Charter of the Commonwealth of Nations

Introduction

The Commonwealth of Nations (CoN) serves as a political and military alliance of like-minded crews on the PirateCraft server. It is managed in-game, on the official PirateCraft forums and through various other online communication channels on demand.

Article I – Membership

To apply for membership, a candidate crew must present the following filled-in form in the CoN Embassy forum group:

Name of crew:
Names of active settlements:
Number of active crew members (login within one week):
Names of active crew members:
Allies:
Enemies:

Every application will be assessed by the representatives of CoN through a vote. If a two-thirds majority is in favour of admission, the applicant joins as a member on equal footing. If the two-thirds majority is not achieved, the applicant is rejected.

Any member crew is free to leave whenever they choose without fear of reprisal provided that a resignation on the forum and all outstanding debts are discharged. The announcement must be made a week in advance in the CoN forum group and all debts must be paid off. Upon departure, all positions and access rights of the former CoN member crew members will be revoked.

Article II – Organisation

CoN is run through the Commonwealth Secretariat. The head of the secretariat is the Commonwealth Secretary-General. He or she is responsible for publishing CoN broadcasts, representing CoN on an international level and mediating conflicts. The Secretary-General holds the ability to freely create and dismantle Commissioner roles (with the exception of the Election Commissioner). These new government positions lawfully wield the powers granted by the Secretary-General.

The elected Commonwealth Secretary-General may appoint a Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General belonging to any CoN member crew upon taking office. The Deputy is responsible for fulfilling the same duties as the Secretary-General in his or her absence.

The Election Commissioner is responsible organising votes in a fair, lawful and timely fashion. He or she is independent from the Secretary-General.

Each CoN member crew is represented by its crew leader and one CoN ambassador who may be elected as the crew sees fit. These two individuals are referred to as the crew representatives.

Commonwealth Secretariat members are promoted to forum group administrator status. CoN crew representatives are promoted to forum group moderator status. Upon relinquishing a representative or Secretariat position, all group administration and moderation rights are revoked.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General is elected for a four month term by the CoN crew representatives. The Election Commissioner runs the election. Each CoN member crew may put forward one candidate. The CoN crew representatives may vote for any candidate they please save their own. The leader and ambassador of a particular crew are not obliged to vote for the same candidate. After a seven-day voting period or once a decisive amount of votes are cast, the candidate with the greatest number of votes is appointed the Commonwealth Secretary-General.

The Election Commissioner is elected for a four month term by the CoN representatives. The Secretary-General runs the election. Any CoN member may propose themselves as a candidate. After a seven-day voting period or once a decisive amount of votes are cast, the candidate with the greatest number of votes is appointed the Election Commissioner.

A player may serve no more than two successive terms as Commonwealth Secretary-General or Election Commissioner in a row. There is no limit to the total number of times a player may serve as Commonwealth Secretary-General or Election Commissioner.

A no-confidence motion may be launched to remove an existing Commonwealth Secretary-General or Election Commissioner before the end of his or her term. This may become necessary due to inactivity, corruption or other causes which are to the detriment of CoN. The vote of no-confidence may be initiated by any CoN crew representative and passes with a two-thirds majority. A new election must take place three days later, which is run by the representative who launched the no-confidence motion.

The resignation of a Secretary-General or Election Commissioner immediately sparks an election process after a three day period.

Article III – Voting

All official votes in CoN must be held transparently. There will be no hidden votes or straw poll votes. If no one wants to become the Election Commissioner, the Secretary-General may choose someone in CoN to take on the role.

Any CoN crew representative may present a proposal to the Commonwealth Secretariat. After a three day discussion period, the Election Commissioner is obliged to run a vote if no resolution or decision could be agreed upon in the discussion thread and the representative who presented the proposal wishes to pursue it. The vote must be presented in an official voting thread within a timeframe of seven days after the discussion ended.

All crew representatives are granted an equal vote and may cast it once per topic. The Commonwealth Secretary-General and his or her Vice do not generally participate in votes unless they are also crew leaders or ambassadors. If the result of a vote is undecided, the Secretary-General may cast a deciding vote.

The result of a vote is determined by the representatives who cast their vote. Uncast votes do not count towards the total tally.

Votes pertaining to everyday matters are run for three days and pass with a simple majority vote.

Votes pertaining to changes within CoN’s structure are run for seven days and pass with a two-thirds majority vote.

A new resolution may neither be conflict with any existing resolution nor the with the charter.

Article IV – War

Under no circumstances may a CoN declare war against a fellow CoN member crew while a member of the alliance. Committing a crime against a player of another CoN member crew shall be treated and dealt with as a crime committed against one’s own crew. Self-defence is permissible.

Offensive calls to war are voted upon in the official CoN forum group. If the simple majority of CoN representatives is in favour of war, every CoN crew must declare war. If the simple majority of CoN representatives is not in favour, no crew is required to join, but any willing crew may do so.

Defensive calls must always be answered by all CoN member crews. A declaration of war against a single member crew counts as a declaration of war against the whole alliance. If a member crew has had war declared upon them, all other CoN members crews must strive to provide aid to the best of their abilities.

Article V – Intelligence

All members of CoN are obliged to share any information that may be of importance to its fellows. No CoN member crew may share vital information with any foreign nations nor may private information be made public without the unilateral agreement of all CoN member crew representatives.

Article VI – Conflicts and Justice

Any player that commits transgressions against CoN member crews shall be expelled from their respective crew and/or punished unless otherwise negotiated. Failure by a CoN member crew to fulfill compensation agreements for damages committed against a fellow CoN member crew may be counted as a violation of the Charter during the time where the damage is relevant.

An crew may in principal only be expelled if all the member states are unilaterally in favour of expulsion. Exceptions may occur in the following situations:

1. A CoN member crew that violates the Charter may be brought to justice. The appropriate punishment will be negotiated between the relevant parties. If a guilty crew refuses to comply, the protection of this Charter shall no longer apply to them and they may become a military target. They may also be expelled through a simple majority vote.

2. If multiple CoN member crews are at variance with each other, their conflicts must be aired on the official CoN forum. A nation that refuses to comply with this regulation may be expelled through a simple majority vote.

3. If multiple CoN crew member crews wish to expel each other, a vote must be held to decide the member status of each involved crew. A simple majority is required to expel a crew in this case. The cantankerous crews shall only be expelled after all the votes have been evaluated.

An member crew of CoN may NOT be brought to trial for a crime committed that is no longer relevant or was solved at the time.

Signatories:

NickyB_123
President of the Thirteen Colonies

Chailey
Grand Master of the Templars

Maximus_Terragon
Supreme Master of The Xanthian Order

Reptaria
Queen of the Elves

Bislo1
Prime Minister of the British Empire

Date:

20.12.2016

Amended:

31.01.2017