[AMENDMENT] Endorsement Caps Act

[A_mean_old_man]

The “Qualified Endorsement Cap” is no more. I believe we have no intention of returning to a convoluted system that is unwieldy and unreasonable to maintain. Let’s get rid of this and minimize confusion and verbosity.

I also don’t understand how endocaps can be proposed & confirmed via majority, but then “repealed by a 2/3 majority vote of the Magisterium”: and replaced with what? We should get rid of this, too. It’s a weird dead end.

I also don’t think this dispatch thing in 4.1 is reasonable. This is redundant. If the other branches want proof that the Viziers notified an individual we can provide it when requested.

I would also like to remove “purposefully” from 4.4; putting the burden of proving “purposeful” violation on a prosecutor makes virtually any case against a violator effectively impotent. There is no minimum punishment specified; therefore, the court can let anyone off the hook with nothing but a stern warning even if they convict them of this indictable offense, if cases are being frivolously presented against harmless repeat offenders.

SECTION I. CITATION

…1.1-This act shall be known and cited as the “Endorsement Caps Act”.

SECTION II. DEFINITIONS

…2.1. For the purposes of this act, the following terms are defined as:
…2.1.1. Qualified Endorsement Cap- “a cap with a qualifier to be subjected to it, that is set by the Viziers and confirmed by the Magisterium”;
…2.1.2. Endorsement Cap Violator- “a nation that has more endorsements than the cap set for that particular nation”
…2.1.3. Unendorsement Campaign- “the in-game action of reducing a nation’s endorsements using actions including, but not limited to, telegrams, dispatches, private messages, and general off-site announcements”;
…2.1.4. Compliance Officer- “the Delegate and any member of the Eastern Pacific Police Service”;
…2.1.5. Corrected- “a nation that has been brought below their Qualified Endorsement Cap through the action(s) of Compliance Officers”

SECTION III. ENDORSEMENT CAPS

…3.1. The Viziers may, following a confirmatory vote of the Praesidium, propose to the Magisterium any number of Qualified Endorsement Caps. These This proposals shall be confirmed via a normal majority vote by the Magisterium.

…3.2. No Qualified The Endorsement Cap may not exceed the number of current Delegate Endorsements for any reason.

…3.3. The current Qualified Endorsement Caps are is as follows:
…3.3.1. The “Qualified Endorsement Cap” shall set the cap for all nations in the East Pacific at 250 endorsements.

…3.4. Any Qualified Endorsement Cap may be repealed by a ⅔ majority vote of the Magisterium.

…3.54. The Delegate must display the current numerical value of allthe Qualified Endorsement Caps on the Region’s World Factbook Entry.

…3.65. The Delegate and the Viziers are not subject to any Qualified the Endorsement Caps.

…3.76. An individual whose term as Delegate has elapsed and is still occupying the in-game Delegacy shall be exempt from any Qualified the Endorsement Caps until the current Delegate or a Vizier takes the position.
…3.76.1. The Praesidium may nullify this exemption prior to its natural expiry if a) the individual, while not having voluntarily resigned from being Delegate, has been lawfully removed from the Delegacy before their term ended or b) if the individual refuses to cooperate with the Praesidium in handing the in-game Delegacy over to the Delegate or Praesidium.

SECTION IV. VIOLATIONS OF ENDORSEMENT CAPS

…4.1. Any nation who becomes an Endorsement Cap Violator shall be “Notified” by a Compliance Officer via an in-game telegram and a mention in an in-game dispatch for at least 3 days before any in-game action is taken.
…4.1.1. If an emergency situation exists in which Viziers believe the Delegacy is in danger, the Viziers may waive the 3-day response time and provide an explanation to the Conclave as to why.

…4.2. Any nation, having been under Notice for three days and remaining in violation of this Act, shall be subject to an unendorsement campaign, ejection, OR banishment at the discretion of Compliance Officers in order to be Corrected.
…4.2.1. Ejections and bans may be conducted by any Compliance Officer with the power of Border Control. Influence-spending concerning these actions shall be relegated to those who aren’t Viziers, or else to the Delegate, when reasonably possible.

…4.3. The Viziers may temporarily suspend punishment under this Act for no more than fourteen days if the offending nation has proven a willingness to comply with the Cap.

…4.4. If a Resident is found to have purposefully violated their eEndorsement cCap on three separate occasions within the span of one year, they shall have committed an indictable offense with a maximum sentence of permanent banishment.

[AC5230]

I made a statement of finding as to “Qualified Endorsement Cap” being new terminology brought in by the single cap. I was incorrect. I apologize to the Magisterium for any confusion.

This being said, I am in full support of this amendment.

[Bachtendekuppen]

Seems to be some solid tweaks.

[CyberiumShadow]

I believe the intention of the supermajority to remove an endorsement cap is because it would remove a specific endorsement cap or remove the singular endorsement cap without repealing the act itself.

So it would allow a situation in the future where TEP did not see itself needing an endorsement cap at all.

So I imagine it made sense at the time to make it easier to implement new restrictions, but require more support to remove those restrictions

[Ladona]

I think that 4.4 should have the word purposefully kept. It shields a resident from the stupidity or negligence of other nations.

As an example of why this is useful: A few days ago I started endotarting for the first time and in doing so I accidentally pushed one nation over the endorsement cap – when I double checked their endorsements I saw they were over the cap so I unendorsed them. With the removal of the purposefully caveat, my mistake, which was immediately rectified, would unjustly count against this nation.

Alternatively, perhaps this could work?

…4.4. If a Resident is found to have purposefullyknowingly – or if they could reasonably be expected to know they have – violated their eEndorsement cCap on three separate occasions within the span of one year, they shall have committed an indictable offense with a maximum sentence of permanent banishment.

In my opinion since the current number of endorsements is displayed on your Nation’s main page and you can easily see if you’ve violated the endorsement cap by using the Daily Census dispatch, you can reasonably be expected to know when you violate the cap.

EDIT: Formatting and spelling. Fleshed the clause out further.