View source for Congress Rules of the Netherlands

[[File:Constitution of the Netherlands.png|550px|center]]

''(updated on Day 4,483)''

=Article 1 – Congress rights=
*1. The right to read, write and open debates in the debating section of Congress.
*2. The right to read, write and open debates in the private section of Congress.
*3. The right to start votes and vote in the voting section of Congress.
*4. The Country President and Members of Congress have the rights mentioned in Articles 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3.
*5. Members of the Government, The (Deputy) Chairman of Congress and the Keykeeper have the rights mentioned in Articles 1.1 and 1.2
*6. All citizens of the eNetherlands have the rights mentioned in Article 1.1.

=Article 2 – Transition of Congress Rights=
*1. A congressional term will end when a new Congress has been elected, which is when the final in-game congressional elections results are announced.
*2. Members of Congress lose their congressional rights upon the loss of in-game membership of Congress.
*3. In case no Congress is elected during the in-game election, the last elected Congress Members will, in exception to Article 2.2, retain their congressional rights.

=Article 3 – Chairman of Congress=
*1. The Chairman of Congress is elected by Congress, as laid down in Article 4.
*2. The Chairman of Congress moderates the Congress, and reviews accepted proposals on issues of grammar, spelling, and consistency of laws.
*3. The Chairman of Congress is senior to the Deputy Chairman of Congress.
*4. The Chairman of Congress represents Congress and is responsible for informing Congress Members and citizens about events in Congress.
*5. The Chairman of Congress can never simultaneously be the Country President. If someone attains both offices, he must resign one of them.

=Article 4 – Election of the Chairman of Congress=
*1. The regular term of the Chairman of Congress ends on the 28th of each month.
*2. On the 27th of each month, or when the Chairman of Congress leaves office before his term has ended, a topic will be opened in the debating section of Congress where all citizens of the eNetherlands can candidate themselves as Chairman of Congress.
*3. The candidacy period will last 24 hours. If there are no candidates, this period will restart.
*4. A candidate with the majority of votes is elected Chairman of Congress.
*5. If there are more than two candidates and no voting option (excluding Neutral votes) has reached a majority, taking into account Article 4.4, a new voting round will be opened with the two candidates that received the most votes. If this is not applicable, a new candidacy period will be opened.
*6. The outgoing Chairman of Congress will stay in office until a successor has been elected.

=Article 5 – Deputy Chairman of Congress=
*1. The Deputy Chairman of Congress is appointed by the Chairman of Congress. The prospective appointment of the Deputy Chairman of Congress must be made public to the Congress of the eNetherlands during the candidacy period.
*2. The Deputy Chairman of Congress moderates the Congress, and reviews accepted proposals on issues of grammar, spelling, and consistency of laws.
*3. The Deputy Chairman of Congress can never simultaneously be the Country President. If someone attains both offices, he must resign one of them.

=Article 6 – Debating procedure=
*1. Debates will be opened in the debating section of Congress.
*2. The debating section of Congress consists of in-game debates typically started as "UNL Binnenhof" newspaper articles, articles from CM's, or even discussions in the national feed
*3. The private section of Congress consists of in-game messages including all Congress and Government Members.
*4. The article or first message will detail the reason for the debate.
*5. After a minimum of 24 hours of debating, Congress Members can open a vote in the voting section of Congress, as laid down in Article 7.
*6. If no vote on the topic has been started after 168 hours, and 48 hours have passed since the last comment, the (Deputy) Chairman of Congress may choose to close the debate.
*7. The classified information in the private section of Congress can be disclosed by the (Deputy) Chairman of Congress or by a majority vote in Congress.

=Article 7 – Regular voting procedure=
*1. Votes will be started in in-game voting messages, including all Congress Members and President of eNetherlands. If Congress member or President cannot be added because of refused friendship request, they need to be contacted via separate voting message and contents of the message need to be presented to the Congress. If this condition is not satisfied, the vote may be declared invalid.
*2. The opening voting message needs to include the name of the proposal and its author, detailed proposal (or link to it), eRepublik date and time showing when the voting message was opened and valid voting options.
*3. The voting options are ‘Yes’, ‘No’ and 'Neutral'. The latter option does not count for reaching a majority but does count for reaching the quorum.
*4. The quorum is 40% of all possible votes.
*5. A voting round lasts 24 hours.
*6. After the voting round ends, the (Deputy) Chairman of Congress will calculate the votes and announce the outcome. In the case of a simple majority, the proposal will take immediate effect.
*7. (Deputy) Chairman of Congress is responsible for the moderation of voting messages and for publishing the result and details of the vote in "UNL Binnenhof" newspapers during the next 168 hours.
*8. If a proposal is rejected, a new vote on the same topic can be started after another 48 hours.
*9. Exceptions to regular voting procedures are laid down in Article 8. Voting rounds cannot be started on the 26th and 6th of each month, except for an emergency procedure.

=Article 8 – Special voting procedures=
*1. The Government can use an emergency procedure to start a vote immediately. The instigator will immediately state his reasons in a relevant debating section of Congress.
*2. The Congress of the eNetherlands can at any time propose a Motion of No Confidence. In this procedure, debate and vote can be opened at the same time. In case of a two-thirds majority withdrawing confidence, the official(s) in question are discharged from office immediately.
*3. Repetitive in-game proposals required by the obligations of the Government can skip the debating procedure, however they require to be announced in a relevant debating section of Congress.

=Article 9 – Referendums=
*1. A referendum is a legally binding vote among all citizens of the eNetherlands.
*2. Only votes of people with eNetherlands citizenship, who are considered as 'Adult Citizens' are counted.
*3. Congress can decide to hold a referendum, following the debate and voting procedures as laid down in Articles 6, 7 and 8.
*4. The Chairman of Congress is responsible for administrating referendums via UNL Binnenhof newspapers.
*5. A referendum will be open for 48 hours.
*6. A proposal is accepted if a simple majority of the votes is cast in favor and the quorum is reached.
*7. Quorum is calculated as 50% of the mean average number of votes cast during the last three Congress and Presidential elections.
*8. Referendums concerning constitutional amendments are an exception to this rule, as laid down in Chapter I, Article 7.2.


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[[Category:Constitution]]
[[Category:Dutch Legislation]]