The Free Nations Region

[box]PREAMBLE

In order to promote freedom, peace, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, this Constitution hereby establishes the Free Nations Federation as a successor government to The Free Nations Region, ensuring a republican form of government, democratic representation for all, and the stable growth of our home.

DEFINITIONS

“Majority”: A vote in which more than 50.00% of the votes are in favor.

“Supermajority”: A vote in which at least ⅔ (66.667 %) of the votes are in favor.

“Citizen”: A Nation that holds citizenship within the Free Nations Federation.

“Legal Code”: The Constitution, passed laws, and Executive Orders.

“Legislation”: Laws, amendment, or repeals, considered collectively.

Article I - Civil Rights

1. Every nation is guaranteed the right to the freedom of expression, assembly, religion, petition, and speech unless in violation of the criminal code or other legislation..

2. Every nation is sovereign and has the right to control the domestic affairs of their nation, including World Assembly membership and giving or receiving endorsements in accordance with governing law.

3. Every citizen is guaranteed the right to submit legislation to the legislature and to vote on legislation.

4. Every nation is guaranteed the right to a fair, public, and impartial trial and shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Decisions of innocence are irreversible.

5. Every nation is guaranteed the right to be free of governmental abuse, including abuse of positions, bans, ejections, or banjections.

6. Every nation is guaranteed the right to be governed by a free, transparent, accepting, and accountable government.

7. No nation can be found in violation of a law that was not in force at the time.
   

Article II - Citizenship

1. Any World Assembly nation shall receive citizenship provided they endorse the appointed delegates of any of the Free Nations Federation's designated properties.

   1. This form of citizenship shall be revoked if that nation leaves the region, World Assembly, or withdraws endorsement from the delegate.
      

2. Residents not in the World Assembly must apply for citizenship through an application made publicly available by the government.

   1. During elections, only Justices and the Acting Founder may accept applications.

   2. If applicable, the NationStates Verification API should be the primary way to confirm citizenship.

   3. Applicants, regardless of where they apply, are required to state the name of their World Assembly nation if they have one.

      1. This shall be verified using the VAPI, if reasonable.
         

3. Military applicants may be granted citizenship if desired on their application.

   1. Applications for citizenship via the military shall be subject to the same verification process as prescribed by Article II: Citizenship of this Constitution.

   2. If no other method of citizenship was acquired, their citizenship
      shall be revoked within 24 hours of leaving the military.

4. If it is found that a citizen has received citizenship illegally, citizenship shall be revoked immediately.

   1. The Judiciary shall determine any additional penalties in accordance with governing law.
      

Article III - The Federation Government

1. The Free Nations Federation shall be the government of Equiterra and its territories. It shall consist of an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch.

   1. The President, Vice President, and their Cabinet represent the Executive Branch.

   2. The Citizens’ Assembly represents the legislative branch.

   3. The Supreme Court represents the judicial branch.
      

2. No members of the government may hold multiple elected offices within the Federation.

   1. No Justice may concurrently hold an elected position.
      

3. Any elected or appointed member of the government who does not post on an FNR-affiliated site for a period of 14 days without notifying the region beforehand shall be removed from office.

   1. Any member of the government found to be using puppetry or coercion to make any sort of gain shall be immediately removed from office.
      

Article IV - The Executive Branch

1. The President is the Chief Diplomat and Commander in Chief.

   1. The President serves a three month term (90 days) or until the next election season. The presidency has a limit of two consecutive terms.

   2. The President shall receive regional on-site permissions within the stronghold to handle Appearance, Communications, Polls, Embassies, and Border Control.

   3. The President reserves the right to grant additional regional permissions, except Executive and World Assembly, to the offices of Vice President, WA Delegate, Chief Justice, and Speaker as they see fit.

      1. These permissions may only be removed upon the President or officer leaving or being removed from their office.
         

   4. The President may declare an Executive Order when the normal legislative process would not be sufficient to resolve an urgent situation.

      1. Executive orders are subject to judicial review.

      2. Executive orders may be annulled by a referendum of the Citizens' Assembly.

      3. The president may repeal any executive order at any time.
         

2. The Vice President is second in command to the President.

   1. The Vice President serves a three month term (90 days) with a limit of two consecutive terms, or until the next election season, or if replaced in a Presidential Special Election, whichever comes first.

   2. Should the Presidency become vacant, the Vice President shall assume the Presidency.

      1. The Vice President shall remain as President for the remainder of the term or until a special election has been concluded.

      2. If a new President is elected through a special election, the Vice President’s term shall end.
         

   3. The Vice President shall receive regional permissions within the stronghold to handle Appearance, Communications, and Polls.

   4. In case of a Vice Presidential vacancy, the President may nominate a new Vice President who must be confirmed by the Citizens' Assembly in a supermajority.
      

3. The President shall have authority over Ministries of the Federation. Ministries shall be defined and regulated in law.

4. The Roleplay Delegate shall serve as a representative of the Roleplay Community in the President's Cabinet.

   1. The Roleplay Delegate shall have full responsibility over the Roleplay Community of the Free Nations Federation.

   2. The Roleplay Delegate shall receive regional permission to handle Communication and Polls.

      1. The Roleplay Delegate shall receive regional permission to handle Appearance, Communication, Polls, Border Control and Embassies in the Free Nations Realm.

   3. The Roleplay Delegate shall have full authority over the Free Nations Realm.

      1. The Roleplay Delegate shall nominate Staff Members and Moderators to assist them in overseeing the Roleplay.

      2. The nominated staff members and moderators will be then confirmed by the Roleplayers through a majority vote in a referendum.

      3. Roleplay Moderators hold their position permanently unless

         1. Roleplay Moderators may be dismissed by the Roleplay Community through a majority vote in a referendum.

         2. Any Roleplay Moderator who is inactive for a period exceeding two weeks (14 days) without prior notice shall be immediately dismissed by the Roleplay Delegate.

      4. The Roleplay Delegate shall assign the necessary regional permissions to the Staff Members and Roleplay Moderators in the Free Nations Realm.

      5. The Roleplay Delegate may assign additional regional permissions to a Staff Member and Roleplay Moderator at any time upon their discretion.

      6. The Roleplay Delegate may remove regional permissions of the Staff Members and Roleplay Moderators at their discretion.

   4. The Roleplay Delegate may appoint a Deputy Roleplay Delegate.

      1. Deputy Roleplay Delegate will act as the second-in-command in Roleplay Administration.

      2. Deputy Roleplay Delegate shall receive regional permission to handle Appearance, Communication and Polls in the Free Nations Realm.

      3. The Deputy Roleplay Delegate shall assume the office of the Roleplay Delegate in a vacancy until the Special elections are held.

      4. The Acting Roleplay Delegate shall return to their initial position of Deputy Minister after the conclusion of a Special Election.

   5. Roleplay Delegate and Deputy Roleplay Delegate may be impeached by a supermajority in a referendum initiated by the Roleplay Community.

Article V - The Legislative Branch

1. The Citizens’ Assembly is the sole house of the legislative branch.

   1. Any Citizen that has resided in the region for at least one week shall be a member of the Citizens’ Assembly.

   2. The Citizens’ Assembly is responsible for voting on legislation and discussing the progress of the region.
      

2. The Citizens’ Assembly is led by the Speaker.

   1. The Speaker serves a 3-month term (90 days) with no term limit, or until the next applicable election season.

   2. The Speaker is responsible for guiding debate and administering votes.

   3. The Speaker shall receive regional permissions within the Stronghold to handle Communications and Polls.
      

3. Any member of the Citizens’ Assembly may write and propose legislation for submission.

4. All proposed bills are brought to the Floor of the Assembly to be discussed and voted on.

   1. After submission to the Speaker, the legislation must be presented within 24 hours.

   2. Discussion may last a minimum of 24 hours and a maximum of 72 hours.

   3. The Speaker may extend the discussion time by up to 72 hours as often as necessary.

   4. Following discussion, the Speaker shall have 12 hours to begin the voting period.

   5. Legislation is passed by a simple majority vote in the Citizens’ Assembly.

      1. The President may veto a passed bill.

      2. A veto can be overridden by a Supermajority vote of the Citizens’ Assembly.
         

   6. The voting period for legislation shall last 72 hours.

   7. Every legislation that has been voted on shall be archived.
      

Article VI - The Judicial Branch

1. The Supreme Court shall consist of five justices.

   1. The President shall nominate Justices to vacant positions on the Supreme Court, approved with a simple majority vote of the Citizens’ Assembly.
      

2. Justices shall select, from among themselves, a Chief Justice to lead and represent the Supreme Court on the fifteenth of January each year.

   1. The Chief Justice may be dismissed by the Supreme Court through a Vote of No Confidence.

   2. The Chief Justice shall receive regional permissions within the Stronghold to handle Communications, Embassies, and Border Control.

   3. If the Supreme Court cannot come to a verdict due to a tie, the Chief Justice shall break the tie.

   4. In case of a vacancy of the Chief Justice, they shall select a new one among themselves.
      

3. All Justices are required to serve the constitution. They serve for an unlimited amount of time until they resign or get impeached.

4. Justices are expected to treat all citizens equally in the eyes of the law and remain unbiased during any trial or investigation.

5. Justices may recuse themselves from specific cases if they believe they cannot be unbiased when handling it.

6. No Justice can be a member of a political party.

7. The Supreme Court has the power of judicial review.

8. The Supreme Court supersedes all jurisdiction on any case that involves the Constitution, inter-regional issues, or the government.

9. The Supreme Court is the trier of fact and of law in all civil and criminal cases, with all verdicts made by majority vote.

Article VII - The Chief Administrator

1. The Free Nations Region shall be a Stronghold. Equiterra shall be the capitol of the Free Nations Federation.

2. The Governor position of The Free Nations Region shall be named to Chief Administrator. It shall be initially held by Heaveria. No other government officer or person thereof may claim the responsibilities laid out.

   1. The Chief Administrator is appointed to serve for an unlimited amount of time.
      

3. Succession of the Chief Administrator position shall be controlled by the internal procedures of the Moderators.

4. The Chief Administrator shall be a ceremonial position, with no other power except when granted additional powers in a time of emergency by the Supreme Court. During a time of crisis, the Chief Administrator shall be under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court. The Chief Administrator may issue ceremonial decrees.

5. The Chief Administrator holds the same rights as all citizens.
   

Article VIII - Electoral System

1. A voter is required to have citizenship for seven (7) days prior to 00:00 UTC on the day of the election.

   1. An eligible voter in the RP Delegate Election must be an Active Roleplayer for at least fourteen (14) days prior to 00:00 UTC on the day of the election.

2. Citizens shall have 72 hours to declare their candidacy during the Declaration Period.

3. No candidate may declare candidacy if citizenship was obtained later than two (2) weeks before the start of the election.

4. Elections shall be run by three (3) Electoral Commissioners who are appointed by the Supreme Court.

   1. Only nations not running for office may serve as an Electoral Commissioner.

   2. The Electoral Committee shall elect a Chairman from among their number.

   3. If no Electoral Commissioners are found, this function shall be executed by a justice of the Supreme Court. Provided unanimous agreement of all justices.

   4. Electoral Commissioners shall be sworn to secrecy and be prohibited from sharing or publishing the results, either in part or in full, before the end of the election.

      1. A 'result' is considered any data that can be collected about a vote. In particular, but not limited to, data that could influence the voting behavior of other voters.

      2. If violated, the election must be declared invalid. The publishing electoral commissioner shall be impeached immediately. They are also prohibited to act as an Electoral Commissioner for at least four (4) election seasons.

      3. In the case of impeachment, an Electoral Commissioner may only be restored to the position with explicit request of the Citizens’ Assembly and with unanimous approval of the Supreme Court.
         

   5. The following information is excluded from the result data publishing ban defined in Article VIII, Paragraph 4 d:

      1. The voter turnout.

      2. Number of eligible voters.

      3. Number of submitted eligible votes.
         

5. The President, Speaker, and RP Delegate are elected offices and shall serve a term lasting ninety (90) days.

6. An Election Season shall start on the first day of the month, in the months of January, April, July, and October. Beginning with a Declaration period in which candidates shall have 72 hours to register and announce their candidacy according to governing law.

7. Citizens shall have 72 hours to vote during the Voting Period. The Voting Period shall start the next thursday on 22:00 UTC, which is at least 4 days apart from the end of the Declaration Period.

   1. The Electoral Commission may be notified of a vice-presidential running mate chosen by a presidential nominee before initiation of the Voting Period.

8. At the end of voting, the Electoral Committee shall have a maximum of 72 hours to announce the results.

9. In case of a special election the Electoral Committee may take the following actions at its discretion

   1. Reducing the Declaration Period length to a minimum of 24 hours

   2. Reducing the Delay of the Voting Period to a minimum of 24 hours

   3. Combining multiple Elected Offices into a single election to avoid being required to hold multiple special elections in a short amount of time.

   4. Delaying the start of any Period for the purpose of avoiding multiple special elections in a short amount of time.
      

10. The Declaration Period for cabinet positions shall begin at 22:00 UTC the day following the announcement of the results of the General Election.

11. The official voting system of The Free Nations Federation is "Instant Runoff Voting" (IRV).
    

Article IX - Referendum

1. Citizens have the right to call for a referendum, which shall be considered valid when at least five additional Citizens support it.

2. A referendum must be announced to the entire region via telegram at its start.

3. The Government may not refuse to announce or organize a valid referendum.

4. Referendums must be approved through a supermajority.

5. A Vote of No Confidence may remove an elected or appointed official from office. Votes of No Confidence shall take place in the form of referendums.

6. A court verdict may be challenged to a second ruling via a referendum. This is known as a Challenge of Verdict. A second Challenge of Verdict may be initiated after the second ruling to annul the verdict.

7. A referendum may annul a piece of legislation.

8. Citizens may petition to appeal the legality of an existing law. The Supreme Court shall review the law and confirm the legality or annul the said law via majority vote upon it’s justices.
   

Article X - Federal Emergency

1. Federal Emergency may be declared and ended by a supermajority vote of the Citizens’ Assembly, initiated through the same process as a Referendum.

2. Should the Stronghold be converted to a Frontier or otherwise be left without a Governor, a Federal Emergency shall immediately be declared, wherein:

   1. The President shall immediately assume the office of the World Assembly Delegate.

   2. The President shall password the region until Governorship is safely restored to a new Chief Administrator, determined through the internal procedures of the Moderators.

3. Should the government determine a Frontier to be under existential threat, as determined by relevant legal security apparatuses through their own internal processes, a Federal Emergency shall immediately be declared, wherein:

   1. The legal protections of citizens within the affected Frontier are suspended.

   2. The authority of Border Control may be extended to any individual designated by the relevant security apparatus.

   3. The World Assembly Delegate shall password the region until security is safely restored.

4. In all cases of Federal Emergency, elections are suspended.

5. Absolute legislative and executive emergency power may be vested in the President or the Chief Administrator by the provisions of Federal Emergency.

6. The Constitution and laws of the Free Nations Federation may be suspended by a motion to initiate Federal Emergency, with the following exceptions:

   1. Articles VII, X, and XIV of the Constitution may never be suspended or amended.

   2. Treaties may never be suspended nor amended without the consent of all signatories.

   3. The composition of the Supreme Court of the Federation may not be altered by or during a Federal Emergency without the unanimous consent of the Supreme Court's existing members.

7. Throughout the duration of the Federal Emergency, the Supreme Court shall ensure that the provisions of this Article are being followed and that the emergency powers granted to the President or other officials by the Emergency motion are not wielded with malice. To this effect, the Supreme Court may still exercise the power of Judicial Review, but only with consideration to active provisions of the Constitution and Legal Code.

8. Should the Supreme Court unanimously rule that the Federal Emergency state is being abused, the Emergency will immediately end and all provisions of the Constitution and Legal Code shall be restored.

   1. In the case where restoring the Constitution and Legal Code is determined to be an existential threat to the Federation, the Supreme Court may elect to replace the President with the Chief Administrator instead of ending the Emergency.

9. After a period of 365 days has passed since the start of the Federal Emergency, should the Emergency remain in effect, the Emergency will immediately end and all provisions of the Constitution and Legal Code shall be restored.
   

Article XI - Military Forces

1. All nations have a duty to defend the Free Nations Federation from those with harmful intentions towards it.

2. The Free Nations Defense Association (FNDA) shall function as the legitimate armed forces of the Free Nations Federation, and shall be placed under the command of the Executive branch of the Federation.

3. The armed forces shall defend the Free Nations Federation against invasions and foreign aggression and shall also participate in defenses of allied regions against raiders.
   

Article XII - Regional Holdings

1. The Free Nations Federation may create or designate Frontiers as properties of The Free Nations Federation, provided the consent of the Founder nation. The creation/designation, usage, and protection of Frontiers may be defined by law.

2. Any designated Frontier shall be considered an extension of the sovereignty of The Free Nations Federation.

3. The Constitution, laws, and treaties of The Free Nations Region shall apply equally to the Stronghold and any designated Frontiers.

4. The government of The Free Nations Region shall have full jurisdiction over all designated Frontiers.

5. The Free Nations Region shall be maintained as a stronghold, protected by the Chief Administrator and operated as a museum region for historical and cultural purposes.

6. The Free Nations Federation may create or designate other regional properties, provided the consent of the Founder, for regional services, events, or other purposes.
   

Article XIII - Amendments

1. The Constitution may be amended by the Citizens’ Assembly through a supermajority vote.

2. The changes introduced by an amendment shall be applied within 72 hours of becoming law.

3. Amendments may be repealed by the Citizens’ Assembly through a supermajority vote of approval.
   

Article XIV - Supremacy

1. This Constitution is the supreme legal authority of the Free Nations Federation.

2. No other legislation shall contravene it. In case of possible contrary interpretation of lesser law, the Constitution is to be considered the highest authority.

   Constitution of The Free Nations Federation
   Preamble ☆ Definitions ☆ Civil Rights ☆ Citizenship ☆ Government ☆ Executive ☆ Legislative ☆ Judicial ☆ The Chief Administrator ☆ Electoral System ☆ Referendum ☆ Federal Emergency ☆ Military Forces ☆ Frontiers ☆ Amendments ☆ Supremacy
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   The Free Nations Federation
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