Vote On the New Constitution – New Ranks!

Posted on September 18, 2012 by »pυɴɢy«

THIS POST CONTAINS IMPORTANT VOTING MATERIAL

VOTING ENDS SEPTEMBER 2oTH

Hello GD,

In case you missed the header, THIS POST CONTAINS IMPORTANT VOTING MATERIAL. It’s up to you, as the people of the Global Defenders, to approve (or disapprove) the first draft of our new Constitution. Also, our new ranks will be posted here as well.

Important Note: YOU WILL BE EXPECTED TO HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD THE CONSTITUTION BEFORE APPROVING IT. DO NOT APPROVE IT IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO ABIDE BY IT’S CONTENT.

I understand this may be more like those “I have read and agree to the terms and conditions” thing when you sign up for something, but it’s valuable information which you will be expected to abide by if it is approved by a majority of the GD troops. If you wish to simply click “Approve,” you are welcome to do so. But do not complain about the Constitution later on.

The Constitution of the Global Defenders – v2.0

Article I – Government

The Global Defenders of Club Penguin are a Feudalistic Democracy, which means that most of the power is held by the people of the Global Defenders. The governing body of the Global Defenders shall consist primarily of an elected President, who shall hold office for 4 months, and then may run for re-election. There shall be no term limit for the office of the President. The President shall wield the executive power for as long as he is in office. The legislative power of the Global Defenders shall be bestowed upon the Assembly of the Global Defenders (see Article II). The judicial power of the Global Defenders shall be bestowed upon the Supreme Court (see Article IV). The President shall not have power over the Assembly or the Supreme Court under any circumstances. The responsibilities of the President include appointing ranks, supervising elections, leading events, governing the people of the Global Defenders, approving laws passed by the Assembly, negotiation with other armies unless an Ambassador is appointed, and making sure the Global Defenders are operating at the best of their abilities. The President is responsible for the overall welfare of the Global Defenders and must not derelict such duties under any circumstances. The President shall be elected every four months. No soldier of the Global Defenders shall be denied a vote. The President will also select a Vice President. The Vice President must be selected prior to the election. The Vice President has all the powers and abilities of the President, but his/her actions may be overridden by the President.

Article II – Assembly

The Assembly of the Global Defenders shall wield the legislative power of the army. The Assembly shall consist of any member of the Global Defenders, regardless of rank. The Speaker of the Assembly, or the President, may schedule Assembly meetings. Any member of the Global Defenders may attend. The President shall select a Speaker of the Assembly who will schedule and run Assembly meetings and oversee the Assembly to ensure that it is running at the best of it’s ability. The Assembly may pass basic laws, which require a majority vote to be passed. Laws passed by the Assembly must then be approved by the President. The President has the opportunity to veto the law, which will result in the law not being passed. However, the Assembly may override the veto with three fourths majority of vote.

Article III – Criminal Offenses

Criminal offenses are intentional illegal or law-breaking acts. There are five types of criminal offenses. First stage misdemeanors are minor offenses. These include but are not limited to refusal to obey orders and breaking chat rules. Punishment for these shall not exceed that of a single demotion. Second stage misdemeanors are a higher offense. These include but are not limited to two first stage misdemeanors and intentionally not attending or leaving a battle despite availability. Punishment for these shall not exceed that of a double demotion. A felony offense is a serious offense. These include but are not limited to attending another army’s event over a Defenders’ event, three first stage misdemeanors or two seconds stage misdemeanors. Punishment for these shall not exceed being sent down to a member rank. A capital offense is a very serious offense. These include but are not limited to hacking, doxing, site defacement or committing several lesser offenses. Punishment for these will be a banishment from the army. A federal offense is the worst offense you can commit. A federal offense is a crime against the government such as rebellious acts, slander of an owner or treason (such as intentionally losing a war). The punishment for this will also be removal from the army.

Article IV – The Supreme Court

Section 1 – The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is the Global Defenders’ court. It is made of the Chief Justice and four other troops, known as Justices. All Justices are appointed by the President and serve for the remainder of their career. When a Justice retires, the vacancy is to be filled by the current President. The President may not remove a Justice from office. Justices can only be removed by the Assembly or by the other Justices. To be impeached, a Justice must have committed two felonies or one Capital Offense (see Article III). A Justice may step down at any time, but may not name a successor to fill his/her place. The Supreme Court is led by the Chief Justice. It is the Chief Justice’s responsibility to gather the Court when needed and to break any ties in all cases. Before the Supreme Court, trials are presented by any troop, and trials may concern anything, whether it be deciding punishment or questioning a law. It is the Supreme Court’s duty to interpret laws. Whenever a person or group’s ability to do something within in a certain law is questioned, it is the Supreme Court’s job to decide if the accused has illegally over-stepped his/her boundaries or not. The Supreme Court is also responsible for all trials.

Section 2 – Trial Proceedings and Protocols

The Supreme Court is responsible for all trials in the Global Defenders. All troops held before the Supreme Court have the right to a fair and speedy trial, and have the right to have an attorney to conduct their trial in their stead. However, the defendant must be present at the Courthouse chatroom during their trial, even if they have appointed an attorney. Times for trials will be determined by the defendant and the justices consensually. All Justices and the defendant must be able to attend the trial. A defendant who is absent during their trial will be proclaimed guilty as charged. To convict a present defendant, the Justices must be persuaded, beyond reasonable doubt, that the defendant is guilty. All defendants shall be proclaimed innocent until proven guilty. To reach a conviction, a majority of the Justices must vote in favor of conviction. If the defendant or prosecution believes that a Justice does believe neutrally about the trial before it has begun, the Justice must appoint a replacement for that specific trial. The Chief Justice in responsible for overseeing trials and ensuring that both the prosecution and defendant have been apprised of their constitutional rights and that trials are executed in an orderly and just manner.

Article V – Rights of the People

The people of the Global Defender Army shall not be denied or excluded from rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Global Defender Army. The guaranteed rights are as followed. 1. No person in the Global Defender Army shall be denied the freedom to speak out on any topic whatsoever. All topics posted on the website, spoken by any soldier in the Global Defender Army, or mentioned in the Assembly are subject to free speech and opinion. No person shall be punished for non-profane criticism against any member of the Global Defender Army. 2. No person in the Global Defender Army shall be denied a fair and speedy trial. All trials will be put in front of the Supreme Court and decided on by the Justices. The members of the Assembly will reach a verdict and the Chief Justice will decide punishment if the defendant is convicted. 3. No person in the Global Defender Army shall face punishment that is overly harsh for the offense nor will they face punishment that is ruled by the President to be unusual. It is the responsibility of the President to make sure that unusual or overly harsh punishment is not carried out. 4. No person in the Global Defender Army shall be subject to unfair treatment by their superiors or a biased promotion or demotion based on friendship, relationship, or any other reason. The promotion or demotion must be earned. If an biased promotion is reported, the perpetrator shall be tried in the Supreme Court for a felony offense. If convicted, the promotion/demotion shall be undone. 5. No member of the Global Defenders shall be denied the right to attend and vote in Assembly meetings. Should a member of the Global Defenders be denied the opportunity to attend and vote in an Assembly meeting, he may sue the person or people who denied him that right in the Supreme Court. Punishment for denying a troop access to an Assembly meeting, unless he/she is hindering or disrupting Assembly proceedings, is banishment from future Assembly meetings for as long as seen fit by the Supreme Court.

Article VI – Lordships and Feudalism

Lordships are a feudal system within the Global Defenders’ Army. Within this system, Owner ranks are each given a server owned by the army, which they will become “lord” of. They are responsible to guard and protect that server. They are encouraged to recruit a small army and even invade more servers. In exchange for this power, the lords must promise fealty (an oath of loyalty) to the Global Defenders’ President and claim their recruits and servers in the name of the Global Defenders’ Army. Lords make up the Owner body of the army. Each lord is made an Owner and given 3rd in Command Powers. There is no limit to how many Lords there are, so long as the Greater Army retains one third of all servers. Two esteemed Lords will be chosen as Lords Paramount and will be given Second in Command Powers. They are charged with the responsibility of regulating and managing the army in the absence of the President or the Vice President, in which they together act as the Vice President, or in the absence of both, in which they fill both positions. Leaders of a merging army will become lords of their old servers and lead their army as usual, but as a branch of the Global Defenders. Servers gained under the mergers will remain under their protection but be considered Global Defenders’ territory and will receive protection from the army as a whole in times of need. Lords may not declare war or invade other armies not already at war with the Global Defenders. They may not use their army to aid or ally with other armies that the Global Defenders are not already aiding as a whole or are at war with. Lords may not use their armies to rebel or strike against the power of another lord or the Greater Army. Consequences for this are the removal of the person’s lordship, servers conquered and protected by them, and the army under them. They will be tried by the Supreme Court and banished from the Greater Army. If a lord is to retire, their lordship, army and original server will be given to a new lord, appointed by the President, while all other earned servers will return as territory directly managed by the Greater Army. Should the Supreme Court find an appointment to be unjust, they may veto the appointment and the President must appoint a different Lord instead.

Article VII – Retirement

Retirements are not to be a simple choice within the Global Defenders’ Army. All troops may retire at any time they believe is right. However, they may not retire and rejoin multiple times. A troop may only retire and rejoin in a two month period. If they retire again within this period, they lose their rank and will be lowest member should they rejoin. If a troop retires because of social reasons such as problems on chat, they may only come back to the army as the lowest rank, except with President permission. After any third retirement, an ex-Owner rank will have to restart as lowest member if they wish to regain their previous rank. In all other cases, if a troop decides to rejoin, the President will decide if this person will receive the same rank again.

Article VIII – Constitutional Amendments

The Constitution may be amended to better fit the army and its history. To amend the constitution, the Assembly must have a three fourths vote in favor of the specific amendment. Once the amendment has passed the Assembly, it is law. The Presidents veto cannot remove it. However, if other troops or the Presidents believe the law should be removed, he or she may bring the case before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court will then make the final decision on the amendment.

New Ranks

Note: If you want a rank, just head over the JOIN PAGE or come see Pungy on chat. If I’m not on chat, submit a join comment.

The new ranks are here. I only added people who submitted a “The Defenders Have Spoken…” form stating their desire to rejoin. Of course, we’d love for you to rejoin if you’re an old troop, or join for the first time. I am the “Transitional President” meaning that as soon as I establish the democratic system, we’ll be up and running with elections and I may or may not remain leader, depending on how GD votes. Also, if our constitution is passed as is, the color of your name will represent which Lord you serve.