Fifth Charter of the United Sovereign Nations

Forward
We, the members of the United Sovereign Nations, do hereby draft this charter to provide a constant and secure alliance on the Maroon Sphere for the membership, quality and freely elected leadership, and a strong and growing member base.

Section 1. The Administrative Council
The Administrative Council is the executive governing power of the government within the United Sovereign Nations and shall hold a term of four months. The Administrative Council will always consist of three councilors, always equal in power, which use a 2/3-majority vote to settle alliance wide matters and govern the High Coucil. Administrative Councilors are also the forum administrators of the alliance forums and are charged with its operation and management.

Section 2. Powers of the Administrative Council
The Administrative Council holds the authority to:
 * A. Declare war and make other such decisions, which involve relations and acts with other alliances for the alliance as a whole.
 * B. Individual Council members may do all the above, but only for alliance members other then themselves and not for the alliance by themselves.
 * C. Make Treaties with foreign alliances with a 2/3-majority vote.

Section 3. Powers over the Ministries
The Administrative Council holds the authority to:
 * A. Create and appoint High Councilers/Ministries with a 2/3-majority vote.

Section 4. Powers over the High Council
The Administrative Council holds the authority to:
 * A. Pass any proposition passed by the High Council, with a 2/3-majority vote. If the proposition fails to achieve a 2/3-majority vote it will be voided
 * B. Unanimously appoint temporary members to the High Council if there are any vacancies.

Section 5. Administrative Council Member Problems
Administrative Councillors can be removed from office if impeached or by a vote of no confidence if they commit crimes or other unacceptable behavior.

Section 1. The Ministries
The Ministries are controlled by the appropriate Minister/Security General. A minister or the Security General can appoint members to their specific departments to share or delegate ministry powers, to them with the operation of their ministries. These ministries are the:
 * A. Ministry of Defense, headed by the Security General. Overseeing all military action. The Security General and department members are responsible for approving wars for the defense and protection of the Alliance and its members. The Security General is also responsible for the organization of the armed forces, and advising the Administrative Council in military matters.
 * B. Ministry of Economics, headed by the Minister of Economics. They are responsible for economic matters in the alliance, such as but not limited to: Aid transactions, economic alliance growth programs, and look out for the financial well being and upkeep of members nations.
 * C. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, it is responsible for the public image of the alliance, and communication with foreign alliances, and also for dealing with the day-to-day issues of foreign affairs related to the United Sovereign Nations, as well as bringing up important external alliance news items.
 * D. Ministry of Interior Affairs, headed by the Minister of Interior Affairs. Responsible for internal alliance matters, including the ministry of Justice. They are also responsible for making sure members are informed by posting relevant information about the game or points brought up in the alliance, such as questions or complaints and general alliance information. The Minister of Interior Affairs enforces the charter, and appoints a Chief Adjudicator to assist him in doing so.
 * E. Ministry of Recruitment, headed by the Minister of Recruitment, it is responsible for all recruiting matters in the alliance. The Ministry of Recruitment controls recruiting programs and assigning recruiting positions to members, answer the questions of potential recruits, as well as being responsible for nation background checks of applying nations. The Minister and selected department members are also responsible for approving membership applications.

Section 2. Executive powers of the Ministries
The Ministers and Security General hold the authority to:
 * Draft and execute executive orders for their respective ministries. Also to review the doctrines left in place by the previous minister at the start of a new term.

Section 1. The High Council
The High Council will hold a term of two months and consist of five members. High Councilors are elected delegates for the five major ministries outlined in Article II, and are to represent the General Assembly in all voting/proposals. High Councilors shall be the Global Moderators of the alliance forums and are charged with forum management and organization. The High Council has government powers given to them by the Administrative Council.

Section 2. Legislative power of the High Council
The High Council holds the authority to:
 * A. Suggest and pass laws with a 3/5-majority vote.
 * B. Transfer voting/proposition powers to another branch with a 4/5-majority vote.

Section 3. Powers over the Executive
The High Council holds the authority to:
 * A. Approve laws from the Alliance Council with a 3/5-majority vote.
 * B. Appoint temporary Administrative Councilors with a 4/5-majority vote if there are any vacancies.

Section 4. Disentitlement of a High Councilor
A High Councilor can be removed from office if they commit crimes or other unacceptable behavior, through one of the following processes.


 * A. By a trial conducted by their fellow peers where the Chief Adjudicator makes the final ruling.
 * B. By a vote of 75% of the General Assembly, in a poll that is open for 3 days.

Section 1. The General Assembly
The General Assembly is the collection of all nations making up the United Sovereign Nations. All members are guaranteed freedom unless found guilty of a crime. Each Assembly member of the United Sovereign Nations is granted freedom of speech and expression on the alliance boards. All members are given the right to vote and run for government office, as well as put forward plans/ideas to the government for further discussion.

Section 1a. Membership responsibilities
In return for membership of the alliance members are expected to regularly check the forums to keep up to date on important information & be willing to follow any and all instructions from government officials that do not contravene this charter or other USN legal documents.

Section 2. Membership
Nations applying for membership must file an Application that will be reviewed by the Ministry of Recruitment. Membership may not be removed from this alliance by the whim of the government, unless they have broken the rules of the charter, a contract or are found guilty of a high crime.

Section 2a. Boomerang Doctrine
Any former USN members applying for membership must be fully discussed and gain a majority vote by the HC and AC before they gain admittance into the alliance.

If a former member is accidentally admitted into the alliance due to the MoR and AC member not realising they were a former member the AC has the authority to immediately demask that member pending a review by the government

Section 3. Offensive Action
No nation of the United Sovereign Nations may engage in offensive actions without the direct public consent of the Security General or the Administrative Council. Members engaging in offensive action without the direct consent, will have their membership nullified if they continue to engage in offensive actions after they have been warned to cease.

Section 3a. Tech Raiding
Tech Raiding is defined as declaring war on someone for tech, land, money, casualties or other benefit. Tech Raiding IS legal in the USN but only on unaligned nations not currently on the red sphere. While Tech Raiding is legal, it does not receive any official support from USN, as such any nation engaging in tech raids does so at their own risk and accepts any consequences of raids gone wrong.

Section 4. Reparations
Any nation of the United Sovereign Nations has the right to receive reparations and assistance if attacked by an aggressor in an unsanctioned war.

Section 5. Powers over the government
The General Assembly holds the authority to:
 * A. Call for the impeachment of a government official. By either a trial conducted by their fellow peers where the Chief Adjudicator makes the final ruling. Or by a vote of 75% of the General Assembly, in a poll that is open for 3 days.
 * B. Reverse a ruling with a petition signed by 70% of the General Assembly.
 * C. Repeal an executive order or law with a 70% majority vote in a 3 day poll.

Section 1. Administrative Council Election
The Administrative Council holds a term of four months. Nominations for candidacy will begin ten days before the end of the term, and elections will begin seven days before the end of the term, polls will be open for three days.

Section 2. High Council Election
The High Council holds a term of two months. Nominations for candidacy for each specific ministry will begin seven days before the end of the term, and elections will begin four days before the end of the term, polls will be open for three days.

Section 3. Ties
In the case of a tie vote, a special two day election runoff will be held between the candidates to break the tie.

Section 4. Appointing Temporary Officials
If an official of the government will be absent for an extended amount of time, they may appoint a member to temporarily replace them and serve in their place while they are absent. If they intend to be absent for the rest of their term or more than a month, a replacement will be appointed by the government to take their place.

Section 5. Limited Government Positions
Government officials may not accept office of multiple elected positions, but may run for multiple positions. In the case a member is elected to multiple positions, they must choose which position to accept, and shall then withdraw from the other positions. However, any member may hold multiple non-elected and appointedpositions even if they are currently in an elected position, unless otherwise specified.

Section 6. Vote of No Confidence
All members of the United Sovereign Nations are granted the authority to motion for a vote of no confidence in any government official and remove them from government. Such persons may be removed from office using two of the following process:
 * a. 75% majority vote from the General Assembly in a 2 day poll.
 * b. 4/5-majority vote from the High Council.
 * c. Unanimous agreement of the Administrative Council.

Section 1. Formal Amendments
If deemed necessary by any member of the United Sovereign Nations, an Amendment proposal may be made to the Alliance Government. An Amendment will pass if at least one of the following requirements is met:
 * a. Three day 75% majority vote from the General Assembly, 4/5-majority vote from the High Council, and a 2/3-majority from the Administrative Council.
 * b. Signed Petition from 75% of the General Assembly.

Section 2. Informal Amendment
Any proposition passed by the High Council, and also passed by the Administrative Council as a law or treaty is an informal amendment. The informal amendment can add or remove from the charter, but is treated as an amendment. Any informal amendments that break the principles of the charter cany be removed, by one of the two following processes. Where any member of the United Sovereign Nations can call for a judicial review of an amendment by the Chief Adjudicator, who can rule the amendment unconstitutional. Or by a vote of 75% of the General Assembly, in a poll that is open for 3 days. There shall be a topic in the archives for members to publicly view all informal amendments made by the elected government.