Preamble:

Return to top

Section 1: Amendments.

a) Any resident may propose an amendment to any section of this document at any time.
b) Any proposed amendment must be sent to the Judge, who will review the text for legality.
c) Should an amendment be ruled illegal, it may be revised and re-submitted at any time, until the Judge issues a Statement of Approval or Statement of No Merit.
i) The former Statement must be made publicly. Upon approval, an amendment shall proceed to a region-wide referendum, to be held onsite.
ii) The latter Statement may be made privately at the Judge's discretion, and prohibits the resident in question from re-submitting the same amendment.
d) Should an amendment pass the referendum with a two-thirds (2/3) supermajority in favor, it shall be added to the Charter by the Mayor.

Return to top

Section 2: Continuity.

a) All statutes within the Statutory Code applicable prior to the passage of this charter and not superseded by it will remain in place unless otherwise legislated or overturned as appropriate.
b) With respect to the Constitution of Ridgefield: its authority is rescinded, and all titled authorities within Ridgefield shall have their vested powers transferred as deemed appropriate by this charter.
c) This charter shall be enacted upon the completion of a referendum vote under the Constitution of Ridgefield.

Return to top

Section 3: Unrescindable Sections of the Charter.

a) No clause in this section, in whole or in part, may be amended or changed in any way.
b) The Foreign and World Assembly Policy (Article III), being necessary to the international influence of the town, shall not be amended or changed in any way.
c) The position of Mayor shall always be occupied by the current World Assembly Delegate, and shall always be granted executive authority.
d) Candidates for the position of Judge must pledge impartiality in all cases laid before them.

Return to top

Section 1: Enumerated Rights.

a) Freedom of expression as it pertains to regional and interregional political matters.
b) Submission of amendments to the Charter.
c) Voting in regional elections and referendums.
d) Endorsement of nations and voting in the World Assembly.
e) Applying for political office.
f) Speedy criminal trial by a jury of one’s peers, except in the case in which the Governor distributes punishment without trial.
g) To not self-incriminate.

Return to top

Section 2: Enumerated Duties.

a) Maintain world assembly membership.
b) Maintain good faith and will with fellow nations.
c) Abide by all onsite and offsite rules, regulations, and terms of service.

Return to top

Section 1: Requirement.

a) All residents are required to be members of the World Assembly at all times, barring special exemptions under solely the following circumstances, as given permission both by the Mayor and the Governor:
i) A matter of Augustin Alliance or regional security.
ii) A matter of military support of an ally of Ridgefield or of the Augustin Alliance.
b) Non-WA nations without an exemption will be issued a reminder within a week of their arrival or resignation.
c) Nations not in compliance one week after the reminder will be ejected, but not banned.
d) No prohibitive regulation shall be made regarding World Assembly endorsements, nor shall any discrimination in regulations for World Assembly endorsements on the basis of any national attributes or leadership be made.

Return to top

Section 2: Foreign Policy.

a) All foreign policy regulations not otherwise specified in the charter are subject to the judgment and policy of the Director of Relations.
b) The Director of Relations shall maintain embassies in agreement with all treaties and alliances unless deemed by the Judge that the treaty is violated, or rendered void by cessation of existence of the region, change of rule in the region, or by the violation of treaty by that party.
c) Embassies shall not be construed to represent alliance, rather, good inter-regional relations.
d) Ridgefield is a neutral region, and an embassy with another region shall not be construed as a token of ideological or gameplay alignment with that region.
e) Ridgefield is not only staunchly neutral in all offensive military affairs, but also condemns the destruction of innocent native regional communities.
f) Nations in embassy regions shall have posting privileges under Regional Message Board Regulations.
g) To ensure respect of interregional commerce, non-alliance regions shall be given the following test if they seek embassies: include the word “moose” in a telegram to the Director of Relations. No embassy shall be granted to any regions that do not send such a telegram.
h) Ridgefield shall negotiate treaties solely via the Director of Relations and their civil servants, or through the Alliance at the Governor’s direction.
i) Treaties shall be passed with a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote after negotiation. No debate shall be had on treaties, nor may they be amended.
j) Should a treaty with a region fail to pass after two attempts, the Governor and Mayor shall be asked to personally mediate discussions and shall be given final say in direction.
k) All treaties, alliances, and embassies are maintained as applicable from prior governments of Ridgefield.
l) Treaties may be repealed by two-thirds (2/3) majority vote, with the consent of the Governor if the treaty is alliance-related, or by the Governor unilaterally.
m) Treaty ambassadors shall be appointed by the Director of Relations, except WA treaties, appointed by the Mayor.
n) The Director of Relations shall consult the Cultural Curator in appointing ambassadors to regions or organizations with which Ridgefield or Alliances it is a part of has a primarily cultural treaty.

Return to top

Section 1: The Founder and Governor.

a) The Founder shall consist solely of a ceremonial role, and shall be permanently occupied by August, the individual responsible for creating the Augustin Alliance regions, including Ridgefield.
b) The Governor shall retain as a regional officer all executive and other authority granted naturally by NationStates.
c) The Governor shall protect, uphold, and defend the government of Ridgefield.
d) The Governor may advise the Mayor on all applicable matters.
e) The Governor may, without trial or adjudication, suspend or terminate the residency, privileges, and/or presence of any nation in Ridgefield.
f) The Governor shall retain veto authority over any law or amendment.
g) Should Ridgefield be without a Governor, the Mayor shall be granted all powers of the Governor until a Governor is restored or chosen.

Return to top

Section 2: The Mayor.

a) The Mayor shall consist permanently of the delegate of Ridgefield, and shall be invested by the Governor with executive, appearance, border control, communications, embassy, and poll authority as a regional officer.
b) The Mayor shall administer the general matters of the region.
c) In the absence of a Mayor where mayoral presence is necessary, the Governor shall be granted all powers of the Mayor until a new Mayor is elected.
d) The Mayor shall convene a meeting with the Governor in a timely fashion whenever applications for candidates for office are presented to them.
e) The Mayor shall, as appropriate, appoint, dismiss, or modify regional officers.
f) The Mayor shall issue recommendations on World Assembly resolutions to the region, or shall direct a government member to do so, with due reason and consideration.
g) The Mayor shall keep a good record of all regional documents, or in the case of documents of law, shall advise the Speaker of the Council on keeping a good record.
h) Should a vacancy in any statutory or constitutional office not otherwise specified appear, the Mayor shall assume that office’s responsibilities until the vacancy is filled.
i) The Mayor may appoint civil servants to assist in their duties, but they may not supersede or assume the Mayor's authority.

Return to top

Section 3: The Council.

This section regards political organizations established by residents of the region.

a) All councilors (i.e., positions specifically enumerated in this section) shall be appointed as follows:
i. Each resident may run for one (1) of these positions, and must submit an application to the Mayor at least five (5) days before the termination of the election that is to be conducted.
ii. The applications for each position will be considered by the Mayor starting fifteen (15) days before the end of a position’s term, or at such time as there is a vacancy. If the incumbent is determined not to be suitable for re-appointment by the Mayor or the region, The Mayor will then choose the two (2) most qualified applicants to be voted on. An application will consist of a dispatch which clearly identifies the position of interest, creating a compelling case for why they should be chosen.
iii. The two most qualified applicants for each position will be subject to an election lasting forty-eight (48) hours via regional poll thirteen days after the consideration period began.
iv. Specified positions shall have terms lasting three (3) months. Residents may be appointed to an unlimited number of consecutive terms.
b) The Speaker of the Council shall maintain the legal code, maintain the World Factbook Entry, compose region-wide communications as necessary to the function of government, and regulate the convention of debate and deliberation on legislation. The Speaker shall also be required to represent the defense of any criminally tried resident upon request of that resident, and shall defend the government’s case in all judicial cases with the government as a defendant. The Speaker of the Council shall be given appearance, communications, and polls authority.
c) The Chief of Police shall enforce the laws and regulations of Ridgefield as directed by the Charter, Statutory Code, Governor, Mayor, and/or the Judge as applicable. The Chief of Police shall also send out a warning every Saturday to all non-WA residents of Ridgefield who are not exempt to ensure their compliance with the World Assembly Policy, and shall eject all residents who do not comply with the warning within two (2) weeks, but not prior to one (1) week after the warning is given. The Chief of Police shall be given communications and border control authority.
d) The Cultural Curator shall maintain the culture of Ridgefield through development of events and regional roleplay. The Cultural Curator shall be given appearance, polls, and communications authority.
e) The Director of Relations shall enforce the region’s embassy policy, establish diplomatic relations with current embassies, and advise the government on foreign policy as is pertinent to the law. The Director of Relations shall be given embassies authority.
f) The positions enumerated in (b-e) shall comprise the Council of Ridgefield.
g) Any councilor may appoint civil servants with some vested authority of their office, barring regional officer powers.

Return to top

Section 1: The Judge.

a) The Judge shall have the final say in all court cases where a jury is neither applicable nor requested, or the jury is hung.
b) The Judge shall be selected by the Governor and Mayor and shall serve until resignation, or being asked to resign or declared unfit by the Governor.
c) The Judge may employ in their stead a temporary justice for period(s) amounting to no longer than one (1) month per year.
d) The Judge shall have the right to review the constitutionality of all laws, but shall in all but cases with extraordinary new circumstances or evidence abide by stare decisis.

Return to top

Section 2: The Jury.

a) The jury of any court case shall number the rounded-down cube root of the number of residents of Ridgefield, and shall convene on a secure, public, offsite chat.
b) Each juror shall be deemed fit by the judge if: they are willing and able to access the official secure, public, offsite chat, they are willing and able to be impartial in the trial, they are in good standing with the law, and they are willing and able to be convinced by evidence contradicting their beliefs.
c) Any juror shall be removed by the judge and replaced at the juror’s request, or if they are disqualified for unfitness. Jurors shall convene in secret with the judge, and each may have their name withheld from public posting upon request.
d) Jurors shall be selected randomly by random.org via the order of the residency ranking of the region, in the witness of one other government official.
e) Juries may only be selected for criminal trials, only if requested by the defendant, and only if the defendant is a resident of the region.
f) Jurors may not speak on actively occurring trials except as official communications through the court as sent to (and republished as applicable to all appropriate parties) the judge, or in the case of speaking about themselves being a juror in private.

Return to top

Section 3: Criminal Trials.

a) Criminal trials may be brought forward by the Chief of Police for violation of charges, but may not be brought discriminatorily.
b) The Judge shall decide if the charges have merit, and shall schedule a hearing where all parties, the Jury, and the Judge are available if the charges are deemed to have merit.
c) If the charges are deemed to have merit, a public notice of the hearing shall be posted on the regional message board.
d) If the charges are deemed to be without merit, the would-be defendant may not be charged again on the same basis.
e) No defendant shall be subject to double jeopardy.
f) Punishments shall be given by the judge, given a range of recommendations per the law by the jury if applicable, and may include: authority revocation, position removal, regional message board ban, temporary kick and/or ban onsite, permanent kick and/or ban onsite, and recommendation to be banned on offsite official media (e.g., Discord) except for legal purposes, per regulation under the statutory code.
g) In cases where the Judge is subject to trial, the governor will serve as or appoint a judge in their stead.

Return to top

Section 1: Miscellaneous Items.

a) If fifteen percent (15%) of World Assembly residents sign a petition of no confidence, an official who is not the Governor or Mayor may be subject to articles of no confidence and held to a referendum, and shall be removed from the position immediately if the vote passes and shall not be permitted to return to it without the permission of the Governor.
b) Votes to pass bills, treaties, amendments, and referenda will be passed onsite, and otherwise are subject to the Speaker’s discretion.
c) Government officials must be residents of Ridgefield, and forfeit their office if they cease to exist or leave the region for more than 12 hours.

Return to top