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[Refugia]

This document establishes this association of nations and their shared beliefs and values. We define these values as refuge and shelter to all who have need of it, environmental stewardship of our nations while working to improve environmental sustainability, as well as the fair treatment and political inclusion of all peoples. We resolve ourselves to form governments with transparency and integrity in leadership and work to leave things as better than we found them.

The nations here will compose a region to be known as Refugia.
These Statutes form our law.

- The Refugia Revised Statutes -

Residency:
1. A nation which resides within the Region is defined as a "Resident" and maintains this status for the duration of its residency.

• A Resident which is the proxy of another nation, and primarily exists within Refugia to accrue influence without community presence, is defined as a "Sleeper".

2. Residents may only be ejected or barred from the region in one of the following circumstances:

• Unruly conduct, where the offending Resident has not been receptive to intervention.
• Impending threat, where the Office of Operations determines the Resident poses a risk to the stability of Refugia or the security of its inhabitants.
• Unregistered Sleeper, where the primary operator of a Sleeper has not declared the aims and ownership of that nation to the Office of Operations and Arch-Administrator.
• The Resident expresses, aligns with, or otherwise represents fascism, hate speech, or intolerance.

3. The reasoning for all ejections of Residents must be publicly reported by the responsible party, and the ejected nation may appeal the ejection by soliciting a review to the Regional Council.

• An appeal vote must be concluded within seven days or with all Councillors having voted.
• An appeal vote is considered approved if it has less than two Against votes.
• The banning of Non-Resident nations shall not require public reporting.

Member States:
4. Member States are defined as World Assembly Residents that have resided within the Region for a period not less than seven days.

• A Resident will lose its status as a Member State if it elects to depart the Region, its status is self-requested to be revoked, or the Resident is ejected.
• Residents that lose their status may apply to reobtain it unless they are barred from the Region. It shall be reinstated if the Resident meets the criteria in RRS 3.

5. Residents may apply for Member State status in conditions where admission to the World Assembly is declined, rejected, or impossible.

• Residents applying for a World Assembly Exemption must have resided within the Region for a period of time not less than fourteen days and receive the unanimous approval from the Regional Council to provide the exemption.

6. Member States are entitled to submit any proposal, amendment, repeal, or revision to any revised statute, including this document in its entirety. Votes must be easily accessible and include the option to abstain. Only one vote is allotted to each Member State per referendum.

• Proposals must be supported by at least one other Member State, which may be referred to as a "second."
• Votes will last a period of seven days from the time of announcement and will be enacted or discarded upon conclusion.
• Proposals which have been defeated will trigger a cooldown period on the sponsor Member State from submitting a new proposal for seven days after the end of the poll defeat.

Government Roles and Responsibilities:
7. The Regional Council is defined as the co-equal heads of government in Refugia. It is comprised of the following:

• The Arch-Administrator, defined as Refuge Isle, which acts as the head of state for the Region for any legal or foreign circumstance which requires such.
  
  This Councillor shall:
  
  • Appoint and dismiss Councillors into positions as the result of elections to their respective office.
  • Maintain records of significance to the Region and its history.
  • Verify voter integrity by maintaining a roster of valid Member States.
  • Cast votes corresponding to the will of the Region's voting Member States during the circumstance of also being the Region's World Assembly Delegate.
  
  
• The Councillor of Foreign Affairs, whose responsibilities are defined as management and maintenance of the travel portals within the Region. The Councillor of Foreign Affairs seeks out ideologically-similar regions to Refugia and builds relationships with them. To that end, the Councillor oversees the construction, maintenance, and withdrawal of embassies.
  
  This Councillor shall:
  
  • Maintain the relationships between Refugia and its allies.
  • Appoint and dismiss Envoys, as the Councillor feels necessary, to aid in their duties.
  • Publish a dispatch to the Region which provides an informed opinion for the reason an embassy should be opened or closed.
  • Initiate a four-day referendum among Member States, to determine if an embassy may be opened or closed. Such openings and closures may not occur without a referendum, and may not be acted upon contrary to the referendum.
  
  
• The Councillor of Culture, whose responsibilities are defined as orchestrating cultural events and developing the identity of the Refugi culture.
  
  This Councillor shall:
  
  • Develop a Regional Eco Report to fulfill goals stipulated by RRS 12(a) and RRS 12(b) by identifying ways in which Member States of the Region may contributed towards the environmental targets established therein.
  • Publish regular updates to the Regional Eco Report to maintain its relevance and timely advice.
  
  
• The Councillor of Operations, whose responsibilities are defined as directing the Office of Operations, identifying, resolving, or guarding against internal and external threats.
  This Councillor shall:
  
  • Identify and respond as necessary to threats or crises which target or impact the Region.
  • Eject or bar Residents as necessary via Refugia's Border Control in an applicable circumstance of any subsection of RRS 2.
  • Develop Refugia's intelligence apparatus to the extent necessary to carry out the subsections of this statute.
  • Maintain a registry of Sleeper Residents and their respective controllers.
  • Appoint and dismiss "Wards", acting as staff for the Office of Operations, to carry out subsections of this statute as directed by the Office's Councillor.
  
  
• The Councillor of World Assembly Affairs, whose responsibilities are defined as facilitating discussions on World Assembly resolutions-at-vote, developing dispatches with Information For Voters (IFV) on current resolutions at vote, and providing regional recommendations for votes to the World Assembly Delegate.
  
  This Councillor shall:
  
  • Read and consider proposals in both the General Assembly and Security Council.
  • Initiate discussions in the Regional Message Board on upcoming proposals, and explain their impressions based on a reading of the draft and records of international debate.
  • Develop and publish regional dispatches which provide information for voters about the current resolutions at vote in the World Assembly.
  • If needed, oversee appointment of a second to assist in any of the aforementioned responsibilities.

8. The World Assembly Delegate is a Member State of the Region who holds a plurality of endorsements from other World Assembly Residents.

• The Delegate shall:
  
  • Assist favourable proposals in the World Assembly in reaching quorum through the approval process.
  • Vote on resolutions-at-vote in the World Assembly.
  • Supply an opinion if they choose to not vote in alignment with the Regional majority opinion.
  
  
• Should a disruption occur such that the Delegate is unable to serve in that role, an election to determine a long-term replacement will be initiated unless the disruption was the result of being overtaken in endorsements.
  
  • The election will consist of a three day candidacy period, followed by a three day voting period.
  • On the seventh day, the results will be announced and a swift transition will commence, if necessary.
  • In the event of no candidates, the Member State with the highest number of endorsements will serve in the role.

Government Accountability:
10. At any time, a Member State can charge a Regional Councillor or Delegate of neglect in their duties or mismanagement of their position. Their charge will be submitted in writing to the Arch-Administrator only after a second member state has seconded the motion.

• The charge must contain a list of grievances against the accused and arguments as to why these grievances should result in the removal of the accused prior to the next election.
• If RRS 10(a) is met, the Arch-Administrator will call for a vote of No Confidence among the Member States, lasting five days, and decided by a simple majority.
  
  • If the No Confidence vote passes, the target Councillor is removed from office, a new election will immediately be called for that Councillor seat.
  • If the No Confidence vote is defeated, a standard RRS 5(c) cooldown is applied to the submitting Member State.

11. In the event that a Councillor or a Councillor's staff operates in contradiction to the RRS, the Arch-Administrator may suspend the powers of that Councillor or staff member until such time as it may be reviewed under a RRS 9 ruling, which is automatically invoked upon suspension.

Elections:
12. The succession of the Arch-Administrator is subject to the succession laws of Refuge Isle, and verified by the presence of an anchor stone and Administration Tower. The Arch-Administrator will call elections for all democratic Council seats according to the following convention:

Candidacy Period	Feb 1 - 7	Jun 1 - 7	Oct 1 - 7
Voting Period	Feb 8 - 14	Jun 8 - 14	Oct 8 - 14
Transition Period	Feb 15 - 21	Jun 15 - 21	Oct 15 - 21

13. Elections will consist of a one week candidacy period where an eligible Member State may declare their intent to stand for office, a one week voting period where all Member States may vote for their desired candidate, and a one week transition period to acclimate the incoming Councillor with their roles and responsibilities. Terms officially begin the 22^nd day of February, June, and October.

• Residents must qualify as Member States as defined in RRS 3 to be eligible for candidacy.
• Member States are prohibited from occupying more than one seat at any given time or occupying the same Council seat more than two times consecutively, however, they are not prevented from running for more than one position for which they are eligible in the same election.
• In the event of more than two valid candidates for a single seat, instant run-off voting will determine the winner, where candidates are ranked by preference on the ballot and eliminated by fewest votes during each round of ballot counting.
• The election for each seat is resolved in favour of the candidate with the most votes at the final round of ballot counting.
• In the case of a candidate running for multiple positions and winning more than one of these elections, their position will be decided as follows:
• • If one of the seats won by the Member State had only one candidate and the other(s) had multiple, the Member State that ran for multiple positions is automatically selected for the seat in which they were the sole candidate, with the other seat(s) going to the runner(s)-up.
  • If the winning Member State was the sole candidate for all positions to which they were elected, or if there were multiple candidates for all positions to which they were elected, they shall declare a preference for the seat they would like to take, and the other seat(s) shall go to the runner(s)-up.
  • Should the winning Member State fail to declare a preference for one of their successful seats within 3 days of the conclusion of the election, the Arch-Administrator may call a vote of the region to decide which seat they would prefer to see the Member State occupying.
• In the event of unexpected absences or positions that cannot be filled, the Arch-Administrator may act in that position's capacity, or appoint an individual who may serve in that position's capacity until the following election produces a regular appointment.

Goals and Ideals:
14. The Region defines the goals for both its Members and the Region collectively in the following ways:

• Reach an average Environmental Beauty score of 1,100 on or before December 31, 2022, and maintained thereafter.
• Reach an average Eco-Friendliness score of 2,500 on or before December 31, 2022, and maintained thereafter.

15. The Region defines its military alignment as "Neutral", shunning the agendas and obligations of the world's self-interested regimes, and only acting in the direct defence of the Region's allies when determined to be necessary by the Councillor of Operations.

Last revised 11/12/22

[/list]

[Candidacy Period]

In The Off Season, I Drive an Omnibus Election Consolidation Package

PRERAMBLE.

Whereas the current election scheme was designed to allow Member States who were unsuccessful in an election to run for a subsequent election and,

Whereas a single Member State has taken advantage of this dynamic in the three years the Region has existed,

Desiring a more streamlined election cycle that better facilitates a less harsh candidacy period and which does not dump unsuspecting Councillors into office without a proper debriefing of their station,

RRS 10 and RRS 11 shall be replaced entirely with the following content:

10. The succession of the Arch-Administrator is subject to the succession laws of Refuge Isle, and verified by the presence of an anchor stone and Administration Tower. The Arch-Administrator will call elections for all democratic Council seats according to the following convention:

Candidacy Period	Feb 1 - 7	Jun 1 - 7	Oct 1 - 7
Voting Period	Feb 8 - 14	Jun 8 - 14	Oct 8 - 14
Transition Period	Feb 15 - 21	Jun 15 - 21	Oct 15 - 21

11. Elections will consist of a one week candidacy period where an eligible Member State may declare their intent to stand for office, a one week voting period where all Member States may vote for their desired candidate, and a one week transition period to acclimate the incoming Councillor with their roles and responsibilities. Terms officially begin the 22^nd day of February, June, and October.

   a. Candidacy declarations must be given in one or more easily accessible areas as designated by the Arch-Administrator.

   b. Residents must qualify as Member States as defined in RRS 3 to be eligible for candidacy.

   c. Member States are prohibited from occupying more than one seat at any given time or occupying the same Council seat more than two times consecutively.

   d. In the event of more than two valid candidates for a single seat, instant run-off voting will determine the winner, where candidates are ranked by preference on the ballot and eliminated by fewest votes during each round of ballot counting.

   e. The election for each seat is resolved in favour of the candidate with the most votes at the final round of ballot counting.

   f. In the event of unexpected absences or positions that cannot be filled, the Arch-Administrator may act in that position's capacity, or appoint an individual who may serve in that position's capacity until the following election produces a regular appointment.

Authored by: Refuge Isle
Seconded by: Chacapoya

[RRS 6, Definitions and Responsibilities of Regional Councillors]

Dissolution of the Interior

Recognising that the Councillor of the Interior seat was created by the passage of RRS 6, Definitions and Responsibilities of Regional Councillors, for the purposes of integrating new members into government,

Observing the text of RRS 6(e) to presently state:

The Councillor of the Interior, whose responsibilities are defined as facilitating Regional engagement through communication with and polling of Member States and residents.

This Councillor shall:

i.   Broadcast announcements via telegram.

ii.  Ensure an amicable discussion environment.

iii. Initiate polls to facilitate Regional engagement.

Recalling, the position has existed for some eighteen months and has been populated by a Member State since its inception and into the present time, however:

i.   Facilitation of a discussion environment has arguably not taken place by initiation or instigation from any previous Councillor.
ii.  Few polls have ever taken place, the last of which being over a month ago.
iii. No regional announcements have ever been dispatched.
iv. Suppression of messages which may be considered spam, trolling, disruptive, or harassing have been few, assigned seemingly at random, or adequately addressed by other councillors.

Perceiving the prevailing interpretation of RRS 6(e) to start and end with periodically, posting welcome messages into the Regional Message Board, an elected office appears not required for such a role,

Whereas the office does not appear able to retain its occupants' attention with a responsibility as light as this,

RRS 6(e) and all of its subsections are struck from the Refugia Revised Statutes and removed from extant law.

RRS 10 shall be revised to state the following:

Elections:

10. The succession of the Arch-Administrator is subject to the succession laws of Refuge Isle, and verified by the presence of an anchor stone and Administration Tower. The Arch-Administrator will call elections for the four democratic Council seats according to the following convention:

Operations	Feb 1 - 7	Jun 1 - 7	Oct 1 - 7
Foreign Affairs	Feb 8 - 14	Jun 8 - 14	Oct 8 - 14
Culture	Feb 15 - 21	Jun 15 - 21	Oct 15 - 21
World Assembly Affairs	Feb 22 - 28	Jun 22 - 28	Oct 22 - 28

Authored by: Refuge Isle
Seconded by: Sylh Alanor

HumanSanity: 81
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