Charter of The Foreign Division (21st February 2007)

Constitution of The Foreign Division

Updated: June 19, 2010

Table of contents

Membership of The Foreign Division
Government Structure
Elections
State of Emergency
Legal system
Peace and War
Espionage and unprovoked attacks

I.) Membership of The Foreign Division (TFD)

All members of the Foreign Division must add “The Foreign Division” into their Alliance Affiliation and their nation bio as well as their assigned TFD identification number into their nations bio. “The Foreign Division” is a blue team alliance, however we do not require members to be on the blue team.[/b]

Membership in “The Foreign Division” is open to all members of CyberNations. We don’t ask you where you were and what you did. Here with us only what you are and do now and in the future counts. This is your place to start over, leave the past behind and move on. We ask that applicants don't join under false pretenses end any war(s) and diplomatic situations they may be involved in prior to seeking membership.

All members enjoy the right of free speech, security and identity protection. It is illegal for any government body to investigate the past of any member. This information may only be provided by the members themselves.

All members commit themselves to obey the laws of “The Foreign Division” and inform themselves about laws and rules.

II.) Government Structure

II A. Speaker

The Speaker of “The Foreign Division” is a Senator and Head of the Ministers. He can veto a ministers’ decision and a Senate decision once. A veto can be overruled by a unanimous vote of all other Senators. The Speaker can also declare a state of emergency as defined in the State of Emergency section.

The Speaker is technically a "normal" Senator and has to go through normal Senate Elections. The Speaker is re-elected after every Senate-Election by a majority of the Senate. He can be impeached by a simple re-election inside the Senate or a majority-vote (> 50 %) of all members of “The Foreign Division”. Due to fluctuations in the number of TFD-members, the 50 % will be checked against the total number of members at the beginning of the vote. In case of impeachment, a new Speaker has to be elected within the next two weeks. There's no limitation of terms for the position of Speaker.

The Speaker oversees all government work and gives political impulses.

II B. Senate

Senators are elected from and by the general membership of The Foreign Division. To be eligible for a Senate position, a nation must have resided in The Foreign Division for at least 3 months (determined by the validation date on the forums). Should a TFD member leave the alliance and then return, that member will not be allowed to run for Senate for the same amount of time he or she was away - up to a maximum of 3 months.

Senators are in office for 4 months, after which there are elections for the positions. If a Senator resigns or is expelled, another election is held immediately, for that Senate seat only.

Every two months two or three senators are re-elected. The two senators up for re-election are the two senators who were NOT up for election two months previously. Thus every two months two senators are re-elected who then serve for 4 months before being up for election again.

The members of the alliance have the power to organize re-elections. It will require a 51% vote by the membership to remove them from office, at which point new elections begin instantly.
There are five seats open for Senators.

The Senate’s reponsibilities are:

Appointing the ministers (3/5-majority)
Managing the election of the Speaker
Vote on foreign treaties (3/5-majority)
Dissolving the Senate (4/5-majority)
Dismissing ministers (4/5-majority)
Decide about peace and war (unanimous)
Ban members (3/5-majority)
Oversight of all activities within the alliance
Decision to change the constitution (4/5-majority)

If a Senator doesn’t vote on an important issue 48 hours (2 full days) after the beginning of the voting, his vote is not counted. An “abstain”-vote is counted as “zero”. If a senator fails to vote on two seperate occasions without good reason, he/she will be put under review for inactivity by the magistrates.

II C. Ministers

Ministers are elected by the Senate from amongst suitable candidates for the position. There are four Ministers for the 5 Ministries and the Bank (Foreign Affairs, Economic Affairs, Minster of Education, Minister of Immigration, and Security). A Minister may not be a Senator or vice versa. Ministers have to be appointed or re-appointed after each Senate election. If a Minister resigns, is expelled or the election result is vetoed, another election is held immediately, for that Minister position only.

Deputy Ministers are assistants of Ministers. They are appointed by the Ministers themselves and act as their assistant. The amount of responsibility is individually determined by the Minister. During the absence of the Minister, the Deputy Minister is fully responsible for the Ministry and has all rights and duties of the Minister until he/she returns. Deputy Ministers are granted TFD-government access with a 3/5 senate vote after their Minister calls for the vote

II C i. Minister of Foreign Affairs

The Minister of Foreign Affairs is responsible for the relations with other alliances, embassies and contacts with other alliances/organizations and the public reputation of the Foreign Division. He may appoint diplomats and aides, found embassies, establish foreign relations and he has a mandate for brokering treaties, although those treaties have to pass the Senate.

II C ii. Minister of Immigration

The Ministry of Immigration is responsible for the Growth of the Foreign Division and it's new members. This is promoted through the recruitment of newly created and established unaligned nations.

The Ministry is headed by the Minister of Immigration who is responsible for the oversight of all activities within the Ministry of Immigration. His goal is to promote the recruitment nations into TFD through constructive means, and he is given special authorization to administer payment, via TFD bank, to aides at his discretion.

II C iii. Minister of Education

The Ministry of Education is responsible for the distribution of game-related information (Cybernations Rules and Mechanics) and TFD's rules, laws, and guidelines.

The Ministry is headed by the Minister of Education who is responsible for the oversight of all activities within the Ministry of Education. The Minister of Educations goal is to educate the membership of TFD to the point where they themselves can guide further new members. He is also in charge of the Academy and is responsible for appointment of the Head of the Academy, however he may assume this role himself.

The Minister of Education is given the authorization to administer payment, via TFD bank, to his aides and academy graduates at his discretion.

II C iv. Minister of Security

The Minister of Security heads the Defense Group. He manage the Divisions and appoints officers for the divisions. The internal management of all divisions is his responsibility. He can order defense missions to help attacked members. He is also responsible for the internal security of the alliance. He obeys orders from the Senate only.

II C v. Minister of Alliance Development

The Minister of Alliance Development is responsible for the alliance's internal growth. It is the Minister's responsibility to organize and maintain the internal, incoming and outgoing flux of technology. It is also the Minister's responsibility to manage the Alliance's Trade Organization.

The Minister will be responsible for the organization of Growth and Development programs and for the management of the Alliance Bank.

The Minister will have the liberty to appoint deputies and aides to manage the ministry's departments as well as any Development program of the Alliance.

II D Senate Advisory Council

The Senate Advisory Council is an optional organ of the government. If the Senate wishes to hear the opinion of TFD-members who are not involved in the government, the Senate can appoint members as Senate Advisors. The Advisors can see the secret parts of the forums and can comment on any issues. They don’t have any power or vote. Senate Advisors need to be re-appointed after each Senate election. The Advisory Council can also be dismissed entirely and not re-established.

II E Judiciary Branch

I.) The Judiciary Branch consist of two Magistrates. The Magistrates oversee all work within the Judiciary Branch, and they perform legal oversight for the government of The Foreign Division. They can appoint aides when necessary.

II.) The Duties of the Magistrates are as follows:
a.) Ensure the Senate is acting in compliance with the Charter and all its provisions, i.e Glasnost.
b.) Review the efficacy of all Senators. A report detailing their findings must be posted publicly no later than one week before voting begins in an election.
c.) In concordance with the Speaker, resolve any disputes concerning the legal wording of the Charter. This resolution will be considered the way it was meant to be interpreted.

III.) Magistrates are to be elected from and by the general membership of The Foreign Division. To be eligible for a Magistrate position, a member must have resided in The Foreign Division for at least three months (determined by the validation date on the forums). Should a TFD member leave the alliance and then return, that member will can not be a Magistrate candidate for the same amount of time he or she was away, or up to a maximum of three months. A Magistrate may not hold the office of Senator, Speaker, Minister or Deputy Minister.

IV.) A Magistrate may be impeached by:
a.) A 4/5 vote of the Senate
b.) The election of a new Magistrate by the membership. A re-election needs the support of 10 members.

V.) The Magistrates are heads of all trials within TFD, if they themselves are not on trial.

III.) Elections

For the purpose of elections, a special forum account will be used (Ballot Box). Every member of The Foreign Division who is member on the forums, shall send a PM with his/her votes to this account. The admins shall have the password for this account. They will count the votes independently from each other and announce the result. The result has to be announced within one week after the end of the elections.

Votes need to be consistent with the number of open seats. If there are two open seats, two candidates have to be elected. Cummulating votes on one candidate is forbidden. A voter can, however, abstain from a vote, meaning that if there are two open seats, he can vote for one candidate and abstain on the other seat.

If TFD drops below 20 members, a state of emergency automatically comes in effect. The Speaker then rules by decree. His goal has to be to bring TFD back above 20 members.

IV.) State of Emergency

I.)The following people can announce a state of emergency, and the following is the chain of command during a state of emergency:

Speaker
Minister of Security
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Senator (Ranked by Seniority)
Minister of Internal Affairs
Minister of Economic Affairs
Deputy ministers in a similar ranking as the ministers
General of the Army
Colonel of the Lower Divisions (Ranked by Seniority)

II.) A state of emergency is a situation where the internal and/or external security of TFD is threatened. A state of emergency may only be invoked in situations similar to: War, serious international tensions close to war, rebellion, collapse of the internal structure of TFD, major unavailability of the TFD government - however, these possible scenarios are only a fraction of scenarios where a state of emergency may be announced. The goal of the state of emergency is to create a fast-acting government that can address and quell the source of the problem.

III.) If nobody is available, but an emergency situation is obviously at hand (e.g. a full-grown frontal attack that is threatening the existence of TFD and its members), the emergency is automatically declared and may be formally declared by any of the authorized members later.

IV.) During a state of emergency, an Emergency Executive Commitee (EEC) is created. The Emergency Executive Commitee (EEC) consists of all members of the government (Speaker, Advisors, Ministers, Deputies, Aides, and Senators).

VI.) The Emergency Executive Commitee (EEC) rules by decree. It is organized in a hierarchy, corresponding with the list above. An order by the highest ranking available person can only be overruled by a 2/3-majority of the whole Emergency Executive Commitee (EEC). Until such a majority is found, the order is valid and has to be followed. Normal constitutional decision-finding processes do not apply during a state of emergency.

VII.) The State of Emergency can only end, or by the provision detailed in clause VII, with a Emergency Executive Commitee (EEC) majority vote ( 51 %).

VIII.) However in extremely rare circumstances the Speaker can overturn the state of emergency without the 51 % vote, if the emergency was reasonably believed to have been called in a non-threatening situation and may cause delay, or harm to TFD and her security, and/or internal structure. This may be overturned if 3 Senators, the Minister of Security, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, argue it is however justified. In which the state of emergency will resume as normal. This Speaker overturn may be done by giving a 24 hour notice of the intent to dismiss, at which time the required parties will be allowed to veto it. This may be called only one time during any state of emergency. In even rarer cases this may be started by the same group of 3 Senators, the Minister of Security, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs if the Speaker is unavailable but they believe the SoE is unwarranted. At which point the SoE will cease upon their approval.

IX.) If the state of emergency hasn’t ended after one month, the Senate (not the Emergency Executive Commitee (EEC)) has to support it with a majority vote, or it ends.

X.) Violations against the constitution that happened during a state of emergency cannot be prosecuted afterwards. However, it is illegal to change the constitution during the state of emergency. Let is also be stated that during a state of emergency, no rule in the charter may be suspended at any time for any reason, with the exception of Senatorial Elections to not worry about a mid-crisis transition.

V.) Legal system

The Magistrates are head of the legal department. If they are not prosecuted, they are head of all trials. In the end both judges have to vote unanimously on the outcome of the trial. The prosecutor is appointed by the Speaker and the Magistrates, the defender by the defendant.

The Senate watches over the trial and checks if the Trial System is applied properly.

Trial System

Art 1: A trial consists of two judges, a prosecutor and a defender.
The accused may defend himself or be defended by someone else.
The judges must be neutral.
Art 2: The prosecutor reads the accusations against the accused and the defense responds with their plea.

On a Plea of not Guilty Trial will proceed as normal, on a plea of Guilty there is no trial and it goes immediately to sentencing. You also are allowed no appeals on a plea of Guilty

Art 3: Both sides will begin with an opening statement in a very strict order of: Prosecutor followed by Defendant, these speeches are not limited by the judges.
Art 4: The prosecutor shows proof for the accusations. And may call witnesses forward to further prove his allegations.
Art 5: The defendant shows proof against the accusations. And may call witnesses forward to forth disprove the allegations.

Both sides have the right to cross-examine the other's witnesses.
After both sides have shown their evidence they are each allowed a rebuttal period.

Art 6: The judges confer over the proof. They need a unanimous vote for a decision.

The maximum time for reaching a decision is 7 days (to prevent stalling)
The maximum time for a trial is 14 days (to prevent stalling)
The minimum time for a trial is 3 days. After defender and prosecutor are finished, the judges have to confer at least 1 day (to prevent decisions out of the heat of the moment.)

Art 7: The judges specify the punishment of the accused. The Senate is then bound to enforce it.

Art 8: Both the accused and the prosecutor may call for a revision once each. Three different judges (all appointed by the Magistrates) will re-examine the presented proofs and decide again. The maximum number of trials in one case is thereby set to three. The last decision is valid.

VI.) Peace and War

The Senate is the only body of the Foreign Division that decides on Peace and War. Unprovoked offensive wars (raiding, tech farming etc.) are illegal. Only defensive wars (declaration of wars against nations that have attacked alliance members) are legal, if they are sanctioned by a Senator, the Minister of Security, the deputy Minister of Security, General of the Army, Colonel of the Lower Divisions or division commanders.

VII.) Espionage and unprovoked attacks

If TFD members are caught spying on or attacking someone outside TFD, they are reprimanded for endangering the neutrality of the alliance. Spying and attacking are considered illegal and a threat to TFD as a whole, as such declarations are subjected to the Senate and/or MoS only. The punishment is: Paying reparations to the nation that was hurt (equal to damages or same amount of money that was invested in the mission if damages can't be calculated).

If a TFD member is caught spying on or attacking someone inside TFD, they are effectively ejected from the alliance.

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