Charter of the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization

This is the charter of the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization, adopted on February 19, 2007 and last amended on May 15, 2008.

Charter of the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization
''Strength in Unity, Honour in Justice. Cyber Nations' First Alliance.''

Preamble
We, the members of the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization, hereby create this document to ensure the protection of the rights and freedoms of the sovereign nations of our Organization, a formal Brown Team alliance that embraces and supports world peace. We join together in the spirit of friendship in order to provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and sustain the bonds of justice which unite us all.

Article I. General Membership and Assembly
Application to the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization shall be determined by the Minister of Domestic Affairs. The Assembly Chairman and Minister of Defense may reject any application within three (3) days of the initial petition for membership.

All members of the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization are members of the General Assembly and bound by this Charter.

The General Assembly reserves the right to vote upon all Charter amendments, upon all votes of no confidence, and in all elections.

Any member of the General Assembly may call for a vote upon one of the aforementioned, except elections, at any time after forty-eight (48) hours of debate has been conducted. Votes shall be held via polls which must be open to the General Assembly for exactly forty-eight (48) hours.

Charter amendments shall be passed by a two-thirds (2/3) majority and officials shall be removed from office by a two-thirds (2/3) majority in a vote of no confidence

All rights, powers, and liberties not delegated to the government or to the Congress shall be reserved for the General Assembly.

Article II. Elections
The General Assembly shall elect the Congress, Assembly Chairman, Minister of Defense, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Domestic Affairs, Minister of Finance, and three High Court Justices.

The Global Alliance and Treaty Organization shall hold elections for the Assembly Chairman and Ministers every two calendar months for the next two calendar months.

The Global Alliance and Treaty Organization shall hold elections for the Congress at the end of every calendar month for the next calendar month.

The electoral process shall consist of nominations, debate, and voting. Nominations will open five days prior to the end of the term and shall go for forty-eight (48) hours. Upon the opening of nominations, debate time shall begin and continue until the end of voting. Forty-eight (48) hours prior to the end of the term, polling will begin and shall last for a period of forty-eight (48) hours.

No nation may be elected to the position of Assembly Chairman for more than three (3) consecutive terms.

The current Congress, Assembly Chairman, Ministers, and High Court Justices shall not hold other officially appointed deputy positions or elected government positions within the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization save for the Brown Team Senate. A deputy position is defined as being the highest ranking appointed position in a ministry.

No member of the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization may run for election in more than one position per election.

Emergency elections shall occur if the Assembly Chairman, a Minister, a Congressman, or a High Court Justice vacates his office, goes absent without notice for three (3) or more consecutive days, goes absent with notice for fourteen (14) or more consecutive days (seven (7) or more for a Congressman), or is removed by a no confidence vote.

Emergency elections will occur over a forty-eight (48) hour interval. The first twenty-four (24) hours will be reserved for nominations and debate. The final twenty-four (24) hours will be reserved for voting.

At the end of the voting period, the candidate, or candidates in the case of the court or congress, with the highest vote count in each election shall be declared the winner(s) and shall take office at the beginning of the next term

Article III. Government
The Assembly Chairman is the head of state and government. He shall preside over the General Assembly, supervise Ministry activity, represent the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization domestically and abroad, and serve in the best interests of the organization as the chief government representative of the people.

The Ministry of Defense shall perform all necessary functions to ensure the security and defense of the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall represent the diplomatic hand of the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization. The Ministry shall negotiate treaties and agreements, establish embassies, work towards cease-fires, secure peace and assistance, and perform all necessary functions to maintain appropriate foreign policy.

The Ministry of Domestic Affairs shall oversee all internal affairs and institutions of the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization. The Ministry shall supervise trade, the acceptance or denial of new applicants, media productions, membership assistance, and perform all necessary functions to maintain appropriate internal policy.

The Ministry of Finance shall maintain the financial assets of the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization. The Ministry shall administer aid and loans and perform all necessary functions to maintain appropriate financial status.

Article IV. Congress
The Congress shall consist of eleven (11) members of the General Assembly. Members include the four elected Ministers and seven (7) elected General Assembly members. Congressional elections shall follow normal election procedure, but each member of the General Assembly will only be given four votes in the Congressional election poll to distribute among the candidates as they please.

The Congress may elect a Speaker from one of the seven (7) non-Ministerial Congressmen to oversee and direct the internal functioning of the Congress.

The Congress reserves the right to vote upon all legislation; upon all documented treaties between the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization and any outside entity, including but not limited to non-aggression pacts, mutual defense pacts, and mutual aggression and defense pacts; and upon the cancellation of any of the above as necessary.

Any member of the Congress may call for a vote upon one of the aforementioned at any time after appropriate time for debate has been conducted. Votes shall be held publicly, each member’s vote must be made public, and votes must be open to the Congress until all votes have been counted or until twenty-four (24) hours has passed.

Congress votes shall pass by a simple majority of voters.

Article V. Vetoes
The Assembly Chairman may veto any act passed by the Congress within three (3) days of its passage. The Congress may override a veto by a three-fourths (3/4) majority vote.

Article VI. Votes of No Confidence
Any member of the General Assembly may call a vote of no confidence on any elected official. Should a General Assembly member call a vote of no confidence, he should present all evidence of wrong doing of the official in question.

The Assembly Chairman shall create a special forty-eight (48) hour polling session within twenty-four (24) hours of the General Assembly member’s request for a vote of no confidence.

Article VII. Brown Team Senate
The Assembly Chairman shall appoint three Brown Team Senate-eligible alliance members to the Brown Team Senate. Brown Team Senators will serve an indefinite term until resignation, removal from the alliance, or ineligibility to run for Brown Team Senate. Upon in-game senate resets, member nations of the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization shall cast in-game votes, as instructed by leadership, to put in place the appointed Senators.

The Brown Team Senate is the only color senate for which the members of the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization may run, unless direct approval is given by the Congress.

Section I. Alliance-wide War
The Global Alliance and Treaty Organization will not commit unprovoked acts of aggression and shall only commit to war in response to acts of aggression, real or threatened, or the financial facilitation thereof, against the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization, or her allies.

In the event of such acts of violence, the Assembly Chairman, or in his absence, the Minister of Defense, shall move for a declaration of war by presenting all necessary reasoning and recorded events to the Congress for review. Upon appropriate review, the Congress shall vote in an emergency, twenty-four (24) hour poll to determine whether or not a declaration of war is appropriate. A declaration of war will be presented if the poll receives a simple majority in favor.

The General Assembly may override any declaration of war via referenda. Upon protest of the Congressional declaration of war, a twenty-four (24) hour debate period shall begin followed by a twenty-four (24) hour vote. A two-thirds (2/3) majority is required to override a declaration of war by the Congress.

The Congress will declare peace via a similar twenty-four (24) hour poll.

Section II. All other military action
A. The Ministry of Defense may conduct military action against any nation or alliance that commits acts of violence or the financial facilitation of violence against members of the Global Alliance, her allies, or other nations not specifically allied with the Global Alliance. The Assembly Chairman may order the cessation of any military action conducted under this subsection.

B. The Minister of Defense may conduct military action against nations that have not committed acts of violence or the financial facilitation of violence only with consent of the Assembly Chairman.

C. Military action may only be used against member nations to fulfill lawfully-imposed court sentences, in direct response to unauthorized attacks on GATO or her allies, or to prevent the loss of assets of the Global Alliance.

Article IX. High Court
The High Court shall judge civil and criminal cases and shall consist of three elected individuals serving in an independent, adjudicating role. The judicial power of the alliance is vested under this one High Court.

All defendants are innocent until proven guilty; have the right to a speedy, public, and fair trail; shall not be twice put in jeopardy for the same crime; and have the right to choose individuals to represent their case at their own discretion.

The High Court will convene after a grievance and substantial evidence has been presented by one member against another. The High Court may reject to hear any case upon unanimous decision. Such a rejection shall not prohibit similar charges being brought in the future against the accused. The High Court will hear testimony and review evidence at its discretion, and thereafter deliberate in private.

The High Court will determine whether the accused is guilty or not guilty. If found guilty, the High Court will determine appropriate punishment. If found not guilty, the accused will be free to go. All High Court decisions and rulings must be made public.

Sentenced members of the alliance have the right to an appeal. This appeal must be presented before the High Court and a two-thirds (2/3) majority of High Court Justices must approve a retrial. Substantial evidence of the Court’s wrongful sentencing must be presented. The appeal process will work in concordance to the rules laid out above. Court sentencing may only reiterate a previous punishment or overrule it. No new sentencing may be laid. No more appeals may be given to the same case after one has already been given.

High Court Justices will be elected every two months. Elections will occur on every even-numbered month. All three Justice positions will be up for election during these times. With these exceptions, High Court elections will work in accordance with the election procedure laid out above.

If a High Court Justice is put on trial, for any reason, he/she will be temporarly relieved of his duties. If found not guilty the justice will resume his duties; if found guilty he will be removed of his post for the remainder of the term.

In case of a High Court Justice being removed temporarily from office, the General Assembly will hold an Emergency Election to temporarily replace said Justice.

Article X. Membership Expulsion and Suspension
The Assembly Chairman may immediately expel without trial any Global Alliance and Treaty Organization member if the member launches nuclear weapons without authorization except if said launches are in direct response to nuclear attacks on alliance members, in which case the target is limited to the nation who first used nuclear weapons against alliance members. The Assembly Chairman must notify the High Court in such a scenario. A two-thirds (2/3) majority of High Court Justices is required to overturn the expulsion, in which case the Assembly Chairman may still bring the member to trial.

The Assembly Chairman may suspend the membership and limit the access of any Global Alliance and Treaty Organization member if substantial evidence of treason or sedition can be presented against that member. The Assembly Chairman must notify the High Court in such a scenario. The High Court will proceed immediately to trial.

Any nation having been immediately expelled without trial may petition the High Court, in person or through an appointed nation, to review the events justifying the expulsion of said member. After conducting such a review, a two-thirds (2/3) majority of High Court Justices shall be required to reinstate an expelled nation, in which case the Assembly Chairman may still bring the member to trial.

The High Court may expel a member found guilty of some crime as punishment as it sees fit.

Conclusion
Done in convention by and with the consent of the General Assembly of the Global Alliance Treaty Organization on the nineteenth of February in the year two thousand and seven.