The Great Jim City Accords


 * Constitution/Charter of the [[Confederation of Allied Nations]

Preamble

We, the undersigned leaders that are parties to this treaty, do recognize that the mutual support of personal and political allies is absolutely vital to the survival of our respective nations in the face of a world of adversity. Therefore, we set forth these accords in pursuit of that goal, to set forth in perpetuity our mutual goodwill and willingness to stand together in the face of common adversaries. Let this be our proclaimation to the world that we are allies, now and forevermore.

Article I: Our Alliance

We are intending to create a player - defined alliance for mutual assistance and self - defense. We are not presently a major alliance, but resent the term of "rogue" alliance, or any other implication that we are anything less than full members of the community of nations. We will deal with all alliances, major and minor, as equals.

This Alliance shall thenenceforth be known as the Confederation of Allied Nations.

Article II: In Peace

Section I: Trade

Trade amoungst ourselves is to be encouraged if at all possible, as such ties of trade and friendship distribute the benefits of our unique resources amoungst all of our allies. However, it is important to note that not all of us will be able to trade exclusively amongst ourselves for needed goods. Priority should be given to allies first, then to outsiders, but whenever possible, trade agreements amongst ourselves should be made, honored, and maintained.

Section II: Foreign Aid

Foreign Aid shall freely flow between our nations, as it is our pride to give of our abundance to help our neighbors. It is not a sign of weakness but an affirmation of friendship to accept any foreign aid offered amongst ourselves. This does not imply that we are required to give foreign aid, as we may be limited in our ability to spare anything after seeing to the needs of our own citizens, but when we can, and should we be inclined to, we shall render aid to one another to help strengthen our allies and, by extension, our alliance as a whole.

Article III: In War

Section I: Wars of Aggression

If one of our Alliance takes it upon themselves to wage a war of aggression upon any other nation - a war of aggression being a war that, however provoked, was declared by a member of the Alliance upon another nation - the remaining members of the Alliance are not bound by this treaty to join them in the fight. This does not imply any other member of the Alliance may not choose, for their own reasons, to join the war upon the third party nation, merely that they have no treaty obligation to do so. Likewise, other members of our alliance are not required to send any assistance of any sort to the alliance nation in the conflict, though it is understood that we will never aid any nation to strike at any other nation that is a party to this alliance. If it is ever discovered that a member of this alliance has ever deliberately aided an enemy of an alliance member nation in a war against said allied nation, they will thereby forfiet the benefits of alliance membership, and may indeed be risking the wrath of both the nation they have betrayed and the remainder of the alliance by extension.

There is one restriction on the freedom that our members have to wage wars as they choose, and that is when a war would conflict with a treaty the Confederation of Allied Nations has signed with another nation or alliance. All those who would sign their names and pledge their nations to these Accords swear, on pain of being accused of treason against the Confederation of Allied Nations, never to engage in any war with any nation or alliance that the Confederation of Allied Nations has established a treaty, for to do so would be to undermine diplomacy that is critical to our goals as an alliance. All members of the Confederation understand and accept that this ceding of their sovereign right to wage war as they see fit is necessary for the Confederation to make honorable accords with other nations and alliances, and willingly cede their sovereign right in this respect to the Confederation. This restriction on the right of member nations does not include engaging in wars of aggression against nations that are part of alliances with which the Confederation does not have relations with, but it is strongly recommended that any member nation that is seeking a war to redress a grievance against a nation that is party to another alliance first contact the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Diplomacy or to contact the Paladin directly to seek the use of the Confederation's Diplomatic Corps to resolve the dispute without the risk of inciting a war with another alliance.

All Member Nations of the Confederation of Allied Nations further understand that, as members of the Confederation, their actions reflect upon the whole of the Confederation, and will accordingly conduct their foreign affairs with restraint whenever possible.

Section II: Wars of Righteous Self - Defense

We pledge, as members of this alliance of nations, never to attack one another, on pain of being declared outlaw and anathema to the entirety of the alliance. If a nation that is not party to this alliance ever takes it upon themselves to wage war upon one of the members of this alliance, for whatever reason or none at all, we shall treat it as an attack upon all members of the alliance, and respond accordingly. Those who can declare war upon the offending nation shall do so as soon as possible. Those who cannot, shall render whatever aid they can to the nation that came under attack and what nations can join them in the defense. In this, we hope that our combined military might shall serve as an effective deterrent to any nation seeking to do us harm.

Article IV: Admission of New Member Nations

Section I: Founding Members and Those Eligible for Membership

The Invited Member Nations to the Great Jim City Convention and initial signers of the Accords, hereafter referred to as Founding Nations, reserve the right to extend the protection of Alliance Membership to whomever they so choose. Admission shall be open to any nation that wishes to petition the Alliance for membership, provided that they can convince a Council Member to sponsor their petition as outlined below, and provided that the prospective member nation has no other Alliance committments and has never waged a war of aggression upon an alliance member, though a vote may be called to lift this latter restriction, which will only happen if a three - fourths majority of the Council - defined below - and including a three - fourths majority of the Founding Members - agree to do so.

Section II: Admitting New Alliance Members

The process of joining a new nation to this Alliance shall be commenced by one of the Council Members petitioning the Council and speaking for the prospective member nation. If another Council Member can be convinced to second the nomination of the prospective member, the Council will meet and vote on the nomination. Neither petitioning nor seconding a potential alliance member nation obligates either nation to vote for that prospective member.

The assembled Council shall debate the merits of the prospective member's possible contributions to the alliance, bearing in particular mind any previous alliance committments the prospective nation may have previously committed to and any wars, past or present, that the nation has been involved in. A nation with multiple previous alliance committments or a record of belligerence or both will not necessarily be barred membership, but the Alliance and its leadership have a right to know whom they will be committing themselves to protect.

The Council shall vote on any nomination so seconded, and at least two thirds of the Council, including a two - thirds majority of the Founding Members, must assent to the potential member's admission within three [3] days of the motion to admit the prospective nation being seconded. This vote can be done by any means the motioning nation so wishes, but shall default to secret ballot, the votes being tallied by the Paladin by use of private messaging. Any nation that does not submit any vote via secret ballot within the appointed time shall be considered to have abstained on the matter of that nation's membership. The Council may extend this time pending confirmation of a prospective members' withdrawal from their previous alliance(s).

If the nation cannot accumulate the necessary two - thirds majority, its petition shall fail, but may be renewed within seven [7] days, providing another Council member speaks for the prospective nation and another Council member seconds the petition. Any prospective nation cannot be nominated by the same Council Member more than once.

Those who would make the committment to membership in the Confederation of Allied Nations, be aware that this committment is both exclusive and binding - once a Head of State has committed their nation to the Great Jim City Accords, they are not permitted to be a part of any other alliance - to join another alliance without first honorably withdrawing from the Accords is Treason, just as decieving the Council concerning your standing with another alliance in an attempt to join the Confederation of Allied Nations while remaining a part of another alliance. The strength of the Confederation of Allied Nations depends on the loyalty of its member nations, to the Accords and to each other. This loyalty cannot be divided and remain strong, and neither can the Confederation.

Those who are accepted as new parties to the Great Jim City Accords shall be called upon to sign the Accords, and thus have all the rights and responsibilities of Alliance Member, including a vote on any matters that concern the Alliance as a whole that are discussed in Convention, and may be elevated to join the Alliance Council at a later time at the will of the Council. Founding Member status may not be conveyed upon any but the original signers of the Accords, and this point is not subject to any further amendment of the Accords.

Article V: The Paladin of the Confederation of Allied Nations

Section I: The Office of Paladin

It is clear that the administration of the Alliance shall be a very involved task. The Alliance Members shall need to be notified when a member nation is attacked or when another nation wishes to petition for membership. A stable meeting place for the Alliance Council - discussed below - to debate matters important to its membership must be established, with a clear set of rules of order and a leader to enforce them. Because of this and many other reasons, a position must be created to administer the Alliance, for the benefit of all, a leader willing to attend to these matters and more must be chosen. This position shall be known as the Paladin of the Confederation of Allied Nations, its leader in peace and defender in war.

Section II: The Authorities and Responsibilities of the Office of Paladin

The Paladin's duties will be to maintain communications among alliance members, to host periodic conventions concerning the status of Alliance Members, to serve as the public face of the Alliance and as its chief diplomat, to open diplomatic relations with other nations and alliances on behalf of the Confederation, to negotiate treaties to further the diplomatic goals of the Confederation, and to serve as the Commander in Chief of Confederation military efforts when the Alliance is at war, to sit as Leader of the Council, and to perform other duties as necessary to administer to the needs of the Alliance and its membership.

As a part of the Paladin's role as Commander in Chief of the United Confederation Armed Forces, the Paladin may issue orders to nations to act in defense of the Confederation of Allied Nations and its member nations without Council authorization. This may only be done in response to an attack on any member nation(s) of the Confederation of Allied Nations. The Council may review these orders at a later time and they may be used as grounds for the censure or impeachment of the sitting Paladin if the Paladin's actions are considered by three - quarters of the Council to be in violation of the letter or spirit of this authority. If the Council votes to declare war defensively, or the Council and the Assembly vote to declare an offensive war, such declarations carry with them explicit authorization to the Paladin and any appropriate Ministers to carry out the Confederation's War Orders.

The Paladin shall enjoy the priviledge of having the last vote on any matter the Council and the Assembly debate, and shall be the sole Council Member with the power of a Veto - any vote of Nay that the Paladin chooses to cast shall suffice to defeat any motion before the Council or the Assembly, unless a three - fourths majority of the Council or the Assembly vote to counter that veto, in which case the Paladin is obligated to carry out the wishes of the Confederation of Allied Nations.

Aside from that priviledge and the many responsibilities enumerated above, the leader who assumes this title shall be no more than the First amoung Equals during his term of office, which shall begin at the signing of the Great Jim City Accords, and new elections for the office shall be held every four months from that date, and no leader may serve more than two terms consecutively in this post. There is no limit to the number of non - consecutive terms any leader may serve.

Section III: Impeachment and Resignation

The Paladin is answerable to the Council, and can be removed from his position by the Council if he is demonstrated to have neglected to carry out his duties, to have committed acts against the best interests of the Alliance as defined by the Council, to have committed treason against the Accords by attacking an Alliance Member or Ally, or to have engaged in the pursuit of Wars of Aggression without prior consultation with and approval from the Council. This latter provision is in recognition of the high profile to which the Paladin is viewed by the greater world - wars engaged in by the Paladin must be waged for clear purposes that are in agreement with the letter and the spirit of the Accords, so as to present the best possible image of the Alliance in the eyes of the world. If three - quarters of the Council, including all of the Founding Members except the Paladin himself, who has no vote or veto on his impeachment, agrees that the Paladin has failed in one or more of the following ways, they may remove him from the office of Paladin. A Paladin so impeached may not stand for the Office again for the next two elections, unless the Council votes to allow him to stand for election sooner than that.

The Paladin may also resign from the Office at any time, provided that the Paladin formally gives notice to the Council and the Confederation as a whole. This does not affect the Council Member's eligibility to stand for the Office again at the next opportunity.

In the event of a Paladin's resignation or impeachment, the Council shall elect one within their number to serve as Acting Paladin, and serve out the remainder of the term of the Paladin who was impeached/resigned. In the event that the Acting Paladin chooses to stand for election at the next opportunity, this term of service will not count against the two consecutive term limit.

Section IV: The First Paladin

In recognition of his efforts to create this Alliance and extend its benefits to all the Founding Members, as well as recognizing that he is the author of the Great Jim City Accords and the Host of the Great Jim City Convention, the Founding Nations of the Alliance do see fit to unanimously acclaim that Overlord Jim the First shall serve as the First Paladin of the Confederation of Allied Nations.

Article VI: The Council of the Confederation of Allied Nations

Section I: The Council

The Founding Members of the Alliance, as well as any leaders they later elevate to join them as outlined in Section IV, below, will constitute the Council of the Confederation of Allied Nations.

Members of the Council of the Confederation of Allied Nations serve until they willingly step down, are impeached by a unanimous vote of the remaining Council Members, or until they are found to be guilty of treason against the Confederation of Allied Nations. Founding Members may not be impeached in this manner, but may step down or be convicted of treason against the Confederation of Allied Nations and removed from the Council accordingly.

Section II: The Authority of the Council

The Council shall make all major policy decisions of the Confederation of Allied Nations. The Council shall, in concert with the Assembly of the Confederation of Allied Nations, ratify all treaties negotiated by the Paladin or any Foreign Minister the Paladin and Council should see fit to designate. The Council shall also make any declarations of war against other nations or alliances in defense of one or more members of our Alliance, and may move to declare war offensively against other nations and alliances as well, subject to the agreement of the Assemby to declare aggressive war. The Council shall also make any other decisions deemed of import to the Alliance and its member nations not specifically delegated to the Paladin or to the Assembly. All matters where original jurisdiction is not specifically and explicitly delegated elsewhere shall be considered to be the purview of the Council.

All amendments to the Accords must originate in the Council (though they may be commended to the Council's consideration by the Assembly as outlined below), and must achieve a three - fourths majority vote in their favor, including three - fourths of the Founding Members, before they will proceed to the Assembly, as outlined in Article X: Amendments, below

Section III: Meetings of the Council

The Paladin, or any other member of the Council, may call meetings of the Council - to which any member nation of the alliance may attend but may not speak unless recognized by the Paladin - to debate matters of concern to the Alliance or simply to review the status of the Alliance and its member nations

The Council votes shall be conducted in whatever method the Council deems fit, but shall default to an open ballot, with two - thirds majority of Council Members, including two - thirds of the Founding Members, will be needed to settle a question. If a motion fails to meet these criteria or is vetoed by the Paladin, it shall be considered to have failed, though in the latter case, the Council may review a veto by the Paladin. With a three - fourths majority, including at least three - fourths of the Founding Members, the veto shall be negated and the measure passed, obligating the Paladin to carry out the Council's wishes.

Section IV: Expanding the Council

The Council may, from time to time, create new seats and expand its size. However, it may not create more than eight (8) new seats in this fashion, for a total of fifteen (15) seats between the Founding Members and those nominated to join at a later time. Any further Council nominations after the Council has achieved its maximum size will be nominations to fill a vacancy in the Council. This limit is in place to preserve the Council's ability to react swiftly and to achieve consensus quickly on matters of critical importance to the Confederation of Allied Nations.

The Council reserves the right to choose who will be nominated to join it. Regardless of whether the Council is filling a vacancy or creating a new seat, the Council shall have the right to nominate any member they deem worthy from the Confederation membership to join the Council.

The Founding Members, and any other leaders that have joined the Council as well, may nominate other leaders within the Confederation to join the Council. This nomination is confirmed by the Council with a two - thirds majority vote of all existing Council Members voting in favor of the prospective Council Member's nomination, with the stipulation that the majority so achieved include a two - thirds majority of the Founding Members. Once the Council has voted to confirm the nomination, it will be sent to the Assembly for its confirmation as well. If the Assembly also votes to confirm the prospective member, the leader in question is therefore invited to join the Council of the Confederation of Allied Nations.

Section V: Inviobility of the Council

The Council of the Confederation of Allied Nations may not be disbanded by any act of the Paladin or any future amendment to the Great Jim City Accords.

Article VII: The Assembly of the Confederation of Allied Nations

Section I: The Assembly

The Council and the Paladin shall excercise their powers in concert with the membership of the Confederation of Allied Nations. To facilitate this relationship, The Confederation Assembly shall thenceforth be created.

Section II: The Structure of the Assembly

The Assembly of the Confederation of Allied Nations shall be constituted of representation from all Confederation Members, each nation having a seat in the Assembly and a vote on all matters the Assembly debates. The Paladin shall be nominal head of the Assembly, and shall retain the priviledge of the last vote and the veto over matters the Assembly discusses, which may be overridden with a three - quarters majority vote of the Assembly, as it is in Council. The Assembly shall elect from its own number a Speaker of the Assembly, discussed in Section V, below.

Section III: The Authority of the Assembly

The Assembly shall have original jurisdiction over all Officer Appointments, Ambassador Appointments, and any Committee Nominations made from within its ranks. The Council will continue to nominate and vote in its own Committee members. The Assembly shall have secondary jurisdiction over all treaties, amendments, and declarations of offensive war made by the Council of the Confederation of Allied Nations.

All appointments must achieve a simple majority of the Assembly to be confirmed, with the exception of Officers of State, which require two - thirds majority to confirm. All treaties and declarations of war require two - thirds majority to pass the Assembly, and all Amendments to the Great Jim City Accords require three - quarters majority in favor to pass the Assembly.

All other matters not specified herein shall be considered to be the purview of the Council, but the Assembly has the right debate any matter, and to recommend matters to the Council's consideration. If the Assembly wishes any concern or matter of legislation not within its purview to be recommended to the Council, this may be done by a motion to commend a matter to the Council's consideration. If two - thirds of the Assembly votes to commend the matter to the Council's consideration, the Speaker of the Assembly will present the Council with the resolution of the Assembly, which the Council will be obligated to investigate, debate, and report back to the Assembly its findings through the Paladin.

Section IV: Confirmation of New Council Members The Assembly will also confirm all new Council Members nominated by the existing Council to join the Council.

Any nomination of a new Council member, whether they are filling a vacancy or occupying a newly created seat on the Council, will have to be confirmed by a two - thirds majority of the Assembly. Any nomination that does not achieve this threshold by votes cast against its confirmation will be considered rejected, and the Council will then be obligated to nominate a different member to fill the seat or vacancy.

No member nation can be nominated to fill the same Council vacancy twice, though the Council may nominate that same member nation again to fill a different vacancy at a later time.

Section V: Speaker of the Assembly

The Assembly shall choose one within its own ranks as Speaker of the Assembly, to serve all procedural functions of the Assembly that the Paladin performs in Council. This position shall be elected at two month intervals starting with the election of the Paladin.

The election process of the Speaker shall begin a week prior to the Paladin's election, with the nomination of candidates for the position. Any member wishing to stand for the position must have their nomination seconded, twice if they nominate themselves. An election will commence three days after the nominations begin, with all candidates up for election, that shall continue for three days. If any one member achieves a simple majority of the Assembly's vote, they will be elected Speaker of the Assembly without need for a run - off election. If the first election fails to achieve a clear majority, a run - off election will be held between the two candidates with the highest vote totals, and whichever of those two achieves a majority vote within three more days will be elected. The sitting Paladin will conduct all nominations and elections for this position, and, to remain impartial, shall not vote in any of them.

No member of the Council may serve as Speaker of the Assembly, as the Speaker is intended to represent the views and opinions of the membership not on the Council.

The Speaker of the Assembly, as stated above, shall perform all the procedural functions in the Assembly that the Paladin performs in Council, including calling for votes, tallying votes, establishing precedence of motions, and maintaining order within the Assembly. The Speaker of the Assembly may also address the Council at any meeting which is not closed to the membership, though does not recieve a vote on any matter the Council debates.

No one leader can serve as Speaker of the Assembly consecutively more than twice, though, as with the Paladin, there is no limit to the number of non - consecutive terms any leader may serve.

Article VIII: Committees and Officers

Section I: Creation of Officers and Committees

The Council has one other priviledge - to create, as necessary, Offices and Committees concerned with major matters of interest to the Alliance.

Section II: Committees of the Confederation of Allied Nations

Committees must have at least three but no more than five Council Members serving on them, from whom the Chairman of the Committee will be chosen by the Committee as its first order of business. Committees may also include any number of interested member nations not on the Council as well. The Committee Members are chosen by their respective bodies, either the Council or the Assembly, to serve on the Committee, and shall serve until they are removed, by a motion of the Council or the resignation of the nation from the Committee in question.

These Committees are to advise the Council and the Assembly, and especially the Paladin, as to matters concerning its portfolio of interest. The Committees, in their role as instruments of policy making, may, with a two - thirds vote in favor of a particular resolution or recommendation by the Committee membership, recommend to the appropriate body - either the Council or the Assembly - a particular course of action be pursued, obligating that body to give the matter appropriate debate before coming to a conclusion on it.

There shall be three permanent Committees created by the Accords - the Committee on Defense and War Policy, the Committee on Economics and Trade Relations, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Diplomacy. Other Committees may be created as needed with the appropriate motion in Council, and dissolved likewise as needed.

As the purpose of these Committees is to advise the Paladin, the Paladin himself may not serve on any Committee during his tenure of office, and so a new Paladin must resign from any Committees that the new Paladin may have belonged to, but may be re - nominated to serve on those Committees again after their term of office expires. The Paladin may, however, call a meeting of any Committee at any time to hear their opinions before he makes recommendations on policy to the full Council, and may sit in on any meeting of any Committee to listen to their policy debates.

Section III: Ambassadors and Officers of State

The Paladin may also choose to nominate worthy leaders to serve in any Offices or Embassies the Council should see fit to create.

Offices shall be created on recommendation of the Paladin, to share in any of the duties that the Paladin, by virtue of the office, is entrusted with. Such Officers of State can be created on a vote of the Council, and then filled by recommendation of the Paladin and subsequent confirmation by the Assembly. Likewise, the Paladin may appoint, with the advice and consent of the Assembly, ambassadors to represent the Confederation of Allied Nations abroad.

The Paladin may recommend any member of the Confederation for any office or ambassadorship the Paladin so chooses, but is advised to give priority to members serving on Committees whose portfolio is relevant to the duties of the Office in question.

Officers of State and Ambassadors to other powers shall be considered to be subordinates of the Paladin, answerable to the Paladin and the Council on matters pertaining their areas of expertise. The Paladin may designate them duties within their portfolio to carry out, in addition to relying on their advice and opinions. Officers of State will be understood to share in the authority of the Paladin relevant to their sphere of influence. Ambassadors appointed by the Assembly on recommendation of the Paladin share in the authority of the Paladin to negotiate with the Alliances that they represent the Confederation to, and may open such negotiations with the approval of the Paladin. Ambassadors should scrupulously obey any specific directives given by the Paladin and any Minister of Foreign Affairs that the Assembly chooses to appoint in these negotiations, and the Paladin must approve of the final form of any treaty so negotiated before it will be presented to the Council and the Assembly.

Serving in an Office of State or as an ambassador is not incompatible with serving on or leading an appropriate Committee. The Paladin retains final authority on how to execute his duties, however, and if the Paladin finds that an officer or ambassador has failed to carry out an assigned task, or has otherwise neglected his duties to the Alliance, may dismiss that officer or ambassador. Such dismissals are subject to review by the Council, as if they were vetoes on the Paladin's part. A three - quarters majority will reinstate the dismissed officer or ambassador.

Article IX: Treaties Section I: Entering into Treaty Relationships

The Confederation of Allied Nations, through the offices of the Paladin, and the authority of the Council and the Assembly, has the authority to enter into binding treaty relationships with other nations and alliances.

Section II: The Ratification Process

The Confederation is to be represented in the negotiation of these treaties by the Paladin, who may, with the advice and consent of the Council, designate other leaders within the Confederation to assist in the negotiations.

Once the negotiations are concluded and a treaty acceptable to both delegations is prepared, it shall be the duty of the Paladin to present the treaty to the Council and then to the Assembly for ratification. A vote of two - thirds of the existing Council, including a two - thirds majority of the Founding Members of the Confederation of Allid Nations, shall be necessary for the Council to approve any given treaty, except in case of a veto by the Paladin, as outlined above.

After the Council approves a given treaty, it is commended to the Assembly for final ratification of the treaty. Once a two - thirds majority of the Assembly has assented to ratify a treaty, it is considered in force upon all members of the Confederation.

If a treaty fails to accumulate the necessary votes for ratification at any stage, it will be returned to the Paladin to be renegotiated.

Section III: Limitations on Treaties The authority of the Paladin to negotiate treaties is only limited in two respects.

First and foremost, no treaty can be made that denies any member of the Confederation their sovereign rights, with the exception of those rights previously delegated to the Confederation under Article III.

Secondly, no treaty can be made that dissolves the Confederation of Allied Nations or merges it to another alliance. This does not restrict the negotiations of another alliance wishing to join the Confederation, but the Confederation will not join another alliance in this way, as it would compromise the Confederation's sovereign rights as an Alliance to maintain its own identity and integrity.

Article X: Amending the Accords

Section I: Amendments to the Accords

The Great Jim City Accords have been amended many times over the course of the Great Jim City Convention, and may be amended later still, and as such, we must devise a process by which these amendments may be promulgated, debated, and agreed upon.

Section II: The Amendment Process

Any Council Member may propose an amendment to the Accords, and, if the move to amend the Accords is seconded by another member of the Council, the Council may be called to vote on the matter. The Amendment must achieve a three - fourths majority of the Council before it will be recommended to the Assembly.

The Assembly must then vote on the Amendment, which must achieve the assent of three - quarters of the member nations of the Alliance to be ratified. Once ratified amendment shall be considered immediately in effect and a part of the Accords.

Article XI: Withdrawal from the Accords

Section I: Honorable Withdrawal

Once the head of state has become a party to these accords and his nation a member of this alliance, it is considered binding upon both. A Sovereign Head of State may withdraw their nation from the Alliance for reasons of sovereign self - interest only, and may do so only when no member of the Alliance is engaged in a war of sovereign self - defense.

The alliance member in question will tender their nation's resignation before the Paladin and the assembled Council, and it will become effective four days from that time, to allow for the alliance to reconfigure its militaries and arrange to cover the loss of strength and to allow the withdrawing nation time to engage in diplomacy with the intent of keeping them in the Alliance.

A nation that withdraws from these Accords forfiets all rights and priviledges of Alliance memberrship, including Council Seats, any offices held, and any standing as a Founding Member, and will not be allowed to rejoin the alliance without a three - quarters majority of the Council and all of the Founding Members being convinced of their sincerity. Section II: Expulsion from the Alliance

There is one other circumstance in which a member nation of the Confederation can cease to be a member of the Confederation, and that is if they are expelled from the Alliance.

This is not undertaken lightly - a motion to expel a member of the Confederation of Allied Nations may only be initiated if there is evidence that a member of the Confederation knowingly and willfully undertakes a course of action that constitutes treason against the Confederation, treason being defined as having given aid and comfort to the enemies of the Confederation, participating in espionage against the Confederation, undermining the diplomacy of the Confederation by willfully breaking the terms of a treaty signed by the Confederation, or engaging in acts of war against fellow Confederation members.

A motion to expel a member of the Confederation from the alliance will be initated only by a Founding Member, and must be seconded by two other members of the Council, and must have at least two witnesses within the Confederation to the treasonous act in question. The Council will then debate the evidence against the accused member nation, seeing if there is sufficient evidence to justify a trial. The Council will then vote on the motion, with two - thirds of the Council members, including two - thirds of the Founding Members, and subject to a veto by the Paladin, which can be overruled as described above.

If the Council votes in favor of proceeding with a trial, the Assembly will be convened to try the accused member nation, with the Paladin sitting as judge and two members of the Assembly appointed by the Council to prosecute and defend the accused member nation. The verdict is decided by a vote of the Assembly, with three exceptions: the prosecution and the defense do not vote in trial, and accept this when they accept their roles. The Paladin also cedes his vote to remain impartial in the matter. After all evidence is presented and the case is made, the Confederation as whole will vote on whether or not to expel the offending member. Only a three - fourths majority vote of the Confederation shall be considered sufficient to expel the accused member nation.

A nation so expelled from the Confederation is never eligible to be readmitted to the Confederation, and this is why it is an option reserved only for the most serious of offenses against the Confederation of Allied Nations.

Article XII: Ratification of the Accords

These Accords can be ratified only by the Head of State of any member nation who wishes to become a party to it. Once that nation has become a party to this treaty, it is considered binding on them for all time. We pledge that all of our commitment to this pact of friendship, trade, mutual self - defense, and collective security will remain firm forevermore.