Difference between revisions of "Congress Rules of the Netherlands"

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(March 19' Law Update)
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[[File:headerconsution2.png|550px|center]]
 
[[File:headerconsution2.png|550px|center]]
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=Article 1 – Forum Congress rights=
 
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*1. The right to open debates in the Debating section of Congress.
 
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*2. The right to read and write in the Debating section of Congress.
 
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*3. The right to start votes in the Voting section of Congress.
 
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*4. The right to vote on proposals in the Voting section of Congress.
 
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*5. The right to start discussions, read and write in the Private section of Congress.
 
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*6. In-game members of Congress have all rights mentioned above.
 
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*7. The Country President has all rights mentioned above.
 
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*8. Members of the Government have all rights mentioned above, except for the rights mentioned in Articles 1.3 and 1.4.
 
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*9. All citizens of the [[Netherlands]] have the right mentioned in Article 1.2.
 
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*10. Exceptions to these rules are laid down in [[#Article 2 – Loss of forum Congress rights|article 2]], [[#Article 3 – Chairman of Congress|article 3]], and [[#Article 5 – Deputy Chairman of Congress|article 5]].
 
  
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=Article 2 – Loss of forum Congress rights=
 
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*1. Members of Congress lose their forum Congress rights upon the loss of in-game membership of Congress.
 
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*1b. In case no Netherlands congress is elected during the in-game congress elections, the remaining congress members are not removed like article 2.1 suggests. They will remain as an "extended term congress". Once a new Netherlands congress is elected during the in-game congress elections, all members of the "extended term congress" lose their forum Congress rights.
 
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*2. Exceptions to this rule can be made by the Chairman of Congress, who will state the decision and the reason for it in the Private section of Congress.
 
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*3. Members of Congress lose their forum Congress rights upon the decision of the Chairman of Congress, who will state the decision and the reason for it in the Private section of Congress. This can be done after a Congress Member becomes blacklisted, when a Congress Member resigns, or when he/she hasn't logged in on the forum for 14 consecutive days without notice.
 
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*4. In case of an "extended term congress" (see article 2.1b), the Party President is allowed to replace each of his party's Congress Members that lost their forum Congress rights according to article 2.3 with another citizen of the Netherlands
 
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*5. Congress can reverse the Chairman’s decision in matters of forum Congress rights by a simple majority vote.
 
  
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''(updated on Day 4,148)
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=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, or when blacklisted as laid down in Article 9.
 +
*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=
 
=Article 3 – Chairman of Congress=
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*1. The Chairman of Congress is elected by the members of Congress, as laid down in Article 4.
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*1. The Chairman of Congress is elected by Congress, as laid down in Article 4.
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*2. 2. The Chairman of Congress can never simultaneously be the Country President. If someone attains both offices, he must resign one of them.
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*2. The Chairman of Congress moderates the Congress, and reviews accepted proposals on issues of grammar, spelling, and consistency of laws.
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*3. The Chairman of Congress has the rights mentioned in Articles 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.5.
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*3. The Chairman of Congress is senior to the Deputy Chairman of Congress.
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*4. The Chairman of Congress moderates the Congress forums.
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*4. The Chairman of Congress represents Congress and is responsible for informing Congress Members and citizens about events in Congress.
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*5. The Chairman of Congress is senior to the Deputy Chairman of Congress; all his decisions are final and binding.
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*5. The Chairman of Congress can never simultaneously be the Country President. If someone attains both offices, he must resign one of them.
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=Article 4 – Election of the Chairman of Congress=
 
=Article 4 – Election of the Chairman of Congress=
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*1. The regular term of the Chairman of Congress ends on the 5th of each month.
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*1. The regular term of the Chairman of Congress ends on the 28th of each month.
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*2. On the 5th of each month, or when the Chairman of Congress leaves office before his term has ended, the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of Congress will open a topic in the Debating section where all citizens of the Netherlands can candidate themselves as Chairman. This candidacy period lasts 24 hours.
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*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.
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*3. If there are no candidates after 24 hours, the Chairman of Congress remains in office.
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*3. The candidacy period will last 24 hours. If there are no candidates, this period will be extended by an additional 12 hours.
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*4. 4. If there is at least one candidate when a candidacy period ends, the outgoing Chairman or Deputy Chairman of Congress will start a vote in the Voting section, lasting 24 hours.
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*4. A candidate with the majority of votes is elected Chairman of Congress. In case of a draw, the voting period of 24 hours will be extended by an additional 12 hours.
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*5. If there is one candidate, the voting options will be ‘Yes’, ‘No’, and ‘Neutral’. The candidate is elected Chairman of Congress if a simple majority of Congress members votes ‘Yes’.
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*5. If there are more than two candidates and no candidate 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.
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*6. If there is more than one candidate, the voting options will be the names of the candidates, 'None' and ‘Neutral’. The candidate with the majority of votes is elected Chairman of Congress. If 'None' gets the majority of votes there will be a new candidacy period that lasts 24 hours. If there is a draw, a new voting round will be started, the candidates being those with the highest amount of votes.
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*6. The outgoing Chairman of Congress will stay in office until a successor has been elected.
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*7. The outgoing Chairman of Congress will stay in office until a successor has been elected.
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=Article 5 – Deputy Chairman of Congress=
 
=Article 5 – Deputy Chairman of Congress=
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*1. The Deputy Chairman of Congress is elected by the members of Congress, as laid down in Article 6.
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*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.
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*2. The Deputy Chairman of Congress can never simultaneously be the Country President. If someone attains both offices, he must resign one of them.
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*2. The Deputy Chairman of Congress moderates the Congress, and reviews accepted proposals on issues of grammar, spelling, and consistency of laws.
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*3. The Deputy Chairman of Congress has the rights mentioned in Articles 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.5.
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*3. The Deputy Chairman of Congress can never simultaneously be the Country President. If someone attains both offices, he must resign one of them.
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*4. The Deputy Chairman of Congress moderates the Congress forums.
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 +
=Article 6 – Debating procedure=
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*1. Debates will be opened in the debating section of Congress.
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*2. The first post will detail the reason for the debate.
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*3. 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.
 +
*4. 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.
 +
*5. 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.
  
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=Article 6 – Election of the Deputy Chairman of Congress=
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=Article 7 – Regular voting procedure=
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*1. The regular term of the Deputy Chairman of Congress ends when a new Chairman of Congress is elected, whose predecessor served until the end of his regular term.
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*1. Votes will be started in in-game voting messages, including all Congress Members and President of Netherlands. 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.
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*2. When the Deputy Chairman’s term has ended, or when the Deputy Chairman leaves office before his term has ended, the Chairman of Congress or outgoing Deputy Chairman of Congress will open a topic in the Debating section where all citizens of the Netherlands can candidate themselves as Deputy Chairman.
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*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.
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*3. If there are no candidates after 24 hours, the Deputy Chairman of Congress remains in office.
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*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.
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*4. If there is at least one candidate when a candidacy period ends, the Chairman or outgoing Deputy Chairman of Congress will start a vote in the Voting section, lasting 24 hours.
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*4. The quorum is 40% of all possible votes.
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*5. If there is one candidate, the voting options will be ‘Yes’, ‘No’, and ‘Neutral’. The candidate is elected Deputy Chairman of Congress if a simple majority of Congress members votes ‘Yes’. If the candidate is rejected, a new candidacy period will be started according to Article 6.2.
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*5. A voting round lasts 24 hours. If the quorum is not reached, the voting will be automatically extended by 12 hours.
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*6. If there is more than one candidate, the voting options will be the names of the candidates, 'None' and ‘Neutral’. The candidate with the majority of votes is elected Deputy Chairman of Congress. If 'None' gets the majority of votes there will be a new candidacy period that lasts 24 hours. If there is a draw, a new voting round will be started, the candidates being those with the highest amount of votes.
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*6. After the voting round ends, the (Deputy) Chairman of Congress will calculate the votes and announce the outcome. In case of a simple majority, the proposal will take immediate effect.
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*7. The outgoing Deputy Chairman of Congress will stay in office until a successor has been elected.
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*7. (Deputy) Chairman of Congress is responsible for 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.
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*9. Exceptions to regular voting procedures are laid down in Article 8.
  
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=Article 7 – Bills and motions=
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=Article 8 – Special voting procedures=
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*1. Bills are proposals for the addition or amendment of legislation. Accepted law proposals will be added to the relevant Chapter of the [[Lawbook of the Netherlands]] by the Chairman of Congress.
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*1. The Government can use an emergency procedure to start a vote immediately. The instigator will immediately state his reasons in a relevant topic in the debating section of Congress.
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*2. Motions are proposals for immediate action. Accepted motions are carried out by the relevant authority.
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*2. The Congress of the eNetherlands can at any time propose a Motion of No Confidence. In this procedure, a debate and vote are to be opened at the same time, or in case of the Country President immediately when the in-game vote is started. In case of a two-thirds majority withdrawing confidence, the official(s) in question are discharged from office immediately.
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*3. If it is not clear whether a certain proposal is a bill or a motion, the Chairman of Congress will have the final decision.
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*3. Repetitive in-game proposals required by the obligations of the Government in relation to foreign governments can skip the debating procedure. This includes, but is not limited to Natural Enemy Declarations, War Declarations, Air Strikes, Trade Embargoes, and Rental Concessions.
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*4. If the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of Congress feels that a certain proposal may lead to wrong interpretations, he may ask the proposer to alter the proposal.
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*4. Donations from the in-game state treasury to state organizations can skip the debating procedure.
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*5. If possible, an in-game vote must include a link describing the intent of the proposal.
  
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=Article 9 – Blacklist=
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*1. The Blacklist is a list of citizens of the eNetherlands who are banned from holding any office in or for the Congress or Government of the eNetherlands.
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*2. The Blacklist will be managed by the (Deputy) Chairman of Congress.
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*3. Citizens of the eNetherlands can be put on or removed from the Blacklist by Congress by the voting procedure laid down in Article 7 with the exception that it needs a two-thirds majority to pass. An exception to this rule is the failure to pay the Medal Tax, as laid down in Chapter III, Article 3.
  
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=Article 8 – Debating procedure=
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=Article 10 – Referendums=
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*1. Debates will be opened in the Debating section of Congress.
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*1. A referendum is a legally binding vote among all citizens of the eNetherlands.
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*2. The first post will detail the reason for the debate, be it a bill, motion, or other.
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*2. Congress can decide to hold a referendum, following the debate and voting procedures as laid down in Articles 6, 7 and 8.
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*3. Debates will be conducted in Dutch or English. Debates in another language can be closed by the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of Congress.
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*3. The Chairman of Congress is responsible for administrating referendums and facilitating access to it to all citizens of the eNetherlands.
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*4. After a minimum of 24 hours of debating, the Congress member who opened the debate can open a vote in the Voting section, as laid down in Article 9.
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*5. If the debate was opened by someone without the right to start votes any Congress member, the Country President, the Chairman of Congress or the deputy Chairman of Congress can start a vote after a minimum of 24 hours of debating.
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*6. If no vote on the topic has been started after 72 hours any Congress member, the Country President, the Chairman of Congress or the deputy Chairman of Congress can start a vote in the Voting section, as laid down in Article 9.
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*7. If no vote on the topic has been started after 168 hours, the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of Congress may choose to close the debate.
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=Article 9 – Regular voting procedure=
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*1. Votes will be started in the Voting section of Congress.
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*2. The first post will detail the proposal and must contain a link to the relevant debate. If this post is edited, the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of Congress may declare the vote invalid.
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*3. The voting options are ‘Yes’, ‘No’ and 'Neutral'.
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*3.1 Neutral votes count for reaching the quorum.
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*3.2 Neutral votes do not count for reaching a majority vote.
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*4. No comments may be made on a vote, except a link to a post in the related Congress debate. All other comments will be removed by the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of Congress.
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*5. The quorum is 40% of all possible votes, rounded up.
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*6. A voting round lasts 24 hours. If the quorum is not reached within 24 hours, the voting round will be automatically extended by 12 hours. From the 15th of June until the 1st of September and from the 20th of December until the 10th of January, this extension will be 24 hours. If the quorum is not reached after an extension, the proposal is rejected.
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*7. If a forum administrator informs the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of Congress that the forum was offline for at least 1 hour during a voting period, the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of Congress will extend the voting period with the amount of hours the forum was offline.
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*8. Bills need a majority of 60% to be accepted.
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*9. Motions need a simple majority to be accepted.
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*10. After the voting round ends, the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of Congress will announce the outcome and close the voting topic.
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*11. If a proposal is rejected, a new vote on the same topic can be started after another 24 hours of debate.
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=Article 10 – In-game voting=
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*1. In-game votes need to include a link to a relevant debate which was opened at least 24 hours before.
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*2. If no debate is linked to the in-game vote, all Congress members are advised to vote against it and the Chairman of Congress will open a debate on the topic.
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*3. If the debate mentioned in the in-game vote has not been running for 24 hours before the in-game vote is started, all Congress members are advised to vote against it.
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*4. Exceptions to these rules are laid down in Article 11.
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=Article 11 – Special voting procedures=
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*1. Donation procedure: donations from the in-game state treasury to state organizations can skip the debating procedure. The in-game vote needs to include a link to the Congress topic specifically assigned to this kind of donations.
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*2. Quick procedure: the Country President, Vice President and Chairman of Congress can use this procedure to start a voting round after 6 hours of debate.
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*3. Emergency procedure: the Country President, Vice President and Chairman of Congress can use this procedure to start a voting round immediately after opening a debate.
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*4. Quickened emergency procedure: the Country President can use this procedure to start an in-game vote immediately. Directly afterwards, the Country President will state his reasons in the Debating section. After the in-game voting round has ended, any Congress member has the right to start a regular debating procedure. If, consequently, a forum vote rejects the proposal, another in-game vote should be held to reverse the decision, if possible.
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=Article 12 – Motion of no confidence=
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*1. A motion of no confidence can be proposed by any member of Congress against the Government, individual members of the Government, the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Congress and KeyKeeper, excluding the Country President.
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*2. A motion of no confidence is started by opening a debate in the Debating section of Congress, detailing the reason for the motion.
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*3. Immediately after opening this debate, a vote about the motion of no confidence can be started in the Voting section of Congress. This vote will follow the rules for regular motions, as laid down in Article 9.
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*4. If the motion of no confidence is accepted, the person(s) in question will be discharged from office immediately..
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=Article 13 – Blacklist=
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*1. The Blacklist is a list of Citizens of the Netherlands who are excluded from the offices and rights of Member of Congress, Chairman of Congress, Deputy Chairman of Congress, Keykeeper, or any office in or for the Government of the Netherlands, nor are they to request or be given supplies from the Dutch armed forces.
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*2. Citizens of the Netherlands can be put on the Blacklist by means of a motion of Congress as laid down in Article 7, but only after a debate and a voting procedure as laid down in Articles 8 and 9, and with a two third majority of votes in favour.
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*3. Citizens of the Netherlands can be removed from the Blacklist by means of a motion of Congress as laid down in Article 7, but only after a debate and a voting procedure as laid down in Articles 8 and 9, and with a two third majority of votes in favour.
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*4. Citizens of the Netherlands who are on the Blacklist will receive a negative voting advice, with their names published in an article by the Chairman of Congress or the Deputy Chairman of Congress, if they run in the Congress elections.
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*5. The Blacklist and the articles with negative voting advices will be managed by the Chairman of Congress and the Deputy Chairman of Congress.
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=Article 14 – Private section of Congress=
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*1. All information on the Private section of Congress is classified.
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*2. Discussion of this information outside of the Private section of Congress is only allowed if permitted by the Chairman of Congress.
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=Article 15 – Transition of Congress=
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*1. A Congress term will end when a new Congress has been elected, which is when the final in-game Congress election results are announced.
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*1b. If no Congress members were elected in the Netherlands, the congress term gets extended by one month (article 2.1b) and article 15.2 does not apply.
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*2. When a new Congress has been elected, all on-going forum votes are instantly cancelled, and to be restarted when the new Congress has obtained access.
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*3. If new Congress members get access while a voting round is open, the Chairman of Congress will close the vote and start a new voting round.
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*4. If the Netherlands has Congress with in-game voting rights, it is not allowed to start in-game votes if current Congress will lose its in-game voting rights during the vote, except when the Quickened Emergency Procedure is used.
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=Article 16 – Referendums=
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*1. A referendum is a legally binding vote among all forum registered citizens with in-game citizenship of the Netherlands.
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*2. Congress can decide to hold a referendum according to the procedures in Articles 8 and 9.
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*3. Referendums will be held on the forum of the Netherlands.
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*4. A referendum will be open for 72 hours.
 
*4. A referendum will be open for 72 hours.
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*5. The turnout threshold is 35% of all registered citizens.
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*5. A proposal is accepted if a simple majority of the votes is cast in favor and the turnout threshold of 35% of all citizens of the eNetherlands is reached.
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*6. In order for the proposal to be accepted, 55% of all votes needs to be cast in favour.
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*6. Referendums concerning constitutional amendments are an exception to this rule, as laid down in Chapter I, Article 7.2.
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*7. An exception to this rule are referendums concerning constitutional amendments, as laid down in Chapter I, Article 7.3 of the [[Lawbook of the Netherlands]].
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*8. The Chairman of Congress is responsible for administrating referendums.
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=Article 17 – Expatriate.=
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*1. Expatriate status will be given to eRepublik citizens without Dutch citizenship who want to become or stay involved within the Dutch society.
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*2. Expatriates will have all the same rights as normal citizens including but not limited to access fora open to Netherlands citizens including public congress and are eligible to vote in referenda.
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*3. To request Expatriate status the (former) citizen will post an application in a public section of the fora.
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*4. The Minister of Home Affairs will review the request and will either accept or refuse the application in a post in a public section of the fora.
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*5. The Minister of Home Affairs can remove the Expatriate status. The Minister has to explain his decision in a public section of the fora.
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*6. Any member of Congress can propose the removal or acceptance of a Expatriate status by a simple majority vote.
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=Article 18 – Congress tax=
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*1. Congress members are required to pay a minimum of 50% of their in-game election reward to the state within 5 days of their election. The Party Presidents will gather all taxes and transfer them to the state, submitting adequate proof of the transfer to the Minister of Finance.
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*2. The Minister of Finance will remind all Party Presidents before the deadline passes.
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*3. Congress members who have not paid their taxes after the deadline ends, will be entered on the blacklist in the Debating section, and will be subject to the applicable sanctions, as laid down in Article 13.
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*4. People on the blacklist cannot have Congress member rights, as laid down in Article 1.6.
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*5. If people on the blacklist candidate themselves for Congress elections, they will get a negative voting advice in an article published before the Congress elections.
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*6. People stay on the blacklist until they have paid their debts to the state.
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*7. The blacklist, including negative voting advices, is managed by the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Congress.
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Revision as of 05:06, 30 March 2019

550px


(updated on Day 4,148)

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, or when blacklisted as laid down in Article 9.
  • 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 be extended by an additional 12 hours.
  • 4. A candidate with the majority of votes is elected Chairman of Congress. In case of a draw, the voting period of 24 hours will be extended by an additional 12 hours.
  • 5. If there are more than two candidates and no candidate 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 first post will detail the reason for the debate.
  • 3. 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.
  • 4. 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.
  • 5. 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 Netherlands. 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. If the quorum is not reached, the voting will be automatically extended by 12 hours.
  • 6. After the voting round ends, the (Deputy) Chairman of Congress will calculate the votes and announce the outcome. In case of a simple majority, the proposal will take immediate effect.
  • 7. (Deputy) Chairman of Congress is responsible for 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.

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 topic in the debating section of Congress.
  • 2. The Congress of the eNetherlands can at any time propose a Motion of No Confidence. In this procedure, a debate and vote are to be opened at the same time, or in case of the Country President immediately when the in-game vote is started. 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 in relation to foreign governments can skip the debating procedure. This includes, but is not limited to Natural Enemy Declarations, War Declarations, Air Strikes, Trade Embargoes, and Rental Concessions.
  • 4. Donations from the in-game state treasury to state organizations can skip the debating procedure.
  • 5. If possible, an in-game vote must include a link describing the intent of the proposal.

Article 9 – Blacklist

  • 1. The Blacklist is a list of citizens of the eNetherlands who are banned from holding any office in or for the Congress or Government of the eNetherlands.
  • 2. The Blacklist will be managed by the (Deputy) Chairman of Congress.
  • 3. Citizens of the eNetherlands can be put on or removed from the Blacklist by Congress by the voting procedure laid down in Article 7 with the exception that it needs a two-thirds majority to pass. An exception to this rule is the failure to pay the Medal Tax, as laid down in Chapter III, Article 3.

Article 10 – Referendums

  • 1. A referendum is a legally binding vote among all citizens of the eNetherlands.
  • 2. Congress can decide to hold a referendum, following the debate and voting procedures as laid down in Articles 6, 7 and 8.
  • 3. The Chairman of Congress is responsible for administrating referendums and facilitating access to it to all citizens of the eNetherlands.
  • 4. A referendum will be open for 72 hours.
  • 5. A proposal is accepted if a simple majority of the votes is cast in favor and the turnout threshold of 35% of all citizens of the eNetherlands is reached.
  • 6. Referendums concerning constitutional amendments are an exception to this rule, as laid down in Chapter I, Article 7.2.



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