Where the future is behind the moonBoard

While the military may be responsible for negating external threats, we also require a system to deal with internal problems and disputes. Such a system will have to be democratic, and will have to take into consideration the opinions of as many people as possible. Ergo, we set forward this framework for a court system in Behind the Moon.

The Supreme Court of Behind the Moon is comprised of all officers of Behind the Moon, both primary and secondary, as well as the Founder and the Delegate. The Marshal serves as the judge during all trials, with the remaining officers serving as the jury. Any nation can call for a trial, but per the Government Draft, version 5, only the Marshal or the Founder can create and judge a trial. Additionally, only the Founder can take disciplinary action without a trial, while the Marshal can take disciplinary action, but only after a trial has been conducted. Trials can be called for any reason outlined in the “Triable Offences” section. The court is designed to deal with two main kinds of trials: trials of non-officer nations breaking the rules, and trials of officer nations breaking the rules. If a non-officer breaks the rules, they can be immediately disciplined by the Founder, without need for a trial. A retroactive trial can be called by the regional officers if they believe the Founder acted inappropriately, and they can vote to overturn the Founder’s discipline. However, if an officer breaks the rules, in any way, it is up to the Marshal or the Founder to create a trial as soon as possible. Under Protective Directive II, the Founder can replace any officer for “corruption, inactivity or general maliciousness”. A retroactive trial can be held if the officers disagree with the Founder’s decision.

Example: On March 19, 2019, Ylisia was relieved of duty as the Vanguard by the Founder, due to inactivity, and was replaced by Zseachia. Under Protective Directive II, as well as the Auto-Fill Policy in the government draft, this action is justified. However, if the officers disagreed with it, they could call for the Marshal to begin a trial that would either reinstate Ylisia, or appoint someone other than Zseachia to the role.

Once a nation has called for a trial, the Marshal or the Founder must decide the severity of issue at hand. If the issue is minor, does not fall under the triable offences section or would be better settled out of court, the Founder or the Marshal can discard the issue, or the Founder can take direct action themselves. If the Founder or the Marshal discard an issue, and it is later decided that court action was required, they will be tried under Protective Directives I & II. If the Founder or Marshal decide that the issue is severe enough to warrant a court session, they can initiate a trial.

The Marshal or Founder can begin a trial by creating a poll in Behind the Moon. The following information must be made available to all officers at the beginning of the poll, either through the poll itself or through a factbook: which officer(s) called for the trial, the nation(s) on trial and what they are being tried for. The poll itself must consist of at least two options, with one being “guilty” and one being “not guilty”. The “guilty” option must outline the disciplinary action that the Marshal or Founder plan to take against the accused nation, should the accused nation be found guilty. There can be as many of these options as the Marshal or the Founder desires. Only regional officers, as well as the Founder and Delegate, will have their votes counted in this poll. Any officer who doesn’t vote in the poll is considered to have “abstained”. All officers must be notified once a trial begins.

Once the trial is over, it falls to the Marshal or the Founder to carry out the court’s decision. If the Marshal or the Founder fail to execute the court’s order in any way, they will be tried under Protective Directives I & II.

This list is incomplete and may be expanded upon in the future.
- Officer being inactive. Since the Founder can replace inactive officers, this offence is unlikely to go to trial.
- Officer threatening another nation, in any way, shape or form
- Officer conspiring to harm the region, by assisting external military forces, inviting known dangerous nations, or otherwise acting in a way that could cause future harm to the region
- Officer actually harming the region, by ejecting and banning nations without cause, defacing the WFE or otherwise acting in a way that harms the region
- Officer not endorsing the Delegate, or otherwise undermining the Delegate’s authority