes not to enter into any international engagement in conflict with this Treaty.

Article 8 (2)
Should any Party enter into a agreement/organization which may cause a cascade / entangled alliance, the Sol Accords will not be held responsible for their defense in situations specific to the actions of the other agreement/organization. This is to prevent an entangled alliance which has the potential to cause and has cause prior world wars. The member in question may request the assistance of the Sol Accords in these situations.

If a request for assistance is brought before the alliance, only defensive capacity will be deployed to the member nation if required, and notification of semi-neutrality / temporary defense in the conflict until completion of vote will be transmitted to any enemy forces approaching alliance engagement zones.

Article 9
The Parties hereby establish a Council, on which each of them shall be represented, to consider matters concerning the implementation of this Treaty. The Council shall be so organized as to be able to meet promptly at any time. The Council shall set up such subsidiary bodies as may be necessary; in particular it shall establish immediately a defense committee which shall recommend measures for the implementation of Articles 3 and 5.

Article 10 (1)
Sol Accords invites other nations seeking to share and further the principles and interests of this treaty and to contribute to the defense of territories, jurisdictions, and specific interests of the alliance to accede to this Treaty. Any State may become a Party to the Treaty by depositing its instrument of accession (meeting all requirements, completed declaration of intent application, and completed oath) with the governing body of the Sol Accords by means of public declaration in the application thread. The Government of the Sol Accords will inform each of the Parties of the deposit of each such instrument of accession in the same thread by declaring an application accepted or rejected with reason. The applicant will be accepted or rejected by review of the Secretary-General or their appointee.

Article 10 (1)
Admission into the Sol Accords is freely granted to any party that is not visibly inconsistent with the principles of the Sol Accords, its interests, currently participating in another organization that holds opposing views or interests, or fails to meet the entrance requirements and provide the instruments of accession in completed form. This however does not mean that a member can not be removed from the alliance due to willful endangerment of the alliance, its members, its interests, or being a grievous disruption, hindrance, or subversive withing the alliance preventing proper operation of the alliance and its goals.
If a member has been accepted into the alliance and is found in violation of the above stated situation(s), they will be officially notified by the Government of the Sol Accords and given opportunity to explain or amend the situation to the satisfaction of the membership. Failure to do so may lead to dismissal proceedings.

Dismissal proceedings:

• A member must meet one of the above mentioned requirements for dismissal.
• The member must be notified of this situation and must be given opportunity for satisfactory explanation and/or opportunity to make ammends to the satisfaction of the membership.
• Failure for satisfactory remediation calls for an immediate vote by the alliance with a two-thirds vote required for dismissal of membership.*

*If the case is related to a grievous disruption or hindrance, they may with one third membership vote be allowed a trial to prove or reject this claim. The case will be decided by a panel consisting of one pro claim, one anti claim, and one to three neutral arbiters from outside the alliance. The case will be determined by a majority vote among judges.

Article 11
This Treaty shall be ratified and its provisions carried out by the Parties in accordance with their respective constitutional processes. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited as soon as possible with the Government of the Sol Accords. The Treaty shall enter into force between the States which have ratified it as soon as the ratifications of the majority of the signatories have been deposited and shall come into effect with respect to other States on the date of the deposit of their ratifications.

Article 12
After the Treaty has been ratified and is in force, the Parties shall, if any of them so requests, consult together for the purpose of reviewing the Treaty, having regard for the factors then affecting peace and security in the Sol lands and sphere of influence, including the development of universal as well as regional arrangements under the Charter of the World Assembly for the maintenance of international peace and security.

Article 13
After the Treaty has been ratified and is in force, any Party may cease to be a Party 3 months after its notice of denunciation has been given to the Government of the Sol Accords. The notice can only be accepted after fully participating in and desiring to amicably reconcile their grievance and be willing to allow for reasonable concession. If no reconciliation can be achieved, submission of notice of denunciation has been deposited, and waiting period completed; the government of the Sol Accords will sever alliance ties with said government and inform the Governments of the other Parties of the completed separation.

<<ADDITIONAL ARTICLE TO BE ADDED>> <<Establishment of localized and emergency operations centers in each member groups territory. These locations will act as forward operations and observation centers as needed. When not in operation, they are maintained in a moments notice state. In their inactive state they operate as the local office for the groups representative, local archive, and local administration office for actions and processing of request or materials.>>

Article 14
The following flag shall be established as the official flag of the Sol Accords:
<<TBD>>


The following seal shall be established as the official seal of the Sol Accords:
<<TBD>>

Article 15
The primary headquarters of the Sol Accords shall be located in the city of <<TBD>>, with a secondary HQ in <<TBD>>. Its building shall be maintained by teams sent from every nation and group in the Alliance, and the headquarters shall be referred to, simply, as Accord HQ. Additional sub-offices will be established if need be via a majority vote. The address of the headquarters is as follows:

<<TBD>>

Article 16
The Secretary-General is an official from one of the member states who is elected by the Alliance members via a two-thirds majority vote. Only two nations may stand for candidacy during an election, and a Secretary-General's term is 2 months. The Secretary-General is the leading official of the Alliance and ensures it is kept together. To ensure the security of the Alliance during its founding times, the Charter mandates the first Secretary-General be the representative from the following member group: <<TBD>>.

The Alliance as a whole will not have a specific, formal structure, and will simply be run collectively by its members. The Secretary-General, however, shall preside over its meetings as a sort-of "Speaker". Any member of the Alliance may suggest a meeting and a meeting will be scheduled, preferably on IRC.

Article 17
This Treaty, of which is written in all official languages of the alliance are equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the Government of the Sol Accords. Duly certified copies will be transmitted by that Group to the Governments/Leadership of other signatories.

 

[Kannex]

Mein Gott, this is long.

I think "liberty, life, health, safety, happiness, dignity, and estate" can simply be "life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness."

Specifically what will be the political structure of this organization, and how much control will it have over inter-state dealings and commerce?

What steps will the organization take to ensure economic harmony? Perhaps a free trade zone?

And I'd like for a catchier name.

 

[Syrixia]

Just curious, I see a lot of similarities to the Helmebaine Alliance Charter in parts of these Accords. Consider this your notice of cease-and-desist. Well, more like cease-and-edit. XD

Actually, TBH, I see a treaty of sorts as a bit unfair in terms of the future RP as that limits the whole premise- conquering parts of space and competing against other nations, and kind of out-of-place in the present, as the treaty establishes an entire UN-like ORGANIZATION, which is kind of unnecessary, as we already have a multitude of those, and an outer space treaty doesn't really need to morph into an organization to begin with. I think Cascadia's current treaty is just right.

Nevertheless, while I do think this is totally unnecessary, I love its conciseness and think you should use your document-writing talents to create a constitution for your nation, or perhaps write a detailed factbook of some sort.

 

[Ceretis]

I think "liberty, life, health, safety, happiness, dignity, and estate" can simply be "life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness."

That change sounds fine with me.

This is all very open at this point and I'd love to hear suggestions and changes:
I am thinking about a sort of Republic with a congress. Designed for maximum state operational rights, the Accord acts more as a mediator and sets the basic interstate commerce guidelines allowing for fair trade and protection against fraud. The Accord level would act more to support the individual states/groups as needed under the law. Larger scale events such as interaction with larger entities or organizations would be handled by the Accord on behalf of its membership.

Setting basic economic regulations and guidelines for commerce to prevent fraud; and a free trade zone are both excellent steps. Regulation of interstellar ships to maintain safety for occupants and environment including licensing pilots to prevent obvious problems. Possible regulation of unclaimed lands as public lands until they are claimed.


Name is open to discussion as well. What were you thinking as a name?

 

[Syrixia]

Here's my last post condensed into two viewpoints.

Present Day- What's the point of another international organization? We have too many and we already have a working outer space treaty. -.-

Future RP- What's the point of a UN-like organization when the premise of the RP is to compete with other nations in a space-grab? It's more fun without a mediator.

Again, loving the concise writing and you should totally use it in other places, but I simply don't find this treaty useful, and find it rather extraneous. Sorry if that was rude, just my .

 

[Ceretis]

I'll modify out the limited number of clauses that are similar to the alliances. However the lions share is actually not the alliances and was proposed by me and rejected for use. Thus it's still mine, and it's here.

The problem with cascadia's treaty, although good, is that it does not properly allow for individual freedoms, restricts economic incentive, and places nations as responsible for actions of citizens in an inconsistent manner to their authority among other problems. Further it makes astronauts 'ambassadors' of humanity, no, just no; they're not my ambassador.
Last, it also fails to organize a proper claims system.

 

[Ceretis]

The organization does not restrict competition like the UN but allows for competition. It's a defensive pact against other organizations that may emerge including space based factions, organizations, and pirates.

The Accord doesn't claim all of the Universe like the Kim Jong Il/The UN does, but its realm extends based on given conditions. The future RP may be outside its borders.

The UN doesn't have the political will or interest to accomplish such a task effectively. The Outer space treaty is not designed with this in mind, and about 40 years worth of the treaty IRL proves that.

Plus one last thing. The current outer space treaty wouldn't allow for ANY space grab like the future RP is doing because no one is allowed to own or control anything.

 

[Kannex]

We're more like the Earth Federation in any given space anime.

Setting basic economic regulations and guidelines for commerce to prevent fraud; and a free trade zone are both excellent steps. Regulation of interstellar ships to maintain safety for occupants and environment including licensing pilots to prevent obvious problems. Possible regulation of unclaimed lands as public lands until they are claimed.

Sounds good. Maintenance of light-jump stations should be another task.

 

[Ceretis]

Definitely, needing to maintain any FTL stations and planetary launch points should be included.