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by The Free Lands of Vancouvia. . 9,341 reads.

The Western Isles Constitution, Laws, and Executive Orders


CONSTITUTION OF THE WESTERN ISLES



PREAMBLE

Wishing to ensure and secure a prosperous future for the region and its members, this Constitution is hereby established as the supreme, foundational law of The Western Isles.


MISSION

The mission and purpose of the region is to provide an enjoyable, accessible, fair, realistic, and lasting role-play environment.


ARTICLE I: MEMBER NATIONS

Section 1: A member nation (hereafter also "member" or "nation") is defined as a nation that exists on the map of the region, and is present in the region.

Section 2: Member nations are reserved the following rights:

1. To freely participate in the region regardless of NationStates statistics, political stance, religious persuasion, and other similar attributes;
2. To apply for open office and challenge sitting officers;
3. To receive a hearing if requested, unless in the case of insignificant consequences should a hearing result in an unfavorable outcome for the nation;
4. To have an equal voice, status, and treatment;
5. To receive equal access to regional information, regardless of topic or substance;
6. To be free from unwarranted persecution from other members;
7. To petition the government for change through the presentation of legislation;
8. To campaign politically on behalf of themselves or others;
9. To freely vote in the World Assembly;
10. To repeal and replace this Constitution following a public and accessible Convention and a member nation vote of approval of the new Constitution by at least a 3/4 majority.

Section 3: Non-member nations may enter the region but are not granted the rights of this Constitution.


ARTICLE II: FOUNDER AND SUCCESSOR

Section 1: The role of Founder is, by nature, filled by Vancouvia. The Founder shall be responsible for executing the law of the region, managing the regional map, conducting polls and elections, updating the world factbook entry and certain governmental dispatches, providing for the defense of the region, encouraging the growth of the region, and pursuing the mission of the region.

Section 2: The Founder shall appoint a Successor, who shall be responsible for securing the WA delegacy in the inevitable event of the Founder's permanent absence. The Successor shall also be responsible for overseeing a program to best ensure such aim, helping in the defense of the region and its mission, and aiding the Founder and the region in any matters necessary.

Section 3: Upon the permanent absence of the Founder, the Successor shall be then referred to as the Executive Delegate and absorb the Founder's position. The Executive Delegate shall aim to smoothly transition the region through any crises, and may exercise reasonable judgment to ensure that the spirit of the region and its mission is maintained.

Section 4: The Executive Delegate shall also name a Successor, who shall serve as outlined in this article, in order to ensure the continuity of government and the delegacy for the future.


ARTICLE III: REGIONAL RULES

Section 1: The Regional Rules are a separate document from this Constitution. The Regional Rules dictate the rules of the map, as well as various public, out-of-character codes of conduct. Examples of the latter are: general rules about how to treat fellow region members out-of-character, rules about posting on the regional message board, and rules about sending regional telegrams.

Section 2: The Regional Rules are defined by the Founder, who may edit them at any time, within reason.

Section 3: Should this Constitution and the Regional Rules contradict one another, then the Regional Rules take precedence.

Section 4: Contradictions between this Constitution and the Regional Rules should preferably be resolved through convincing the Founder to edit the Regional Rules in such a way that they no longer contradict this Constitution. Failing that, the contradiction will have to be resolved through an amendment.

Section 5: This article cannot be amended unless it is in contradiction with the Regional Rules.


ARTICLE IV: EXECUTIVE BRANCH

Section 1: An executive branch consisting of the following officers and duties thereof is hereby established. No executive officer may serve in more than one office at a time.

Section 2: There shall be a President, who shall be responsible for leading the region through both normal operations and extraordinary crises, delegating tasks to executive officers, supervising the conduct and activity of executive officers, ensuring the continued well-being of the region, providing necessary services and actions, managing embassies and other foreign policy matters, and enforcing the laws of the region.

Section 3: There shall be a Secretary of Recruitment, who shall be responsible for recruiting and attracting new and suitable nations to the region, welcoming new nations, facilitating their assimilation into the region and ensuring their progression; and promoting the happiness, well-being, and harmony of member nations.

Section 4: There shall be a Secretary of Role-Play, who shall be responsible for creating reasonable, common-sense standards of role-play to ensure an enjoyable, accessible, fair, realistic, and lasting regional setting; promoting and facilitating that setting through the proactive creation of role-playing opportunities; and assisting nations with their individual role-play growth.

Section 5: There shall be a Secretary of Information, who shall be responsible for summarizing and reporting on the period's major role-playing events, informing on the government's activity and progress, gathering and displaying interesting or important regional statistics, and overseeing official regional documentation and publications.

Section 6: Executive officers may issue Executive Orders, so long as those orders do not violate the Constitution or the Regional Rules, do not grant powers to any executive officer, and are within the scope of their office. Executive Orders should be issued in order to clarify or create substantial policy decisions or standards. Executive officers can repeal the orders of their office's predecessors through an order. The President must approve before orders are enacted or repealed.

Section 7: Executive officers must carry out their duties to the best of their abilities and should resign if they can no longer adequately carry out their responsibilities. Each of the three secretaries are encouraged to delegate tasks to other members in order to accomplish a greater quantity and quality of their necessary tasks. The officer and those delegated may form a committee, and may, if efficient or beneficial, make decisions democratically.

Section 8: Executive officers must regularly meet, under the supervision of the President, in order to coordinate and assign tasks, discuss pressing issues, and review any other necessary matters. The President shall be required to publish an activity report on these meetings.


ARTICLE V: LEGISLATION AND CHANGE

Section 1: Any member nation may author and present proposed amendments to this Constitution.

Section 2: The proposed amendment must receive at least two out of four endorsements from the executive officers, who shall review it for its format, its merit, its necessity, and its justification.

Section 3: After receiving the required endorsements, the proposed amendment shall go to vote in a public poll wherein all member nations may vote. If the proposed amendment receives at least a 2/3 majority of the vote, it shall be immediately enacted.


ARTICLE VI: ORDER AND HEARINGS

Section 1: The Founder and President shall jointly be responsible for preserving an environment of order, safety, courtesy, respect, tact, and civility.

Section 2: The Founder and President may independently enforce the laws and rules of the region, but should, when able, consult each other on substantial events. They shall have the authority to enact whatever punishments deemed fit against members who break the law or rules, taking into consideration the history of the member, the severity of their act, their intentions, the circumstances of the act, and past punishments for similar actions. The Founder and President shall provide information and reasoning to the member pertaining to the situation in question. Upon request, these shall be provided to the region as well.

Section 3: If they deem the reasoning insufficient, they feel they were unfairly acted against, and the Founder and President are steadfast in their decision, a member or former member can request a hearing for themselves. The three Secretaries shall then select one Arbitrator each from the pool of active member nations who currently have no capacity in the government. These three Arbitrators should be as unbiased and capable as possible. They shall hear from both sides and then promptly make a decision: either confirming the Founder and President's action or amending it to an extent deemed suitable.


ARTICLE VII: ELECTIONS AND CHALLENGE ELECTIONS

Section 1: Challenge elections shall be held for the purpose of maintaining a fresh cycle of officers. Any non-officer can challenge an officer for their position through an election. Challenge elections may only occur after the defending officer has spent 30 days in office, or is clearly unwilling to or incapable of fulfilling their duties as judged by the President (or the Founder if the defending officer is the President). Any other non-officer who was not the challenger may also run for the position in the same election; there is no limit to the amount of candidates that may run. An officer must resign their current position if they choose to run for another position.

Section 2: All elections occur via direct member nation vote. The candidate that receives the most votes will be elected to the office.

Section 3: In the event that voter fraud is discovered after an election has concluded and another nation would have been elected if the fraud did not occur, the true winner of the election will be placed into the office.

Section 4: In the event of a tie, the tied candidates will be the sole candidates in a new election with a shorter election period. If that election results in a tie, the President shall decide the winning candidate from among those who tied. If the tied election is for the Presidency, the Founder shall decide the winning candidate from among those who tied.

Section 5: Elections for the purpose of filling vacant offices shall occur in the same manner as outlined in this article.


ARTICLE VIII: OTHER CHECKS AND BALANCES

Section 1: The President may dismiss officers who have failed to execute their duties.

Section 2: The President may pardon banned nations and allow them re-entry into the region.

Section 3: Member nations shall retain the power to decide on any significant inter-regional alliances through direct majority vote.

Section 4: Member nations shall retain the power to repeal any executive order through a vote that receives at least a 2/3 majority. The officer in the affected office may not issue any similar order until 30 days have passed.


ARTICLE IX: CRISES AND SUSPENSION

Section 1: During time of crisis or calamity, this Constitution may be temporarily suspended by the Founder in order to enact necessary change that would have been otherwise greatly difficult. The suspension shall be lifted as soon as a relative stabilization has occurred.


ARTICLE X: INTERPRETATION

Section 1: Any disagreements about the wording of this Constitution shall be solved democratically through amendments that aim to clear up any ambiguous language.

Section 2: At all times, officers and members shall work together to best accomplish the mission of the region.


ARTICLE XI: ENACTMENT

Section 1: Following the enactment of this Constitution, certain Executive Orders listed below this document shall remain in effect.

Section 2: Following the enactment of this Constitution, the President and Secretary of Information shall retain their offices, while the Secretary of the Exterior shall become the Secretary of Recruitment, and the Secretary of the Interior shall become the Secretary of Role-Play.




ACTIVE EXECUTIVE ORDERS

Presidential Executive Order 1. Enacted by Vancouvia on 13 July 2015.
Presidential Executive Order 3. Enacted by Vancouvia on 10 October 2015.
Presidential Executive Order 7. Enacted by Polar Svalbard on 19 July 2017.
Presidential Executive Order 8. Enacted by Polar Svalbard on 10 October 2017
Presidential Executive Order 9. Enacted by Aizcona on 25 October 2021.

Interior (Role-Play) Executive Order 3. Enacted by Polar Svalbard on October 27, 2022.
Interior (Role-Play) Executive Order 7. Enacted by Atnaia on 3 September 2016.
Role-Play Executive Order 1. Enacted by Atnaia on 16 January 2017.
Role-Play Executive Order 2. Enacted by Ainslie on 1 January 2018.
Role-Play Executive Order 3. Enacted by Thuzbekistan on 21 August 2018.
Role-Play Executive Order 4. Enacted by Roendavar on July 9, 2021

REPEALED EXECUTIVE ORDERS

Information Executive Order 1. Enacted by The Pacific Peace Union, 10/23/2015. REPEALED by Information Executive Order 2
Exterior Executive Order 1. Enacted by Wildelyn, 10/25/2015. REPEALED by Exterior Executive Order 4
Exterior Executive Order 2. Enacted by Wildelyn, 11/3/2015. REPEALED by Exterior Executive Order 4
Interior Executive Order 4. Enacted by Polar Svalbard, 12/12/2015. REPEALED by Interior Executive Order 5
Exterior Executive Order 3. Enacted by Wildeyn, 2/4/2016. REPEALED by Exterior Executive Order 4
Exterior Executive Order 5. Enacted by Taziristan, 7/4/2016. REPEALED by Exterior Executive Order 6
Presidential Executive Order 2. Enacted by Vancouvia, 9/26/2015. REPEALED by Constitution
Presidential Executive Order 4. Enacted by Vancouvia, 10/31/2015. REPEALED by Constitution
Presidential Executive Order 5. Enacted by Miklania, 12/21/2015. REPEALED by Constitution
Presidential Executive Order 6. Enacted by Polar Svalbard, 9/17/2016. REPEALED by Constitution
Interior Executive Order 1. Enacted by Polar Svalbard, 9/21/2015. REPEALED by Constitution
Interior Executive Order 2. Enacted by Polar Svalbard, 9/22/2015. REPEALED by Constitution
Interior Executive Order 5. Enacted by Polar Svalbard, 12/14/2015. REPEALED by Constitution
Interior Executive Order 6. Enacted by Polar Svalbard, 4/8/2016. REPEALED by Constitution
Exterior Executive Order 4. Enacted by Vancouvia, 3/24/2016. REPEALED by Constitution
Exterior Executive Order 6. Enacted by Prioca, 11/3/2016. REPEALED by Constitution
Information Executive Order 2. Enacted by The Pacific Peace Union, 2/4/2016. REPEALED by Constitution
Information Executive Order 3. Enacted by The Pacific Peace Union, 4/18/2016. REPEALED by Constitution
Endorsements Executive Order 1. Enacted by Ostehaar, 8/21/2016. REPEALED by Constitution

The Free Lands of Vancouvia

Edited:

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