Procedure of the Security Council
Throughout this procedure, "Council" refers to the Security Council, "Chair" refers to the Chair of the Security Council, and "absence" and "vacancy" refer to their respective definitions in the Codified Law of The North Pacific. Additionally, "public" refers to something which is visible to all citizens of The North Pacific by default.
Article 1: Chair of the Council
1. The Vice Delegate, as Chair, is responsible for running the day-to-day business of the Council in accordance with all applicable laws and policies.
2. The Chair may designate another person in the Line of Succession to serve as Acting Chair. This member will assume the duties of the Chair immediately upon the Chair's announced unavailability.
3. If any duty of the Chair has not been performed within 48 hours, the authority to do so will extend to the Acting Chair.
4. If no Acting Chair has been designated, or if the Acting Chair is absent or unavailable, the highest listed available person in the Line of Succession will serve as the Acting Chair as needed.
5. In the event of a vacancy or absence in the office of the Vice Delegate, the highest listed available person in the Line of Succession will become the Acting Vice Delegate and the Acting Chair.
Article 2: Voting
1. Except as otherwise allowed in this procedure, all votes of the Council will take place within the Council subforums of the official regional forum.
2. No vote may begin while discussion is ongoing without a seconded motion to vote, or before the end of a minimum discussion period. Discussion on a topic is considered ongoing if at least two posts have been made in that thread within the last 24 hours.
3. Unless otherwise stated in this procedure, the minimum discussion period for a topic is 3 days, and the minimum voting period is 4 days.
4. Voting may be extended at the discretion of the Chair.
5. If an absolute majority is reached during any vote, the Chair may end the vote early at their discretion.
6. The Chair must publicly announce the result of any Council vote which was not publicly conducted, unless explicitly permitted elsewhere in this procedure to do otherwise.
Article 3: The Nomination of a Member to the Security Council
1. The Council may nominate by majority vote any applicant who meets the minimum influence and endorsement requirements.
2. Members of the Council may pose questions to applicants to assess their trustworthiness, reliability, and other issues of fit with the Council.
3. The minimum discussion period for any applicant is two days after they have addressed the last question posed to them by a member of the Council . The minimum voting period is three days.
Article 4: Citizenship Applications
1. Members of the Council and the Vice Delegate will discuss citizenship applicants who may constitute a security risk. Such discussions may be initiated by the Vice Delegate or any concerned member of the Council.
2. By majority vote, the Council may formally deem a nation to be a security risk, and recommend appropriate action to be taken in the case that such a nation applies for citizenship. Such recommendations are not binding on the Vice Delegate.
Article 5: Endorsement Gatherers
1. In the interest of protecting the region's ability to fight a rogue delegate, the Council will encourage nations of The North Pacific to exchange endorsements with one another.
2. In the interest of protecting the delegacy from rogue elements, the Council will observe and report on nations whose endorsements exceed 50 fewer than the Vice Delegate's required minimum endorsement count or 75 percent of the Delegate's endorsement count (whichever is lower), exceed the endorsement count of multiple Council members, or are otherwise notably high or rapidly growing; who are endorsed by a particularly unusual group of nations; or who otherwise raise suspicions or concerns.
3. In consultation with other members of the Council, these nations should be greeted in a friendly manner, informed of the nature of democratic governance in TNP, and asked whether they seek the delegacy.
4. Nations who seek the delegacy should be encouraged to join the forum and become involved with our government as a path to achieving it. Nations who do not seek the delegacy should be advised as appropriate on methods to control their endorsement count in a safe manner.
5. The Council member who contacts a highly endorsed nation must keep the Council informed of any subsequent replies, or the lack thereof. Nations who do not respond or whose responses are aggressive, dismissive, or otherwise worrying should be regarded as potential security risks to The North Pacific.
Article 6: Other Threats
1. The Council may discuss other threats to the security of The North Pacific at its discretion and may establish informal responses as appropriate.
2. To make an official report or recommendation regarding a threat, whether it be to the Vice Delegate, the Delegate, the Regional Assembly, or to any other body, the minimum discussion period is four days and the minimum voting period is four days.
Article 7: Immediate Threats
1. Council votes on immediate and pressing threats to regional security, including official reports and recommendations, may be kept private for as long as the Chair determines that public release would escalate the immediacy or danger of the threat.
2. At its discretion, the Council may hold formal discussions and voting on such matters outside of the official regional forum.
3. Once the danger has passed, the Chair is required to publicly report all private votes and their results.
Article 8: Access by Non-Members
1. If the Vice Delegate is a member of the Security Council, they may cast a vote on matters before the SC. Otherwise, they may only vote to break a tie.
2. The Chair may grant access to Council forums as appropriate to non-members, such as the Delegate if they are not a member already. The Chair may revoke a non-member's access rights at any time, and the Council may do so by majority vote.
Article 9: Disclosure
1. Individual members of the Council may disclose their own statements from the private areas of the Security Council subforum and discord channels.
2. Statements which include the remarks of other members, or former members, of the Council must have the agreement of all involved parties prior to disclosure.
