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Request for a Ruling
Topic Started: Jan 9 2009, 02:15 AM (490 Views)
President Stanimir
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President Temka
Councilman Karenin,

I have two separate issues that I would like you to clarify for the region.

1) If a bill is passed in the Common Council with a 3/4 majority or greater, and rejected in the Senate with a 3/4 majority or greater, what happens?

2) In exactly what instances and for what purpose may the President issue an Executive Order?

Thank you.
Ivan Temiriazev Temka
President of the Leviathan Republic
Senator of the Leviathan Republic
Chairman of the Leviathan Security Council
Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Confederated States of Stanimir
--------------------------------
"A stand can be made against invasion by an army; no stand can be made against invasion by an idea." --Victor Hugo
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Senator Myedvedeya
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In answer to the first Query, the December accords state that

(a) "Legislation that has passed the Common Council must be sent to the Senate for approval. Legislation that has been rejected by the Senate may be made into law if three-fourths of voting Councilmen approve it"- Section 14

and

(b) "Legislation that has passed the Senate must be sent to the Common Council for approval, with the exception of declarations of war, treaties, and amendments to this document. Legislation that has been rejected by the Common Council can become law if it receives the endorsement of three-fourths of voting Senators" -Section 21

Firstly, I take as a given that the slightly differing wordings of "be made law", and "become law" have identical meaning, and were intended as such, these two clauses both state the same thing.

Now, from the statements in the December Accords:

(c) "The Common council shall consist of all full members of the Leviathan Republic, and shall propose, discuss, and vote on legislation"- Section 10

and

(d) "The Senate shall have all the powers of the Common Council..." - Section 21

It is made quite clear in the Accords that both houses may introduce and vote on legislation separate from one another. This is also supported by the Precedents of

(e) S-1.002, a law introduced and passed in the Senate

and

(f) CC-1.001, a law introduced and passed in the Common Council.

Each house, upon passing a law, must send it on to its opposite for approval, as evidenced in (a), and in (b). The other house may then approve or reject of that law. If the Senate proposes a law, and it is rejected by the Common Council, a 3/4 vote from the Senate overrules that rejection, and vice-versa.

With this in mind, a direct answer to the situation you have posed in your query. The Common Council introduces and passes a bill with a majority of 3/4. The majority is at this time irrelevant. "Legislation shall be passed if a simple majority of standing members vote 'Aye'". (Dec. Accords Article III, Title I, Section 12.) The Senate then rejects said Legislation, and, again, the majority is irrelevant, as votes to approve are no different from standard votes. At this point, the bill is defeated, and only now will a 3/4 majority from the Common Council overturn the Senate's rejection. The roles of the Senate and the Common Council are interchangeable in this exchange, as evidenced above in (c) and (d).

Another possible scenario would be as follows: The Common Council passes a law, the Senate rejects it, and the Common Council overturns the rejection with a 3/4 majority. At this point, the law is passed. There is no provision under the accords for yet another 3/4 majority overruling the first 3/4 majority overrule. Once a rejection has been overruled, the only way to defeat that legislation is to appeal to the Director of Justice under Article VII, Section 58 of the December Accords.

I hope this has answered your first query, I will respond to the second one as soon as possible.
Nikolai Ilyich Karenin,
Chief Envoy to the Tsar of Myedvedeya
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President Stanimir
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President Temka
Thank you for that very thoughtful analysis.
Ivan Temiriazev Temka
President of the Leviathan Republic
Senator of the Leviathan Republic
Chairman of the Leviathan Security Council
Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Confederated States of Stanimir
--------------------------------
"A stand can be made against invasion by an army; no stand can be made against invasion by an idea." --Victor Hugo
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Senator Myedvedeya
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My pleasure. I have created a thread within the Department of Justice in which Directors of Justice may store their rulings on the Accords, so that they may serve as precedent for future directors.
Nikolai Ilyich Karenin,
Chief Envoy to the Tsar of Myedvedeya
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Senator Myedvedeya
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To reply to your second query:

The December Accords do not mention Executive Orders by name.

Given, however

(a) The president is charged to be the chief executive of the Leviathan Republic,
(Article IV, Title II, Section 31)

(b) The President may appoint executive officials with less power and responsibility than standard Directors.
(Article IV, Title I, Section 28)

(c) After the passage of a motion of no-confidence, but before the selection of an interim executive, the President shall have the power to either appoint a temporary replacement, or to assume the duties of the removed executive.
(Article IV, Title III, Section 37),

I interpret that the President does have the power to issue executive orders, also supported by the precedent of Executive Order 1. Basing the power of these executive orders off these same passages in the Accords, I believe that the President of the Leviathan Republic may pass any Executive order that facilitates the smoother operation of the government, or expands to its' structure through Sub-Directors. The Executive Order is not, however, a way to pass legislation which belongs in the Common Council or Senate under the Accords.

The president is also charged with "Controlling the Directors", and "The Principal liason between the Common Council and the Senate." (Article IV, Title II, Section 31.) This gives me the belief that the President is also allowed by the Accords to pass executive orders with regards to the roles and duties of the directors, and in order to facilitate communication and cooperation between the two Legislative Houses.
Nikolai Ilyich Karenin,
Chief Envoy to the Tsar of Myedvedeya
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Senator Myedvedeya
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Also, you may want to note that the December Accords Contain

Article IV: The Executive Branch,

and, immediately after,

Article IV: The Security Council
Nikolai Ilyich Karenin,
Chief Envoy to the Tsar of Myedvedeya
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President Stanimir
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President Temka
Ahh... thank you, both for the ruling, and for spotting that error. I'll have the Senate amend that typo.

It's a shame we haven't got a third Senator, by the way...
Ivan Temiriazev Temka
President of the Leviathan Republic
Senator of the Leviathan Republic
Chairman of the Leviathan Security Council
Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Confederated States of Stanimir
--------------------------------
"A stand can be made against invasion by an army; no stand can be made against invasion by an idea." --Victor Hugo
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Councilman Pantherai
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Greetings Director, due to a dispute in the common council over the meaning of two articles of the December Accords, i would like to request a ruling on them:

Article VI, Section 46

Quote:
 
The Leviathan Republic shall forever remain committed to the preservation of its member nations' national sovereignty. To this end, it shall pass no law and take no action interfering in the internal governance of its members.



Article VI, Section 53

Quote:
 
The Leviathan Republic shall forever remain dedicated to the principles of national sovereignty, meritocracy, representation, and armed neutrality. The defense of these principles shall be the Leviathan Republic's highest duty.


I believe these articles mean that the government of Leviathan cannot pass laws or take actions which encroach upon a member nations sovereignty but i do not see how it would mean that a individual member nation cannot invade another nation.

Sfoz believes that it means that an individual member nation cannot, at any time, invade another member nation.

Could you make a ruling on the meanings of these articles?

Many Thanks.
Edited by Pantherai, Jan 25 2009, 03:52 AM.
His Honour, Nik leo.
Councilman of 'The Leviathan Republic'
Leviathan Director of Foreign Affairs
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Councilman Sfoz
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Pantherai
Jan 25 2009, 03:51 AM
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Director, please ensure to read the Invasion of Drazill threads in all related forums for full context.

Regards,
Sfoz
President Yuri Singh
Editor-In-Chief Of "The Statesman"
Ambassador to Equilism, Great Britain and Ireland, and The Commonwealth
President of The Dictatorship of Sfoz
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Councilman Sfoz
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I think we've all given up on this ruling. Would the current Director of Justice care to make comment?
President Yuri Singh
Editor-In-Chief Of "The Statesman"
Ambassador to Equilism, Great Britain and Ireland, and The Commonwealth
President of The Dictatorship of Sfoz
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