Rewriting the GM Treaty

[Erik Mortis]

Current copy

Treaty of General Membership to the Small Commonwealth

1. There is a commonwealth, called the Small Commonwealth, which shall consist of all signatory members of this Treaty. All member nations may send one representative to the Commonwealth Assembly.

2. Nations wishing to join the commonwealth must be approved by the Commonwealth Assembly with at least a 1/3rd plurality. If rejected, a nation may reapply in 3 months.

3. The commonwealth's day to day operations are headed and overseen by a chairman known as the Primate which shall be a permanent position once appointed by the Commonwealth Assembly. The Primate oversees the Commonwealth Assembly.

3b. The Commonwealth Assembly may elect an official known as the Secundus, subject to all the same election and removal procedures as the Primate, whom shall be vested with the responsibility of assisting the Primate. Should the Primate be unavailable or unable to fulfill his/her duties the Secundus shall stand in for the Primate, until available, or a new one is elected.

4. At any time the Commonwealth Assembly may hold a vote of no confidence and remove the current Primate. A simple majority (50%+1) is needed to remove a Primate and elect a new one. This vote is managed by the representative who proposed it.

5. Nations may leave at any time, but must give public notice of their intent to leave this treaty for it to be recognized. Upon leaving this treaty the departing nation is removed from all other treaties dependent upon this one.

6. This treaty may be amended by the Commonwealth Assembly with a 3/4th (75.0%) majority.

So we've talked about updating it. Let's start updating it. Then we can rewrite the Court Convention.

What specific language do we want to see?

[Andreas the Wise]

I'd like to see a strict numerical clarification of voting procedures; and the treatment of ABSTAINs.

[Malliki Tosha]

As long as you leave out the "50%+1" thing I'm okay with a numerical definition. Perhaps "simple majority (affirmative votes numbering more than 50%)". It doesn't say "equal to or more", just "more than", which means any number over 50%.

[phineas elastopon]

3b. The Commonwealth Assembly may elect an official known as the Secundus, subject to all the same election and removal procedures as the Primate, whom shall be vested with the responsibility of assisting the Primate. Should the Primate be unavailable or unable to fulfill his/her duties the Secundus shall stand in for the Primate, until available, or a new one is elected.

Again I will raise the point that "whom" should be "who" here. Whom isn't that necessary in common parlance these days- grammatical standards slip?- but its misuse should be avoided.

[Kaiser Mors VI]

Treaty of General Membership to the Small Commonwealth

1. There is a commonwealth, called the Small Commonwealth, which shall consist of all signatory members of this Treaty. All member nations may send one representative to the Commonwealth Assembly.

1b. For purposes of votes within the Commonwealth Assembly, any vote cast as equivalent to "Abstain" shall not be counted as a vote in the affirmative or the negative, but simply a recognition that the representative was present and voted.

2. Nations wishing to join the commonwealth must be approved by the Commonwealth Assembly with at least a 1/3rd plurality. If rejected, a nation may reapply in 3 months.

3. The commonwealth's day to day operations are headed and overseen by a chairman known as the Primate which shall be a permanent position once appointed by the Commonwealth Assembly. The Primate oversees the Commonwealth Assembly.

3b. The Commonwealth Assembly may elect an official known as the Secundus, subject to all the same election and removal procedures as the Primate, who shall be vested with the responsibility of assisting the Primate. Should the Primate be unavailable or unable to fulfill his/her duties the Secundus shall stand in for the Primate, until available, or a new one is elected.

4. At any time the Commonwealth Assembly may hold a vote of no confidence and remove the current Primate. A simple majority, over 50% in favor, is needed to remove a Primate and elect a new one. This vote is managed by the representative who proposed it.

5. The Parties to this treaty hereby establish the Commonwealth Court (“CC”, “the Court”) as an independent and free court of justice and law

5a. The Court shall have the power to interpret the Treaties and Conventions of the Commonwealth, subject to the Treaties and Conventions themselves.

5b. The Court shall consist of a panel of three jurists independent of the government of the participatory States, elected by the signatory nations of this treaty. The election shall be overseen by the Primate of the Commonwealth. The Jurists of the Commonwealth Court need not be national representatives.

5c. Disputes within a nation about a treaty or convention are dealt with by the concerning nations established court.

5d. A signatory nation may grant, through the legal processes of that nation, additional powers to the Commonwealth Court, within the Jurisdiction of that signatory nation. The Commonwealth Court is not required to hear cases stemming from this clause.

6. Nations may leave at any time, but must give public notice of their intent to leave this treaty for it to be recognized. Upon leaving this treaty the departing nation is removed from all other treaties dependent upon this one.

7. This treaty may be amended by the Commonwealth Assembly with a 3/4th majority.

The only part that didn't get merged in from the Court Convention is: "The Court shall have jurisdiction over matters pertaining to international dispute between signatory nations"

It's perhaps still a bit slapdash..I admit. But, opinions?

[Andreas the Wise]

Generally good. 3 should probably read once the Primate is 'elected' not 'appointed'. 1 and 3 b should be a, or 5 should start with b for consistency. I'd prefer they become 1 and 3 a.

5c and d seem ... odd to have in the GM. I would think them best placed in the Court treaty (whether we have a specific one to allow d or not).

Otherwise, good.

[Kaiser Mors VI]

Honestly, with the new version of the GMT, the Court Convention won't exist anymore. That's part of the reason I put c/d in here. There wasn't much worth having in the CC all by itself.