Southern Alliance of Antarctic Nations

Oath
We the unified members of the Southern Alliance of Antarctic Nations, do by swear that as active members of the SAAN, we will not abuse our power or harm the unity of other alliances. And thusly, have initiated an alliance as a haven of peace, and refuge of the weak. This charter is a symbol of the power, although small, of unified nations, should not be abused, but cherished, as this article will elaborate.

Article I: Admission & Membership
Section 1: Admission To gain admission into the SAAN, each nation must state, on the off site SAAN public sign-up thread, the following:

1. Nation name: 2. Ruler name: 3. Resources, both national and acquired: 4. Current and previous alliance memberships, if any: 5. Whether you are currently engaged in combat: 6. Whether you have any nuclear weapons: 7. Your history of combat:

Section 2: Membership

A: A member of the Council, as soon as time allows, shall grant membership to applying nations. All members will receive notices of new members joining the SAAN.

B: Membership of other alliances is allowed, if, and only if, the other alliance is not involved in war of any sort. Sparring matches between its own members does not count as war.

C: All SAAN members agree to be bound by this Charter. Any member found in violation of any of these clauses may be subject to disciplinary action by the Cabinet, and no longer be considered a member.

Article II: The Cabinet & Alliance Officials
Section 1: Government Order The rankings, positions, and abilities of the SSAN government are as follows:

1. President: Head of the SAAN and is in charge of primary internal and external affairs.

2. Vice President: Assistant of the President of the SAAN. If the President is removed from office or absent, the Vice President takes command.

3. High Council: Group of 5 nations, listen to the cabinet’s rulings and votes on which information is suitable for the President, and which is for the President.

4. Minister of War: Part of President’s cabinet. Helps President in matters of war. In charge of all SAAN armies and weapons.

5. Minister of Peace: Part of President’s cabinet. Helps President in matters of peace.

6. Minister of Trade: Part of President’s cabinet. Helps President in matters of trade.

7. War Council: Councils the War Minister on matters of war, can decide to remove War Minister from power, and replace with member of the current council. All 3 members must agree on the transition.

8. Peace Council: Councils the Peace Minister on matters of peace, can decide to remove Peace Minister from power, and replace with member of the current council. All 3 members must agree on the transition.

9. Trade Council: Councils the Trade Minister on matters of trade, can decide to remove Trade Minister from power, and replace with member of the current council. All 3 members must agree on the transition.

10. Government Council: Decides if any of the Nations need to be removed from office. Can only decide a nation removal if at least 25% of SAAN is questioning the member.

Section 2: How to obtain governmental positions:

1. President: Appointed by former president 2. Vice President: Selected by current president. 3. High Council: Voted into power by populace. 4. Minister of War: Elected by war council. 5. Minister of Peace: Elected by peace council. 6. Minister of Trade: Elected by trade council. 7. War Council: Elected by populace. 8. Peace Council: Elected by populace. 9. Trade Council: Elected by populace. 10. Government Council: Elected by populace.

Section 3: Removal from office is done by three different ways:

1. 66% of populace demands removal from office. 2. All Members of the Minister’s council demand removal from office. 3. Government Council demands removal from office.

Section 4: SAL

A: All SAAN members in good standing are admitted to the Southern Antarctic Legislature, the legislative chamber of the SAAN.

B: A SAAN member may at any time move to introduce new legislation or amend/remove existing legislation, and invite other members to second that motion.

C: A motion to amend the Charter seconded by the other two Cabinet members is brought to plenary vote, and is implemented with a 2/3 majority of active members.

D: Any other motion seconded by four SAAN members is brought to plenary vote, and becomes part of the SAAN Statutes with a simple majority of voters.

E: The President chairs the SAL, and retains veto power for any legislative changes. If the President is unavailable, the Vice President may exercise veto power in his absence, requiring unanimous support of Cabinet members. This decision may be overruled by the President on his return.

Article III: Elections
A: General Cabinet elections shall take place on every even month, according to the following schedule: 5 days open for nominations (beginning on the first Thursday of the month), 2 days for campaigning (the following Tuesday and Wednesday), and 2 days for voting (the second Thursday and Friday).

B: During the nomination period, SAAN members may nominate themselves for up to two Offices.

C: In order to ensure the transparency of the election process, the outgoing Cabinet shall appoint an official to oversee all matters relating to the election. This official is not permitted to stand in the election or vote. They may be removed from office at the behest of the members of the SAAN, which must be done prior to the start of voting.

D: SAAN members may cast one vote for each Office.

E: The most voted nation for each Office is appointed. Should a nation win the vote for two Offices, they are appointed to the Office of their choice, and their candidacy is removed from the other. This process is iterated until all positions are filled. In the event of a tie, the President will cast the tie-breaking vote.

F: The President or his representatives shall certify and post election results as soon as possible. Election winners enter office immediately.

Article IV: War & Nuclear Weapons
Section 1: War

A: The SAAN endorses peace between its members and other nations of the world. Signatories are prohibited from conducting unprovoked attacks against any nation or any member of a friendly alliance, or against anyone at all without the decree of the War Council, Minister of War, and the President.

B: Should a member nation be the victim of an attack, all SAAN members pledge to rally their full military and economic prowess in defense of the attacked nation, but will not resort to attacking the allied nations of the attacker, as to not provoke uncalled for war, aiding reconstruction and war efforts to the best of their abilities.

Section 2: Nuclear Weapons

A: The research of any and all nuclear weapons is prohibited, unless the War Council has appointed the member to ‘nuclear nation’ status. Only appointed nuclear nations can have nuclear weapons. Any nation found violating this rule will be punished.

B: All nations of nuclear nation status can have that status removed at anytime by recommendation of 33% of members, and decree of the Peace council with War Council backing. The council cannot randomly decree without recommendation.

Article V: Foreign Aid
The SAAN offers aid to any member nation who seeks it, or non member nations, if the Peace Council allows it. Please confront the peace council or minister before aiding other nations, so it does not endanger the security and financial stability of other member nations.

Article VI: Short Term Arrangements
In order to preserve this union, there will be a slight change in government whilst the member ship of nations does not fill all the roles. The format of government will be a solid democracy with all members having equal say, but the president will resume office as soon as membership fills the government positions.

Article VII: Judicial Cases
If a conflict arises between two different members of SAAN then they will both have to enter the High Council's Court and each appeal there case, and bring in other nations to testify. In order to appeal to the Council, each of the nations must pay 1/10 of what they own to each of the Council members, as will each witness have to do, but only 1/20. Whomever wins the case in the Council's eyes get's all of the loser's given money, and his own money back, as do the winning sides witnesses' get their money back and the money from the losing witnesses.