Article 1. Operators and Actions
Section 1. Definitions
For the purposes of this Act, the following are hereby defined:
Clause 1. A “Petitioner” is an individual nation which officially requests government information through the procedures outlined in this Act.
Clause 2. A “Request” is an official request or appeal from a Petitioner in the form of an application to the designated government official that government Record(s) be made available to them.
Clause 3. A “Record” is official or unofficial government information that has been intentionally or unintentionally compiled or recorded, and may be the subject of the Request.
Clause 4. An “Official” is an elected or appointed government officer who has been designated to handle FOIA requests on behalf of the government or by this Act.
Clause 5. “Information” is qualitative or quantitative data which may be of interest to the requesting Petitioner and be the subject of the FOIA request.
Clause 6. An “Exemption” is a legal reason claimed by the designated government official in which access to the requested information can be legally denied as outlined in Article 2, Section 1 of this Act.
Clause 7. A “Denial of Request” occurs when the designated government official claims one or more exemptions as outlined in this Act, and denies the Petitioner access to the information detailed in their Request.
Clause 8. An “Appeal” is a formal request by the Petitioner to the Court of Justice to review the regional government's denial of their Request and pass down judgement on its legality.
Clause 9. A “Judicial Override” occurs when the Court of Justice determines in its proceedings that the government's claim of exemption in relation to its rejection of an FOIA Request was not valid, and that the information detailed in the Request should therefore be released to the Petitioner.
Article 2. Administration
Section 1. Executive Responsibility
The administration of Freedom of Information requests will be handled by the World Assembly Delegate or any Cabinet member who has been so designated by the Delegate. This information must be made public to the Open Parliament.
Section 2. Role Delegation
The Delegate or otherwise designated government official is responsible for conferring with other Cabinet members and intelligence officials to determine if the requested information meets any of the previously mentioned exemptions.
Section 3. Time Constraints
All FOIA Requests must be approved - and all requested information released to the Petitioner - or denied by a maximum of 14 days from its submission to the designated government official by telegram or by private message on any regional communication platform.
Section 4. Request Form
To appropriately submit an FOIA Request Form, the Petitioner must fill out and submit the following to the World Assembly Delegate or otherwise designated government official:
Personal Information
Nation Name: __________________
Residency Status: __________________
Are you a current government official?: __________________
Requested Information
Relevant Ministry or Agency: __________________
Time Period of Requested Information: __________________
Information Type: __________________
Information/Record(s) Being Requested: __________________
Section 5. Form Incompletion
Failure to complete an FOIA Request Form will result in the denial of the Request.
Section 6. Expedition of Request
Special expediting of an FOIA Request may be asked of the Court of Justice, but is subject to their discretion upon the request’s feasibility and inclusion of valid reasoning.
Article 3. Exemptions
Section 1. Exempt Information
The following exemptions provide a legal basis for denial of an FOIA Request. The government may deny a request if:
Clause 1. The divulgence of the requested information may create regional security challenges which will threaten the stability or continuance of the region.
Clause 2. The divulgence of the requested information contains personal identifying and/or sensitive information including but not limited to:
a. Real name
b. Location
c. Voting records otherwise kept anonymous by law
d. Bar exam information that would violate provisions established by law
e. Medical information and/or otherwise sensitive information provided exclusively within sensitive discussion channels
Clause 3. The divulgence of the requested information will put legal intelligence-gathering methods and/or officials at risk due to a clandestine nature of the operation and/or operators, or if it can be shown that doing so would lead to a decrease in the effectiveness of future legal intelligence-gathering operations using the methods which would be exposed.
Clause 4. The divulgence of the requested information can be proven to disrupt current legal investigations, be they criminal or civil in nature.
Clause 5. The divulgence of the requested information will lead to the identity of an anonymous source of a criminal or civil investigation or trial being revealed.
Clause 6. The divulgence of the requested information will deny an individual their right to due process under the law. This includes information that was explicitly barred from entering trial proceedings because of this nature.
Clause 7. The scope of the requested information is unreasonably broad and would place an exceptional burden on the official tasked with fulfilling such a request.
Section 2. Providing Exemptions
Clause 1. The World Assembly Delegate or otherwise designated government official must provide the requesting Petitioner the reason for which their Request was denied.
Clause 2. The Petitioner may appeal to the Court of Justice in order to reverse this exemption through a Judicial Override.
Clause 3. The designated government official must provide its reasoning for use of the exemption before the Court. The hearing before the Court is closed to the public.
Clause 4. The Court may then uphold the government's decision, or reverse it.
Clause 5. The Court of Justice holds the final legal authority concerning FOIA Requests.
In the matter of:
Courelli, in their capacity as Speaker of the Union, Plaintiff
v.
Brys Questions, a Member State, Defendant
Preliminary Statement
1) On or about 2 November 2020, upon the conclusion of the November 2020 Ministerial Election, Member State and Candidate Brys Questions published the following statement, which demanded, under threat of legal action, that electoral ties be resolved as established in the Constitution of the Social Liberal Union, even if an Act of Parliament establishes other procedures:
Quote:Dear Courelli,
Please take notice that it is the opinion of my campaign that the provisions of Article 5, Section 3 of the Voting Reform and Fair Political Practices Act related to the breaking of a possible electoral tie by means other than by the Cabinet of the Social Liberal Union, insofar as they negate the provisions of Article 8, Section 5 of the Constitution, are either facially unconstitutional or unconstitutional as-applied. Therefore, in the course of your canvass of the vote as required by law as Election Administrator I demand that ties be resolved as required by Article 8, Section 5 of the Constitution, notwithstanding any inferior Act of Parliament to the contrary. If you do not, I may take legal action.
Regards,
Brys Questions
2) I did not immediately reply; instead, the service of this complaint to the Defendant shall constitute my reply.
Jurisdiction
1) The Court of Justice has territorial jurisdiction over the government and officers of the Social Liberal Union per Article 3, Section 2 of the Legal Fundamentals Act.
2) The Court of Justice has subject-matter jurisdiction over this action because it is a controversy arising from an Act of Parliament pursuant to Article 3, Section 4, Clause 5 of the Legal Fundamentals Act.
Parties
1) Plaintiff Courelli is a Member State of the Social Liberal Union, which has commenced this action in their official capacity as Speaker of the Union and Election Administrator of the November 2020 Ministerial Election.
2) Defendant Brys Questions is a Member State of the Social Liberal Union, which is being sued in this action in their private capacity as a Member State.
Claim for Relief
1) The primary claim for relief is sought pursuant to Article 5, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Legal Fundamentals Act, which states:
Quote:Declaratory judgements are the legal determination of the Court that resolves legal uncertainty for the parties. It is a form of legally binding preventive adjudication by which a party involved in an actual or possible legal matter can ask the Court to conclusively rule on and affirm the rights, duties, or obligations of one or more parties in a case.
2) The conflicting provisions of the Constitution and the Voting Reform and Fair Political Practices Act, as described in the Defendant's statement, create such a legal uncertainty, which prevents me from executing, in good conscience, my duties as Speaker of the Union and Election Administrator of the November 2020 Ministerial election.
3) Furthermore, this legal uncertainty is delaying the canvass of the results of the aforementioned election and hindering the business of the Open Parliament.
Request for Relief
Because the law, due to conflicting provisions, does not already provide a clear and specific remedy or mechanism for resolving this dispute and doing so would not disserve the public interest, we ask this Court to:
1) Issue a declaratory judgement affirming that the Constitution takes precedence over the provisions of Article 5, Section 3 of the Voting Reform and Fair Political Practices Act.
I, Courelli, declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the Social Liberal Union that the foregoing is true and correct.
Respectfully submitted this 2nd day of November in the year 2020.
Hello! My name is East Fredonia, but you can also call me Paul if you like because that's my IRL name. I am honored to have been nominated for the position of Minister of Domestic Affairs.
I have been an active NS user for four years and a member of the SLU for at least two years and possibly three, barring an abortive move back to my first region and CTEing once or twice. I will confess that I have not been as active in regional affairs as I should be, but I hope to change that if elected as MoDA. As MoDA, I would:
Add a "cookie of the week" to the regional World Factbook Entry's welcome message, welcoming suggestions from members of the region,
Do my best to maintain the status of the SLU as a welcoming community for all progressive nations,
Institute an open-door policy and regularly solicit feedback from the SLU about what I could do better or anything they would like me to implement,
Ensure that the RMB remains free of insults, flaming, and hate speech,
And maintain complete transparency should any issues arise, be they personal, moderation-related, or otherwise.
If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to reach out via NS telegram, DM here or on Discord, or just yell really loudly in Washington, DC's general direction and hope that I hear you. Thank you for reading!
Hello everyone! I am a relatively new addition to the Social Liberal Union, having joined with my original NS nation of Great Ohio Valley less than seven months ago, but I have endeavored since my arrival to be an active participate in as many facets of our region available to me since my arrival: from our very active Discord #general channel to our sometimes decidedly less active venue here on the official forum. As I've found my place here, I've noticed that much of our region's activity lies outside the realm of the mechanics of NationStates that originally brought us all here; this is at its most apparent in our roleplaying, which is often restrained to the rare record-keeping at the Library of Parliament and the aforementioned Discord channel.
As Minister of Domestic Affairs, I want to take a proactive approach to integrating the things our region's members are most passionate about participating in with new incentives. Towards this end, I would run a bi-monthly, region-wide newsletter drawing on the creativity of our members, post role-playing prompts via NPCs and other DA mechanisms more regularly, and make sure to be in constant contact with the community to gauge interest in new pilot programs that might spark activity outside the confines of Discord's channels.
If anyone has any questions about myself or my platform, please message me here, or elsewhere in our region, at any time, and I will get back to your pressing questions.
I have been a member of the Social Liberal Union since July 12, 2011 and quickly joined the regional government through the Ministry of Domestic Affairs. I rose through the ranks and took on the mantle of Minister of Domestic Affairs, creating a nurturing space to ensure that the SLU would be an inclusive region, one where you can let your imagination take over so long as it is mindful of others. While I have visited different positions in government, Domestic Affairs has always been my home.
With as much time as I have spent in the SLU, I have seen our size and activity ebb and flow, and I am prepared to take on the hard work of ensuring that no matter what state this region finds itself in, it will remain an open home to many. I am prepared to embrace change and if such change was a mistake, I am prepared to own it and correct it as soon as possible. I believe in a 360 coaching environment, so please speak up if there are any concerns and I will do my best to address them.
If there are any questions, you may ask me through whichever medium you'd like and I will ensure you receive a timely response (with a copy posted here).
Hello Social Liberal Union!
Harndon and I are once again seeking re-election for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We are significantly qualified and Harndon can tell about his qualifications but here are my mine: -I have served as the Foreign Affairs Minister for 11 terms (may be slightly off, records suggest potentially 10) -I have served as the Defense Minister back when the Ministry existed (Ministry folded into FA with the 2nd Constitution). -I have served countless times as Deputy MoFA and Deputy MoD. -I have served as Ambassador to multiple regions including but not limited to DSA, Norrland and ALH, all of which we’re friendly and active at the time. What will the Foreign Affairs Ministry look like? Now most of you have been around long enough to know what Harn and I’s Ministry will look like but for those who are newer, here is a preview. A few months ago, I turned the Ambassadors program over to Harn and he runs the day-to-day operations. I staff it, making sure that we have the right people in the right positions. For instance, you cannot be a citizen or member state of the region you are the ambassador to. Ambassadors have been charged with routinely giving weekly and for some special cases, monthly reports (this would be TEP). One of my personal goals was to get an embassy with all the regions in NSLeft. This was finally completed as of two days ago with the completion of the embassy with North Korea. Another personal goal of mine was to get the SLU more involved in NSLeft. So far, since our accession, only a few government officials have been heavily involved in the NSLeft discord server. Recently, with the new Central Committee election, the SLU was able to grab 5 of the 7 available seats. Knowing the activity of our server and the promise already shown by the new Secretary, I’m hope to see my SLUans lead in the future in the NSLeft. Lastly, I would like to implement a FA game night where our allies and SLUans alike can get together and get to know each other. We will see how that is organized but it is something I would like to see happen.
Understand that these are only my ideas and that Harn may or may not be posting his own below! Feel free to ask questions here or DM me via Discord! TGing me might take awhile but it works too!
Please take notice that I, Ramelia, am incapacitated in my capacity as Chancellor and all other positions I hold in the Social Liberal Union as of this 19th of October, 2020. It is my intention to return from incapacity by 5 November, but this declaration remains in effect until withdrawn.
