The World Assembly,
Affirming that member nations are sovereign political communities and not constituent subdivisions of an international federation;
Holding that such political communities ultimately derive their legitimacy from the societies that they represent, and therefore remain the primary institutions through which societies govern their own affairs;
Observing that the wide variety of political, social, and economic systems present throughout the international community renders centralized regulation both necessarily inefficient and generalizing to a dangerous extent;
Acknowledging that nevertheless, certain matters require international cooperation, whether due to their transboundary nature or their relation to fundamental rights;
Cognizant that efforts to address such matters carry the risk of displacing sovereign governance from its core competencies and, in doing so, can undermine the legitimacy of this body;
Seeking to establish a durable framework governing the relationship between the Assembly and its members;
Hereby:
- Establishes that sovereign authority is presumed to reside in member nations except where expressly modified by legislation enacted by this Assembly;
- Recognizesthe following areas of governance as core sovereign competencies ordinarily reserved to member nations:
- Territorial governance, including the administration of territory and the populations subject to national authority;
- Domestic lawmaking, judicial administration, and the enforcement of the law;
- Foreign relations, including all facets of diplomacy, participation in international organizations, and commerce;
- National defense and the protection of populations from external threats;
- Economic governance, including taxation, fiscal and monetary policy, public expenditure, and currency issuance;
- Border control, immigration policy, and employment within national territory;
- The management, conservation, and exploitation of resources within national jurisdiction;
- Cultural, linguistic, educational, and civic policy;
- Recognizes that matters involving the above areas of governance may nonetheless require international intervention where necessary to address transboundary concerns or protect fundamental rights;
- Establishesthat legislation affecting one or more sovereign competencies shall:
- Identify the competencies implicated by such legislation;
- Explain the necessity of Assembly action with respect to those competencies;
- Preserve the exercise of sovereign authority to the greatest extent consistent with achieving the objectives of that legislation;
- Establishes that where legislation affects core sovereign competencies, implementation and enforcement shall be conducted through cooperation whenever reasonably practicable, and that legislation establishing such cooperative mechanisms shall provide procedures for review or appeal of decisions made pursuant thereto;
- Mandates that member nations ensure their diplomats or representatives to the Assembly are appropriately instructed regarding their role and responsibilities within this body, recognizing that such instruction is necessary to enable the Assembly to conduct its proceedings through informed participation by its members, while leaving the means by which such instruction is provided to the discretion of each member nation.
