Constitution of The Unified Christians Alliance
"In God We Trust"
Completed on the fourth day of the month of May in the Year of our Lord 2012.
REJOICING in our shared desire to live the risen life of Christ even within our simulated interactions as part of the NationStates community.
BELIEVING that those who are not believers in the Christian faith should be made welcome in our midst provided they respect the religious basis of our region.
ACKNOWLEDGING that all are children of God and thus are born equal in dignity and rights and that individual states should pursue policies that reflect this belief.
COMMITTED to the concept that each nation within our region is indefatigably a sovereign state, and understanding that regional government is a reflection of a voluntary pooling of sovereignty for the benefit of all.
RATIFY this constitution in order that we may live in a more well-ordered region so that it might please God our Father.
Chapter one- Regional Government Positions.
Article one- the role of the PRESIDENT
1.1a) The Founder of the region shall hold the title of PRESIDENT in recognition of the executive authority invested in them by the NationStates website structure.
1.1b) Trusting that the PRESIDENT will not use the power bestowed upon him to the detriment of the region and that they will act in accordance with the wishes of the directly-elected members of the Regional Government for the betterment of the region as a whole.
1.1c) Believing that the PRESIDENT will at all times be the defender of the constitution and the articles defined therein.
Article two- the role of CHANCELLOR
1.2a) The directly-elected leader of the Regional Government shall be the CHANCELLOR.
1.2b) Entrusting jurisdiction over all matters of internal affairs to the CHANCELLOR including matters of regional migration, defence and the maintenance of order within the regional sphere.
1.2c) Empowering the CHANCELLOR to exercise Administrative power over the region by directing the PRESIDENT to undertake any action deemed necessary in line with Chapter one, Article 1.1b of this constitution except when such actions are not compliant with the constitution.
1.2d) Entrusting the CHANCELLOR to be the only member in the region with the power to authorize the ejection or banning of any nation. The PRESIDENT will be given the duty of executing the banning or ejection, he may only refuse if the order is in complete defiance of the Constitution.
Article three- the role of the WORLD ASSEMBLY (WA) DELEGATE
1.3a) The WA DELEGATE shall be responsible for all matters of Foreign Policy including representations to the World Assembly.
1.3b) Allowing the WA DELEGATE the authority to request, construct and close embassies with other regions. This amendment shall take effect immediately after it has passed a regional referendum.
1.3c) Empowering the WA DELEGATE to appoint Special Diplomatic Missions from the Unified Christians Alliance to another region should it be deemed necessary.
Chapter Two- Elections
Article one- election of the CHANCELLOR
2.1a) Any nation that has been resident in the Unified Christians Alliance for more than one month may nominate themselves to stand for the role of CHANCELLOR provided another nation who has also been resident in the region for more than one month seconds their nomination.
2.1b) Elections for the role of CHANCELLOR will occur once every two months, or more frequently if the presiding CHANCELLOR resigns, leaves the region, or is inexplicably inactive for a period of ten days or more.
2.1c) Nations are able to serve more than one consecutive term in the role of CHANCELLOR.
2.1d) Voting for the role of CHANCELLOR will be conducted using software deemed appropriate by the all three members of the Regional Government and any nation which has been present in the Unified Christians Alliance for more than two consecutive weeks will be eligible to vote, unless they are proven beyond reasonable doubt to be directly connected to a nation which is banned from the region for misconduct.
2.1e) The voting period for the role of CHANCELLOR will last for at least 48 consecutive hours to allow nations based in different time zones and reasonable and fair chance to vote. The voting period must be defined prior to the ballot beginning.
2.1f) The CHANCELLOR will be elected on the basis of whichever previously nominated nation has the most votes at the end of the designated voting period. Votes cast after the end of the designated voting period shall not be counted.
2.1G) The CHANCELLOR may be removed from office at any time if the WA DELEGATE and PRESIDENT publically express the view that he or she may be a direct threat to the region. If impeachment takes place new elections must be held within a period of 7 days and the deposed nation must be allowed to stand again so that the region as a whole may cast judgement on them.
Article two- election of the WORLD ASSEMBLY DELEGATE
2.2a) Any nation which has been resident in the Unified Christians Alliance for more than one month may challenge for the role of WA DELEGATE.
2.2b) Elections for the role of WA DELEGATE may occur at any time but not within two weeks of the previous election.
2.2c) Nations must not covertly canvass for endorsements with the aim of deposing the present WA DELEGATE without first publicly declaring their intentions to challenge the sitting WA DELEGATE and receiving public acknowledgement from the sitting WA DELEGATE that they are aware of the challenge.
2.2d) Once an election for WA DELEGATE has been declared anyone wishing to stand for the position may campaign for a period of one week to attempt to gather enough endorsements to seize the position. If after this period of seven days has passed no change has occurred no further campaigning must occur for two weeks in line with provision 2.2b at which point 2.2c becomes applicable once more.
2.2e) The WA Delegate may be impeached if both the CHANCELLOR and the PRESIDENT deem that the WA Delegate is unfit for office or has violated his Constitutional role. If he is impeached before the 14th day after he was elected, Section 2.2b shall be overridden and a Special Election will occur. All other campaigning and election rules shall remain in effect.
Chapter three- other provisions
3.1) If the CHANCELLOR authorizes the banning or ejection of any nation from the region, justification for the decision must be made on the Regional Message Board within a period of 24 hours from the action occurring.
3.2) Members of the Regional Government may only suppress posts on the Regional Message Board if the post is inflammatory, offensive or attempting to recruit nations for another region. If a post is suppressed the member of the Regional Government responsible for authorizing or executing the action must provide justification of requested to do so by another nation within the Unified Christians Alliance.
3.3) All candidates for elected positions and their supporters are free to post campaign materials and messages as they see fit provided they do not constitute a nuisance to other nations.
3.4) The default position for the Unified Christians Alliance shall be that the region shall not be password protected, but if exceptional circumstances warrant the password protection of the region reasonable provision must be allowed for nations to leave and re-enter the region unless they are deemed to be a security risk by the Regional Government, and in that case public justification for both the password protection and the refusal of access to certain nations must be offered within a reasonable timeframe.
3.5) This constitution may be amended by proposals for changes being put to a referendum of all nations of the Unified Christian Alliance using the same system and regulations as appointed in 2.1d-2.1f.
3.6) If the Chancellor or WA Delegate overstep their constitutional abilities and restraints the President and the other party (Delegate if Chancellor violated the Constitution or Chancellor if the Delegate violated the Constitution) are mandated to impeach the infringing party.
Constitutional Amendments
CHAPTER IV: The Legislature and Supreme Court
The Legislature:
All legislative Powers of the UCA shall be vested in a Legislature of the UCA, which shall consist of one House called the General Assembly. To that end, the General Assembly shall have the power to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for the well being of the UCA.
The laws made by the General Assembly must be signed into law by the President before they can be put into effect and may be vetoed at any time as he sees fit. Such veto may not be overridden, but the President shall provide a brief written explanation for any veto upon request by the General Assembly.
The General Assembly shall be composed Members elected from the UCA’s resident nations every 33 days by a majority of the members of the UCA voting in each election. Terms for the General Assembly shall last for 35 days. Elected Members of the General Assembly shall be sworn in by the Chief Justice within 2 days of winning the election.
There shall be no limit on the number of terms a member nation of the UCA may serve in the General Assembly.
The General Assembly shall begin its existence within 30 days of passage of this amendment to the UCA Constitution, upon election of three Members.
Thereafter, Chancellor shall declare one additional Representative per 10 nations for an unlimited number of Representatives. There shall be no limit on the number of members in the General Assembly.
In the case of a tie vote, the Chancellor will be the tie-breaking vote in an effort to maintain legislative efficiency and this power shall be at his most esteemed pleasure.
When vacancies happen in the General Assembly, the Chancellor shall fill such vacancies for the remainder of their term.
The General Assembly shall elect its own leader(s), who may, among other powers consistent with those provided to the General Assembly, speak on its behalf, call its measures to a vote, and converse with the Chancellor and President.
The General Assembly shall publish all of its laws on the RMB of the UCA and shall maintain a record of such laws, to be searchable by all Members of the UCA at any time.
The Judiciary:
The judicial Power of the UCA shall be vested in one Court.
The Members of the Court shall be appointed by the Chancellor and confirmed by a majority vote of the General Assembly in order for their term to begin.
The term of office for a member of the Judiciary shall be for 105 days (three legislative election cycles), subject to reappointment and reconfirmation. Members of the Judiciary shall be removed by the President, if at any time, the President determines that they have abused the public trust or neglected their duties.
The President may override determinations by the Judiciary and, upon request by the Judiciary, shall provide a brief explanation of such an override.
The Judiciary shall begin its existence within 30 days of passage of this amendment to the UCA Constitution, upon appointment of one Member, and thereafter may grow in Membership up to a maximum of 7. The Judiciary shall add 2 members for every 20 nations over the number of 30 that become members of the UCA, up to the prescribed maximum of 7.
The judicial power shall extend to all disputes arising under this Constitution and the laws of the UCA.
The Judiciary may not decide a dispute unless a Member nation or the Government of the UCA brings the dispute before it.
The Judiciary may establish reasonable rules for practice before it, including deadlines and other procedural/scheduling requirements.
The Judiciary must explain its decisions in writing, in no more than 10 days from the time a dispute is presented to it. The Judiciary may waive the 10-day time limit upon its own motion in exceptional circumstances or upon the request of a party to a dispute for good cause shown.
The final decisions of the Judiciary shall be based upon the Constitution and laws of the UCA, and articulated in writing on the RMB.