[Passed] Legal Code of the Osiris Fraternal Order

[Cormac]

Legal Code of the Osiris Fraternal Order Article I: Code of Citizenship and Diplomatic Procedure

Section 1: Citizenship Administration

(1) Pursuant to Article I, Section 2(2) of the Scroll of Ma'at, a minimum posting requirement of at least one post per month on the regional forum is established for maintenance of citizenship.
(2) The Chief Vizier or designated Vizier(s) will review citizenship once per month within the first seven days of the month for compliance with all legal requirements for maintenance of citizenship.
(3) Citizens who are not compliant with legal citizenship maintenance requirements will be notified of their non-compliance and granted a seven day grace period to comply.
(4) Citizenship will be revoked from citizens who do not comply with legal citizenship maintenance requirements during the seven day grace period.
(5) Resignation of citizenship will be promptly processed following submission of the resignation.

Section 2: Diplomatic Administration

(1) The Chief Vizier or designated Vizier(s) will promptly review all applications for diplomatic visa and either accept or reject them. The Chief Vizier may revoke diplomatic visas.
(2) The Chief Vizier or designated Vizier(s) will promptly review all applications for embassies and either accept or reject them. The Chief Vizier may close embassies. The Pharaoh will have discretion regarding opening and closure of in-game embassies.
(3) Any application for diplomatic visa or embassies filed on behalf of a region that has declared war against Osiris or against which the Osiris Fraternal Order has declared war will not be approved until cessation of the state of war. Any embassy already maintained with such a region will immediately be closed.

Article II: Code of Criminal Law

Section 1: High Crimes

(1) Treason is defined as any attempt to overthrow or rebel against the Osiris Fraternal Order.
(2) Sedition is defined as any attempt to aid enemies of the Osiris Fraternal Order during a time of war.
(3) Espionage is defined as the unsanctioned disclosure by an officer or agent of the Osiris Fraternal Order of confidential information relative to the interest or security of Osiris to a foreign region or its representative.
(4) Off-site Property Destruction is defined as any attempt to phish, crash, or spam any off-site property belonging to any region or organization in NationStates for the purpose of maliciously and permanently taking such off-site property out of service.
(5) Citizenship Fraud is defined as any attempt to provide false or misleading answers on one's application for citizenship in the Osiris Fraternal Order or any attempt to conceal alternate NationStates aliases during the citizenship application process.

Section 2: Felony Crimes

(1) Official Impersonation is defined as any attempt, for non-satirical purposes, to misrepresent one's self as an official of the Osiris Fraternal Order.
(2) Electoral Fraud is defined as any attempt to manipulate the outcome or results of any election through means which include, but are not limited to, violating electoral law or lawfully established electoral practices, impeding proper electoral administration, or officially misrepresenting electoral results.
(3) Administrative Abuse is defined as any attempt by off-site property administrators or moderators to use administrative or moderation power to improperly access, edit, or delete the account(s) or post(s) of any user of Osiran off-site property; to commit or aid in the commission of any other crime; or to conceal criminal behavior.
(4) Bribery is defined as any attempt to offer favors or gifts to voters or any electoral official(s) to influence any election or to the relevant official(s) to influence any appointment.
(5) Conspiracy is defined as any attempt to incite or cooperate with one or more others to commit or conceal a high crime or felony.
(6) Chronic Misdemeanor is defined as the frequent commission of multiple misdemeanor crimes.
(7) Felony Misdemeanor is defined as the commission of multiple misdemeanor crimes.

Section 3: Misdemeanor Crimes

(1) Unlawful Disclosure is defined as any attempt to disclose information to anyone who is not authorized to view such information without the explicit approval of the government official(s) responsible for said information. The definition of Unlawful Disclosure will not be construed to criminalize disclosure of illegal activity to the appropriate authorities.
(2) Impersonation is defined as any attempt to misrepresent one's self, for non-satirical purposes, as another known NationStates player.
(3) Fraud is defined as any attempt to provide false or misleading information for the purpose of obtaining any significant benefit or advantage, political or otherwise.
(4) Criminal Contempt is defined as any attempt to disrupt the order of constitutional, criminal, or civil hearings, or demonstration of repeated disregard for proper hearing procedure.
(5) Unlawful Recruitment is defined as any attempt to recruit residents of Osiris to another region or organization in NationStates through any Osiran off-site property or through the in-game Regional Message Board.
(6) Unlawful Posting is defined as posting in any governmental area in which one is not authorized by the relevant government official(s) to post or excessive, out of context posting on the Regional Message Board or in any area of Osiran off-site property that is not designated for that purpose.
(7) Unlawful Campaigning is defined as posting electoral campaign messages in any area of Osiran off-site property other than those designated by electoral officials. The definition of Unlawful Campaigning will not be construed to prohibit campaign links or imagery in forum signatures or to prohibit candidates from private outreach to voters.

Section 4: Prosecution

(1) Criminal charges may be filed before the Council of Priests by any citizen. The Council of Priests will have discretion to determine whether to accept criminal charges for prosecution.
(2) Criminal charges will be prosecuted by the office of the Chief Advocate, which will be comprised of the Chief Advocate and deputies appointed by the Chief Advocate.
(3) The Chief Advocate will be appointed by the Pharaoh and approved by the Council of Scribes. The Chief Advocate will be appointed upon acceptance of criminal charges for prosecution, upon resignation of the incumbent Chief Advocate, or upon removal of the incumbent Chief Advocate from office by the Council of Scribes.
(4) The Chief Advocate will automatically be dismissed from office upon conclusion of the criminal hearing(s) that necessitated appointment of the Chief Advocate. The office of the Chief Advocate will remain vacant until acceptance of new criminal charges for prosecution.
(5) The Chief Advocate may not serve as a senior government officer as defined by Article VI, Section 1(1) of the Scroll of Ma'at for the duration of service as Chief Advocate.

Section 5: Sentencing

(1) The office of the Chief Advocate will detail recommended sentences when prosecuting criminal offenses, according to proper procedure.
(2) Sentences may include formal censures or warnings, forum bans, in-game ejections, in-game bans, revocation of citizenship, and prohibition of future citizenship, consistent with the maximum sentencing permitted by law.
(3) High crimes will carry a maximum sentence of permanent regional and/or forum ban, revocation of citizenship, and/or permanent prohibition of future citizenship.
(4) Felony crimes will carry a maximum sentence of twelve month regional and/or forum ban and corresponding suspension of citizenship.
(5) Misdemeanor crimes will carry a maximum sentence of one month regional and/or forum ban and corresponding suspension of citizenship.

Section 6: Jurisdiction and Limitations

(1) The office of the Chief Advocate will have jurisdiction to prosecute high crimes and felony crimes without regard to the location or medium in which such crimes are committed.
(2) The office of the Chief Advocate will have jurisdiction to prosecute misdemeanor crimes only if they are committed via Osiran off-site property or the in-game region Osiris.
(3) In order to be valid, a charge of a high crime must be filed within twelve months of the date the alleged offense occurred.
(4) In order to be valid, a charge of a felony crime must be filed within six months of the date the alleged offense occurred.
(5) In order to be valid, a charge of a misdemeanor crime must be filed within three months of the date the alleged offense occurred.

Section 7: Additional Definitions

(1) Osiran off-site property is defined as the regional forum of the Osiris Fraternal Order, the internet relay chat channel #osi, any Skype chat maintained for regional use, and any other medium of off-site communication maintained for regional use.
(2) Off-site property is defined as any medium of communication that exists separately from the NationStates website.
(3) Phishing is defined as any deliberate and malicious attempt to gain administrative or moderation power over off-site property or passwords to off-site property accounts by deception.
(4) Crashing is defined as any deliberate and malicious attempt to cause off-site property to irrevocably lose information, including but not necessarily limited to deletion of off-site property, improper deletion of posts, and posting of content of such a nature that it could cause an off-site property host to delete the off-site property.
(5) Spamming is defined as any deliberate and malicious attempt to waste or exceed server capacity or to cause off-site property to become temporarily inaccessible, including but not necessarily limited to excessive page access, excessive account creation, excessive posting, and denial of service attacks.

Article III: Code of Electoral Law

Section 1: Electoral Procedure

(1) The Pharaoh of the Osiris Fraternal Order may serve as electoral administrator for all elections.
(2) In the event that the Pharaoh is unable or unwilling to administer an election, the Pharaoh may designate the Heir Apparent to administer the election, or the Council of Priests will designate a Priest to administer the election.
(3) The electoral period for any elected office will begin with a seven day period for nominations and campaigning, followed by a three day period for voting. Candidates may campaign throughout an electoral period.
(4) An electoral period will begin twelve days before the expiration of an elected official's term or as soon as practical after an elected office is vacated. Should an electoral period for any reason be delayed, the incumbent official will continue to hold office until conclusion of the electoral period.
(5) In any election, citizens who are eligible to vote may vote for one eligible candidate who has confirmed candidacy or may vote abstain/present.
(6) The option to reopen nominations will be included in all elections. Should the reopening of nominations receive majority support, the electoral period will be restarted.
(7) The candidate elected to office in any election will be the candidate who receives majority support in the election. If no candidate receives majority support, the two candidates with the most votes will proceed to run-off election. In the event of a tie for most votes involving more than two candidates, all candidates involved in the tie will proceed to run-off election.
(8) The run-off electoral period will consist of a two day voting period. Run-off election will be repeated as necessary until one candidate receives majority support in the election.
(9) In the event that majority support is not achieved during an election due to a tie involving only two candidates, the tie will be broken in favor of the candidate who has maintained citizenship in the Osiris Fraternal Order for the longest continuous period of time.
(10) Votes of abstain/present in any election will count only toward participation in the election and will not count for or against majority support needed to be elected to office or to reopen nominations.

Section 2: Conflict of Interest Disclosure

(1) In order to be eligible to appear on an election ballot, a candidate must file a conflict of interest disclosure prior to the voting period, as directed by the electoral administrator.
(2) Conflict of interest disclosures must include all regions and organizations with which the candidate is involved as a citizen or equivalent member at the time of the election period. Conflict of interest disclosures must also include all offices and/or military ranks held in these regions and organizations, if applicable.
(3) Omission of required information from a conflict of interest disclosure will constitute Electoral Fraud as defined by Article II, Section 2(2) of this Legal Code.

Article IV: Code of Succession

Section 1: Acting Pharaoh

(1) The Heir Apparent will serve as Acting Pharaoh in the event of the Pharaoh's anticipated absence. If the office of Heir Apparent is vacant or if the Heir Apparent is unavailable, the Pharaoh may select a Priest to serve as Acting Pharaoh in the event of an anticipated absence.
(2) In the event of an unannounced absence of the Pharaoh exceeding seven days, the Heir Apparent will serve as Acting Pharaoh until the Pharaoh's return.
(2) If the office of Heir Apparent is vacant or in the event of a simultaneous, unannounced absence of the Pharaoh and Heir Apparent exceeding seven days, the first available Priest in the line of succession will serve as Acting Pharaoh until the Pharaoh's or Heir Apparent's return.
(3) The Acting Pharaoh will be vested with all powers of the Pharaoh for the duration of service as Acting Pharaoh, except the power to abdicate the office of Pharaoh on behalf of the Pharaoh or the power to vacate the office of Heir Apparent.
(4) The Acting Pharaoh will not assume the World Assembly Delegacy except by permission of the Pharaoh, or if the Pharaoh cannot be reached in an emergency, by permission of the Council of Priests with the concurrence of the Council of Viziers.

Section 2: Line of Succession

(1) The Pharaoh will determine a line of succession, beyond the Heir Apparent, which will be comprised of Priests.
(2) In the event that the Pharaoh has not determined a line of succession, the default line of succession will be determined according to World Assembly endorsement count, in descending order from highest to lowest endorsement count.
(3) In the event that two or more Priests have the same endorsement count, their order in the default line of succession will be determined according to regional influence in Osiris, in descending order from highest to lowest regional influence level in Osiris.
(4) In the event that the offices of Pharaoh and Heir Apparent are both vacant, the first Priest in the line of succession who is willing to serve as Pharaoh will succeed to the office of Pharaoh and will automatically resign from the Council of Priests.

Article V: Code of Honors

Section 1: Regional Honors

(1) Regional honors may be awarded to any individual by the Pharaoh with the approval of the Council of Scribes.
(2) Regional honors grant permanent community recognition of outstanding service to the regional community, but do not confer any political or governmental benefit or role.
(3) The Violet Jewel of Atum is the region's highest honor and will be awarded to individuals who have made longtime, outstanding overall contributions to the region.
(4) The Crown of Osiris will be awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions in service in regional leadership offices.
(5) The Scepter of Aset will be awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to regional integration and culture.
(6) The Eye of Horus will be awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to regional foreign affairs and World Assembly affairs.
(7) The Sword of Sekhmet will be awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to regional military affairs, security, and intelligence.
(8) The Scale of Ma'at will be awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to regional law and justice.

Section 2: Regional Nobility

(1) The Pharaoh may establish a system of nobility as reward for regional service and for the purpose of cultural enrichment.
(2) Nobility may not confer any political or governmental benefit or role.

[Cormac]

Over the past few days, I've been giving some thought to how our laws should be structured. I keep remembering people expressing difficulty in finding laws during the previous era of the OFO, and I also remember instances of laws being updated with amendments in one copy and not updated in another. It's occurred to me that we could benefit from a unified legal code similar to the legal code of the KRO, a system that has long been popular in Feeder and Sinker regions until relatively recently, though this system is still used in at least two Feeders.

So, with that in mind, I present the above draft for a Legal Code of the Osiris Fraternal Order for consideration by the Council of Scribes. The purpose of the Legal Code is to contain all law besides the Scroll of Ma'at and treaty law. Much of the Legal Code is derived from the existing drafts for the Criminal and Electoral Codes, as well as from laws of the previous era of the OFO, such as the Citizenship and Diplomatic Administration Act, the Line of Succession Act, etc.

I do not see any reason that we shouldn't move on with the current Electoral and Criminal Code drafts while discussing this unified Legal Code. We should thoroughly discuss this before moving it to vote, and in the meantime we should have an Electoral Code and a Criminal Code in place. And if we decide not to go the route of a unified Legal Code, we can still use the other sections of this Code as the basis for additional laws.

I will post a bullet point summary of what this does, particularly noting changes made to the Electoral and Criminal Code drafts, tomorrow.

[Cormac]

As promised, albeit more delayed than I expected, a bullet point list:

Article I

• Section 1 establishes procedure for the Chief Vizier or designated Vizier(s) to review citizenship requirements and revoke citizenship for those not meeting the requirements, on a monthly basis.
• 1(1) establishes a minimum posting requirement of once per month. We really do need some a bare minimum posting requirement now that all citizens can vote in the Council of Scribes.
• Section 2 establishes procedure for the Chief Vizier or designated Vizier(s) to review diplomatic and embassy applications, since we haven't legally established whose responsibility that is.
• The Pharaoh retains power over in-game embassies.

Article II

• I've slightly tweaked some of the definitions in Sections 1-3 to tighten them up. I don't remember which I tweaked, so please just review all of the definitions for any glaring problems.
• Section 4 establishes procedure for prosecution, including appointment by the Pharaoh of a Chief Advocate on an as-needed basis to prosecute crimes. The Chief Advocate would be confirmed by the Council of Scribes.

Article III

• Section 1 establishes the procedure we've already discussed at length in another thread. The only significant difference here is that I've altered the election time table to be ten days, seven for nominations and campaigning and then three for voting. It seemed to me that the recent election didn't allow enough campaigning time, particularly after one candidate requested a debate and we didn't have time to conduct one.
• Section 2 establishes a requirement for conflict of interest disclosures to be eligible to appear on the ballot. This disclosure requires candidates to disclose current affiliations. Given the problems we've had with regional affiliations not being disclosed in the prior OFO system, this seemed like a sensible requirement.

Article IV

• Section 1 establishes that the Heir Apparent -- which we're in the process of amending the Scroll of Ma'at to create -- will serve as Acting Pharaoh if the Pharaoh is absent. If the office of Heir Apparent is vacant or if the Pharaoh and Heir Apparent are simultaneously absent, the first available Priest in the line of succession will serve as Acting Pharaoh until one of them returns.
• Section 2 establishes the power of the Pharaoh to determine a line of succession beyond the Heir Apparent, and also establishes a default line of succession if no line of succession has been determined by the Pharaoh, according to endorsement count, followed by regional influence if there is a tie in endorsement count.

Article V

• Section 1 is a scaled down version of the Osiran Honors Act, which was in place under the prior OFO system.
• Section 2 permits the Pharaoh to establish a nobility system.
• Both sections mandate that awards or nobility will not confer political or governmental benefit.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

[Biyah]

I don't see anything on first glance, I'll read again later tonight though.

[Cormac]

Anyone have additional thoughts on this? It's been posted for consideration for ten days, so I would like to get it moving forward soon, particularly given our current absence of a criminal code.

[Amerion]

For the reasons stated above, does anyone have anything further they would like to add to this discussion?

[Fedele]

I move for a vote.

[Applebania]

I second.

[Ridersyl]

I second.

[Amerion]

Scribes are advised that a vote has been presented to the floor of this council.