(OOC OPEN DISCUSSION. FEEL FREE TO LEAVE FEEDBACK OR COMMENTS.)
I would like to put forth the following proposal which would replace the International Association of Nations with a new organization named the Society of Nations that is much more comprehensive in scope in what it allows those who join and participate to do while role playing on these forums. This proposal came about as a collaborative effort between myself and Lore and a few others who read and commented via Discord private messages.
The goals of this proposal was twofold:
1) TO ADDRESS THE SHORTCOMINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF NATIONS: One of the biggest failings that we could see was that the International Association of Nation’s charter was very bare bones and did not set any precedent for what the organization could accomplish or how it could go about doing anything, be it electing the Secretary General, moving a proposed legislative piece forward for a vote, etc. The Society of Nations addresses this issue by setting forth very clear guidelines on what the organization can and cannot do and at the same time, puts forth five founding members who are to act as the collective head of the organization until it has found its feet and is off the ground running.
2) THE ELIMINATION OF THE POTENTIAL GRIDLOCK OF POWER BY ONE INDIVIDUAL ROLE PLAYER: In the International Association of Nations, you had the organization led by one role player who was elected by others to act as the Secretary-General. This individual was supported in their task by five role players who were elected to the Council of Nations. The major issues that arose from this setup was that if there were a significant majority of the Council members against the agenda of the Secretary-General, it caused the organization to ground to a halt. With the Society of Nations, we attempted to address this issue head on by shattering the power of one individual being in charge of the organization. What we instead came up with came to be called the International Advisory Board, a group of five elected individuals who share equal power and act as a collective head of the Society of Nations. Within this group of five, one would be elected by the Board members as the President of the Society of Nations. Whoever was elected and held the role of President would head board meetings and be given the ability to act with the full authority of the International Advisory Board should the other Board members fail to act or respond in time, as outlined in the Charter. This power to act was kept in check by allowing the other members of the Board, basically 50% or more of the remaining members, to enact a stay that could halt the President’s actions. Outside of this authority to act, the President would have no additional powers above and beyond the other Board members and would essentially be equal in what they can and cannot do.
Brief Synopsis (tl;dr)
The Society of Nations is a role-played intergovernmental organization similar to the real life United Nations and is primarily designed to help promote international co-operation between the various role-players in the North Pacific. It is comprised of three primary parts; the International Advisory Board, the Assembly of States and the Eras Court of Justice.
The International Advisory Board is comprised of five national representatives who together act as the collective head of the entire Society of Nations. From within their ranks, they elect a President of the Board who oversees votes and helps to form the organization’s agenda. The Assembly of States is made up of one representative from every Member State and is responsible for drafting legislation that is debated and then brought forward by a simple majority of the Board members for a vote. The Eras Court of Justice is designed to allow role-players to create scenarios to enforce international law and prosecute crimes against humanity and crimes of war as they appear in various role-plays.
The Declaration of Human Rights and the Wartime Conventions, are supplemental and in addition to the Charter of the Society of Nations. As such, further discussion and debate is needed to finalize their details.
Caretaker Nations
The Caretaker Nations of the Society of Nations are five appointed founding nations. They are the Merilian League (representing the Trillium Accord), the Coalition of the Greater Ilia (representing the Trillium Accord and co-author of the Charter), the Imperial Goyanean Federation (representing the Pan-Gotic Union), the Empire of Syrixia (representing the Phoenix Union) and one other nation. The Caretaker’s shall be be responsible for the debate and finalization of details surrounding the two supplemental documents to the Charter, the Declaration of Human Rights and the Wartime Conventions and working with the Assembly of States to get them passed. Once these two documents have been finalized and passed, the Caretaker’s shall oversee elections to elect five new members to the International Advisory Board with any Caretaker nation able to put their representative’s name forward for nomination.
Charter of the Society of Nations
Preamble
WE THE PEOPLES OF ERAS, DETERMINED
To reaffirm faith in in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small,
and
To establish conditions among the various nations under which justice and respect for international law can be maintained,
and
To maintain international peace and security,
HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS.
Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of Alcária in the Merilian League, have agreed to the present Charter and do hereby establish an international organization to be henceforth known as the Society of Nations.
Chapter I: Purposes and Principles
Article 1 - Mission Statement
The Purposes of the Society of Nations are:
To maintain international peace and security;
To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples;
To achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian nature;
To respect the rights of all human beings as granted by local or international law;
To endeavor to conduct trade in an upstanding manner.
Article 2 - Duties of the Members
The Society of Nations and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles.
The Society of Nations is based on the sovereign equality of all its Members.
Members, in exchange for all the rights and benefits of membership, shall seek to fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present Charter.
Members shall be encouraged to settle all international disputes through peaceful means in the interest of international security, peace, and justice.
Members are encouraged to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.
Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the Society of Nations to intervene in matters which are within the domestic jurisdiction of any state nor shall this require Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter, but this principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter VlIl (Enforcement of Injustices Against Humanity).
Article 3 - Regional Alliances
Nothing in the present Charter precludes the existence of regional alliances for dealing with such matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security as well as cultural and economic cooperation.
The Society of Nations shall work with the the regional alliances and utilize their help in matters of enforcement under the Society’s authority.
Chapter II: Membership
Article 4 - Overview
(OOC): As this is a role played and heavily modified version of the real life United Nations, the Society of Nations is taking a slightly different approach to membership. Every role player will be automatically enrolled as a member of this organization albeit their membership will be subject to a few caveats listed below.
Membership in the Society of Nations shall be automatic for all nations of Eras and they shall carry out the obligations contained in the present Charter.
Should a Member no longer wish to be a part of the Society of Nations, they may opt out by submitting a post to the International Advisory Board informing them that their nation is leaving the organization. (OOC: The method by which a players informs others that they are opting out will be up to that individual with either a Forum PM to a Board member, a Discord Message to a Board member or a message in the Society of Nations Discord Channel sufficient enough for opting out.)
A Member who has opted out of the Society of Nations shall not be excluded from the organization in the future should he or she wish to rejoin. If a member chooses to rejoin, they must submit an application which shall be accepted via a simple majority (50%+1) of the Members of the International Advisory Board.
(OOC): Each player can have multiple nations in the Society of Nations but only one of those nations, at the discretion of the player, shall have voting privileges to maintain balance and fairness in the voting process.
Article 5 - Revocation of Membership
Members against which enforcement action has been taken, according to Chapter VIII (Enforcement of Injustices Against Humanity) of the present Charter, may be temporarily suspended from the Assembly of States upon the recommendation of the International Advisory Board. The suspended member may be reinstated by a simple majority of the Board members (50%+1).
Members which have persistently violated the Principles contained in the present Charter may be expelled by a super majority (66%) of the members of the Assembly of States upon the recommendation of the International Advisory Board.
Chapter III: Departments of the Society of Nations
Article 6 - Overview
The following are established as principal departments of the Society of Nations: the International Advisory Board, the Assembly of States and the Eras Court of Justice.
Additional departments may be established if they are found necessary.
Chapter IV: International Advisory Board
Article 7 - Overview
The International Advisory Board shall be the collective head of the Society of Nations and be comprised of five national representatives.
From among the five members on the International Advisory Board, one shall be elected from within their rank as the President of the Society of Nations who shall preside over Board meetings.
In urgent situations where the Board members can not be assembled in time to render a decision, the President is empowered to act with the full authority of the International Advisory Board (OOC: if the full membership of the Board does not respond to a request from the President of the Society of Nations within three days time, this point comes into play).
These decisions are subject to a stay should a simple majority of the remaining Advisors (50%+1) sign a memorandum against the actions undertaken by the President of the Board.
Apart from the above mentioned situation, Members who are elected to the International Advisory Board are considered primus inter pares, having no power above and beyond that of the other members.
Article 8 - Composition of the Board
The number of Members that comprise the International Advisory Board shall sit at five and rise to a maximum of fifteen as the Assembly of States deems necessary.
The International Advisory Board shall always be comprised of an odd number of seats to prevent deadlocks in voting.
Should the Board Members express a need for an expanded membership with all sitting members in agreement, they can propose a permanent or temporary increase to the Assembly of States, at their discretion of whether or not to accept the measure.
Article 9 - Terms and Elections
Members who are elected to the International Advisory Board shall sit for one term (OOC: three months) and then shall resign.
Members may sit for a maximum of two consecutive terms if re-elected (OOC: six months) after which they are barred from the International Advisory Board for one term (OOC: three months).
Members, through their representatives, shall be empowered to seek a seat on the International Advisory Board upon the announcement of elections.
Upon the announcement of elections, each Member, through their representative, shall be granted one vote for every seat that is vacant, though they maintain the right to abstain with any of these votes, and further shall not use more then two votes for any single candidate.
Article 10 - Power and Duties of the Board
In order to ensure prompt and effective action by the Society of Nations, the Members of the International Advisory Board shall have the primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security by enforcing the measures laid out in this Charter.
The Members of the Society of Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the International Advisory Board in accordance with the present Charter.
The International Advisory Board shall be responsible for setting the agenda of the Society of Nations and for ensuring compliance by Members of all legislation passed by the Assembly of States via the use of the provisions stated in Chapter VIII (Enforcement of Injustices Against Humanity).
Article 11 - Procedures of the Board
Each member of the International Advisory Board shall have one vote.
Should a simple majority (50%+1) of the Board members vote to move a proposal or measure forward, it shall go before the Assembly of States for a full vote where it requires a majority of the Assembly Members to be in favor to pass.
Voting at both the International Advisory Board and Assembly of States level shall be overseen by the President of the Board.
Should the President be otherwise unable, or unwilling, a vote shall be overseen by any willing member of the Board, unless otherwise barred by a majority of the International Advisory Board.
Chapter V: Assembly of States
Article 12 - Overview
The Assembly of States shall be the unified legislature of the Society of Nations and shall be comprised of a single Representative from each Member.
Any Member may propose new legislation, an amendment to the charter or an amendment to an already existing law or measure.
While the President of the Board shall oversee voting procedure, the Assembly of States shall have no official head.
Article 13 - Voting Procedures
While the Board is the designated overseer of votes in the Assembly of States there may be times where no members of the Board are available. In these cases a one-time Voting Commissioner can be chosen from amongst the members of the Assembly of States via a Nomination Procedure for a specified vote.
In a Nomination Procedure, Members shall put forth the name of their chosen Representative over a four day period. The Nominee with the largest number of Nominations shall take on the role of the Voting Commissioner.
Should the Voting Commissioner be overseeing the Election of the International Advisory Board, they shall be ineligible for membership in the resulting term for the International Advisory Board.
Chapter VI: Eras Court of Justice
Article 14 - Overview
The Eras Court of Justice shall have the power to try persons and States for the most serious crimes of international concern, as referred to in the Wartime Conventions, and shall be complementary to national criminal jurisdictions.
Should two or more Members of the Society of Nations voluntarily set their dispute before the Eras Court of Justice, the latter may act as an arbitration court to help settle the dispute or issue at hand.
Article 15 - Host State
The Host State of the Court shall be established by the International Advisory Board, subject to approval by the Assembly of States.
(OOC): Should the Host State CTE (cease to exist on the NationStates site and/or on the TNP RP Forums), the members of the International Advisory Board may call for a vote among the members of the Assembly of States to move the Host State of the Court. This vote shall require a majority in order to pass.
Article 16 - Composition of the Court
The Judges of the Court shall be chosen from among persons of high moral character, impartiality and integrity as determined by the government of the Member putting forward their judicial candidate.
For each case brought before the Court, one judge shall be chosen from the Assembly’s collective judicial candidates (OOC: whoever wishes to volunteer role playing as the judge in a trial RP. Furthermore, should others wish to role play as members of a panel of jurors they may work out these details with the person who has volunteered to RP as the judge).
Article 17 - Jurisdiction
The Court may exercise its jurisdiction over Members of the Society of Nations with respect to a crime and in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter and the Wartime Conventions if:
A situation in which one or more of such crimes appears to have been committed is referred by a Member State;
A situation in which one or more of such crimes appears to have been committed is referred by a member of the International Advisory Board;
Article 18 - Duties of the Court
The Court Judge will hear the evidence presented from a single prosecutor (OOC: the nation that has brought the charges against the accused nation) and from any defendant (OOC: the accused nation).
The accused shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty before the Court Judge in accordance with the applicable law(s).
The Court may return a verdict of guilty, not guilty, or not proven.
A verdict of guilty will indicate that the accusations have been proven beyond reasonable doubt and will permit the Eras Court of Justice to pass sentence in relation to the matter.
A verdict of not guilty will indicate that the accusations have been disproved beyond reasonable doubt and the matter will not be subject to further trial.
A verdict of not proven will indicate that the accusations have neither been proven nor disproven and the matter will not be subject to further trial unless new and compelling evidence may lead to a different outcome.
Article 19 - Member Cooperation
Members shall, in accordance with the provisions of the present Charter, cooperate as fully as possible with the Eras Court of Justice in its investigation and prosecution of crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court.
Chapter VIII: Enforcement of Injustices Against Humanity
Article 20 - Overview
Matters of conflict within a nation can only be acted upon by the Society of Nations upon determining the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression toward other nations.
The Society of Nations shall make recommendations and decisions for the maintenance or restoration of international peace and security.
Article 21 - Jurisdiction
Matters of national interest, associated with a police action or limited engagement, are to be treated as matters of sovereign authority. The Eras Court of Justice shall act upon these two matters only when a Member State of the Society of Nations relinquishes judicial authority to the Eras Court of Justice.
Article 22 - Jurisdiction, Definitions
Police action is to be defined as a nation’s police intervention of limited scale and within a defined timeline; as well as military operations that are humanitarian in nature.
Limited engagements, being brief in nature, are defined as a military attack which results in, was intended to result in only damage to the intended legitimate military target, and minimal collateral damage to surrounding structures, vehicles, buildings, or the general public infrastructure and utilities.
Article 23 - Recommendations
In order to prevent an aggravation of the situation, the International Advisory Board, before recommending or deciding upon the use of sanctions or other such enforcement actions, may call upon the parties concerned to comply with such measures as the Board deems necessary or desirable to effect a peaceful outcome. Such a measure shall be without prejudice to the rights, claims, or positions of the parties concerned.
Article 24 - Measures and Enforcement
The International Advisory Board may decide what measures are to be employed to enforce its decisions, and it may call upon the Members of the Society of Nations to effect such measures. These may include complete or partial interruption of economic relations, the blockade of land and sea travel, the disruption of means of communication, and the severance of diplomatic relations.
Furthermore, the Society of Nations in conjunction with the Eras Court of Justice may intervene in matters of natural human rights violations or threats to world peace and security, and may place sanctions upon the nation in question to enforce compliance.
Article 25 - Peacekeeper Investigations
In cases where the Society of Nations has probable cause to suspect war crimes are being committed, it may pass a resolution directing the Eras Court of Justice to begin investigations into these matters. At this point the International Advisory Board may draw from the ranks of willing neutral parties to the conflict, to enter the conflict zone as the Eras Court of Justice observers to collect evidence and arrest suspects. This force will continue to be in active service until the resolution of the war and a defined period after.
The personnel that may be called upon shall be peacekeepers, civilian inspectors and any other type that the International Advisory Board deems necessary.
(OOC: I am extremely honored to be named as one of the initial caretakers. That said, I did read the whole charter, and I can find no mention of non-human species. Will this be rectified eventually? What of the world's Aed Kaenë? What of the world's dragons? What of the world's werewolves? Do they have rights too?)
Syrixia, you are mistaking the Declaration of Human Rights for the Society of Nations charter. This discussion is presently only focused on the Charter itself which is posted. I saw no reason to bring up either of the supplemental documents at the present time since they are meant for debate by the membership of the Society of Nations once it has been created. Very little to nothing in the present Society of Nation's Charter deals with human rights or anything of that nature. It was left out entirely so that I and the others who wrote this could focus on getting the base organization correct.
I would like to comment on this. Why do you think that there needs to be a replacement for the IAN?
I ask this because, (a) I thought the IAN was already effective, and, (b) I think that these goals set out can be installed into IAN by amending its charter.
I have a idea about the fifth caretaker. Why not add a representive for META?
Both of your points are valid and were actually taken into consideration when this document was created. As I had stated in the original post, my reasoning for there needing to be a replacement for the IAN was borne out of the fact that it is stalled with no clear way forward due to a lack of clarity of what the organization can and cannot do. While it is possible that many of these provisions could be amended into the current charter of the International Association of Nations, many more of the provisions cannot. This is due to the fact that a lot of the underlying structure that the Society of Nations is built on is brand new and created specifically to address the shortcomings of the International Association of Nations, namely how organization is governed.
On the topic of the fifth caretaker, that is still under consideration right now but since the current trend is one member from the three major alliances, the Trillium Accord, the Phoenix Union and the Pan-Gotic Union, it is very likely a member of META will be asked and appointed. The other possibility is a completely neutral fifth party that belongs to none of the current standing alliances.
The Nation of Cogoria feels that the PU and PGU are far too closely aligned to each other to be considered separate political entities. Indeed the on going talks to reaffirm the ANU proves that the two together are nothing but a single bloc attempting to use mild separation to guarantee the bloc more votes to push their imperialist agenda, (which can be seen through the inclusion of the Trillium representative who also is a member of the PGU). As Cogoria has played no part in forming the charter, and aware that its authors may not share our beliefs, we do not anticipate or expect the removal of one of the ANU alliances in favour of the other. However we can propose a compromise. As a single nation with no diplomatic ties to any of the caretaker nations, we put forward our own nomination for the last available spot. We feel that this is our duty and responsibility, to help act as a bulwark against the imperialist machinations to strip nations outside their spheres of influence of their sovereignty.
As the Principle Co-Author of this proposal, it is with delight that the Coalition of the Ilian People can formally support this proposed Society of Nations. For an international body to exist with legitimacy it must above all else have structure and be ready to built successes it must above all else have an idea of how to function and move forward.
But now it must be addressed. There is a fifth seat that lays vacant and to the current candidate proposed from the Corogian State. The mistrust that some may have over the involvement of the PGU and PU are founded. Cogoria has long been mistreated by its neighbors, by foreign powers and by the nations of the Pheonix Channel. It is the solemn view of the Coalition that this is a valid viewpoint and one that should be represented on the first Board. As such we shall be the first to formally support the idea of Cogoria as the Fifth Adviser of Caretaker Board.
~Statement from the Office of the Foreign Directorate.
With regards to the drafters of this organization we seriously hope that you are not even considering the option of giving Cogoria the position of caretaker. This is a nation which has ruthlessly oppressed its citizens, has suppressed their culture and religion, and has on at least one occasion used chemical weapons against its own people. This appointment will only serve to further divide the people's of Eras, because any goodwill that this organization will hope to garner will be lost by appointing such a ruthless dictatorship to such a high position.
We beseech the creators of the SoN, do not allow this appointment.
We have to agree with our friends in the Hastfradic League. The crimes committed by Cogoria are despicable. May it be from gassing their own populace to their monarch ordering a terrorist attack and holding innocent people as hostages. These actions are disgusting and they should be a key factor in declining Cogoria as a caretaker. We feel as though a far better candidate could be selected so we will nominate one. We hereby nominate Ceretis.
It has come to my attention that, in the absence of a caretaker nation, Cogoria has engaged in an act of self promotion and has put itself forward as a candidate for the caretaker. This has deeply disturbed me, and has led me to write this letter as a sort of reminder to the authors of the proposed charter. The Cogorian Government is an affront to basic human decency which has done incredible harm to the other nations of the world. The nation of Cogoria has no reservations when it comes to using chemical weapons, a weapon of mass destruction, against foreign nations. The government of Cogoria has also refused to punish their current Tsarina for a terrorist attack she committed on foreign soil, and she has been permitted to rule jointly with Zhukov. Cogoria is one of the most irresponsible powers in the world, and their appointment as a caretaker would only be rewarding such behavior. Seeing this, I would like to propose that Guslantis, Imperium Augustum, Stan Yera, etc. ANY other independent nation take the role of caretaker instead of Cogoria, as all of the nations I have mentioned above are FAR more responsible.
While I understand the criticism behind appointing Cogoria to the role of Caretaker, I would also ask that others look at the potential for reform on the part of the Cogorians to improve their relations on the international stage. While it is true that they have committed past atrocities, they have also just emerged from a civil war with the end of that war being a newly instated government and national structure. Now is the perfect time to meet the Cogorians halfway on compromise and in working for a greater good instead of shunning them because of atrocities committed during their civil war. A civil war which I might mention, was for the most part self contained to just the Cogorian homeland until the intervention of outside powers, namely Samaria whose government declared war with the full intention of either wiping out Cogoria or annexing him just to stamp out communism. And lastly, I should point out that no nation in Eras is entirely clean and without past blood on their hand.
As of right now, the Cogorian nomination has been accepted and will be taken under consideration. Note that this does not mean a fifth caretaker has been named yet, that decision is still pending.
Should Zhukov resign, and the Tsarina be brought to justice for her terrorist attack on the Cogorian embassy in Ceretis then we will gladly be willing to see the nation of Cogoria be given a chance to mend their ways. Until such a time we will not support this appointment. For how can we believe any form of change can occur when the Cogorian criminals who lead them are still in power.
Naizerre strongly protests even the bringing this up for discussion, when there remains outstanding business in the existing world governing body - the International Association of Nations - and notes that the four proposed caretaker nations all hold positions of power and responsibility there - three of them are on the Council of Nations and one of them is the Secretary-General, and they should first seek to do their jobs before replacing that body.
Naizerre would even go as far as to say that certain nations amongst the caretakers should not be trusted with those roles, having shown that they are unable to fill out the roles they currently hold. Either they are incompetent or they have intentionally sabotaged the IAN. Either should make all nations look on with concern about this new body.
Naizerre is ready and willing to work with all nations, however, to improve and amend either the existing IAN charter, or to work with all nations to ensure that the Society of Nations is not held back by those that have done so much harm to the IAN. Naizerre notes with some satisfaction that an earlier draft that put the threshhold for passing legislation in the assembly at 55% has been amended to a simple majority, and thanks the author nations for their willingness to accept measures that increase democracy, even at the expense of their own power.
I'm sorry but no Syrixia. I'm going to have to shoot down your entire post and argument. This is not a thread to call for the resignation and arrest of Cogorian officials. This is a thread for the discussion of the Society of Nations. Please stay on topic. And your entire line of thinking that your government knows that the Cogorians used chemical weapons against their own people lies in fallacy, same with many others who claim to know that he used those kind of weapons. The Cogorian state is incredibly secretive and has never once publicly confirmed the use of chemical weapons (outside of doing so in a OOC fashion on Discord). So the fact that you or anyone else knows with 100% certainty that the Cogorians used chemical weapons is borderline meta-gaming and using his posts from the CC as well as Discord info for your own gains.
