Description: UN Resolution #23: Replanting Trees (Category: Environmental; Industry Affected: All Businesses) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Argument: The United Nations,

UNDERSTANDING the good environmental intentions of resolution #23, "Replanting Trees,"

EMPHASISING that this repeal is not an attempt to make it easier for companies to deforest trees wantonly,

NOTING that trees are measured by a numbered count and not in acres making the proposal very vague and ineffectual,

FURTHERMORE NOTING that it only states that the responsibility of replanting the trees is held by the person or the enterprise who cut them down and makes no obligation for the individual or the enterprise to ensure that the replanted trees are able to grow and that there is no power to enforce that the trees are able to grow,

CONSIDERING that there may not be ample land to replant the required amount of trees available,

ALSO CONSIDERING that no reason is given as to why the trees should be replanted and that all this resolution achieves is wasting the money of each nation,

NOTING that the resolution makes no allowances for any trees cut prior to the resolution passing,

CONSIDERING that, under this resolution, it is possible to cut down small batches of trees numbering below five acres and not replant, thereby rendering the resolution virtually useless,

STATING that the resolution makes no allowances for different varieties or types of trees grown, thus allowing companies to destroy biodiversity,

NOTING that no allowances are given for the deforested area to recoup in certain nutrients after the deforestation,

DEEMING Resolution #23 to be an ineffectual and inconsiderate resolution which fails to accomplish its goals,

REPEALS Resolution #23: Replanting Trees.

Co-Authored by: Jey

Votes For: 6,764
Votes Against: 4,832

Implemented: Fri Jun 9 2006

Description: UN Resolution #43: Legalise Euthanasia (Category: Human Rights; Strength: Strong) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Argument: RECOGNIZES that the issue of Euthanasia is a difficult issue in which good people may, and often do, disagree.

ARGUES that euthanasia proposes to eliminate suffering by eliminating the one who suffers. Euthanasia violates the principle that each human being has intrinsic dignity and value, regardless of age, physical or mental condition, or state of dependency.

ACKNOWLEDGES this repeal will not prohibit Euthanasia in any nation, but permit it to be a daily issue in which a nation may decide this issue for themselves.

RECALLS Resolution #147 "Abortion Legality Convention" in which the controverial issue of abortion was taken out of the jurisdiction of the United Nations and returned to nations to decide. Euthanasia is a similar issue that should not have the world body mandate how every nation should believe.

FURTHER ARGUES The United Nations should be able to welcome nations that have differing opinions on controversial issues such as this one. The original vote on this resolution was 10,810 (for) to 10,031 (against). Such an obviously divisive issue should not be mandated upon nations one way or the other. Resolution #43 does exactly that.

REPEALS Resolution #43 "Legalize Euthanasia"

Votes For: 8,478
Votes Against: 5,258

Implemented: Wed Jun 14 2006

Description: The United Nations,

NOTING that the greatest value in intellectual property is the creative or investigative work used to create it, not the medium on which it is demonstrated or displayed,

BELIEVING that creators of intellectual property should be able to have control over the distribution and display of their work,

NOTING that many nations already have copyright laws in place, but these laws can vary immensely and do not apply to other nations,

AFFIRMING that an international convention on copyrights would guarantee copyright owners control over their work, and thus

CONCLUDING that an international convention on copyrights would give authors an incentive to market their work both internationally and nationally, improving economies through increased trade,

1. DEFINES, for the purpose of this resolution:
a. "intellectual property" as any work of mainly creative value that is of original authorship and is fixed in a tangible expressive medium;
b. "copyright law" as law which grants exclusive property rights to the creator of a particular form of intellectual property and provides protection to those rights;
c. "fair use" as a use or reproduction of intellectual property in educational institutions for educational purposes, for private/personal use, for use in critical articles or reviews, or for parodies, provided that such use does not excessively infringe on the rights and profits of the copyright holder;
d. “legal entity” as a sentient being or corporation;

2. DECLARES that the copyright law of each nation shall apply to the distribution, demonstration, expression, and use of intellectual property in that nation, regardless of where the work was originally published or created or the citizenship of the author;

3. MANDATES that national copyright law must provide at least as much protection as the following:
a. No legal entity or government may print, display, demonstrate, reproduce, or store in an electronic system any intellectual property without the consent of the copyright holder for a period extending until at least thirty years after the death of the author, or, in the case of a corporation originating the copyright, at least sixty-five years after the work was placed in tangible form, except under the exceptions for fair use;
b. National copyright law must not discriminate in favor of domestic works;
c. Except as provided in this clause, application of copyrights must take place automatically at the time that the work was first placed in tangible form, with no statutory formalities required for protection. Nations may impose additional requirements for securing copyright, but these may apply only to works created within that nation by its own citizens;

4. DECLARES that copyright holders may license use of intellectual property to any or all legal entities under any terms they desire, but that all people reserve the rights to use the work under the pertinent national copyright law;

5. DECLARES that copyright holders may, if they wish, put their work into the public domain, at which time it is free for anyone to use for any purpose, with or without attribution;

6. DECLARES that copyrights may be held by any person or legal entity, and may be transfered or sold, but that the original author of the work must always have rights to use his work.

Co-authored by Ausserland.

Votes For: 8,227
Votes Against: 4,059

Implemented: Thu Jun 29 2006

Description: UN Resolution #59: The 40 Hour Workweek (Category: Social Justice; Strength: Significant) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Argument: The United Nations,

BELIEVING that individuals have the right to choose to work for more than 40 hours per week should they so wish;

OBSERVING that every country has differing, complex socioeconomic conditions;

RECOGNISING that the UN is not as informed as national governments on economic circumstances prevalent in individual nations, and is as such less well placed to effectively accommodate their varying needs;

CONCERNED that "The 40 Hour Workweek" unfairly restricts the economic progress of developing countries, and of small businesses within more developed countries;

BELIEVING that terms and conditions of employment are best decided through negotiations between employees and employers;

FURTHER BELIEVING that the United Nations should where possible not interfere in private negotiations;

CONCLUDING that key economic decisions should be taken at the level where those closest to the issue at hand have the greatest information and understanding of differing economic conditions:

REPEALS "The 40 Hour Workweek".

Co-authored by the members of ACCEL

Votes For: 9,494
Votes Against: 3,854

Implemented: Sun Jul 9 2006