3. B. of the standing orders requires that I ensure proposals comply with the orders, and if modifications are made the draft must be approved by the sponsor before I submit it.
These are the bare minimum changes required before this could be considered as an act of parliament. Its not workable as a bill, for that it will require clauses stating just how this will work within Hanoverian law. But that is the task of either parliament or the sponsor.
For some really strange reason, this strikes me as a treaty, the sort that should be negotiated and proposed by the government, passed by parliamentary resolution and signed by the King. However, if the government opposes this bill they can oppose it in Parliament, so with your approval of my changes, I will submit it to parliament (assuming the rules aren't first suspended, whereupon the whole process will become redundent)
A BILL
to ratify the Charter of the Raspur Micronational Community.
I. Charter
CHARTER OF THE
RASPUR MICRONATIONAL COMMUNITY (RAMIC)
IN THE NAME OF THEIR PEOPLES, THE STATES REPRESENTED AT THE RASPUR CONFERENCE, BABKHA, 2004,
Maintaining that as micronations, their goal and desire is not merely to simulate a nation and a state but to themselves attain the attributes and characteristics of nationhood and statehood outside of any sovereign territory,
Conscious of the difficulty faced in striving to achieve these goals and desires, and of the parallel struggles of each other,
Convinced that mutual aid and cooperation, the foundation of international standards and a united representative voice to the outside world will protect and further these goals and aims,
Resolved to abide by this Charter in the spirit of a brotherhood and community of micronations,
Have agreed upon the following
CHARTER OF THE RASPUR MICRONATIONAL COMMUNITY
PART ONE
CHAPTER I - NATURE AND PRINCIPLES
Article 1
The states represented at the Raspur Conference, Babkha, 2003 establish by this Charter an organisation to promote their solidarity, mutual aid and cooperation, and to defend their sovereignty and independence.
The Raspur Micronational Community has no powers other than those conferred upon it by this Charter, none of whose provisions authorize it to intervene in matters that are within the internal jurisdiction of the Member States.
Article 2
The Raspur Micronational Community, in accordance with the spirit of micronationalism and this Charter, shall uphold the following principles, which shall be held above any other part of this Charter:
a) That micronations are not separate from the world of fact, and should be ordered and operated in a manner that reflects this reality;
That international order between micronational states is necessary to promote the growth and coherence of the micronational phenomenon;
c) That this international order is based on good will between micronations, and consists of respect for the personality, sovereignty and independence of micronational states, and the faithful fulfillment of obligations derived from treaties and other sources of international law;
d) That every micronational state has the right to choose, without external interference, its political, economic, and social system and to organize itself in the way best suited to it, and has the duty to abstain from intervening in the affairs of another micronational state;
e) That the Member States condemn vandalism and aggressive or retaliatory action in the name of a micronation, or under the auspices of a micronational state, and that controversies arising between Member States shall be settled by peaceful procedures; and
f) That the Member States have a duty to refrain from any action that may result in bringing micronationalism or the Community into disrepute.
CHAPTER II – MEMBERSHIP
Article 3
Those micronational states assembled at the Raspur Conference, Babkha, 2003 who ratify this Charter are the founding Member States of the Community.
Article 4
Any new entity that arises from the union of several Member States and that, as such, ratifies this Charter, shall become a Member of the Community. The entry of the new political entity into the Community shall result in the loss of membership of each one of the micronational states constituting it.
Article 5
Micronational states shall be permitted to ratify this Charter and become new Member States with the approval of the majority of Member States, acting on the advice of the Membership Commissioner.
Article 6
Member States may be suspended from the Community if they should fail to adhere to this Charter and the principles laid down in Article 2, by a majority vote of the Member States acting on the advice of the Membership Commissioner. Suspension may be lifted by a majority vote of the Member States.
CHAPTER III – COLLECTIVE SECURITY
Article 7
Member States shall have a duty to provide all possible aid to Member States whose rights or structural integrity are threatened or damaged by attack from external forces, but no Member State shall retaliate with the use of force. Other methods of rebuke towards aggressive external forces, such as sanctions, shall be administered by the Community as a whole and not by individual Member States.
Article 8
Member States shall freely share amongst each other any information pertaining to threats to a Member State’s national security.
CHAPTER IV – INTEGRATION
Article 9
Member States pledge to pursue an integrated international economic system that will allow the peoples of the Member States to trade amongst each other without technical limitations.
Article 10
Member States shall not impose any tax on the import and export of goods and services between each other.
(i) The control of an individual member state’s currency and economic systems shall be the sole power of that member state.
PART TWO
CHAPTER V – THE COUNCIL
Article 11
The Council
1. The Council shall consist of the Heads of State or Government of the Member States, or their duly accredited representatives.
2. The Council shall be the supreme organ of the Community.
3. The Council shall be a continuous body.
4. The number of votes exercisable in the Council by each Member State is the square root (rounded to the nearest whole number) of the number of citizens of that State.
5. The Council shall take its decisions by consensus or, failing which, by 62% of the votes exercisable.
6. Members States who hold 62% of the votes exercisable shall form a quorum at any meeting of the Council.
7. The Council shall adopt its own Rules of Procedure.
Article 12
Powers and Functions of the Council
1. The functions of the Council shall be to:
(a ) determine the common policies of the Community;
(
receive, consider and take decisions on reports and recommendations from the other organs of the Community;
© consider requests for Membership of the Community;
(d) establish any organ of the Community;
(e) monitor the implementation of policies and decisions of the Community as well ensure compliance by all Member States;
(f) adopt the budget of the Community;
(g) direct the management of conflicts, war and other emergency situations and the restoration of peace;
(h) propose the appointment or removal of the judges of the Court of Justice to the Congress;
(g) perform any other function prescribed by this Charter.
Article 13
The Presidency of the Council shall be held in turn by each Member State in the Council for a term of one month in the order decided by the Council acting unanimously. No Member State may hold the presidency more than once in any 12 months when the number of Member States is equal to or greater than 12.
Article 14
Activity taking place within the Council shall not be immediately available to the public. The Council shall make public transcripts of all debates within a period of eight weeks from the date of the debate.
(i) The Council shall not include any information deemed by the Council to be of a sensitive nature in any transcripts released to the public.
CHAPTER VI – THE CONGRESS
Article 15
The Congress
1. The Congress shall consist of delegates elected by the peoples of the Community according to the national laws and practices in each Member State.
2. The Congress shall be the legislative and deliberative organ of the Community.
3. The Congress shall be a continuous body.
4. The number of delegates to be elected to the Congress by each Member State is the square root (rounded to the nearest whole number) of the number of citizens of that State.
5. The term of a delegate shall run concurrently with the term of the national parliament or other deliberative organ of their Member State.
6. The Congress shall take its decisions by consensus or, failing which, by absolute majority of the delegates.
7. An absolute majority of the delegates shall form a quorum at any meeting of the Congress.
8. The Congress shall, jointly with the Council, enact statutes, and approve the budget of the Community, as well as exercising functions of political control and consultation as laid down in this Charter.
9. Citizens of the Community who are nationals of more than one Member State may vote only once and may be counted only once in determining votes in the Council and the Congress.
10. The Congress shall elect its President and its officers from among its members.
11. The Congress shall adopt its own Rules of Procedure.
12. The Congress, on the proposal of the Council, may by statute establish a common election date and legislative term for the Congress.
Article 16 and 17 are deleted.
Article 18
The Council may reconvene the Congress for an emergency session by a two thirds majority vote, in the case of an emergency that threatens the principles of this Charter, described in Article 2 above. This emergency session shall last until the Congress makes the appropriate ruling or Directive.
CHAPTER VII – RAMIC COMMISSIONS
Article 19
To carry out the work of applying the principles of this Charter, described in Article 2 above, the Community shall maintain the following Commissions, in addition to any others that shall be created by Directive of the Congress:
a) The Membership Commission, which shall undergo those duties prescribed to it throughout this Charter, and shall also act as an intermediary between Member States and the Council and Congress of the Community;
The Information Commission, which shall conduct reports on the request of the Council or Congress of the Community, compile and publish data relating to micronationalism, and promote a continued improvement in micronational information technologies, specifically web design; and
c) The Monetary Commission, which shall continually assess the economies of Member States and produce a table of recommended exchange rates between all currencies within the Community, and promote the integration of economic systems between Member States.
Article 20
The Commissions shall be awarded a budget by the Council, or by Directive of the Congress. Commissioners, to administer each Commission, shall be appointed by majority vote of the Member States.
CHAPTER VIII - RAMIC COURT OF JUSTICE
Article 21
The Court of Justice
a) A Court of Justice of the Community shall be established;
The statute, composition and functions of the Court of Justice shall be defined in a protocol to this Charter.
c) The Court shall have jurisdiction over all disputes and applications referred to it in accordance with this Charter and the Protocol which relate to:
(c.a) the interpretation and application of the Charter;
(c.
the interpretation, application or validity of Community treaties and all subsidiary legal instruments adopted within the framework of the Community;
(c.c) any question of intermicronational law;
(c.d) all acts, decisions, regulations and directives of the organs of the Community;
(c.e) all matters specifically provided for in any other agreements that Member States may conclude among themselves or with the Community and which confer jurisdiction on the Court;
(c.f) the existence of any fact which, if established, would constitute a breach of an obligation owed to a Member State or to the Community;
(c.g) the nature or extent of the reparation to be made for the breach of an obligation.
PART THREE
CHAPTER IX – RATIFICATION AND AMENDMENTS
Article 22
1. The Community shall establish a common economic framework for those Member States which wish to adopt the framework. The common economic framework shall be governed by a Protocol to this Charter.
2. The Community shall constitute an area of freedom, security and justice with respect for fundamental rights, taking into account the different legal traditions and systems of the Member States.
3. The Community shall endeavour to ensure a high level of security by measures to prevent and combat crime and terrorism and by measures for coordination and cooperation between courts, police and other competent authorities, as well as by the mutual recognition of judgments in criminal matters and, if necessary, the harmonisation of criminal laws.
5. The Community shall facilitate access to justice, in particular by the principle of mutual recognition of judicial and extrajudicial decisions in civil matters.
6. The Congress shall, by legislation on the proposal of the Council, establish an Economic, Social and Cultural Council to assist the organs of the Community.
7. The Community shall by way of The Economic, Social and Cultural Council, have the right to authorize a common arena for joint efforts on Economic, Social and Cultural issues.
Article 23
Admission to Membership
1. Any micronation may, at any time after the entry into force of this Charter, notify the Council of its intention to accede to this Charter and to be admitted as a member of the Community.
2. Admission shall be decided by the Council. The Council shall communicate the decision to the State concerned.
Article 24
Suspension
Governments which come to power through unconstitutional means, as determined by the Court of Justice on the application of the Council or the Congress, shall not be allowed to participate in the activities of the Community.
Article 25
Imposition of Sanctions
1. No Member State may be subjected to sanctions under this Article unless the Court of Justice, on the application of the Council or the Congress, determines that the Member State is in violation of this Charter.
2. The Council shall determine the appropriate sanctions to be imposed on any Member State found to be in violation fo this Charter under subsection 1. Sanctions may include denial of the right to speak at meetings, to vote, to present candidates for any position or post within the Community or to benefit from any activity or commitments of the Community or recommendation of expulsion.
3. The Congress, on the proposal of the Council, amy expel a Member State from the COmmunity.
Article 26
Cessation of Membership
1. Any State which desires to renounce its membership shall forward a written notification to the Council, who shall inform Member States thereof. At the end of one month from the date of such notification, if not withdrawn, the Charter shall cease to apply with respect to the renouncing State, which shall thereby cease to belong to the Community.
2. During the period of one month referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, any Member State wishing to withdraw from the Community shall comply with the provisions of this Charter and shall be bound to discharge its obligations under this Charter up to the date of its withdrawal.
Article 27
Amendment and Revision
1. Any Member State may submit proposals for the amendment or revision of this Charter.
2. Proposals for amendment or revision shall be submitted to the the Council who shall transmit same to Member States within one month of receipt thereof.
3. The Congress, upon the advice of the Council, shall examine these proposals within a period of one month following notification of Member States, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article;
4. Amendments or revisions shall be adopted by the Congress by consensus or, failing which, by a 75% majority and submitted for ratification by all Member States in accordance with their respective constitutional procedures. They shall enter into force one month after the deposit of the instruments of ratification with the Council by a two-thirds majority of the Member States.
Article 28
Signature, Ratification and Accession
The present Charter shall be ratified by the signatory states in accordance with their respective constitutional processes.
The ratifications shall be deposited with the Government of the Kingdom of Babkha, which shall notify all the signatory states of each deposit as well as the Council when it has been appointed.
The present Charter shall come into force upon the deposit of ratifications by two or more micronations. A schedule of the ratifications deposited shall thereupon be drawn up by the Government of the Kingdom of Babkha which shall communicate copies thereof to all the signatory states.
The states signatory to the present Charter which ratify it after it has come into force will become original Member States of the Community on the date of the deposit of their respective ratifications.
Any Protocol to this Charter shall signed and ratified in the same manner as the Charter but shall apply only to the ratifying states. A non-Member State may accede to a protocol without acceding to the Community. A Member State may withdraw from a Protocol in the same manner as they can withdraw form the Community as a whole.
II. Short title and Commencement
1. This act may be cited as the Raspur Micronational Community Charter Ratification Act
2. This Act shall come into force upon recieving royal assent.