[PROPOSAL]Constitutional Ammendmants

Secretary Samsonyte and General Vulturret wrote:ARTICLE I: PREAMBLE
RECOGNIZING the need for a more stable government and a more functional monarchial government, the people of these Undivided Nations do establish this constitution to keep fundamental order in their region, and to establish stability, ensuring the success of the region for years to come. The people, in enacting this piece of legislation, understand that the future of the region is always at risk and that someone will always want to destroy us. We must remain vigilant. In the passing of this constitution, we understand that vigilance cannot be made by law with ease. It requires work and dedication. This bill compels all elected and otherwise government officials, both current and future, to work day-in and day-out to preserve the integrity and mission of The Undivided Nations. Our security depends on the performance of these officials. Citizens are compelled to elect officials that they think will best serve the region and preserve its integrity. Citizens are compelled to become active, join political parties and be ruthless advocates for change in the region. Citizens are always welcome to band together to better serve the region. Many political parties are available, and citizens should join one.
ARTICLE II: DEFINITIONS
1. Recognizing the need to define basic jurisdictions for the governance of this document, until modified by the Emperor, Sovereign or appointed regent, the following are defined as the colonies and jurisdictions occupied by the official forces of The Undivided Nations. These DO NOT include colonies held by the military, The Undivided Nations Armed Forces.
  1. The official Nation States region of The Undivided Nations is defined as 'The Undivided Nations,' accessible at http://www.nationstates.net/region=the_undivided_nations/.
  2. The official off-site forum of The Undivided Nations, which is where all of the government of The Undivided Nations takes place and is maintained by the forum administration team. The forum is on the internet at http://www.theundividednations.forumotion.com/. More information on the governance of the off-site forums can be found in Article _, Section _.[a]
  3. The official Discord server, whilst undefinable in this document, can be procured by any reasonable government official. Citizens with questions on accessing the Discord server, though it should be advertised in no unapparent manner, can telegram or contact via forum private message the Emperor or any member of the administration team.
ARTICLE III: BASIC RIGHTS OF A CITIZEN
Citizens of The Undivided Nations are entitled to many basic rights, designed to deliver justice, and encourage accountability in the region. These rights preserve the region as a fun place to play Nation States. The rights are also here to ensure that no member of the region can become unlawful. The court is ordered to encourage the consideration of these fundamental rights over all other applied laws in a case. Precedent being established for these basic rights is vital to the continued prosperity and mindfulness of deliberations in the region. Basic rights are defined as follows, and should be kept in mind at all times.
1. Citizens are entitled to the fundamental right of free speech.
  1. Within the bounds of free speech, the right to critique the government, provided that it does not disturb the general peace.
1. The right to peaceful assembly to protest an action by the government.
2. The right to participate in trade and commerce provided it is between nations in the region.
3. The right to resolve conflicts in a peaceful manner.
4. The right to join a political party.
5. The right to join the military unless barred in a legal fashion.
6. The right to join the diplomatic corps unless barred in a legal fashion.
7. The right to join the integration staff unless barred in a legal fashion.
8. Citizens are entitled to the right to view all passed laws, imperial decrees, and executive orders or any other legal fashion of any kind or manner, including but not limited to court rulings.
ARTICLE IV: THE EMPEROR
1. The Emperor shall be the Head of State of The Undivided Nations, and thus is responsible for conducting himself in a professional manner.
2. The Emperor shall hold the founder account to the Undivided Nations.
3. The Emperor will be responsible for approving the adoptions and dismissals from the royal family.
4. The Emperor will be privileged to speak to the Senate about his goals at the start of each term. The time for the speech will be mutually agreed upon between the Head of the Senate and the Emperor, and the Senators will be notified.
5. The Emperor has the great privilege of ascending or not doing so to any foreign compacts and treaties, as well as inter-regional agreements.
6. The Emperor will be charged with ascending or not doing so to any acts of the Senate before they can become official law after being passed by the Senate and being delivered to his majesty by the Head of the Senatorial body.
  1. Exceptions to this rule are mentioned in the constitution, such as repeals of imperial decrees, and should be considered prior to this section in a legal setting.
1. The Emperor will have the power to legislate and amend existing legislation with imperial decrees, which must be publicly posted in the imperial decree distribution areas on the off-site forums.
  1. Imperial decrees become law upon being posted to the public, but the Head of the Senate is responsible for the reviewal of all laws for contradictions and illegalities, as decrees need to be issued quickly and are often flawed.
  2. If a Senator objects to an imperial decree, he can motion for a vote of no-confidence in the bill, which if seconded by another Senator, will be brought to vote per standard Senatorial procedures. Any objection to an imperial decree requires a 75% super-majority to pass, and if passed, the imperial decree will be repealed and removed from the imperial decree space and immediately archived.
1. The Emperor will have the power commute and pardon all members of the region following rulings made by the court of The Undivided Nations.1
  1. The Emperor will also be granted the privilege to act with clemency in reducing all criminal sentences.
1. The Emperor will have the power grant, reject and ban applicants, citizens, and diplomats from the region, and the regional forum, as well as the regional forums and wikies page. This is a living section of this document, and can be expanded to define other methods of off-site information passing or communication utilized by the Emperor and his subjects in the official manner, as established by the Emperor and his government.
2. The Emperor is responsible for the continued naming of a successor, given the title and
3.  responsibilities of the office of CROWN PRINCE. All future succession to the throne, and whether or not it is revealed is entirely up to the monarch. The succession tree and line shall be provided to the Crown Prince, sealed and signed by the Emperor to avoid any ambiguities.
4. The Emperor will have the right to control all territories within The Undivided Nations, and subsequently her future territories.
ARTICLE V: THE CROWN PRINCE AND THE REGENCY
1. The Crown Prince shall be defined as the Emperor's appointed successor to his royal throne.
1. The Crown Prince will be the default choice for the Emperor as regent, and if the Emperor doesn't login to the forums in four weeks they will be legally dead*, and the Crown Prince will automatically become Emperor.
2. During a non-regency period, the Crown Prince can take the same actions as the Emperor, but must go to the Senate and get a 51% majority approval for those actions, which can be later overturned by the Emperor at any time.
3. REGENCY PERIODS:
  1. If the Emperor so desires, he may declare a regency, and by default when this happens, the Crown Prince becomes the regent (unless the Emperor declares someone else as his prospective regent) with a 5/7 approval from the Senate.
  2. During the regency period, the regent may take any action the Emperor could normally take without approval from the Senate, though the regent is still subject to the same responsibilities and is accountable to the same bodies as the Emperor.
  3. Regencies can end by declaration of the Emperor at any time. Regencies can also end with a simple 51% majority vote by the Senate.
  4. If the regent doesn't log in to the forum for four weeks, the next in-line person per the official Mataki tree on the regional forums will ascend to the regency until the return of the Emperor.
1. The Crown Prince will also be able to view all official regional communications.
Article VI: THE CABINET
1. Cabinet members:
  1. The cabinet shall be comprised of four members:
     1. The Secretary of War of The Undivided Nations,
     2. The Secretary of Defense of The Undivided Nations,
     3. The Secretary of Customs of The Undivided Nations, AND
     4. The Secretary of State of The Undivided Nations
  1. Cabinet members can appoint a deputy: The deputy will only have authority over the specific department, and not over cabinet affairs.
1. Cabinet responsibilities:
  1. The cabinet shall be responsible for running the day-to-day business of the region and executing the Emperor and the other members of government's wishes through the forum of the Executive Branch, defined further on in this section.
  2. The cabinet will be responsible, as layed out further in this document, for the maintaining of staff for their departments.
  3. The cabinet will be responsible for the fulfillment of their duties as compelled to them by the governing rules and regulations of the departments they lead. Cabinet members must use their power for the work it requires, and not just for the considerable amount of power the position wields.
  4. The members of the cabinet are compelled to collaborate with each other for the bettering of the regions not just through their own departments, but through the process of creating executive orders.
1. Executive orders:
  1.  The Cabinet shall be allowed to make Executive Orders so long as they do not modify existing law or this constitution.
  2. An Executive Order may be revoked by a 51% majority of the senate, by the Emperor, or by any cabinet member that does not approve.
  3. Executive Orders will remain law indefinitely, unless vetoed by one of the methods listed above.
1. Departments of the cabinet:
  1. The cabinet, or executive, shall be comprised of four departments, each charged with different duties and each being commanded by a different secretary. The departments and their assignments are as follows:
     1. The Department of War: Headed by the Secretary of War.
        1. The Secretary of War will hold all of the titles, powers, and responsibilities granted to his office under the Military Procedures Act.
        2. The Department of War is comprised of the Secretary of War and any advisors that he appoints via his office on the regional forums.
        3. In addition to the responsibilities defined in the Military Procedures Act, the Secretary of War will also be responsible with working the Senate and the Department of State on military and political alliances.
        4. The Secretary of War is also responsible for testifying before the Senate if requested by the Head of the Senate about the whereabouts of The Undivided Nations Armed Forces, however Senators are prohibited from asking questions, even if the hearing is in private session, that could possibly compromise the ability of The Undivided Nations Armed Forces to carry out its duties, such as the ones defined in the Military Procedures Act.
     1. The Department of Defense: Headed by the Secretary of Defense
        1. In addition to the responsibilities and titles defined by the Military Procedures Act, the Department of Defense is charged with keeping the region safe from both external and internal threats.
        2. The Secretary of Defense shall have sole control over the maximum number of endorsements on anyone save the World Assembly delegate. The Emperor and the Secretary of Defense may grant any person the right to more than the standard endorsement cap.
        3. Per the Regional Officers Act, the Secretary of Defense will have border control authority and will be allowed to ban or eject any nation from the region at any time. If the nation belongs to a citizen of the region, the Emperor must approve an ejection and both the Emperor and a 51% majority of the Senate must approve a permanent ban. If the Secretary of Defense believes the nation an immediate threat to the region, he may bypass these restrictions, but the ejection or banishment must be approved by the Emperor and Senate within seven days. If the mentioned parties find that the ejection or banishment is unwarranted, the Secretary of Defense may be tried for treason if the Emperor or a Senator wish so.
        4. The Secretary of Defense shall be a member of the High Command of the military of this region, The Undivided Nations Armed Forces. The Secretary of Defense will be able to complete any action involving the military, but may be overridden by the Secretary of War.
     1. The Department of Customs: Headed by the Secretary of Customs.
        1. The Department of Customs is tasked with keeping the peace within the borders of The Undivided Nations. The Department of Customs will consist of the Secretary of Customs and his Integration Corps.
        2. The Secretary of Customs will be charged with monitoring the offsite forum, the discord server, and the region's RMB. Any transgression occurring on those platforms will be their responsibility to act upon.
        3. The Secretary of Customs is responsible for overseeing civil conflicts between citizens. They will determine who is a citizen if it is ever contested.
        4. The Integration Corps
           1. To help new residents of these Undivided Nations seamlessly become a part of the community, the Secretary of Customs is tasked with forming an Integration Corps and properly facilitating it.
           2. Members of the Integration Corps will be appointed by the Secretary of Customs. The Secretary is not required to have the appointees vetted by the Senate or the Emperor, but either of the mentioned parties may remove people from the Integration Corps with a simple 51% majority.
           3. The Integration Corps shall be responsible for directing residents of the region to the discord server and offsite forum. Once on those platforms, the Integration Corps will help residents apply for citizenship and otherwise get involved in the community.
     1. The Department of State: Headed by the Secretary of State
        1. Recognizing its commitment to bettering these Undivided Nations, the Senate and the Emperor do realize the current lack of definitions for the Department of State, and commits to bettering the Department and its endeavors to further the role of The Undivided Nations on the interregional stage. The Department of State is the primary representation for the Undivided Nations on the interregional stage, and as such its leadership and its staff, established as the Diplomatic Corps, will be responsible for maintaining the highest level of good behavior and conduct within the region, the future of the region depends on gaining favor with allies throughout NationStates.
        2. The Diplomatic Corps:
           1. Recognizing the need for representation on a global scale, requires that the Department of State create and maintain a diplomatic corps.
           2. The corps will be responsible for the three main tasks that will further the regions involvement on an international level.
              1. The corps will be responsible for creating, per the embassy clause of this section, foreign embassies of these Undivided Nations in forums deemed suitable representations of regions suitable for embassies of this region.
              2. The Corps will also be responsible for inviting ambassadors from foreign powers to the forums of the Undivided Nations, and again, per the embassy clause, welcoming them to apply for embassies of these Undivided Nations, and subsequently,
              3. When those embassies are created, setting them up and welcoming the foreign ambassadors to their embassies on the official offsite forums of The Undivided Nations.
           1. The executive of the Diplomatic Corps shall be defined as the Secretary of State, or in the absence, their legally appointed official.
           2. Corps conduct:
              1. The corps will allow for general citizens to join its ranks as ambassadors, provided that:
                 1. The prospective ambassador passes department established vetting procedures for security.
                 2. Is deemed, according to department established vetting procedures, mentally competent and able to carry out the duties and responsibilities of an ambassador.
                 3. Is approved upon application by the Secretary of State, interim, or an appointed deputy.
              1. The corps will be responsible for maintaining forum embassies, both at home and abroad.
              2. The corps will assign ambassadors to its embassies on foreign forums. These ambassadors will be responsible for posting the Undivided Nation's information as distributed by the Department of State. The corps will also be responsible for posting updates about the whereabouts of the region as distributed by the Department of State, specifically the secretary, interim, or their appointed deputies.
              3. The corps will also be responsible for the interactions with, as well as the well-being of ambassadors from foreign regions. These servants of the department will ensure the following maintenance of embassies and diplomacy at home:
                 1. Thanking foreign ambassadors for applying for embassies, and reminding them that their applications will be processed shortly as soon as the secretary, department head, or deputy gets around to it.
                 2. Approving applications for foreign diplomats seeking to become official diplomats for a region with an existing embassy in The Undivided Nations, given that they have provided appropriate identification.
        1. Embassies
           1. Any region seeking embassies must have their embassy approved by the leader of the Department of State, who will then contact the forum administration team. If the leader is on a leave of absence the deputy may approve embassies. Once the forum administration team is notified, they'll create the forum embassy, and then a regional officer holding embassies power can be notified for an embassy to be instituted game-side.
           2. It is the duty of the leader of the department to further the diplomatic mission by going out to other forums and requesting new embassies. Once the embassies are approved, previously established steps should be followed  for creating the embassy.
Article VII: THE JUDICIARY:
1. The Judiciary shall be comprised of three justices when there are willing citizens able to join the body.
  1. The three justices shall contain one supreme justice and two associate justices. They will be responsible for providing justice in the region.
  2. The justices are required to remain impartial in all cases of judgement.
  3. In the event that a case involves the justice giving testimony or being a prosecutor or defendant or the asker of a question in any given case, they may not provide justice.
  4. Justices shall be appointed by the Emperor, and the appointment must be delivered to the office of the Head of the Senate. The Head of the Senate will then hold a confirmation hearing with the applicant and the Senate, with Senators asking questions to the prospective justices. Then a Senator can motion for assent or descent to the nomination. Once the motion is seconded, the Head of the Senate will bring the bill to vote following the procedures established in the Senatorial Procedures Act.
  5. Justices can be impeached at any time following a motion and a second from two Senators, and approval by a 60% super majority of the Senate.
1. All requests for justice must be filed in the court forums. No other submissions are to be accepted for any reason.
  1. Court procedures shall be placed in the 'Court Procedures' sub-forum under the Court Of TUN sub-forum.
  2. Legal questions or requests for trial shall be placed in a sub-forum titled Inquiries
  3. Debate and hearing shall be held on the debate channel of the Discord server or in a sub-forum titled 'Hearings and Trials.'
  4. Rulings will be place in a sub-forum titled 'rulings.'
1. Two different kinds of court filings shall be recognized by this document, Legal Inquiries, and Criminal Complaints. Citizens who file these should specify which category according to the definitions below when filing a submission to the court.
  1. Legal Inquiries shall be defined as a question about a law or set of laws in a certain context, and in relation to that context, what the law should be reasonably interpreted as.
  2. Criminal Complaints shall be describing a crime, per Article IX and should include the charges BUT NOT EVIDENCE. Per section 5 of this article, the evidence will be submitted at a later date.
1. Legal Inquiry definitions and procedures for the court, referencing the filing procedure in section 3, a of this document:
  1. Following the submission of a legal inquiry, the justices will confer on whether or not they can use applicable law to determine what the questioned piece of law should be interpreted as. Following those deliberations, they will post their decision on whether or not the question has sufficient resources to answer, on the submission thread.
  2. After that the justices will deliberate and the supreme justice will choose themselves or another justice to right the opinion.
  3. Once the opinion is written, it'll be reviewed by the supreme justice and posted on the thread.
1. Process for trial:
  1. Per section 3, b, any citizen may file a criminal complaint. The filing, in the inquiries forum, will list the following in order to be considered by the court:
     1. The criminal complaint must list the defendant for and of which the charges are being filed against.
     2. The criminal complaint must specify the specific charges that are being filed.
     3. The criminal complaint must specify basic evidence and the reason for the charges, as well as a detailed explanation for the charges, including a summary of the events that led to the charges being filed.
     4. If the prosecutor wishes to have a counsel to aid them in the prosecution of the individual case, they need to specify the prosecutor in the court filing. Any requests for filing subsequently or after the filing of the case will be denied.
  1. Following the filing of charges, the supreme justice, or an associate justice will remind the defendant of the constitutional definitions for the law, and ask the defendant to respond to the following questions on the submission thread:
     1. For each specific charge filed against you, do you plead guilty or not guilty? (Please specify your plea for each individual charge.)
     2. Do you wish to have a counsel represent you? If so, who will that counsel be?
  1. The defendant will then be given an adequate amount of time to respond the questions, and the trial can proceed once this has been done.
  2. The pre-trial phase of the process will now begin, and will take place on the same thread as the submissions and opening questions.
  3. Pre-trial phrase proceedings:
     1. To begin the pre-trial phase, the defense and prosecution can both submit evidence on the thread.
        1. For each piece of evidence, the justices will confer in private, and then report back on the thread on the validity of the evidence once they have confirmed that the piece of evidence is valid. Barring an obvious conflict of interest, the justices may enlist the help of the department of defense for aid in the judging of the correctness of the evidence, and can use the resources of that department in order to judge the validity of the evidence, and confer with the Secretary of Defense on the matter.
     1. Following their submission of evidence, the prosecution and defense will separately say that they have submitted all the evidence for their respective side of the case.
     2. Once both sides have said that they have submitted all applicable evidence, the justices will create a table containing all of the evidence that has been approved by the authority set forth in the court, pursuant to section 5.e.1, and this table will be made viewable on the thread.
     3. At the end during the pre-trial phase, the defense can request to motion for the dismissal of the charges, if they can provide significant reasoning for the invalidity of the charges. The justices are required to inform the defendant that they can motion to dismiss charges.
        1. If a motion to dismiss charges, the justices will confer in private, and each write their own opinions assenting or dissenting to the motion, and then reconcile them into a court's opinion on the motion for dismissal, which will be posted on the thread.
  1. Following the end of the pre-trial phase, the next phase known henceforth as the 'trial' phase, will begin.
  2. Trial phase proceedings
Article IX: THE CRIMINAL CODE
1. Treason:
  1. Treason shall be defined as attempting to overthrow any member of cabinet, the Supreme Justice or any of their judiciaries, or a Senator.
  2. Citizens or residents may also be tried for treason if they reside in a Nazi or Fascist region.
  3. Any citizen found using multiple accounts for political gain can be charged with treason.
1. High Treason:
  1. High Treason is defined as attempting to overthrow the Emperor or the Crown Prince.
1. Extortion:
  1. Extortion shall be defined as obtaining power or favors from an individual or group in The Undivided Nations by bribing, blackmailing or otherwise coercing others.
1. Espionage:
  1. Espionage is defined as the spreading of classified government information to political entities outside of the region without explicit permission by the person in charge of the information.
  2. Citizens may also be convicted of espionage if they spread classified information from an allied region.
1. Fraud
  1. Fraud will be defined as the deception of another citizen for personal benefit.
  2. Fraud may also be the act of creating another alias or using other means to vote multiple times, run for multiple offices or any other malicious purpose.
1. Crashing
  1. Crashing shall be defined as causing the forums, discord, or game side region page to crash, malfunction, or lose information.
1. Phishing
  1. Phishing will be known as the act of attempting to gain another users passwords or other personal information for malicious purposes.
1. Vandalism
  1. Vandalism shall be defined as the defacing of the forums, discord or region page without authorization from responsible parties.
  2. Vandalism can also be spamming the discord, forum, regional message board, or gameplay thread. This section of the law does not apply in designated spamming areas.
1. Adspam
  1. Adspam shall be known as advertising for a foreign region without being prompted. Requests for troops for joint military operations will not be prosecuted.
1. Gross Misconduct
  1. Gross Misconduct will be defined as the violation of a person's role intentionally or through ignorance.
1. Conspiracy
  1. Conspiracy is defined as the act of plotting to commit one of the crimes listed above.
ARTICLE X: ELECTIONS
1. Elected Positions
  1. Senate: Seven people
  2. Secretary of State
  3. Secretary of Defense
  4. Secretary of Customs
  5. Secretary of War
1. Election Process
  1. There will be four terms in one year, starting on the First of January, the First of April, the First of July, and the First of October. Each term will last until midnight Eastern Standard Time the day before the next term.
     1. All elected positions duties will start and end at the start and end of the term. Citizens wishing to keep their positions must run for it again every term.
     2. During the term, the Emperor will appoint a citizen to be the Election Commissioner.
        1.  The Election Commissioner shall be responsible for facilitating the elections. They will make official forum posts on the subject and tally the votes after the elections. Both the Emperor and Senate must approve their count.
        2. The Election Commissioner may keep the job until the emperor replaces them, the Senate removes them from office with a 51% majority, or they resign.
     1. During the time designated by the Election Commissioner in an article about the next election cycle, citizens may declare their candidacy for positions on the forum.
        1. All citizens may run for any office unless legally barred from doing so. No citizen may run for multiple offices in one election cycle.
        2. No declarations of candidacy will be accepted unless filed in the proper manner on the forum.
     1. During the designated time, citizens running for offices may post campaign threads in the proper area. Citizens may question the candidates on those threads.
     2. After the campaign period is over, voting will begin at the time designated by the Election Commissioner. Voting will occur in a poll on the regional forum.
     3. Once the voting period ends, the results will be tallied by the Election Commissioner and confirmed by the Emperor and the Senate. The final results will then be published in a public area. The candidate with the most votes for each job will be given the position. They will not start doing the duties of said position until the start of the next term.
Article XI: Modifications
1. This document may be edited by the Emperor, but any edits made by the emperor must be done via imperial decree and can only be repealed by a unanimous vote of the Senate.
2. Any modifications to this document made by the Senate require a sixty (60) percent supermajority to clear the Senate and following that must be approved by the Emperor.