Third Yoahtlan National Charter

• Preamble
• Article I - The Bill of Rights
• Article II - The Council
• Article III - The Alcuahtl
• Article IV - The Ololtic
• Article V - Court System
• Article VI - Territory
• Article VII - Amendment
• Amendments
  • 1st Amendment
  • 2nd Amendment
  • 3rd Amendment
  • 4th Amendment
  • 5th Amendment
  • 6th Amendment
  • 7th Amendment
  • 8th Amendment
  • 9th Amendment
  • 10th Amendment
  • 11th Amendment
  • 12th Amendment
  • 13th Amendment
  • 14th Amendment

Preamble

As time goes on, it becomes necessary for a nation to establish for itself a body of laws to ensure domestic order and the preservation of the values that define it. So too is it for Yoahtl, which has for almost a decade now existed without a charter to define its government and protect its core - that all people, regardless of origin, beliefs, politics, or characteristics, are welcome and accepted here, so long as they work for the betterment of the community as a whole.

Article I - The Bill of Rights

1. All Yoahtlans have the right to freedom of expression.

2. All Yoahtlans have the right to self-defense against an unlawful aggressor.

3. All Yoahtlans have the right to freedom of belief.

4. All Yoahtlans have the right to a timely and just trial.

5. All Yoahtlans have the right to privacy.

6. All Yoahtlans have the right to peaceful assembly and protest.

7. All Yoahtlans have the right to be free from discrimination and harassment.

Article II - The Council

1. The Council is the directorial body of Yoahtl, serving collectively as the executive body for both internal and external affairs.

2. The Council will be responsible for, but not limited to, the construction and maintenance of public factories, roads, and other public property; for creating and enforcing laws, taxes, and tariffs; for organizing a monthly census of active citizens; for approving or rejecting binding treaties with foreign powers; and for carrying out other duties necessary for maintaining a strong and positive community within the nation.

3. All members of the Council are to be considered co-equals, regardless of designated sub-role within the operation of the government.

4. Executive decisions are to be determined via majority vote among all members of the council.

   • a. Should a vote be tied, the Chief Justice will be called in to break the stalemate.

   • b. Executive decisions that regard matters of law must be publicly announced before taking effect.

   • c. Laws passed by the Council may not override laws passed by the Ololtic.

5. Councillors will be elected to a term of 2 months by a popular vote. Citizens may pick up to 3 candidates to cast their ballots for, and the candidates with the 3 highest vote totals will comprise the council for that term.

   • a. The council shall be composed of 3 members minimum, with additional seats added for every 6 citizens beyond 12.

   • b. Councillors may resign at any time, for any reason, so long as they appoint a deputy to fill in for them if needed before an official replacement is elected. An interim election should be held within one week of a resignation to choose an official replacement, who will serve until the end of the current Council term.

   • c. In the event that multiple candidates receive the same number of votes and there are not enough seats for them to all be Council members, a runoff election will be conducted as soon as possible to determine who becomes a Councillor.

6. The Council shall meet regularly to jointly determine the direction of the nation and plans for its future development and growth.

7. The Council is responsible for electing the Alcuahtl to be "first among equals" from among their fellow Councillors.

8. The Council, with the approval of the Alcuahtl as the head of the armed forces, is responsible for voting on whether to declare war on a foreign power. A ⅔ majority vote and the approval of the Alcuahtl is required to declare war.

   • a. If an act of war is committed against Yoahtl, it is the responsibility of the government to take action to disperse the threat. Defensive actions do not require a declaration of war by the State of Yoahtl.

Article III - The Alcuahtl

1. The Alcuahtl should facilitate council business, announce and conduct meetings, and act as head of government to coordinate the population.

2. The Alcuahtl should act as the primary representative of the Yoahtl populace in matters of foreign diplomacy, and is in charge of speaking with the authority of the government to other national leaders or delegating trusted ambassadors to perform such functions in their stead.

3. The Alcuahtl will be the head of the Yoahtlan army, and supreme commander of Yoahtlan armed forces.

   • a. Included in this duty is the responsibility of establishing, expanding, and maintaining the national snitch network.

   • b. The Alcuahtl may appoint a general to carry out these duties, as needed.

4. In times of national crisis, the Alcuahtl may be provisionally granted sole executive power by the Council for a set period of time not exceeding one month for a single event.

   • a. Under such circumstances, the Alcuahtl may provisionally sign treaties, which will be considered in effect until such time as the Council votes on whether to ratify or reject the treaty.

     • x. Treaty terms involving an exchange of material goods or territory may not be provisionally agreed to.

5. The position of the Alcuahtl is held for only a single Council term. Following each Council election, the Alcuahtl must also be voted for.

   • a. There are no term limits to the office of Alcuahtl, consecutive or otherwise.

6. The Alcuahtl has the power to exile a non-citizen player from Yoahtl and ban them from entering Yoahtlan territory.

   • a. An Alcuahtl ban or sentence of exile may be overturned by a ⅔ majority vote of the Council.

7. Should the Alcuahtl no longer represent the interests of Yoahtl or have become too inactive, they may be removed from office by way of unanimous (minus the Alcuahtl themself) Council vote or by Court ruling.

Article IV - The Ololtic

1. The Ololtic denotes the abstract legislative body that consists of all voting-eligible members of Yoahtl.

2. All citizens are afforded one voluntary vote when voting on proposals, confirming nominees to public office, or affirming new citizens to the Ololtic.

3. Proposals, charter changes, and other enactments will abide by the following procedure:

   • a. Citizens may submit proposals at any time regarding any legal, constitutional, or other enactment based issue.

   • b. Should, after a period of discussion of any length during which the specifics of the law are discussed and revisions suggested, a different citizen "second" the proposal, it enters a 48-hour period where it is voted on, during which discussion may continue.

   • c. If the proposer wishes to include revisions from additional discussions, they may update their proposal, at which point both the voting period and votes reset.

   • d. Should the proposal receive more Ayes than Nays and those Ayes represent at least ⅓ of the Ololtic, it then becomes official. (ie: is enacted / ratified / confirmed / etc)

4. Affirming new citizens to the ololtic will abide by the following procedure:

   • a. Residents of Yoahtl proper may submit a request to become a member of the ololtic at any time.

   • b. A government member then begins the voting process during which current members of the ololtic have 48 hours to vote on the request.

   • c. Once the 48 hour period has passed if the request has received ayes from greater than half the ololtic then it passes.

Article V - Court System

1. The High Justice will be appointed by the Ololtic and will serve indefinitely.

   • a. The High Justice may be forced resign with a 60% vote to remove from the Ololtic.

2. The High Justice will be responsible for codifying the procedure of trials.

3. The High Justice will not preside over trials directly, but will nominate a judge.

   • a. The judge must be a member of the Council who does not have a personal interest in the trial’s outcome.

4. The High Justice will preside over the court of appeals, collecting additional evidence and statements where necessary, and determining the final ruling.

5. Trials not conducted according to the code of procedure must be deemed mistrials by the Council.

6. The High Justice may not also hold executive office.

Article VI - Territory

1. The territory of the State of Yoahtl consists of all lands claimed by Yoahtl and any autonomous regions that have chosen to subject themselves to the rule of this state.

2. Yoahtl’s laws are supreme in its territory. All pearls taken on Yoahtlan land must be tried by Yoahtlan courts, under Yoahtlan law.

Article VII - Amendment

1. Amendments to this Charter may are made via the standard proposal process, but instead require the Ayes to represent ⅔ of the Ololtic.

   • a. Amendments should be included in an additional section at the bottom of this document.

2. In the event the majority of the government is inactive and irreplaceable, the remaining active members of Yoahtl may suspend this charter and institute a provisional government to manage the nation in the interim.

Amendments

1st Amendment

The way that proposals, charter changes, and the like will be handled from now on is this:

1. Somebody makes a proposal.

2. Another person says 'seconded' and others can echo this.

3. This opens a 48 hour period to vote on the proposal.

4. If the proposal passes the citizenry, the Council needs to look at it and either accept it and implement that agenda or they need to reject it and offer valid reasoning.

At the end of the proposal cycle, this channel will be cleared and its contents recorded for posterity so that it's not bogged down.

2nd Amendment

Amend Article 4.2 to read: "All citizens are afforded one voluntary vote when voting on proposals, confirming nominees to public office, or affirming new citizens to the Ololtic."

3rd Amendment

Amend Article 5.1 to state that the High Justice serves indefinitely (until resignation, impeachment, or quitting) instead of three months.

Amend Article 5.1.a to lower the vote requirement to remove the High Justice from a 67% to 60%.

4th Amendment

Amend Article 2.7 to read: "The Council is responsible for electing the Alcuahtl from among the Ololtic who are not currently serving as High Justice or other created executive offices."

5th Amendment

Amend Article 4.3.d to subtract absent voters from the voter pool during the count and to require a two third's quorum of the Ololtic otherwise the proposal automatically fails.

6th Amendment

Amend Article 4.3.d to reduce the quorum to 50%.

7th Amendment

Rewrite Article 4.3 to read:

• a. Any person can suggest a proposal.

• b. If a Council member seconds the proposal, the proposal enters two stages of voting, first of the Council then the Ololtic.

• c. If the proposal receives a two third's majority in favour from the Council, it requires 60% vote in favour from the Ololtic.

• d. If the proposal does not receive a two third's majority in favour from the Council, it requires a 90% vote in favour from the Ololtic.

8th Amendment

Amend Article 4.3.d to reduce the 90% requirement to 75%.

9th Amendment

Rewrite Article 4.3 to read:

Proposals, charter changes, and other enactments will be handled by:

• a. Citizens may submit proposals at any time regarding any legal, constitutional, or other enactment based issue.

• b. Should, after a period of discussion of any legth during which the specifics f the law are discussed and revision suggested, a different citizen "second" the proposal, it enters a 48 hour period where it is voted, during which discussions may continue.

• c. If the proposer wishes to include revisions from additional discussions, they may update their proposal, at which point both the voting period and votes reset.

• d. Should the proposal receive more Ayes than Nays and those Ayes represent at least ⅓ of the Ololtic, it then becomes official. (ie: is enacted / ratified / confirmed / etc)

Add the following sub-article to Article 2:

• The Council may pass legislation via an internal proposal and passes with ⅔ approval of the council. If at least as many citizens as there are councillors express their desire to revoke this law, the law is temporarily suspended and a proposal is created to veto the law. Council Laws may not override laws passed by the Ololtic. The Council may not re-propose a law vetoed by the Ololtic for a period of one month.

10th Amendment

1. Omit Article 2.9

2. Add the following as a subsection to Article 2.4: "Executive decisions that regard matters of law must be publicly announced before taking effect."

11th Amendment

1. Amend Article 3.6.a from on the Council to of the Council

2. Amend Article 3.7 from interests Yoahtl to interests of Yoahtl

3. Amend Article 3.7 from Alcuahlt to Alcuahtl

4. Amend Article 4.3 from will be handled by: to will abide by the following procedure:

5. Amend Article 4.3.b from Should, after a period of discussion of any legth during which the specifics f the law are discussed and revision suggested, a different citizen "second" the proposal, it enters a 48 hour period where it is voted, during which discussions may continue. to Should, after a period of discussion of any length during which the specifics of the law are discussed and revisions suggested, a different citizen "second" the proposal, it enters a 48-hour period where it is voted on, during which discussion may continue.

6. Add subsection to Article 2.5: In the event that multiple candidates receive the same number of votes and there are not enough seats for them to all be Council members, a runoff election will be conducted as soon as possible to determine who becomes a Councillor.

7. Amend Article 5.4 from providing recommendations to the judge to consider in the final ruling. to determining the final ruling.

8. Amend Article 2.5.b from official replacement. to official replacement, who will serve until the end of the current Council term.

9. Add subsection to Article 5: The High Justice may not also hold executive office.

12th Amendment

1. Add subsection to Article 2.4: Laws passed by the Council may not override laws passed by the Ololtic.

13th Amendment

1. To take effect when the next full council election occurs (September 2022): Changing Article 2 Section 7 from 'The Council is responsible for electing the Alcuahtl from among the Ololtic who are not currently serving as High Justice or other executive offices.' to 'The Council is responsible for electing the Alcuahtl to be "first among equals" from among their fellow Councillors.'

14th Amendment

1. Add Article 4 Section 4 from the Olotic Proposal Codifying Citizen Votes