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Dispatch → Bulletin → Policy
Constitution of the New West Indies (6/27/19)
- Preamble
Chapter I: Fundamental Provisions
Chapter II: Electoral and Participatory Rights
- §05 – The Right to Vote
§06 – Referenda
§07 – World Assembly Motions and Election of the World Assembly Delegate
§08 – Freedom of Expression
§09 – Freedom of Opinion and Ideology
Chapter III: The General Assembly
Chapter IV: The Secretary-General and the Secretariat
- §14 – Status
§15 – Eligibility to Serve as Secretary-General
§16 – Election and Term of the Secretary-General
§17 – Powers of the Secretary-General
§18 – The Cabinet
§19 – Impeachment
§20 – Term Limits
We, the member nations of the New West Indies, inspired by the determination to promote world peace; to strengthen liberty, democracy, independence and peace amongst its nations in a spirit of solidarity and brotherhood, to promote mutual consideration and respect; in the knowledge that only those who use their freedom remain free and that the strength of a community is measured by the well-being of its weakest members; hereby adopt the following Constitution:
Every nation is admitted to enter and reside within the New West Indies.
No nation shall be prohibited from entering the region due to their ideology, ideals or political views. A nation can only be prohibited from entering and residing within the region or be expelled without reason by the competent authorities if such nation presents a threat to regional security or stability.
Puppet nations are admitted to enter the region; however, they may neither participate in polls nor hold any executive office in the regional government.
Any nation, that is not a puppet nation of another nation already residing within the New West Indies, is considered a citizen. They may participate in regional elections and votes and are eligible to hold an executive office in the regional government.
The New West Indies is a neutral region. It may not partake in "raiding" operations and may not initiate offensive actions against other regions. Should foreign aggressions be carried out against the New West Indies, regional officers may take appropriate measures to defend the region and its members against them.
The executive power is exercised by the Secretariat and the Secretary-General.
The legislative power is exercised by the General Assembly.
Every citizen of the New West Indies is allowed to cast their votes in regional elections and referenda. Provisions set out in this constitution shall govern the eligibility of a nation to run for office in the regional government.
Regional officers shall supervise the validity of all votes cast in regional polls. Any vote cast by non-citizens or puppets must be invalidated and shall not influence the outcome of a poll.
The Founder shall wield veto power over the decisions made by the General Assembly and the Secretariat; however, it may not prevent constitutional amendments to come into effect.
Any nation may initiate a regional referendum on a specific matter. Such referendums may be of administrative matter (decree), adopting new or repealing existing laws (resolution), or referendums to remove certain holders of regional offices from their position (motion of no-confidence).
If the nation initiating such referendum is not a citizen of the New West Indies, they may not cast their vote in the relevant poll. Special requirements and proceedings of each type of referendum are laid down by an Act.
§07 - World Assembly Motions and Election of the World Assembly Delegate
(as amended on January 07, 2019)
The World Assembly delegate, abbreviated as WAD hereinafter, represents the New West Indies to the NationStates World Assembly.
The role of the WAD is purely representative and it does not endow the incumbent nation with any administrative or executive authority within the region.
Any nation, provided it is a member of the World Assembly, may allocate endorsements to other WA member nations according to its own discretion. Any nation may request other nations to endorse it, as long as it does not force other nations into doing so.
The WAD must vote on WA General Assembly resolutions according to the opinion of the region's members. Such opinion polls are open for all citizens of the New West Indies and their voting period is twenty-four (24) hours. The WAD is encouraged to create said polls. In the event that the opinion polls result in no consensus, the WAD must vote according to the opinion of the WA members within said polls. If the polls result in WA members having no consensus, only the WAD voting, or no votes, the WAD must vote on resolutions according to the current voting record of WA members on each resolution. If said voting record also has no consensus, the WAD may vote at its discretion.
§08 - Freedom of Expression
(as amended on June 14, 2019)
The right to freedom of expression is guaranteed. Freedom of expression entails the right to express, distribute, and receive information and opinions without prior prevention by anyone and to every nation's own conscience. However, nations are not allowed to post anything that is either:
obscene or illegal;
instigative or encourages sedition or rebellion;
malicious or defamatory towards another nation within or outside the New West Indies as well as their real-life players;
malicious or defamatory towards religious, political, national or ethnic groups;
malicious or defamatory towards others because of their sexual orientation or gender identity;
threatening towards regional security;
that contains (sensitive) personal information about individual players using the NationStates website;
or that violates the NationStates terms of service.
This right to freedom of expression granted to the members of the New West Indies by this constitution does not replace or undermine the general terms of service laid down by the moderators and administrators of the NationStates website.
§09 - Freedom of Opinion and Ideology
The right to freedom of opinion is guaranteed. Every nation may choose their own ideology, flag, motto, classification, currency, national animal, leader, faith and banners. The regional government may not deprive any nation of this freedom, except they suspect the relevant nation to violate the general terms of service of NationStates.
This right to freedom of opinion granted to the members of the New West Indies by this constitution does not replace or undermine the general terms of service laid down by the moderators and administrators of the NationStates website.
The General Assembly is the legislative body of the New West Indies.
It is in charge of electing the Secretary-General, enacting new policies by adopting resolutions.
Every citizen in the New West Indies will automatically hold a seat in the New West Indies General Assembly and may propose and vote on resolutions.
§12 - Presidency
(as amended on May 17, 2019)
The General Assembly shall elect from among its members a President. The election for President of the General Assembly will be held on the 25th of every third month for a voting period of forty-eight (48) hours. After an election, the elected nation will assume office for a term beginning on the 1st of the following month and ending on the last day of the second month thereafter.
The following nations are not eligible to serve as President of the General Assembly:
the Secretary-General;
any Cabinet member; and
any other nation that is controlled by the player who also controls either the Secretary-General or any Cabinet member.
The President of the General Assembly is responsible for setting up voting polls, disseminating information about said voting, and pinning relevant dispatches about resolutions under discussion in the General Assembly. The President is responsible for supervising the validity of all votes cast on a General Assembly resolution and must disregard any vote cast by puppets or non-citizens in the final outcome.
The President shall approve proposed General Assembly resolutions for voting. Such approval may occur if a resolution does not contradict the constitution, the general terms of service, or standard formatting (as determined by the President). The President may consider other factors for approval excluding a resolution's content or efficacy.
The President is granted Appearance and Polls authority but is not considered part of the executive branch of the Government. The President may not be re-elected for a third consecutive term.
The General Assembly adopts new or repeals existing resolutions for the New West Indies. All resolutions are adopted by simple majority vote, while constitutional amendments require a supermajority, defined as at least two-thirds or 67% of votes cast, in order to be ratified.
The minimum voting period is twenty-four (24) hours for any resolution, and seventy-two (72) hours for constitutional amendments. The President of the General Assembly may decide to prolong the voting period for a resolution or amendment if the President deems it necessary.
Any resolution or amendment must be written down in a dispatch and pinned on the regional World Factbook Entry of the New West Indies for as long as the relevant voting is underway.
The Secretariat forms the executive branch of the government of the New West Indies.
It is chaired by the Secretary-General, who is considered the head of government of the New West Indies.
It is in charge of enforcing enacted resolutions and carrying out administrative matters.
§15 - Eligibility to Serve as Secretary-General
Any nation fulfilling the following criteria may serve as Secretary-General of the New West Indies:
It holds full membership status of the General Assembly.
It is not controlled by the same player who controls the Founder, the President of the General Assembly, or any member of the Cabinet.
The Founder is considered Secretary-General until the first Secretary-General has been elected according to the procedures laid down in §16.
§16 - Election and Term of the Secretary-General
All nations with full membership of the General Assembly elect the Secretary-General for a term of six months.
Elections for Secretary-General shall be held no later than fourteen (14) days before the running term ends. During a nomination period of at least ten (10) days and a following voting period of seventy-two (72) hours, the next Secretary-General shall be elected by the members of the General Assembly.
The candidate with the most valid votes cast at the end of the voting period is considered the next Secretary-General of the New West Indies and will take office as soon as the term of the incumbent Secretary-General ends.
In the event of a tie, the tied candidates will run for Secretary-General in an additional tie-breaker poll. Should three or more candidates participate in the tie-breaker poll, the aforementioned procedure will be repeated until there is one candidate with more votes than the other candidates. That candidate will then assume office as Secretary-General.
§17 - Powers of the Secretary-General
The Secretary-General will be granted all onsite authorities except Executive and WA Delegate authority; however, the Secretary-General may simultaneously hold World Assembly Delegate status.
The Secretary-General must appoint a Cabinet consisting of four nations, called Secretaries or Officers, each of which holds one of the portfolios described in §18 of this Constitution.
Each of the Secretaries heads one of the administrative departments of the New West Indies. They are appointed by, and serve at the pleasure of, the Secretary-General; however, they may be either dismissed by the Secretary-General or impeached via GA resolution at any given time.
They hold one of the following portfolios and are granted the powers and authorities stated thereafter:
The Secretary of State for Internal Affairs (SIA) is in charge of administering the regional map and issuing or revoking citizenship status, and is granted Appearance, Communications and Polls authority.
The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (SFA) is in charge of all diplomatic affairs with foreign regions that are not militaristic and is granted Communications and Embassies authority.
The Secretary of Defense and Information (SDI) is in charge of regional defense, all militaristic affairs and supra-regional information gathering, and is granted Border Control, Communications and Embassies authority.
The Secretary of Administration (SA) is in charge of keeping regional dispatches, such as the Constitution and all GA resolutions, up-to-date, and is granted Appearance and Communications authority.
While acting within their respective jurisdiction, each Secretary may issue unilateral decrees enacting administrative orders. Any decree issued by a Secretary may be overturned with a simple majority vote in the General Assembly.
The following nations are not eligible to serve as Secretary:
the Founder;
the Secretary-General;
the President of the General Assembly; or
any other nation that is controlled by the player who also controls one of the nations listed in (a) through (c).
Any citizen may present a motion of no-confidence in the Secretary-General or any of the Secretaries. Such a motion must be brought to a vote within seven (7) days after the proposal and requires a simple majority of votes cast to be adopted. If such motion reaches a simple majority within a voting period of forty-eight (48) hours, the relevant government member is considered impeached and must be dismissed by the Founder immediately.
If the Founder determines the entire Secretariat to be irresponsible of their tasks and duties or finds its decisions to be detrimental to regional stability or security, the Founder may order the dissolution of the Cabinet. Within fourteen (14) days after the dissolution, new elections must be held in accordance with §16. The newly elected Secretary-General will then serve for a term of six months.
A nation may not serve as Secretary-General for more than two consecutive terms (twelve months). The number of total, not consecutive, terms is unlimited.
A nation serving as Secretary may serve for an unlimited number of consecutive or non-consecutive terms for as long as it is not impeached and re-appointed.
Any nation serving as Secretary-General or Secretary will lose its respective seat if:
it leaves the New West Indies;
it ceases to exist;
it is impeached via motion of no-confidence; or
it is impeached in a dissolution issued by the Founder.
The nation of 
Achipel is the Founder and supreme executive authority of the New West Indies.
The Founder's right to use its executive authority is defined and limited by Chapter V of the Constitution.
The Founder's term is unlimited. It cannot be impeached, removed or expelled from the region.
The nation of Achipel is bound to the Constitution, any General Assembly resolution and the rule of law of the New West Indies like any other member of the region.
The nation of Achipel is a full member of the General Assembly and may participate in its debates, votings and elections. It may cast one vote in each voting or election, the weight of which is equal to those cast by other General Assembly members.
The Founder may use its executive authority to block any attempt by the Secretary-General, the World Assembly delegate, or any of the Secretaries to amend or suspend this Constitution by unilateral decree.
The Founder must use its executive authority to ward off any foreign aggression meant to invade, raid or destabilize the region. The Founder may also issue executive decrees containing the purpose and duration of validity of such to take precautionary measures to avoid previously mentioned circumstances.
The Founder may use its powers without prior authorization from the competent authorities of the New West Indies in circumstances where the Founder reasonably believes that the security or stability of the New West Indies is under threat. However, in these circumstances, the Founder must provide a written statement to the Secretariat justifying its actions. The Secretariat may order the Founder to reverse any action taken without prior authorization from the Secretary-General or Secretariat and, if so ordered, the Founder must comply with such order.
The Founder may not use its executive powers for any purpose or in any manner that is not contemplated by this Constitution or provided for by any applicable General Assembly resolution.
In the event that the founder ceases to exist, all World Assembly nations are required to endorse the current World Assembly delegate. Any nations not already in the World Assembly are encouraged to join and endorse the WAD.
The WAD, while the founder is nonexistent, will assume the role abdicated by the founder. All aforementioned sections of this constitution previously applicable to the founder will then apply to the delegate. As such, the WAD should be treated as the premier executive of the region by all nations within it. Furthermore, the WAD should act in the best interests of the region, as the founder would have, by maintaining the integrity of this constitution, the regional government, and other activities of the region.
The Secretary of Defense and Information should further coordinate with other regional officers, especially the Secretary of State for Internal Affairs, to closely monitor all nations entering the region and their activities. The regional officers and WAD may eject/ban nations from the region under the same constraints previously given to the founder in §23 of this constitution.
The WAD or another regional officer should remind all nations of this process when applicable and encourage them to report any suspicious activity to a regional officer.
If the founder becomes active again and returns to the region, then §24 of this constitution is no longer in effect, and the region resumes normal activities.
