Congressional Procedure Act
Purpose: To clearly and concisely outline how Congress' powers are carried out on the eUK forums.
1 - Proposals a) A proposal is a set of changes on any topic which is posted in Public Discussion or in-game. Proposals which pass and have a permanent effect will be recorded in the Statute Book. Each proposal should be enclosed in quotes and have any changes highlighted.
b) If 10 eUK Citizens sponsor a proposal and at least 24 hours have passed for discussion, it may be put to 24 hours of voting. The person who made a proposal has ownership of it and decides which edits to accept and if extra decision time is needed. Only one proposal per topic may be voted on at once.
c) Deviation is allowed by the Country President under the following circumstances:i) Emergencies: A proposal may be declared an emergency. Discussion and voting time can be reduced.
ii) Controversial Issues: A proposal may be declared controversial. Discussion and voting time can be increased.
iii) Sensitive Issues: A proposal may be posted directly into House of Commons Sensitive or declared sensitive. Discussion and voting will take place in House of Commons Sensitive and the attached sensitive Voting Hall.
iv) Minor Edits: Grammar and structural edits to anything in the Statue Book as long as it is functionally the same. Voting (but not Discussion) can be skipped.
d) Deviations can be reversed if 10 congressman sponsor the reversal.[/spoiler]
2 - Voting a) All votes must take place in a Voting Hall. The first post must include the proposal, links to all appropriate discussion threads and a blank vote to show the vote format.
b) Only Congressman may vote and only votes in the correct vote format can be posted (no discussion). Votes may be changed within the time limit.
c) A simple majority (more Yes than No votes) with 50% of Congress having voted is required for a proposal to pass. The vote must start and end within the same congress term.
d) Deviation is allowed by the Country President under the following circumstances:i) In Game Votes: Changes which require an in game vote skip the forum vote. The discussion thread must be linked to the in game proposal.
ii) Emergencies: A vote can be postponed at any time by The Speaker or Country President by up to 48 hours.
iii) Controversial Issues: A vote may be declared controversial by The Speaker or Country President and require a super majority (twice as many Yes than No votes) to pass. Impeachment and War proposals always require a super majority.
iv) Dangerous Issues: Any forum proposal may be vetoed in the Voting Hall. There is a maximum of 5 vetoes per term and a proposal cannot be vetoed twice.
e) Deviations can be reversed if 10 congressman sponsor the reversal, excluding the Country President veto.[/spoiler]
3 - Citizenship a) All citizenship requests must be authorised before an applicant is accepted in game.
b) Requests can be authorised by the Country President or by using normal proposal procedure.[/spoiler]
4 - Sanctions a) Anyone breaking the above rules or anything in the Statute Book will be subject to the following sanctions by the Country President:i) First offense: Formal warning.
ii) Second offense: Removed from the Congress usergroup and sensitive forums until reelected.
iii) Third offense: Banned from the Congress usergroup and sensitive forums.
b) Anyone leaking sensitive information will be banned from the Congress usergroup and sensitive forums.
c) All sanctions will be recorded by the Country President in a public offense record thread along with the rules that have been broken and the correct actions which should have been taken. A copy will be sent to the person sanctioned via both forum and in game message.
d) Offenses do not expire but can be removed A first or second offense may be removed if 10 congressman sponsor the removal. Congress usergroup and sensitive forum bans can be removed using normal procedure.[/spoiler]
Passed on 11th of July 2011.
Amended on 16th of July 2011.
Amended on 13th of September 2011.
Amended on 20th November 2011.
Amended on 8th January 2012.
Repealed on the 3rd of Janurary 2012.
