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Independent Oceanic Nations


Stormsend

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Long ago, in times near forgotten, a group of soldiers wandered the world in search of a home.

After years of wandering, a home was found, and the Aurorans settled Oceana and built their Empire. Today, their nations are scattered to the four corners of the world, unified by their common goals of prosperity and strength. They became what is now know as the Independent Oceanic Nations.

ION, as most refer to them, are sworn to the Aqua team and to their friends. They hold no treaties (they don't sign them), but to anyone they consider a friend, they have the Aurorans' undying loyalty. Oceana is led by a judiciary of three, the Thurokiir, the Mundokiir, and the Almokiir.

And now, our public documents.

The Constitution of the Independent Oceanic Nations

PREAMBLE

The following document has been drafted with the intent to provide a stable government for the Oceanic Nations through both peacetime and war that represents the people while holding true to the principles upon which this alliance has been founded. Under no form of duress or coercion, we as the foundation and membership of the Oceanic Nations hereby sign ourselves to this Constitution.

STRUCTURE AND GOVERNMENT

Article One: The General Assembly

The first body within the alliance shall be the general assembly, which will consist of all active alliance members as a whole, including those already appointed to positions elsewhere within the current government. The general assembly will be responsible for the election of senators, the presentation of legislation to the senate, and maintaining their nations to the benefit of the alliance.

Article Two: The Senate

Definition

The second body within the alliance shall be the Senate, which shall be responsible for conducting legislative affairs for the alliance on the behalf of the general assembly.

Selection

Initially, the alliance senate shall consist of three alliance members appointed by the judiciary during the formation of the Oceanic Nations. Afterwards the alliance senate shall be chosen from the alliance membership on a monthly basis by a popular election within the general assembly, under the supervision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The number of senators elected each month shall be determined based upon the overall size of the alliance. For the first fifty members of the alliance, there will be a representation of three senators. Every fifty alliance members beyond the first will increase the number of senators by two, to a maximum of nine senators.

Removal

If at any time the situation necessitates the removal of an alliance senator from their position, any member of the general assembly may initiate the impeachment process. First, the assemblyman must present a petition of no less than ten signatures requesting the investigation of the senator(s) in question to the Minister of Internal Affairs, along with any relevant evidence and supporting facts. The Minister of Internal Affairs will then conduct a thorough investigation and present their findings and all evidence to the judiciary for final review and judgment.

In the wake of an impeachment, a general election will be held to fill the vacant seat(s).

Article Three: The Ministries

Definition

The third body within the alliance shall be its ministries, each appointed domain over a certain sector of alliance business. Collectively, the ministries form the executive branch of the alliance and serve as an advisory board to both the alliance senate and alliance judiciary.

The Ministries

The Ministry of Commerce (MoC): The Ministry of Commerce shall take responsibility for the financial development of the alliance and will oversee matters of trade, financial aid and alliance banking. During a time of war, the Ministry of Commerce will coordinate with the Ministry of Defense to arrange for wartime and post-wartime reconstructive aid.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MoIA): The responsibilities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are varied and nebulous. First, the MoIA will be responsible for the conduct of all elective processes within the alliance. The MoIA will also be overall responsible for maintaining and securing all forms of alliance communication. Additionally, the MoIA will conduct all punitive investigations within the alliance, presenting their findings to the alliance judiciary.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA): With the guidance of the senate, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for the development and maintenance of relations with alliances and parties external to the Oceanic Nations. During peacetime and war, the MoFA is the means by which other alliances communicate with our own.

The Ministry of Defense (MoD): Overall responsible for the construction, preparation and maintenance of the alliance military is the Ministry of Defense. The Ministry of Defense is also responsible for the nuclear armaments of the alliance as outlined in the alliance nuclear armament policy.

The Ministry of Recruiting (MoR): It is the duty of the Ministry of Recruiting to both gather applicants for entry into the alliance and to screen them to ensure that only members of suitable character are taken into the alliance. The MoR is likewise responsible for maintaining a roster of active members within the alliance.

The Ministry of Education (MoE): Working in tandem with the Ministries of Defense and Recruiting, the Ministry of Education and its staff ensure that all members of the alliance are knowledgeable in alliance policies, game mechanics and all other information which they will need to function within the alliance.

Selection

Governing each ministry shall be one minister who has proven himself to the alliance to be an expert within his field of service. These ministers will be chosen by the alliance senate as their first action after taking office and will serve until they are replaced by a later senate, resign or are removed through impeachment. Nominated ministers will take office after being approved by a simple majority vote of the incoming alliance senate. The ministers may maintain staffing as needed by their ministries.

Removal

The procedures for removing a minister from their position are identical to those used to remove a senator from their position. Following the impeachment, the senate will select a new candidate for the position, who must then be approved by a simple majority of the senate. In the event that agreement on a replacement minister cannot be reached within 72 hours, the alliance judiciary will appoint a temporary minister to hold office until the next general election.

Article Four: The Judiciary

Definition

The fourth and final body within the alliance shall be the alliance judiciary. The members of the alliance judiciary will faithfully serve the Oceanic Nations as judges and as an advisory board with intimate knowledge of the Constitution, the Book of Law and the spirit in which they were written. With them rests the responsibility of insuring that the alliance does not stray from its founding principles and the maintenance of justice and equality throughout the alliance.

Selection

The alliance judiciary shall consist of three self-appointed founders of the alliance who possess knowledge of the spirit and letter of the original Constitution and Book of Law second to none. The members of the judiciary shall retain their position until resignation.

Removal

Alliance judiciary members are only relieved of their position through resignation. As founding members of the alliance who bear the spirit and tradition of the alliance, they may not be impeached or otherwise forcefully removed from their positions. If a judiciary member resigns, a new member shall be selected by the remaining judiciary members.

Article Five: The Legislative Process

The following is the process by which additions and amendments may be made to the Oceanic Nations Constitution or the Oceanic Nations Book of Law. Any member of the general assembly may propose a bill to the alliance senate using these procedures.

The first step in the legislative process is to take stock of the current situation and what proposed changes need to be made. Each bill proposed to the alliance senate for consideration should be limited to one topic of interest within a specific section of the target document. If multiple changes need to be made within multiple sections of the target document, the proposal should be broken down into component bills to be presented to the alliance senate. When in doubt as to whether or not a particular change will require multiple bills, a member of the judiciary should be consulted on the matter.

Once the issues have been divided appropriately, the next step is to draft up the formal bills for presentation to the alliance senate. While formal in nature, these drafts should be written clearly and concisely to eliminate confusion concerning the changes being made. A simplistic bill that is easily understood is always preferential to a complex bill that nobody can understand.

With the bill formally drafted, the assemblyman offering the proposal may now place it on the floor of the alliance senate for consideration. The first 48 hours that a bill spends on the senate floor will be used to allow the public to weigh in their opinions and show their support or condemnation for the bill in question. Senators are encouraged to participate in discussion during this time, but may not yet cast their vote for the bill. Once the 48 hours have expired, the alliance senate - keeping the opinions of the public in good faith - will have a maximum of 24 hours to vote on the bill.

The acceptable votes for a bill are AYE, NAY and ABSTAIN. Votes will be tallied either at the end of the 24 hour voting period or when all senators have voted, whichever comes first. A simple percentage of a bill's approval rating is calculated using the votes for AYE and NAY, with the votes for ABSTAIN being discarded from the final calculations. In order to pass the senate floor a bill needs at least a 51% approval rating. The final results and a quote of each senator's vote will be presented to the public.

Bills which do not receive the 51% majority required to pass the senate floor will be presented back to the author for revision and resubmission at a later time. Bills which receive the 51% majority required will be signed by the alliance senate and presented to the alliance judiciary for a final review against both the Constitution and the spirit of the alliance. The members of the judiciary have a 24 hour period in which they may review and discuss the bill before casting their votes.

The acceptable votes for judicial review of a bill are AYE and NAY. Votes will be tallied either at the end of the 24 hour voting period or when all judiciary members have voted, whichever comes first. Should two of the three judiciary members approve of the bill, it is signed into law by the judiciary effective immediately if no other time frame is specified. In the event that a majority is not reached within the judiciary, the bill is presented to the author for revision and future resubmission to the alliance senate.

Article Six: Provisional Government

In the event that there are not enough members to support the entirety of the constitutional government, the alliance judiciary will assume the duties and responsibilities of those offices left unfilled until enough willing and able members are mustered to fill out the government positions as written in the alliance constitution.

Article Seven: Division of Powers

Excepting those situations covered in article six, there must be a division of powers within the alliance to maintain checks and balances. Excluding those situations in which office has been granted under article six, the following limitations apply to government positions:

First, no member of the alliance senate shall hold office as a minister or a member of the judiciary.

Second, no alliance minister shall hold office as a senator or member of the judiciary.

Third, no member of the judiciary shall hold office as a senator or alliance minister.

The Book of Law for the Independent Oceanic Nations

Chapter One: Admission and Membership

All applicants seeking admission into the Oceanic Nations will first be screened by the Ministry of Recruiting to ensure that they are both capable as nation leaders and compatible with our alliance and its policies as players. This screening process may include interviews, background checks, testing and any other action necessary for the Ministry of Recruiting to uphold the standards of the Oceanic Nations.

Once a member has been accepted into the alliance, they are expected to remain active on our offsite forums and participate both in training exercises and discussions concerning alliance affairs. Members who become inactive without notice will be removed from the alliance rosters, and will not be eligible for assistance or position in a government office until such time as the inactivity problem has been rectified.

No member of the Oceanic Nations may hold membership in any other alliance or faction. Any member of the Oceanic Nations found to be holding dual membership will be subject to punitive action by the alliance leadership.

Chapter Two: Punitive Process

If at any time a member is found to be in violation of any of alliance policy or the Book of Law, they are subject to punitive action as outlined in the following process.

Alliance members known or suspected of being in violation of alliance policy or the Book of Law should be reported to the Minister of Internal Affairs so that an investigation into the matter can be conducted. Should this present a conflict of interests, the matter should be presented directly to the judiciary who will handle the investigation through their own means. Regardless of the situation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs does not make the decision of guilt or innocence - they are required to present any and all findings made during their investigation to the judiciary.

Upon completion of the investigation, the judiciary will hold a private hearing in which the accused are given a chance to speak in their defense and present any exonerating evidence they might have. Following this hearing the judiciary will retire to discuss the charges and will deliver their verdict to the alliance as soon as practically possible. Along with their verdict, the judiciary is expected to provide logs of both the private hearing and their deliberations afterwards.

Should the accused be found innocent, they are exonerated of all charges and allowed to resume whatever duties they carried out previously. Should the accused be found guilty of the charges against them, the judiciary will present an appropriate sentence for the accused along with their verdict. Sentences can range from fines and community service for minor offenses to exile from the Oceanic Nations or being reduced to Zero Infrastructure in the case of more serious crimes.

Chapter Three: Elective Processes

Beginning with the first of every month, the alliance will hold general elections to select new alliance senators, excepting when the alliance is in a declared state of war. During a state of declared war all elections are placed on hold until peace has been declared, at which point elections will continue as normal, with the next election being held at the first of the next month.

Elections are to be conducted publically by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the manner they find most appropriate.

Chapter Four: Foreign Policy

The political conditions in the cyberverse being what they are, the Oceanic Nations has decided that unconventional circumstances call for an unconventional approach to foreign policy. First and foremost let it be known by all that the Oceanic Nations is an independent alliance.

Keeping in tradition with our independent nature, the Oceanic Nations wishes to make it known that under no circumstance will it sign any treaties or documents of recognition with any other alliances. It is the intent of the Oceanic Nations to instead build its foreign relations based on the principles of trust and brotherhood with like-minded alliances rather than upon a foundation of fear and potential violence that many treaties are signed around. It is also the belief of the Oceanic Nations that its foreign relations are none of the cyberverse's business, and that it shall act when and how it feels appropriate.

Alliances which treat the Oceanic Nations with dignity and respect can expect to receive the same in return, with the same being true of non-aggression. Those who threaten either the Oceanic Nations or its brother-alliances, or those who treat the Oceanic Nations with ridicule and disrespect will not be afforded much in the way of professional courtesy or military restraint.

While this means that the Oceanic Nations is under no formal obligation to provide informational, financial or military aid to another alliance, it also means that the Oceanic Nations is under no formal obligation not to provide said aid. While the Oceanic Nations does not promise to honor every request for aid presented to it, it maintains an open-door policy in that anyone is free to ask.

A final note concerning independently-governed nations: everything outlined above is also true for those nations not considered to be part of or under the protection of an alliance. The Oceanic Nations is amenable to establishing relations with peaceful nations of independent government, and afford those nations the same benefits that we afford our allied brothers.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is charged with upholding this policy and working to establish the bonds of brotherhood with those alliances who desire to build such bonds with us.

Chapter Five: Espionage Policy

The practice of espionage is as diverse as it is vile, and an exact definition on what constitutes espionage is difficult to pin down. It is for this reason that the Oceanic Nations has adopted a very broad guideline regarding what constitutes espionage. The Oceanic Nations classifies any act in which information not made publically available is gathered or transmitted without the consent of the owner(s) of said information to be a form of espionage. It should be noted that this includes accepting screenshots or transcripts of material not normally accessible to the parties in question.

The Oceanic Nations does not condone espionage of any form under any circumstance. Members found by the judiciary to be guilty of espionage against other alliances will be given the maximum allowed sentence under the punitive code. Discovery of espionage against the Oceanic Nations by another alliance shall be considered an act of war.

The Ministry of Interior Affairs is overall responsible for the prevention and detection of espionage.

Chapter Six: Trade Policy

The Oceanic Nations as an alliance is heavily commerce-oriented, and the decision of which trade sphere to call our home was not made lightly. It is the desire of the Oceanic Nations to exist in a large and diversified trade sphere in which we can continue our conservative approaches to recruiting and foreign policy without fear. These criteria in mind, the aqua team has been selected as the home of the Oceanic Nations.

In order to maximize our commercial effectiveness, it is strongly recommended that all members of the Oceanic Nations move their nations into the aqua trading sphere and maintain them there. While it is not a requirement that our members join the aqua team, having our membership on one team allows us to better utilize intra-alliance trade networks and to better coordinate our voting in the in-game senator elections.

On the matter of in-game senators, it is the policy of the Oceanic Nations that no member shall occupy the position of in-game senator outside of the aqua team. Any members who obtain a seat in the aqua team senate are expected to carry out their terms honorably and to restrain their use of trade/aid sanctions to rogue nations within the aqua team which have harmed the Oceanic Nations or its brother-alliances. Use of sanctions as a weapon of war is not tolerated excepting when sanctions have been used against the Oceanic Nations or its brothers as an act of war previously.

Selection of which candidate(s) the Oceanic Nations will vote for will be handled by a joint endeavor between the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Otherwise, it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Commerce to ensure that the alliance is economically productive and capable of rendering financial support both to itself and its brothers.

Chapter Seven: Military Policy

The Oceanic Nations is a purely defensive alliance and does not engage in unprovoked military aggression. The alliance does, however, maintain a standing army and nuclear stockpiles with which to defend itself and those nations with whom we share the bonds of brotherhood when diplomacy and common decency have failed.

In order for a declaration of war to be issued by the Oceanic Nations, a member of the general assembly must first present the motion to go to war before the alliance senate. The senate will vote on the motion for a maximum of 24 hours, and a 51% majority is required for the motion to pass. Should the motion pass, it is presented to the judiciary for a vote lasting no more than 24 hours in which at least two members of the judiciary must approve of the motion.

Negotiation of peace works in much the same way, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs working out the peace terms with the opponent. Under no circumstances may any peace terms include the involuntary disbanding or subjugation of another alliance. Once the final terms have been worked out, they are submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the senate for a 24 hour maximum vote requiring a 51% majority. Upon passing the senate, the terms are then presented to the judiciary for a 24 hour maximum review and vote, requiring the approval of two judiciary members.

The military forces of the Oceanic Nations are not permitted to engage their targets until war has been officially and publically declared by the alliance government, and must cease all attacks once peace has been officially and publically declared by the government.

During periods of peacetime, it falls to the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Education to provide the alliance with a standing army capable of defending both the Oceanic Nations and its allies. It also falls upon the Ministry of Commerce to develop a financial backbone capable of supporting the alliance and its brothers after the war has ended.

Chapter Eight: Rogue Aggression Policy

In the event of rogue aggression by any party, a diplomatic grace period will be extended to the offending party in which they may agree to offer reparations and a declaration of peace before the next update. Should any further attacks be launched by the aggressor during this grace period, diplomatic process will be halted and the offending nation's ability to inflict damage upon the Oceanic Nations neutralized. Diplomatic relations may be resumed once the threat has been neutralized.

Members of the Oceanic Nations may not, under any circumstance, involve themselves in the policing of rogue matters which do not concern the Oceanic Nations or its brothers. Any member found in violation of this policy will be subject to punitive action by the Oceanic Nations, including possible dismissal from the alliance.

Chapter Nine: Nuclear Armament Policy

In order to maintain the security of its nations, the Oceanic Nations will pursue the development of nuclear technology and the subsequent armament of its nations with the resulting nuclear weapons. In keeping with its role as a defensive alliance, the Oceanic Nations has established a nuclear armament policy to ensure that nuclear weapons are created and used responsibly in defense of the alliance and its brothers. Any member found in violation of these policies is subject to punishment by the alliance, including the possibility of dismissal from the Oceanic Nations and reduction to Zero Infrastricture.

First, the Oceanic Nations does not condone the use of nuclear weapons and would prefer the use of conventional warfare that does not plague the world with increased radiation levels. In keeping with this ideal, the Oceanic Nations does not allow for nuclear first strikes. Only when the Ocenic Nations or its brothers are nuked will permission to use nuclear weapons be granted.

Second, any nation which seeks to develop nuclear weaponry must first obtain permission from the Minister of Defense, which should only be denied when there is sufficient reason not to trust the member nation with nuclear armaments. Once permission to develop nuclear weapons is obtained, the member nation may develop as many nuclear weapons as his economy will support without further authorization.

Finally, all use of nuclear weapons will be done under the instruction of the Minister of Defense. The Minister of Defense will select the targets of the nuclear weapons and will issue the batteries release order.

For Aqua.

For Oceana.

For Aurora.

Stormsend, the Mundokiir of ION.

Edited by Stormsend
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