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From the Office of the President of the General Assembly:

Please cast your votes for GAR#32. This bill would greatly reform our judicial system procedures, and adds additional powers afforded to the Judicial Branch!

Link to the bill:

Summary of Provisions

This Resolution will:
  • Amend the Constitution to:

    • Make the High Court’s authority to institute bans and revoke certain rights more clear.

    • Remove §8 protections for political ideologies, and add protections for race.

    • Prohibit the Chief Justice from simultaneously holding office in any other branch of Government.

    • Prohibit the President from simultaneously being a member of the High Court

    • Correct several typographical errors.

    • Prohibit the Chief Justice from voting on a Resolution that would overturn a Judicial Decree.

    • Reduce the time it takes to try cases.

  • Define Judicial Offenses, which are Criminal Offenses like Perjury and Contempt that are committed against the Court, and the Chief Justice is permitted to file charges (but not prosecute them).

  • Designate Judicial Perjury, Contempt of Court, and Evasion of a Lawful Sentence as Judicial Offenses.

  • Define Government Offenses, which are Offenses committed by a member of the Government, and which it would be more proper for the Public Attorney to prosecute.

  • Designate Abuse of Power and Diplomatic Misconduct as Government Offenses.

  • Enact stricter conflict of interest regulations for the Region’s Attorney and the Public Attorney.

  • Change Discovery procedures and allow for Witnesses to be ordered to testify.

  • Tweak the definitions of certain Criminal penalties to couple Full Bans with Citizenship Suspension (instead of Ineligibility) and to prohibit officials sentenced to Region Bans for Felonies from executing the powers of office.

  • Eliminate Preliminary Hearings in Criminal cases and streamline procedure in all 3 Court divisions.

  • Implement a special procedure for Summary Suppressions that would allow the Executive more flexibility while protecting the rights of the Accused.

  • Permit the Court to admit private attorneys.

  • Prohibit the use of juries.

—GAR#32: Clarifying Judicial Powers, Constitutional Protections, and Court Procedures—

Author: Twelve titans, Karteria

Sponsors: Celestiam, Karteria

Category: Constitutional Amendment, Amendment, Legal Affairs

Affects: All Citizens and Residents of the NWI, The High Court


Acknowledging the great reforms implemented by GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) and the recent passage of the detailed GAR#22 (“Criminal Code of the New West Indies”),

Noting however that the aforementioned legislation created certain questions of constitutionality and legality that must be promptly addressed,

Adding that certain additional judicial powers would be beneficial to the integrity and functionality of our Judicial System,

Assuring that this Resolution is in line with the intentions and spirit of the aforementioned legislation,

The General Assembly of the New West Indies hereby enacts the following:

  1. Amendments to the Constitution

    1. Chapter II Amendments

      1. The following is hereby adopted as Chapter II, §7, Paragraph 5 of the Constitution:
        “A nation may have the rights defined in this Section revoked, either temporarily or permanently, as the sentence for crimes committed by that nation.”

      2. Chapter II, §8 of the Constitution is hereby amended as follows:
        “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 players are not allowed to post anything that is either:

        1. obscene or illegal;

        2. instigative or encourages sedition or rebellion;

        3. malicious or defamatory towards another nation within or outside the New West Indies as well as their real-life players;

        4. malicious or defamatory towards anyone because of their a religious, political, national or ethnic groups religion, ethnicity, race, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity;
          malicious or defamatory towards others because of their sexual orientation or gender identity;

        5. threatening towards regional security; or

        6. that contains containing (sensitive) personal information about individual players using the NationStates website;
          or that violates the NationStates terms of service.

        This right to freedom of expression shall be disregarded if a resident or citizen has been convicted of a crime and is sentenced to an applicable restriction of their expression.

        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.”

      3. Chapter II, §9, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution is hereby amended as follows:
        “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. Neither the regional government nor the High Court may not deprive any nation of this freedom, except if it would violate the criteria set forth in §8 para. 1, or if they suspect the relevant nation to violate the general terms of service of NationStates.”

    2. Chapter III Amendments

      1. Chapter III, §12, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution is hereby amended as follows:
        “The following nations are not eligible to serve as President of the General Assembly:

        1. the Secretary-General;

        2. any Cabinet member; and

        3. any member of the High Court; and

        4. any other nation that is controlled by the player who also controls either the Secretary-General, or any Cabinet member, or any member of the High Court.

      2. Chapter III, §13.5, Paragraph 5 of the Constitution is hereby amended as follows:
        “If the targeted officeholder was an elected official, and there are more than fourteen days remaining in their term, the Founder shall promptly call a Special Election to fill the duration of the term. The shortened term will not count against any term limit. The impeacehd impeached official may not run in the Special Election. At least five days shall be allotted for campaigning, and the election itself shall last seventy-two hours. Regular elections shall not take precedence.”

    3. Chapter VI Amendments

      1. Chapter VI, §26, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution is hereby amended as follows:
        “The High Court shall be housed in a dependency region, to be founded by a puppet of the Founder, Achipel, entitled “High Court of the New West Indies”, subject to the same laws of the New West Indies. Court information and records will be in pinned dispatches or on the World Factbook Entry to the dependency region, and the members of the Court shall have appropriate administrative authorities as determined by the Court.”

      2. The following is hereby adopted as Chapter VI, §28, Paragraph 5 of the Constitution:
        “The Chief Justice may not concurrently hold any office or position, leadership or subordinate, in any other branch of government.”

      3. The following is hereby adopted as Chapter VI, §28, Paragraph 6 of the Constitution:
        “The Chief Justice shall not vote on any Resolution of the General Assembly that would overturn a Judicial Decree.”

      4. Chapter VI, §29, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution is hereby amended as follows:
        “Any nation accused of a Criminal or Civil offense shall retain the following rights:

        1. The right to refuse to testify against oneself.

        2. The right to be presumed not guilty until proven otherwise at trial.

        3. The right to present a defense.

        4. The right to not be tried twice for the same offense.

        5. The right to a public trial.

        6. The right to be notified of the charges against them at least one week three days before trial commences.”

      5. The following is hereby adopted as Chapter VI, §31 of the Constitution, to be entitled “Authority”:
        “The Court may impose bans or otherwise suspend or revoke the rights of nations as the sentence for commission of an Offense or for noncompliance with judicial proceedings where permitted by this Constitution and authorized by Resolutions of the General Assembly.

        The Court may adopt additional institutional procedures, rules, definitions, and policies through an administrative Judicial Decree, which may be overturned by a Resolution of the General Assembly.”

  2. Creation and Implementation of Judicial Offenses

    1. The following is hereby adopted as Section III, Subsection D of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “Judicial Offenses are hereby defined as a Criminal, Civil, or State Offense committed against the judicial system. A Criminal, Civil, or State Offense may be additionally designated as a Judicial Offense by Resolution of the General Assembly. No Offense may be solely classified as a Judicial Offense.”

    2. The following is hereby adopted as Section III, Subsection D, Clause i of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “This designation shall not affect the jurisdiction or potential remedies for the Offense.”

    3. The following is hereby adopted as Section IV, Subsection E, Clause viii of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “If a Judicial Offense may have been committed before the Court, the Court may file charges for the Judicial Offense against the nations responsible.”

    4. The following is hereby adopted as Section IV, Subsection E, Clause viii, Subclause a of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “If the nation suspected of a Criminal Judicial Offense is the accused in a pending or ongoing pre-conviction Criminal case, and at least one week remains before trial, the Court may simply add the Criminal Judicial Offense charges to that case.”

    5. The following is hereby adopted as Section IV, Subsection E, Clause viii, Subclause b of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “While the Court may file charges, it may not prosecute them.”

    6. The following is hereby adopted as Section VI, Subsection C, Clause iii, Subclause a of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “Recusal shall not be required in cases of Judicial Offenses.”

    7. The following is hereby appended to Section I, Subsection J of GAR#22 (“Criminal Code of the New West Indies”):
      “This Offense shall be designated as a Judicial Offense.”

    8. The following is hereby appended to Section I, Subsection Q of GAR#22 (“Criminal Code of the New West Indies”):
      “This Offense shall be designated as a Judicial Offense.”

    9. The following is hereby appended to Section I, Subsection R of GAR#22 (“Criminal Code of the New West Indies”):
      “This Offense shall be designated as a Judicial Offense.”

    10. The following is hereby appended to Section I, Subsection S of GAR#22 (“Criminal Code of the New West Indies”):
      “This Offense shall be designated as a Judicial Offense.”

  3. Creation and Implementation of Government Offenses

    1. The following is hereby adopted as Section III, Subsection E of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “Government Offenses are hereby defined as a Criminal Offense which is alleged to be committed while acting as in an official Executive, Legislative, or Judicial capacity. A Criminal Offense may be additionally designated as a Government Offense by Resolution of the General Assembly for Criminal Offenses which by definition can only be committed in an official capacity, however this shall not preclude other Criminal Offenses from being considered Government Offenses due to the situational factors of the specific allegation. No Offense may be solely classified as a Government Offense.”

    2. The following is hereby adopted as Section III, Subsection E, Clause i of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “This designation shall not affect the jurisdiction or potential remedies for the Offense.”

    3. Section II, Subsection A of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby amended as follows:
      “The Department of Internal Affairs shall appoint a Region’s Attorney, to serve as the sole Prosecutor in Non-Government Criminal cases, to defend the Accused in cases of Government Offenses if requested by the Accused, and to defend the Government in state cases.”

    4. Section II, Subsection A, Clause i of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby amended as follows:
      “The Region’s Attorney shall be the sole nation permitted to prosecute a Non-Government criminal offense.”

    5. The following is hereby adopted as Section II, Subsection B, Clause i of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “The Public Attorney shall be the sole nation permitted to prosecute a Government Offense.”

    6. Section IV, Subsection A, Clause iii of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby amended as follows:
      “Upon receipt of a valid form for filing charges, the Court shall notify all parties involved of the accusations, including the Region’s Attorney in Criminal and State Cases State Cases and Non-Government Criminal Cases, and including the Public Attorney in cases of Government Offenses.

    7. Section IV, Subsection B, Clause i of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby amended as follows:
      “Any nation may file criminal charges against another nation, however, the Region’s Attorney shall solely prosecute the case beyond that point, except in cases of Government Offenses, in which the Public Attorney shall solely prosecute.

    8. The following is hereby appended to Section I, Subsection H of GAR#22 (“Criminal Code of the New West Indies”):
      “This Offense shall be designated as a Government Offense.”

    9. The following is hereby appended to Section I, Subsection O of GAR#22 (“Criminal Code of the New West Indies”):
      “This Offense shall be designated as a Government Offense.”

  4. On Bans and Citizenship Status

    1. Section III, Subsection A, Clause vii of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby amended as follows:
      “A Full Ban is hereby defined as a combination of a Region Ban, an Offsite Ban for all offsite Systems, and Ineligibility Citizenship Suspension, either permanently, or for a set period of time, up to a Maximum of three years.”

    2. The following is hereby adopted as Section III, Subsection A, Clause xiv of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “Any nation sentenced to a Region Ban of at least 14 days for a Felony offense shall also receive Citizenship Suspension for the duration of the ban.”

  5. On the Duties and Limitations of the Region’s Attorney and Public Attorney

    1. Section II, Subsection B of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby amended as follows:
      “The Department of Internal Affairs shall appoint a Public Attorney to defend the accused in Non-Government Criminal cases, if requested by the accused, to prosecute in cases of Government Offenses, and to represent the accuser in state cases, if requested by the accuser.

    2. The following is hereby adopted as Section VI, Subsection A, Clause v of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “The Public Attorney shall not hold any other position within the Executive, the General Assembly (except as Member of the General Assembly), and/or the High Court.”

    3. The following is hereby adopted as Section VI, Subsection A, Clause vi of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “Neither the Region’s Attorney nor the Public Attorney nor any of their respective staff may serve as such in any case in which they are the Accuser, the Accused, a witness, or otherwise party to the case outside their statutorily prescribed duties of representation. In such cases they must recuse themself.”

    4. The following is hereby adopted as Section VI, Subsection A, Clause vii of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “Neither the Region’s Attorney nor the Public Attorney nor any of their respective staff may serve as such in any case in which there is a present conflict of interest, or in which they would stand to personally and improperly benefit from a particular outcome of the case. In such a case, the official must recuse themself.”

    5. The following is hereby adopted as Section VI, Subsection A, Clause viii of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “The Region’s Attorney, the Public Attorney, and/or any of their respective staff may, if there is a potential conflict of interest, recuse themself from a particular case, and the Department of Internal Affairs shall appoint a replacement.”

  6. On Witnesses and Discovery

    1. The following is hereby adopted as Section IV, Subsection E, Clause ix of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “The Court shall be authorized to issue subpoenas to witnesses to order them to participate in the judicial proceedings.

      1. Either the Accuser or the Accused must first request the Court to issue the subpoena before the Court may issue it.

      2. No witness shall be permitted to testify without first having been issued a subpoena.

      3. All witnesses may be cross-examined by the opposing party (the party that did not file the subpoena request) in the case.

      4. No witness shall be required to submit self-incriminating testimony.”

    2. Section IV, Subsection B, Clause iv of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby amended as follows:
      “The Court shall devise a standard discovery filing, in which the Region and the accused can submit their evidence and name witnesses by the set discovery deadline.”

    3. Section IV, Subsection C, Clause ii of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby amended as follows:
      “The Court shall additionally schedule a discovery deadline, no less than five two days after the complaint deadline, by which both parties must submit their evidence and name witnesses using the Court’s standard discovery deadline filing.”

    4. Section IV, Subsection D, Clause ii of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby amended as follows:
      “The Court shall additionally schedule a discovery deadline, no less than five two days after the complaint deadline, by which both parties must submit their evidence and name witnesses using the Court’s standard discovery deadline filing.”

    5. The following is hereby adopted as Section IV, Subsection E, Clause x of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “Should new evidence arise or witnesses come forward after the discovery deadline, parties to the case may request that the Court admit the new evidence or witnesses.

      1. The requesting party must sufficiently prove or explain as to why the evidence or witness could not be properly included previously in discovery.

      2. If the Court accepts the request, the Court shall issue a 72-hour recess to permit the opposing side to review the new information.”

  7. Streamlining of Judicial Proceedings

    1. Section IV, Subsection B, Clause ii (not including Subclauses) of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby struck and replaced by the following:
      “After the Court issues notifications pursuant to Section IV, Subsection A, Clause iii of this Document, it shall promptly schedule a complaint deadline, no less than two days after the notification, by which the accuser must submit a written account of the alleged offense, including a citation to the statute defining the offense. The complaint must be specific and detailed enough for the Accused to make an informed plea decision, and if the Court finds a complaint to be insufficient or invalid, it shall reject it, and extend the complaint deadline if necessary.”

    2. Section IV, Subsection B, Clause ii, Subclause a of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby struck and replaced by the following:
      “Following the submission of a sufficient and valid complaint, the Court shall compose a Telegram to the Accused, in which they shall be read the charges against them, informed of the statutes and sentences for each charge, provided with the complaint, and asked to enter a plea for each charge.”

    3. Section IV, Subsection B, Clause ii, Subclause b of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby struck and replaced by the following:
      “At any time between the notification and the complaint deadline, the Accuser may file to add or drop charges.”

    4. Section IV, Subsection B, Clause iii of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby amended as follows:
      “If there are any charges to which an accused has pleaded not guilty, at the preliminary hearing the Court shall schedule a discovery deadline, for at least five two days after the preliminary hearing plea entry, and a fact-finding trial, at least five two days after the discovery deadline.”

    5. Section IV, Subsection B, Clause iii, Subclause a of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby struck and replaced by the following:
      “At any time between the scheduling of a discovery deadline and the adjournment of trial the Accuser may file to drop charges.”

    6. Section IV, Subsection B, Clause vii of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby amended as follows:
      “After either a preliminary hearing in which the accused has pleaded guilty to all charges, or after a trial in which the accused was not found not guilty of all at least one charges, the Court will schedule a sentencing hearing for at least one day later but no longer than three days later.”

    7. Section IV, Subsection C, Clause i of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby amended as follows:
      “After the Court issues notifications pursuant to Section IV, Subsection A, Clause iii of this Document, it shall promptly schedule a complaint deadline, no less than five two days after the notification, by which the accuser must submit a written account of the alleged offense, including a citation to the statute defining the offense, and a statement outlining the alleged damages and requested remedy. The complaint must be specific and detailed, and if the Court finds a complaint to be insufficient or invalid, it shall reject it, and extend the complaint deadline if necessary.”

    8. The following is hereby adopted as Section IV, Subsection C, Clause i, Subclause a of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “At any time between the notification and the complaint deadline, the Accuser may file to add or drop charges.”

    9. Section IV, Subsection C, Clause iii of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby amended as follows:
      “The Court shall additionally schedule a trial for no less than five two days after the discovery deadline.”

    10. The following is hereby adopted as Section IV, Subsection C, Clause iii, Subclause a of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “At any time between the scheduling of a discovery deadline and the adjournment of trial the Accuser may file to drop charges.”

    11. Section IV, Subsection D, Clause i of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby amended as follows:
      “After the Court issues notifications pursuant to Section IV, Subsection A, Clause iii of this Document, it shall promptly schedule a complaint deadline, no less than five two days after the notification, by which the accuser must submit a written account of the alleged offense, including a citation to the statute defining the offense or the law(s) violated, and a statement outlining the alleged damages and the requested remedy. The complaint must be specific and detailed, and if the Court finds a complaint to be insufficient or invalid, it shall reject it, and extend the complaint deadline if necessary.

    12. The following is hereby adopted as Section IV, Subsection D, Clause i, Subclause a of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “At any time between the notification and the complaint deadline, the Accuser may file to add or drop charges.”

    13. Section IV, Subsection D, Clause iii of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby amended as follows:
      “The Court shall additionally schedule a trial for no less than five two days after the discovery deadline.”

    14. The following is hereby adopted as Section IV, Subsection C, Clause iii, Subclause a of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “At any time between the scheduling of a discovery deadline and the adjournment of trial the Accuser may file to drop charges.”

  8. A New Process for Summary Suppressions

    1. Section II, Subsection D of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby amended as follows:
      “If a nation is suspected of committing a Criminal Offense that would present an immediate threat to the security or well-being of the region if that nation were permitted to continue residing in the region during Criminal Proceedings, the Secretary-General may, pursuant to Sections 1 or 3 of the Constitution, the Secretary of Defense and Information may, pursuant to Section 3 of the Constitution, or the Founder may, pursuant to Section 23 of the Constitution, impose an indefinite Region Ban and/or Offsite Ban onto the suspected nation, and may suppress posts. These actions shall be known as Summary Bans and Summary Suppressions.

    2. Section II, Subsection D, Clause iii of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby struck and replaced with the following:
      “Within two days of the summary suppression of posts, the Region shall file a Notice of Summary Suppression with the Criminal Court.”

    3. The following is hereby adopted as Section II, Subsection D, Clause iii, Subclause a of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “The Court shall then issue a notification to the suspected nation informing them of the notice and asking them to the Court within seven days as to whether they consent to the suppression or wish to contest it, explaining the meaning of each choice as described under this Clause.”

    4. The following is hereby adopted as Section II, Subsection D, Clause iii, Subclause b of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “If the suspected nation consents to the suppression, the Founder or Secretary-General may continue suppressing the post at its discretion, and shall be informed of such.”

    5. The following is hereby adopted as Section II, Subsection D, Clause iii, Subclause c of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “If the suspected nation contests the suppression, the Founder or Secretary-General must either unsuppress the post within one day or charge the suspected nation for the offense, and shall be informed of such.”

    6. The following is hereby adopted as Section II, Subsection D, Clause iii, Subclause d of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “Consenting to a summary suppression in this manner shall not constitute an admission of guilt.”

  9. Other Amendments

    1. Section I, Subsection Q, item i of GAR#22 (“Criminal Code of the New West Indies”) is hereby amended as follows:
      “Publishes malicious, discriminatory, or defamatory content related to any person's religion, sexual orientation, political beliefs, gender identity, age, nationality, ethnicity, race, skin tone, or any other factor of differentiation outside the control of the victim;”

    2. Section IV, Subsection E, Clause iii of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby struck and replaced with the following:
      “The Court shall admit private counsel

      1. to represent the accused in Criminal Cases, if provided by the accused;

      2. to represent the accuser in State Cases, if provided by the accuser; or

      3. to represent either the accuser or the accused in Civil Cases, if provided by the represented party”

    3. Section VI, Subsection C, Clause i of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby struck and shall be left blank. The Clauses that follow shall not be renumbered.

    4. Section VI, Subsection C, Clause ii of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”) is hereby struck and shall be left blank. The Clauses that follow shall not be renumbered.

    5. The following is hereby adopted as Section VI, Subsection D, Clause iv of GAR#21 (“Establishment of a Judicial System”):
      “The Court shall assemble no jury to rule in or advise any ruling in any case.

      1. This shall not preclude the Court from permitting interested parties to file amicus curiae briefs.”

Appendix 1: Summary of Modifications to Chapter II of the Constitution

[...]

§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.

A nation may have the rights defined in this Section revoked, either temporarily or permanently, as the sentence for crimes committed by that nation.

§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 players are not allowed to post anything that is either:

  1. obscene or illegal;

  2. instigative or encourages sedition or rebellion;

  3. malicious or defamatory towards another nation within or outside the New West Indies;

  4. malicious or defamatory towards anyone because of their religion, ethnicity, race, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity;

  5. threatening towards regional security; or

  6. containing (sensitive) personal information about individual players;

This right to freedom of expression does not replace or undermine the general terms of service laid down by the moderators and administrators of the NationStates website.

This right to freedom of expression shall be disregarded if a resident or citizen has been convicted of a crime and is sentenced to an applicable restriction of their expression.

§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. Neither the regional government nor the High Court may deprive any nation of this freedom, except if it would violate the criteria set forth in §8 para. 1, or if 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.

Appendix 2: Summary of Modifications to Chapter III of the Constitution

[...]

§12 - Presidency
(as amended on May 17, 2019)

[...]

The following nations are not eligible to serve as President of the General Assembly:

  1. the Secretary-General;

  2. any Cabinet member;

  3. any member of the High Court; and

  4. any other nation that is controlled by the player who also controls either the Secretary-General, any Cabinet member, or any member of the High Court.

    [...]

    §13.5 - Motions of No Confidence

    [...]

    If the targeted officeholder was an elected official, and there are more than fourteen days remaining in their term, the Founder shall promptly call a Special Election to fill the duration of the term. The shortened term will not count against any term limit. The impeached official may not run in the Special Election. At least five days shall be allotted for campaigning, and the election itself shall last seventy-two hours. Regular elections shall not take precedence.

Appendix 3: Summary of Modifications to Chapter VI of the Constitution

§26 - Establishment

The High Court shall be housed in a dependency region, to be founded by a puppet of the Founder, Achipel, entitled “High Court of the New West Indies”, subject to the same laws of the New West Indies. Court information and records will be in pinned dispatches or on the World Factbook Entry to the dependency region, and the members of the Court shall have appropriate administrative authorities as determined by the Court.

[...]

§28 - Chief Justice

[...]

The Chief Justice shall place a puppet in the High Court dependency region, which shall be granted Border Control and Communications authority.

The Chief Justice may not concurrently hold any office or position, leadership or subordinate, in any other branch of government.

The Chief Justice shall not vote on any Resolution of the General Assembly that would overturn a Judicial Decree.

§29 - Fundamental Rights of the Accused

Any nation accused of a Criminal or Civil offense shall retain the following rights:

  1. The right to refuse to testify against oneself.

  2. The right to be presumed not guilty until proven otherwise at trial.

  3. The right to present a defense.

  4. The right to not be tried twice for the same offense.

  5. The right to a public trial.

  6. The right to be notified of the charges against them at least three days before trial commences.”

[...]

§31 - Authority
The Court may impose bans or otherwise suspend or revoke the rights of nations as the sentence for commission of an Offense or for noncompliance with judicial proceedings where permitted by this Constitution and authorized by Resolutions of the General Assembly.

The Court may adopt additional institutional procedures, rules, definitions, and policies through an administrative Judicial Decree, which may be overturned by a Resolution of the General Assembly.

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