Charter of Silence

A Binding of "Silence" ALLIANCE CHARTER FOR SILENCE

Section I - Preamble

Article I - The purpose of this alliance is mutual cooperation and protection between member nations, as well as organised diplomacy and trade with other alliances and non-member nations, to maintain a peaceful co-existence on Planet Bob. Article II - This alliance values peace, freedom, honour and integrity and as such these values are the foundation for everything else in the alliance and should be foremost in the mind of all members in their actions.

Section 2 - Articles of Membership

Article I - This alliance is not and never will operate as an exclusive club. All applicants will be given due consideration and respect; however an applicant may be rejected in order to maintain the peaceful nature of this alliance. Article II - To this end, nations that are in current (active) wars or are on another alliances ZI/PZI/EZI list must mention this in their application, so it can be dealt with. Failure to do so will result in the termination of your membership, in the interests of maintaining the alliance as a safe place for it's members. Article III - This alliance is a member of the Brown trading sphere and as such, all member nations are expected to change to the Brown trading sphere within one (1) month (4 weeks) of joining the alliance. Article IV - A member may be exempted from Article III by the current leadership of the alliance, if they are in an off-colour trade circle. Article V - An exemption as per Article IV is valid only for the current trade circle and as such is rendered invalid should the trade circle fall apart. Article VI - A member nation, upon joining, is expected to pledge allegiance to this alliance only and as such change their Alliance Affiliation (AA) to 'Silence' within two (2) days (48 hours) of being accepted. Article VII - A member nation who wishes to depart the alliance must given written notice to the government at least seventy-two (72) hours (3 days) before they leave. Article VIII - A departing member nation must also repay back any aid received in the past two (2) months, to an alliance member dictated by Finance. Article IX - The requirement to repay back aid may be waived by the leaders of the alliance. Article X - A member nation may be removed from the alliance without their consent under the following situations:

•The nation cannot be found on the alliance lists.

•The nation is deemed by the Justice (under alliance laws) to have committed a crime that requires their removal.

•The nation is declared rogue by a 3/4 (75%) majority vote of the Government.

Section 3 - Articles of Member Conduct

Article I - First and foremost, a member nation agrees to follow the alliance charter (this document) and any associated laws of the alliance. Article II - A member nation also agrees to:

•Represent and uphold the good image and reputation of the alliance at all times, be it on IRC, forums, ingame or another area.

•Not aid a known enemy of the alliance, be it economically, militarily, or with intelligence.

Article III - A member nation may not conduct a war without the permission of the alliance government (this includes defence). Article IV - If a member nation is attacked, they are bound by this charter to report it to the alliance government and let the alliance government attempt to sort it out peacefully. Article V - A member nation agrees to not use Nuclear Weapons in any war unless authorised by alliance government.

Section 4 - Articles of Government

Article I - The alliance will at all times be lead by the government that exists to execute the will of the alliance and act as a single mouth of the alliance. Article II - The government will not make any decisions that may affect the alliance as a whole, without the backing of the entire alliance. This includes policy changes, treaty signing and cancellations, charter amendments, non-mandatory wars. Article III - The government has the power to make day to day decisions without consulting the alliance membership, as per their assigned portfolios. Article IV - The government may also, in the interests of alliance security, make an executive decision in time-critical situations. This decision must be reported to the alliance within 24 hours and the alliance may overturn the decision with a 3/4 (75%) majority vote of the member nations. Article V - The government (and by proxy the alliance) will be lead by a trium, one of whom is the alliance justice and therefore in charge of the alliance courts, as well as making sure all government decisions follow alliance charter and law. The other two leaders handle the management of other government officials and the running of the alliance. Article VI - The portfolios that make up the main government body are as follows. A government member may be assigned one or more portfolios.

•Interior - Deals with anything internal to the alliance that does not fall under another portfolio, including forum management and maintaining of alliance records.

•Recruitment - Deals with the recruitment of new members into the alliance, by setting up and maintaining a system by which the alliance members can recruit other nations into the alliance, in an efficient manner.

•Education - Deals with providing the member nations of the alliance with the resources to ensure they can build their nation efficiently and in the style that they prefer to follow (whether it be economically or militarily). This includes the maintaining of guides on the forums, ensuring members know where to find the resources if they require them and providing nations with tips on how to improve their nation (that they may follow if they choose).

•Foreign Affairs - Deals with alliance relations on an external basis as well as acting as a point of contact for people wishing to contact the alliance, on a formal or informal basis. This includes the monitoring of current affairs, the running of a system whereby alliance diplomats can spread the wub and liaising with Trade on which alliances are safe for external tech deals.

•Finance - Deals with the management of the alliance's financial resources. This includes the creation of economically-orientated banking nations for aid purposes, as well as financing smaller nations to help stimulate growth.

•Trade - Deals with the management of resource and technology trading on an intra- and inter-alliance scale.

•Defence - Deals with the management of the alliance's military and guides the alliance in a time of war. This includes the creation and maintaining of an alliance military, as well as liaising with Education to make sure the alliance nations know what to do in a time of war and keep proper warchest levels.

•Justice - Deals with the management and upholding of the alliance charter and laws. This includes making sure the government and the member nations are following the alliance charter and laws, liaising with Education on making sure member nations know the charter and laws, creation and maintenance of an effective justice system whereby member nations can be given a chance to provide a defence before they are judged by the Justice.

Article VII - Any government official may be removed from office before the next election if a member deems them unfit for duty and posts a topic requesting a vote of no-confidence in the alliance courts. Article VIII - The other government officials are charter-bound to carry out the alliance's will and remove the government official from office if the vote of no-confidence gets the backing of a 3/4 (75%) majority vote of the alliance member nations. Article IX - A vote of no-confidence is automatically called if the government official is absent from the forums for two (2) weeks (14 days) or more without prior notification to the alliance.

Section 5 - Articles of Government Selection

Article I - No government official may hold office without the backing of the alliance and as such this section deals with the election of a government official. Article II - The alliance Justice is a lifetime position, elected with a 2/3 (66%) majority vote of the member nations. The Justice may resign at any time though, should they believe themselves incapable of performing their duties, or may be removed via a vote of no-confidence. Article III - The Justice among their other duties must conduct an election every three months to elect the other two leaders, on the 20th of the month. Article IV - In such an election, a nomination topic is to be posted for all members to access and reply, asking for nominations over a period of two (2) days (48 hours). Article V - The current leaders may nominate themselves, unless they have been declared unfit for duty via a vote of no-confidence within the past three (3) months (12 weeks). Article VI - A discussion topic will also be posted, where nominees will post their goals for the alliance and allows the alliance member nations to question the nominees with regards to their goals. This is to be kept open until the end of the election. Article VII - After nominations are closed, a vote is held to find the top two nominees, who will become the next leaders. This vote is to be open for another two (2) days (48 hours). Article VIII - Within three (3) days (72 hours) of the new leaders coming into office, the trium must present their proposed allocation of portfolios to the alliance member nations for a two (2) day (48 hour) vote of approval. This vote of approval requires a 2/3 (66%) majority vote of the member nations. Article IX - Any reallocation of portfolios (in the case of it not passing) must be presented to the alliance within two (2) days (48 hours) of the end of the vote of approval, for another vote of approval.

Section 6 - Articles of Justice

Article I - A Court of Justice shall always be maintained, with a minimum staff of the Justice and two advisory judges, appointed by the Justice. Article II - Appointed Judges have no jurisdiction outside of the Courts and shall therefore not have any access to government areas. Article III - Appointed Judges must be uninfluenced by the Government and as such are barred from serving in a Government position as defined in Section 4, Article VI. Article IV - The Court of Justice is the sole arbiter of the charter and laws of the alliance. Any interpretation of the Court of Justice in matters involving the charter and laws will be binding on all members and government of the alliance. Article V - The Court of Justice is responsible for being an unbiased judge in all criminal cases involving a breach of the alliance charter or laws. Article VI - The Justice may sentence a nation who has committed a crime of significant magnitude to a single ZI sentence. It is against the values of this document to sentence a nation to PZI (Perma ZI, defined as keeping a ruler's nation at zero infrastructure indefinitely) or EZI (Eternal ZI, defined as keeping any nation held by a ruler, including any reincarnations, at zero infrastructure indefinitely). Article VII - A nation sentenced to a single ZI sentence, is not permitted to sell off infrastructure in order to hasten their path to ZI. Any nation caught in such an action, will (at the discretion of the current Justice) have their sentence upgraded and be kept at ZI for a period of 30 days. Article VIII - The carrying out of a ZI sentence as per the above articles may be delayed in the case of the sentenced nation being protected by an alliance, if diplomatic means are unsuccessful for having the sentenced nation's protected status removed. Article IX - In such a situation, the sentenced nation will be put on a blacklist (maintained by the Justice), along with the reason for the ZI sentence, so that it may be carried out at a future date, when the sentenced nation is no longer protected. Article X - This blacklist shall be viewable to all members and will not be shared with outside parties, under any circumstances.

Section 7 - Articles of Trade

Article I - Member nations must always honour a trade agreement and as such they will always enter a trade agreement with the clear intention of paying for or providing the goods or services in a fair exchange. Article II - Any member nation that finds itself in a position where they cannot honour a trade agreement with another party must inform Trade as soon as possible and request help. Such a circumstance may occur through no-one's fault such as war or natural disaster and the alliance may be able to help in such situations, to uphold the alliance's values. Article III - Trade (working with Justice) shall maintain a no-trade list at all times, of individual nations and alliances that are deemed untrustworthy or are currently deemed unsafe for other reasons, along with the reason why said nation/alliance is on the list. Article IV - This no-trade list shall be viewable to all members and will not shared with outside parties, without written permission of the leaders of the alliance (copied to the Justice). Article V - Member nations are not permitted to aid nations on the no-trade list in any fashion (including Technology and Donation Deals) and are therefore responsible for regularly checking the list.

Section 8 - Articles of War

Article I - This alliance is one that values a swift clean fight and as such, will not use Nuclear Weapons in any war, unless provoked by way of nuclear attacks or spies on our Nuclear Weapon Stockpiles. Article II - Any nation who wears the ingame AA of 'Silence' and is not a member nation will be labeled a ghost and as such be a free target for any member nation in range. To this end, a list will be kept on the forums accessible to members of all current ghosts, so they know who is safe to attack, should they be in range.

Section 9 - Charter Amendments

Article I - A charter amendment can be proposed by any member of the alliance and so long as it does not break the core values of the alliance (as decided by the Justice), it can be passed by a 3/4 (75%) vote of the member nations