Post by Nathan on Dec 5, 2005 20:01:20 GMT -6
The Articles of the United Confederation
Article I
A. The Style of this Union of Nations shall be the "United Confederation." The United Confederation will strive to protect the rights, property, and safety of the citizens of the nation.
Article II
A. Legislative power will be invested in the Congress.
B. Congress shall be made of two houses, the House of Sovereigns and the House of Citizens.
C. The House of Sovereigns will be made of the head of state of every member nation of the United Confederation. Members are called Sovereigns and hold their seat for the duration of their term as head of state of their nation.
D. The House of Sovereigns will select from among their number a Sovereign Chancellor who will lead debate and enforce procedure in the House. The Sovereign Chancellor will hold office for 3 months. Elections shall not be complicated procedures, just nominations and elections.
E. No person serving in the House of Sovereigns may also serve in the House of Citizens unless that person is the only citizen of that nation.
F. Heads of state may chose a proxy to sit in their place in the House of Sovereigns. These proxies will serve as a Sovereign and are entitled to all rights and responsibilities. The head of state may recall his or her proxy and reclaim his or her seat in the House of Sovereigns at any time.
G. Should the head-of-state take a Leave of Absense from his or her nation, the person serving as the head-of-state during that duration shall automatically be the proxy until the Leave of Absense is over unless another appropriate proxy was appointed.
H. The House of Citizens shall be made up of citizens democratically elected from the people of their nations.
I. There may be 1 Citizen elected for every 4 in each nation, but each nation shall be guaranteed at least one.
J. The House of Citizens will select from among their numbers a Speaker who will lead debate and enforce procedure in the House. The Speaker will hold office for 2 months. The election shall be very simple, with only nominations and elections.
K. Bills affecting the affairs of the entire Confederation, or any individual member nation to ANY extent shall be referred to as Capital Acts and must be passed by both a unanimous decision in the House of Sovereigns and at least 70% or more of the House of Citizens.
J. Bills ONLY affecting the affairs of the Confederation at the Confederation level and do not affect the operation of the individual nations in any way shall simply be called acts and must be passed by at least 50% or more of the members of most houses.
K. Once a bill is motioned to vote, it shall be voted upon over a period of five days in either house and only votes during that time period shall count toward the necessary percentages.
L. New Members may be admitted to the United Confederation by a Capital Act of Congress.
Article III
A. A United Court shall make up the judicial branch of the United Confederation.
B. This Court shall be staffed by each of the chief judicial official of each member nation.
C. There will be one Chief Justice, to lead the Court in its hearings, who will be appointed by the House of Citizens from among the justices on the court. A justice will serve as Chief Justice of the United Court for 6 months before the House of Citizens appoints a new justice or reappoints the sitting justice. Justices will remain on the United Court for the duration of their term as chief judicial officials in their own nations.
D. This Court shall only hear trials regarding the Confederation on the Confederation level, or disputes between member nations, or appeals of cases held in member nations that have exhausted their options in those member nations. Two-thirds of the Court must agree to hear a case.
E. In criminal trials, a unanimous decision is required for a verdict, in votes that may last up to 5 days. If it is not unanimous, justices must continue deliberating. If Justices have to deliberate for over 3 months, it shall be a mistrial and may be retried in the Court, but only once.
F. In civil trials, only two-thirds of the justices are required to determine the case either way. Justices shall deliberate for one month, at the end of that time, all votes cast will be counted towards the two-thirds.
Article IV
A. Should the Sovereign Chancellor, the Speaker, or a member of the House of Citizens leave office before his or her term is completely served, a replacement shall not get a complete term and shall only fill the remainder of the term before having to be reappointed.
Article V
A. The Sovereign Chancellor, as described in Article II, will serve as the figurehead of the United Confederation. They may represent the Confederation in any ceremonial capacity.
B. The Sovereign Chancellor will have the authority to ensure member nations are following the laws of the United Confederation. This will be achieved by representing the United Confederation in legal action against the member nation in the United Court.
Article VI
A. The member nations retain these rights:
1. To maintain their own foreign policy. The Confederation shall not maintain a foreign policy, to the extent of signing treaties. A nation is recognized by the Confederation if it is recognized by ALL member nations. The Confederation, however, may sign treaties to the extent of concluding wars, and bargaining regarding prisoners, bans, punishments on individuals and Micronational Cartographic Society land in regards to these wars, but they must be passed by a Capital Act.
2. To maintain their individual policies on immigration and citizenships. Citizenships shall all be conducted through member nations, no person may be a citizen of the Confederation without being a citizen of a member nation.
3. To maintain their own military. Defense shall be conducted by the member nations working in alliance through the Confederation. The Confederation may declare war on a nation with a 60% majority in both houses, and may end this declaration with a 50% majority in both houses or by an appropriate treaty. MCS lands may only change sides with the approval of 50% of each house BEFORE the war, and only the lands of the individual nation participating in the war may change sides. HOWEVER, an exception may be provided when a member nation is attacked, as in the property of the nation, the property of the citizens, or citizens themselves, and if 70% of a referendum of the member nation's citizens agree, then an individual nation may declare war, assuming that the Confederation does not do it as well, perhaps if another member nation's foreign policy is in violation of the war.
Article VII
A. Observing members may be admitted to the United Confederation by a Capital act of Congress.
B. Observing members may send one representative to the House of Citizens who may have a voice in debates, but may not vote.
C. Observing members are not subject to laws, resolutions, and actions of the United Confederation.
Article VIII
A. A person must be a citizen of one member nation for at least 4 months before he or she can apply for citizenship in another.
B. This may be excepted if a citizen is already a citizen of the nations when they join the Confederation.
C. No citizen may have more than three citizenships within the Confederation unless they are already a citizen upon the nation joining, but if the three citizenships have already been exhausted, a citizen may not aply for citizenship in a nation in the legislative process of joining the Confederation.
D. No person may have more than five micronational citizenships, counting each individual member of the Confederation as a seperate micronation towards these five.
Article IX
A. The United Confederation shall come into being and become fully functional under this document once all Founding Member Nations have ratified the document. The entrance of the Founding Member Nations shall not be subject to Article II, Section L unless the Founding Member Nation secedes from the United Confederation and wishes to rejoin. The Founding Member Nations of the United Confederation are hereby recognized as:
1. The Sovereign Noble Principality of Sullifree
2. The Sovereign Natopian Empire
3. The Empire of Alrodria
B. This document shall be in force in any nation that legally ratifies it by proper internal mechanisms, so long as that nation has been pre-approved for admittance as described in Article II, Section L.
C. Any nation, observing or with a full membership, may secede with a 55% or more majority of the nations citizens AND the approval of that nation's head-of-state.
D. The United Confederation may be dissolved by a Constitutional Amendment as described below.
E. The United Confederation's Articles may be amended with the approval of 80% or more of the House of citizens in a vote and a unanimous decision by the House of Sovereigns.
