Constitution

## Preamble

*We, the member nations of the New West Indies, inspired by the determination to promote world peace; to strengthen liberty, democracy, independence and peace amongst its nations in a spirit of solidarity and brotherhood, to promote mutual consideration and respect; in the knowledge that only those who use their freedom remain free and that the strength of a community is measured by the well-being of its weakest members; hereby adopt the following Constitution:*

## Chapter I: Fundamental Provisions

### ***§01 - Admission***

Every nation is admitted to enter and reside within the New West Indies.

No nation shall be prohibited from entering the region due to their ideology, ideals or political views. A nation can only be prohibited from entering and residing within the region or be expelled without reason by the competent authorities if such nation presents a threat to regional security or stability.

Puppet nations are admitted to enter the region; however, they may neither participate in polls nor hold any executive office in the regional government.

### ***§02 - Citizenship***

Any nation within the New West Indies may attain citizenship if the following criteria are met:

1. The nation is not a puppet of another nation already residing within the New West Indies
2. The nation has maintained residency for at least 4 days

Any nation shall lose its citizenship (and must reapply to reacquire such staus) if it meets the following criteria:

1. The nation no longer resides in the New West Indies due to either emigration or ceasing of existence
2. The nation has committed a crime and is sentenced to a loss of citizenship by relevant authorities or is summarily banned from the region by the Secretariat or the Founder under §1 and/or §3 of this Constitution.

### ***§03 - International Stance***

The New West Indies is a neutral region. It may not partake in "raiding" operations and may not initiate offensive actions against other regions. Should foreign aggressions be carried out against the New West Indies, regional officers may take appropriate measures to defend the region and its members against them.

### ***§04 - Government Structure***

The executive power is exercised by the Secretariat and the Secretary-General.

The legislative power is exercised by the General Assembly.

## Chapter II: Electoral and Participatory Rights

### ***§05 - The Right to Vote***

A citizen of the New West Indies is allowed to cast their votes in regional elections and General Assembly resolutions. Provisions set out in this constitution shall govern the eligibility of a nation to run for office in the regional government.

The President of the General Assembly shall verify the validity of votes cast for Secretariat elections. Other regional elections shall have their votes verified by the Secretariat. Any vote cast by non-citizens or puppets must be invalidated and shall not influence the outcome of a poll.

A nation may have their right to vote in elections, run in elections, hold Government Office, or participate in the General Assembly revoked, either temporarily or permanently, as a sentence for crimes committed by that nation.

### ***§07 - World Assembly Motions and Election of the World Assembly Delegate***

*(as amended on January 07, 2019)*

The World Assembly delegate, abbreviated as WAD hereinafter, represents the New West Indies to the NationStates World Assembly.

The role of the WAD is purely representative and it does not endow the incumbent nation with any administrative or executive authority within the region.

Any nation, provided it is a member of the World Assembly, may allocate endorsements to other WA member nations according to its own discretion. Any nation may request other nations to endorse it, as long as it does not force other nations into doing so.

The WAD must vote on WA General Assembly resolutions according to the opinion of the region's members. Such opinion polls are open for all citizens of the New West Indies and their voting period is twenty-four (24) hours. The WAD is encouraged to create said polls. In the event that the opinion polls result in no consensus, the WAD must vote according to the opinion of the WA members within said polls. If the polls result in WA members having no consensus, only the WAD voting, or no votes, the WAD must vote on resolutions according to the current voting record of WA members on each resolution. If said voting record also has no consensus, the WAD may vote at its discretion.

### ***§08 - Freedom of Expression***

*(as amended on June 14, 2019)*

The right to freedom of expression is guaranteed. Freedom of expression entails the right to express, distribute, and receive information and opinions without prior prevention by anyone and to every nation's own conscience. However, nations are not allowed to post anything that is either:

1. obscene or illegal;
2. instigative or encourages sedition or rebellion;
3. malicious or defamatory towards another nation within or outside the New West Indies as well as their real-life players;
4. malicious or defamatory towards religious, political, national or ethnic groups;
5. malicious or defamatory towards others because of their sexual orientation or gender identity;
6. threatening towards regional security;
7. that contains (sensitive) personal information about individual players using the NationStates website;
8. or that violates the NationStates terms of service.

This right to freedom of expression granted to the members of the New West Indies by this constitution does not replace or undermine the general terms of service laid down by the moderators and administrators of the NationStates website.

### ***§09 - Freedom of Opinion and Ideology***

The right to freedom of opinion is guaranteed. Every nation may choose their own ideology, flag, motto, classification, currency, national animal, leader, faith and banners. The regional government may not deprive any nation of this freedom, except they suspect the relevant nation to violate the general terms of service of NationStates.

This right to freedom of opinion granted to the members of the New West Indies by this constitution does not replace or undermine the general terms of service laid down by the moderators and administrators of the NationStates website.

## Chapter III: The General Assembly

### ***§10 - Status***

The General Assembly is the legislative body of the New West Indies.

It is in charge of electing the Secretary-General, enacting new policies by adopting resolutions, including Motions of No Confidence to remove from office members of the Secretariat, the President, or any deputy thereof, or members of any other constituionally-created branch of government.

### ***§11 - Composition***

Every citizen in the New West Indies will automatically hold a seat in the New West Indies General Assembly and may propose and vote on resolutions.

### ***§12 - Presidency***

*(as amended on May 17, 2019)*

The General Assembly shall elect from among its members a President. The election for President of the General Assembly will be held on the 25th of every third month for a voting period of forty-eight (48) hours. After an election, the elected nation will assume office for a term beginning on the 1st of the following month and ending on the last day of the second month thereafter.

The following nations are not eligible to serve as President of the General Assembly:

1. the Secretary-General;
2. any Cabinet member; and
3. any other nation that is controlled by the player who also controls either the Secretary-General or any Cabinet member.

The President of the General Assembly is responsible for setting up voting polls, disseminating information about said voting, and pinning relevant dispatches about resolutions under discussion in the General Assembly. The President is responsible for supervising the validity of all votes cast on a General Assembly resolution and must disregard any vote cast by puppets or non-citizens in the final outcome.

The President shall approve proposed General Assembly resolutions for voting. Such approval may occur if a resolution does not contradict the constitution, the general terms of service, or standard formatting (as determined by the President). The President may consider other factors for approval excluding a resolution's content or efficacy.

The President is granted Appearance and Polls authority but is not considered part of the executive branch of the Government. The President may not be re-elected for a third consecutive term.

### ***§12.5- President pro Tempore***

The President pro Tempore, upon declaration of the President or after five days of inactivity by the President, shall assume all Powers and Responsibilities of the Office of the President, and shall be subject to all Laws and Regulations regarding the President except where expressly excepted, until the President declares the immediate resumption of their powers and responsibilities.

The first President pro Tempore shall be appointed by the sitting President. All subsequent President pro Tempores shall be elected on a joint-ticket with a Presidential candidate during the Presidential elections. The term of the President pro Tempore shall expire with the President’s term, however it shall not be subject to any term limit. Nations ineligible to be President shall likewise be ineligible to be President pro Tempore.

Should either the President or the President pro Tempore be impeached, then a Special Election shall be called to replace only the impeached official. Should the President lose office by any other means, the President pro Tempore will succeed to the Presidency for the remainder of the term. The shortened term shall not count toward any term limits. Should the President pro Tempore lose office by any means other than impeachment (including succession to the Presidency), then the President shall appoint a replacement to serve the remainder of the original term.

### ***§13 - Proceedings***

The General Assembly adopts new or repeals existing resolutions for the New West Indies. All resolutions are adopted by simple majority vote, while constitutional amendments require a supermajority, defined as at least two-thirds or 67% of votes cast, in order to be ratified.

The minimum voting period is twenty-four (24) hours for any resolution and seventy-two (72) hours for constitutional amendments. The President of the General Assembly may decide to prolong the voting period for a resolution or amendment if the President deems it necessary.

Any resolution or amendment must be written down in a dispatch and pinned on the regional World Factbook Entry of the New West Indies for as long as the relevant voting is underway.

### ***§13.5 - Motions of No Confidence***

Any member of the General Assembly may present a Motion of No Confidence. If a no-confidence motion has enough co-sponsors that constitute at least 10% of the New West Indies voting populace, the motion shall be brought to a vote within seven (7) days after reaching the required amount of co-sponsors.

In the case that the motion does not reach the 10% co-sponsor threshold within seven days of proposal, and the motion is not against the President, the motion shall be brought before the President of the General Assembly, who shall approve or disapprove of the motion within three days. If approved by the President, the motion shall then promptly be brought before the General Assembly for a vote.

In the case that the motion does not reach the 10% co-sponsor threshold within seven days of proposal, and the motion is against the President, the motion shall be brought before the Secretariat and a special vote between the Cabinet members shall be called within three (3) days whereupon a simple majority, within a voting period of forty-eight (48) hours, the motion shall then promptly be brought before the General Assembly for a full vote.

All motions of No Confidence that are validly brought to vote before the General Assembly require a simple majority within a voting period of forty-eight (48) hours to pass, and upon passage, the targeted officeholder is considered impeached and must be dismissed by the founder immediately.

If the targeted officeholder was an elected official, and there are more than fourteen days remaining in their term, the Founder shall promptly call a Special Election to fill the duration of the term. The shortened term will not count against any term limit. The impeacehd official may not run in the Special Election. At least five days shall be allotted for campaigning, and the election itself shall last seventy-two hours. Regular elections shall not take precedence.

## Chapter IV: The Secretary-General and the Secretariat

### ***§14 - Status***

The Secretariat forms the executive branch of the government of the New West Indies.

It is chaired by the Secretary-General, who is considered the head of government of the New West Indies.

It is in charge of enforcing enacted resolutions and carrying out administrative matters.

### ***§15 - Eligibility to Serve as Secretary-General***

Any nation fulfilling the following criteria may serve as Secretary-General of the New West Indies:

* It holds full membership status of the General Assembly.
* It is not controlled by the same player who controls the Founder, the President of the General Assembly, or any member of the Cabinet.

The Founder is considered Secretary-General until the first Secretary-General has been elected according to the procedures laid down in §16.

### ***§16 - Election and Term of the Secretary-General***

All nations with full membership of the General Assembly elect the Secretary-General for a term of six months.

Elections for Secretary-General shall be held no later than fourteen (14) days before the running term ends. During a nomination period of at least ten (10) days and a following voting period of seventy-two (72) hours, the next Secretary-General shall be elected by the members of the General Assembly. The candidate with the most valid votes cast at the end of the voting period is considered the next Secretary-General of the New West Indies and will take office as soon as the term of the incumbent Secretary-General ends.

Each candidate shall present a party list to the Founder and/or President of the General Assembly containing their chosen appointees for the offices of the Secretaries at least thirty-six (36) hours prior to the voting period. Such list must not be congruent to the party lists presented by other candidates. For the benefit of the doubt, there may be partial overlaps between party lists.

In the event of a tie, the tied candidates will run for Secretary-General in an additional tie-breaker poll. Should three or more candidates participate in the tie-breaker poll, the aforementioned procedure will be repeated until there is one candidate with more votes than the other candidates. That candidate will then assume office as Secretary-General.

### ***§17 - Powers of the Secretary-General***

The Secretary-General will be granted all onsite authorities except Executive and WA Delegate authority; however, the Secretary-General may simultaneously hold World Assembly Delegate status.

The Secretary-General must appoint a Cabinet consisting of four nations, called Secretaries, each of which holds one of the portfolios described in §18 of this Constitution.The Secretary-General is obliged to keep each position occupied and must, in case a vacancy arises, appoint a new nation within one week after the relevant position was vacated.

### ***§18 - The Cabinet***

Each of the Secretaries heads one of the administrative departments of the New West Indies. They are appointed by, and serve at the pleasure of, the Secretary-General; however, they may be either dismissed by the Secretary-General or impeached via GA resolution at any given time.

They hold one of the following portfolios and are granted the powers and authorities stated thereafter:

1. The **Secretary of Internal Affairs** (SIA), who heads the Department of Internal Affairs, is in charge of administering the regional map and issuing or revoking citizenship status, representing the NWI in judicial proceedings, and is granted Appearance, Communications and Polls authority.
2. The **Secretary of Foreign Affairs** (SFA), who heads the Department of Foreign Affairs, is in charge of all non-militaristic diplomatic affairs with foreign regions and is granted Communications and Embassies authority.
3. The **Secretary of Defense and Information** (SDI), who heads the Department of Defense, is in charge of regional defense, all militaristic affairs and supra-regional information gathering, and is granted Border Control, Communications and Embassies authority.
4. The **Secretary of Administration** (SA), who heads the Department of Administration, is in charge of keeping regional dispatches, such as the Constitution, up-to-date, and is granted Appearance and Communications authority.

While acting within their respective jurisdiction, each Secretary and the Secretary General may issue unilateral decrees enacting administrative orders. Any decree issued by a Secretary or the Secretary General may be overturned with a simple majority vote in the General Assembly.

The following nations are not eligible to serve as a member of the Cabinet:

1. the Founder;
2. the Secretary-General;
3. the President of the General Assembly; or
4. any other nation that is controlled by the player who also controls one of the nations listed in (a) through (c).

### ***§19 - Removal***

If the Founder determines the entire Secretariat to be irresponsible of their tasks and duties or finds its decisions to be detrimental to regional stability or security, the Founder may order the dissolution of the Cabinet. Within fourteen (14) days after the dissolution, new elections must be held in accordance with §16. The newly elected Secretary-General will then serve for a term of six months.

### ***§20 - Term Limits***

A nation may not serve as Secretary-General for more than two consecutive terms (twelve months). The number of total, not consecutive, terms is unlimited.

A nation serving as Secretary may serve for an unlimited number of consecutive or non-consecutive terms for as long as it is not impeached and re-appointed.

Any nation serving as Secretary-General or Secretary will lose its respective seat if:

1. it leaves the New West Indies;
2. it ceases to exist;
3. it is impeached via motion of no-confidence; or
4. it is impeached in a dissolution issued by the Founder.

## Chapter V: The Founder

### ***§21 - Status***

The nation of Achipel is the Founder and supreme executive authority of the New West Indies.

The Founder's right to use its executive authority is defined and limited by Chapter V of the Constitution.

### ***§22 - Term***

The Founder's term is unlimited. It cannot be impeached, removed or expelled from the region.

### ***§23 - Powers and Restrictions***

The nation of Achipel is bound to the Constitution, any General Assembly resolution and the rule of law of the New West Indies like any other member of the region.

The nation of Achipel is a full member of the General Assembly and may participate in its debates, votings and elections. It may cast one vote in each voting or election, the weight of which is equal to those cast by other General Assembly members.

The Founder shall wield veto power over the decisions made by the Secretariat.

The Founder may use its executive authority to block any attempt by the Secretary-General, the World Assembly delegate, or any of the Secretaries to amend or suspend this Constitution by unilateral decree.

The Founder must use its executive authority to ward off any foreign aggression meant to invade, raid or destabilize the region. The Founder may also issue executive decrees containing the purpose and duration of validity of such to take precautionary measures to avoid previously mentioned circumstances.

The Founder may use its powers without prior authorization from the competent authorities of the New West Indies in circumstances where the Founder reasonably believes that the security or stability of the New West Indies is under threat. However, in these circumstances, the Founder must provide a written statement to the Secretariat justifying its actions. The Secretariat may order the Founder to reverse any action taken without prior authorization from the Secretary-General or Secretariat and, if so ordered, the Founder must comply with such order.

The Founder may not use its executive powers for any purpose or in any manner that is not contemplated by this Constitution or provided for by any applicable General Assembly resolution.

### ***§24 - Ceasing to Exist***

In the event that the founder ceases to exist, all World Assembly nations are required to endorse the current World Assembly delegate. Any nations not already in the World Assembly are encouraged to join and endorse the WAD.

The WAD, while the founder is nonexistent, will assume the role abdicated by the founder. All aforementioned sections of this constitution previously applicable to the founder will then apply to the delegate. As such, the WAD should be treated as the premier executive of the region by all nations within it. Furthermore, the WAD should act in the best interests of the region, as the founder would have, by maintaining the integrity of this constitution, the regional government, and other activities of the region.

The Secretary of Defense and Information should further coordinate with other regional officers, especially the Secretary of State for Internal Affairs, to closely monitor all nations entering the region and their activities. The regional officers and WAD may eject/ban nations from the region under the same constraints previously given to the founder in §23 of this constitution.

The WAD or another regional officer should remind all nations of this process when applicable and encourage them to report any suspicious activity to a regional officer.

If the founder becomes active again and returns to the region, then §24 of this constitution is no longer in effect, and the region resumes normal activities.

## Chapter VI: The High Court

### ***§25 - Status***

The High Court forms the Judicial Branch of the New West Indies.

It shall hear all cases of Criminal, Civil, and State offenses as specified by Law.

### ***§26 - Establishment***

The High Court shall be housed in a dependency region, to be founded by a puppet the Founder, Achipel, entitled “High Court of the New West Indies”, subject to the same Laws of the New West Indies. Court information and records will be in pinned dispatches or on the World Factbook Entry to the dependency region, and the members of the Court shall have appropriate administrative authorities as determined by the Court.

### ***§27 - Compositition***

The High Court shall be composed of a Chief Justice, who shall solely preside over and rule in all Civil, Criminal, and State cases. It shall also include any administrative staff.

The High Court is organized into the following divisions:

1. Criminal Court, in which nations charged by the Region are tried for violations of criminal statutes, for the purposes of enforcing law and upholding justice.
2. Civil Court, in which nations charged by other nations are tried for violations of civil statutes, for the purposes of remedying an accuser’s damages.
3. State Court, in which the Region, charged by other nations, is tried for acting illegally or unconstitutionally, for the purposes of rectifying such violations.

### ***§28 - Chief Justice***

The Chief Justice shall be elected by the General Assembly from among its members for a term of six months, to begin on either the first day of January or the first day of July. The Election shall last three days, and shall begin fourteen days before the conclusion of the current term. A nomination period of ten days shall precede the Election. A Chief Justice may not serve a third consecutive term.

Should a sitting Chief Justice cease to exist, resign, or be impeached via a Motion of No Confidence of the General Assembly, the General Assembly will promptly conduct a special election to fill the remainder of the term. The shortened term will not count against any term limit. An initial special election shall be called within ten days of the adoption of this Section to fill the position until the start of the next term.

In the event there is an ongoing case at the end of a Chief Justice’s term, they shall continue to preside over the case until it concludes.

The Chief Justice shall place a puppet in the High Court dependency region, which shall be granted Border Control and Communications authority.

### ***§29 - Fundamental Rights of the Accused***

Any nation accused of a Criminal or Civil offense shall retain the following rights:

1. The right to refuse to testify against oneself.
2. The right to be presumed not guilty until proven otherwise at trial.
3. The right to present a defense.
4. The right to not be tried twice for the same offense.
5. The right to a public trial.
6. The right to be notified of the charges against them at least one week before trial commences.

Furthermore, any nation accused of a Criminal Offense shall retain the right to counsel, provided by the Region if necessary.

### ***§30 - Fundamental Rights of the Accuser***

Any accuser shall retail the following rights:

1. The right to counsel in State cases, provided by the Region if necessary, if the accuser is not the region.
2. The right to file charges.
3. The right to not be charged if their accusation is not proven successfully in Court, unless the accuser knowingly filed a false claim.