Charter of the Alliance of International Defence

Senate Charter
The official Government of the Alliance of International Defence.

Definitions
Senate = The governing body of the -AiD-. Senator = An elected member of the Senate. President = The elected President of the Alliance. MoI = The appointed Minister of the Interior. MoD = The appointed Minister of Defence. MoFA = The appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. RM = The appointed Recruitment Minister. FM = The appointed Finance Minister. Month = A Calendar month.

Authority, Structure & Size
a) The alliance Senate shall be the governing body of the alliance, and all decisions made by the Senate shall be binding on all alliance Members. The Senate may make decisions on any matter regarding alliance management, rules or conduct, according to the voting rules in this charter. b) The Senate shall be composed of six (6) members elected as Senators, who shall hold office for a fixed term of one (1) month only; and one (1) member elected as President, who shall hold office for a fixed term of two (2) months only, elected separately to the Senate. c) Senate terms shall reset at the end of every month, with the outgoing Senators acting in caretaker mode while elections are held to appoint the new alliance Senate. While in caretaker mode, no changes may be made to any alliance Charters. This does not affect the Presidents or Ministers ability to function according to the authority granted to their position. d) An area of the forum shall exist, the Senate Chambers, viewable only to Senators, Ministers and the President, to discuss all Senate matters. Only the President and Senators may vote on Senate matters. Ministers may discuss, but may not vote, unless they are currently elected as Senator. e) Any member of Corporal rank or higher, may be appointed as a Minister, but may only hold one (1) Ministry position at any one time. The President may not be a Minister, except when a Minister is away or absent, in which case they act as the replacement until their return.

Election Conduct & Eligibility
a) The Senator and President election process shall be conducted by the current or outgoing Alliance President. In the event the President is impeached or declared officially inactive, under the terms in Section 4, then the Minister of Interior shall act as Electoral Officer for any by-election instead of the President. b) Senate elections shall be held monthly, and President elections shall be held bi-monthly. A mass game email shall be sent out 48hrs before, at the start of, and halfway through the voting period, to remind all members to vote. c) All alliance members or Recruit rank or higher who are alliance forum members as of the end of the month prior to an election, are eligible to vote in the elections. d) Any alliance member of the rank of Corporal or higher, is eligible to self nominate as a candidate for election to the Senate or as President. A pinned topic shall be posted every 2 months in the Electoral Office, prior to each election, for eligible members to nominate as a candidate. e) Nominations shall be open for a period of four (4) days, from the 25th to the 28th of each month inclusive. All eligible members that have posted in the topic during the time period shall form the list of candidates for the next election, and a new topic posted listing the candidates. f) Members may nominate for both the President and Senate elections in the months when both elections are held together, and if elected as President their votes for the Senate will not be counted in the results. If not elected as President their votes for the Senate will be counted as normal. g) Candidates are forbidden from acting in any way that offers inducements or threatens punishment to members for voting a particular way in Senate elections. This includes bribes, promises of appointments or favors, threats, intimidation, or any other type of behavior seen as attempting to unduly influence the electoral process. No member of the alliance has the right to question a fellow member's mentality for voting for a particular member during any election. h) Any member accused of such behavior as above, shall be charged with Electoral Fraud, and put to trial in the Alliance Tribunal to determine the validity of the charges. Any member found guilty of Electoral Fraud may be punished as the Senate sees fit.

Election Process & Outcome
a) For the Senate elections, eligible members must vote by listing one (1) candidate in their vote. Voting shall be done via a public ballot, with each member posting their vote in the Senate Election Polling Booth topic in the Electoral Office. Voting shall be open for a period of four (4) days, from 00:00:01 on the 1st to 23:59:59 on the 4th, held every month. b) For the President elections, eligible members must vote by listing one (1) candidate in their vote. Voting shall be done via a public ballot, with each member posting their vote in the President Election Polling Booth topic in the Electoral Office. Voting shall be open for a period of four (4) days, from 00:00:01 on the 1st to 23:59:59 on the 4th, held bi-monthly. c) Votes must be a post containing only one (1) name, with no other comments, to be considered eligible. Each member may only vote one (1) time, and votes may not be edited after posting. d) After the end of the voting period, the 4 highest ranked candidates according to the vote total for the Senate election, shall be appointed as the alliance Senators. The candidate that receives the highest vote for the President position, shall be appointed as the alliance President. e) In the event of a tied vote for President, a run-off election shall be held between the tied candidates only, to determine the position. The run-off election shall be conducted the same as a normal election as defined in this section, with the exception that the voting period shall only be open for 2 days, from the 00:00:01 on the 5th to 23:59:59 on the 6th of the month inclusive. f) In the event of a tied vote among the lowest ranked candidates for the Senator positions, only the President themselves shall decide which member(s) shall receive the final Senator position(s).

Voting, Impeachment & Absence
a) All Senate decisions, except for Impeachment and changes to Senate Charter, shall require a “50% plus 1 (one)” majority vote (rounded down), for it to be considered officially passed by the Senate. Senators may not abstain, and must vote on all matters before the Senate within one (1) week from when a vote is posted. Impeachment of the President or a Senator, and changes to the Senate Charter, require a “100% minus 1 (one)” majority vote. b) The President or a Senator, may be impeached by a vote of the Senate, if a majority vote is made against them as described above. Any Senate member may propose an impeachment vote. Only one (1) impeachment vote may be held at any one time. In the event of a successful impeachment vote, the impeached member shall be stripped of their powers and rank, and a replacement appointed as by the process below. No new impeachment votes may be held by the Senate until a replacement has been appointed. c) If a Senate member does not vote in any Senate decisions for a period of 7 days or more, without a formal leave of absence as described below, their position shall be declared vacant by the President or Senate as relevant, and a new member shall be appointed to replace them as below. d) A Senate member may take a leave of absence of no more than 10 days, by notifying the Senate by posting in the Senate Chambers, at least 1 week in advance. During their absence, the President shall take over the Senators duties, but may not proxy vote on their behalf in Senate decisions. e) In the case a Senate member finds they will be unable to fulfill their role for more than 10 days during their term, they shall notify the Senate by posting in the Senate Chambers, and another member appointed to replace them as per the process below. f) In the event of a vacant Senator seat, from impeachment, inactivity, resignation, or other factors, the replacement shall be the highest ranked candidate from the last election for that position, from among the candidates not elected. Should there not be any runners up from the last senate election, the president will nominate a member to fill in the last position, and the senate will vote upon confirmation of that member. A simple majority vote is required. g) In the event of a vacant President seat, from impeachment, inactivity or resignation, a by-election shall be held to elect the new President for the remainder of the current presidential term. The by-election shall be held as per a normal election, with the exception that 4 days notice must be given to all members before the by-election is held, and the nomination period and voting period shall only last 48hrs each, with a 48hrs period between nominations closing and voting starting. h) Non-Senators appointed as a Minister, must be approved by a standard majority vote of the Senate, if this vote does not pass they may not be appointed as Minister. Senators may propose a no confidence vote in a Minister at any time, requiring the same number of votes as an impeachment vote to be successful. In the event of a successful no-confidence vote in a Minister, a new Minister must be appointed to the position immediately to replace the person.

Roles, Responsibility & Authority
a) The President and all Ministers, shall be granted AdminCP access on the forum to fulfill the duties required of their positions. They shall not change AdminCP settings unrelated to their position, as specified in Section 6. b) Senators shall be granted AdminCP access only for the purpose of masking nations applying to join the alliance. Any Senator who abuses their access to AdminCP, may have their access removed following a standard vote of the Senate. c) All Senate members are granted ModCP access for the purpose of moderating any section of the forum, as required to maintain appropriate use of the forum sections and adherence to the alliance rules regarding appropriate forum behavior. d) Mass forum emails from AdminCP may only be sent out by Ministers or the President acting within their specific elected role. Mass member emails except for specific important alliance functions, and when doing so should take care to word such emails politely and make sure the message is easily understandable. e) Only the President or a Minister may authorise military action against an unaligned nation, as required for the defence of alliance members, according to the Rouges & Attacks Charter. f) Military action against another alliance or another alliances members, may only be authorised following a standard majority vote of the Senate. g) Alliance Immortals are recognized for continued and distinguished service to -AiD-, and as such they are permitted to view and post in all forum areas, including Senate & Military forums, at any time. They are entitled to serve an advisory role for the elected government but may not act in any further official capacity beyond that of each individuals current rank or elected position. The position may be granted if the subject has met the following requirements: twelve (12) months of continuous service to -AiD-, six (6) months as an elected government member and a standard Senate vote of approval. The position may also be removed at any time following a standard senate vote.

President and Ministers
a) Senate President (President) i. Appoints all Ministers. Ministerial appointments may be changed at any time providing the President post a reasonable explanation in the Senate Chambers as to the reason for the change. ii. Responsible for acting as a Moderator to Senate discussions, and ensuring due process is followed in all Senate votes. Responsible for ensuring adherence to alliance charters by all members. iii. Official spokesperson on behalf of the alliance in regards to internal alliance matters, in conjunction with the MoFA. May not sign agreements or vote on behalf of the alliance in treaty related matters without a prior vote by the Senate authorising them to do so. iv. Responsible for the management & administration of the "Welcome to -AiD-", "Alliance Senate", and "Forum Archives" sections of the forum, and all sub-forums within. b) Deputy Ministers i) Up to two (2) members may be appointed by the President as Deputy Ministers to any existing Ministry portfolio, upon request by the Minister. The Minister in question shall nominate to the President who the Deputy appointee(s) shall be. ii) Deputy Ministers are responsible for directly assisting the Minister in charge of the portfolio with any duties as required by the Minister. They may not make decisions or give orders without prior permission from the Minister. iii) Deputy Ministers will not be given access to AdminCP or ModCP, but may be granted Moderator status on individual forums that the Minister is responsible for at the discretion of the Minister. c) Presidential Secretary i) Up to two (2) members may be appointed by the President as a Presidential Secretary, following notification to the Senate 24 hours in advance. Any Senate Member may move a standard senate vote to veto a member from being appointed, or remove a current appointee, at any time. ii) Presidential Secretaries are responsible for directly assisting the President with duties as required by the President such as posting announcement topics or sending out mass emails as approved by the President. They may not make decisions, give orders, or otherwise post in their official capacity without prior permission from the President. iii) Presidential Secretaries will not be given access to AdminCP or ModCP, but may be granted Moderator status on individual forums that the President is responsible for at their discretion. d) Minister of the Interior (MoI) i. Responsible for managing all day to day running and operations of the alliance and forum, managing finance requirements, moderation of the forum and management of the forum sections. ii. Responsible for managing all internal member and forum requirements. Responsible for the management of Chat, Games, and other general forum areas. iii. Responsible for the management of nation and military guides, and other information to assist new members. iv. Responsible for the management & administration of the "Alliance Members" section of the forum, and all sub-forums within. e) Minister of Defence (MoD) i. Responsible for the alliance Military and the maintenance and readiness of the Military to respond to any threats to the safety of the alliance or alliance members. ii. Has the authority to appoint all ranks in the alliance Military. Responsible for the organisation of the Divisions and Squads on the forum, as established within the Military Charter. iii. Official spokesperson on behalf of the alliance in regards to Military & Defence Treaty matters only. May not sign agreements or vote on behalf of the alliance in treaty related matters without a prior vote by the Senate authorising them to do so. iv. Responsible for the management & administration of the "Military Headquarters" section of the forum, and all sub-forums within. f) Minister of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) i. Responsible for the management of -AiD-'s relationship with other alliances in CyberNations, and negotiation with other alliances on inter-alliance matters including treaty development. ii. Responsible for managing Diplomats from other alliances on our forum, masking of diplomatic applications, and the appointment and management of -AiD- diplomats to other alliances. iii. Official spokesperson on behalf of the alliance regarding all inter-alliance matters. May not sign agreements or vote on behalf of the alliance in treaty related matters without a prior vote by the Senate authorising them to do so. iv. Responsible for the management & administration of the "Foreign Affairs" section of the forum, and all sub-forums within. g) Recruitment Minister (RM) i. Responsible for overseeing new member recruitment efforts and the duties within the Recruitment Charter. Responsible for the approval of official recruitment messages regarding alliance recruitment efforts and the rules for recruiting. ii. Responsible for overseeing the management of masking new recruits to the alliance by those with AdminCP access, and for overseeing the intake of all new members joining the alliance in regards to getting them settled in as new members. h) Finance Minister (FM) i) Responsible for the duties as outlined in the Finance Charter, and for carrying out and reporting to the Senate on all finance related matters, as directed by the Senate or the President. ii) Has the authority to designate nations of Corporal rank or higher as temporary banks for the use of finance purposes as required. Temporary bank nations are required to cooperate with all instructions from the Finance Minister.

Membership Activity
a) On the last day of each month, the MoI shall send out a mass forum email from AdminCP to all current members, listing the candidates for the coming election and instructing all members to lodge a vote according to the process in this Charter within the four (4) day voting period. b) Any members that fail to lodge a valid vote, as defined in Section 3, Clause C, during the election time period, shall be fined the equivalent of 1 days income before bills for their nation, to be paid to an alliance bank nation within 14 days. c) A topic shall be maintained in the Electoral Office, where members may notify they will be absent during an election period. Any member that posts in this topic shall not be fined for failing to vote during the election period.