I’m basing this off of FPS’s old legislation templates, which https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/the_east_pacific/viewtopic.php?p=80020#p80020. The reason I’m re-doing these is that the traditional templates used in 2010 have drastically changed over the decade. A refresh is best at this point.
As always, Magisters are not mandated to use these templates. Utilize them as you wish.
Acts
The Magisterium uses “Acts” to establish permanent law or repeal permanent law. The Concordat requires the Delegate to sign an Act before it becomes law, although the Concordat allows the Magisterium to override a Delegate veto. The Magisterium passes Acts by a simple majority. Prior to its enactment, an Act is known as a Legislative Proposal.
The Magisterium commonly uses the following format for a typical Act that is a new law. The names and definitions are placeholders in the following example.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE MAGISTERIUM OF THE EAST PACIFIC
SECTION I. CITATIONS
…1.1- This Act shall be known and cited as “The Cards Regulation Act”.
SECTION II. DEFINITIONS
…2.1- For the purposes of this Act, the following are defined as:
…2.1.1- “Cards” - An object a nation can trade within NationStates.
…2.1.2- “Deck Value” - The value of one’s international artwork statistic.SECTION III. GENERAL PROVISIONS
…3.1- All Citizens of the East Pacific are mandated to have a card for their nation.
SECTION IV. ENACTMENT
…4.1- Following the enactment of this Act, the Cards Are Cool Act is hereby repealed.
Definitions should only be used if you feel there is an ambiguous term in your proposal, or if you want to be very specific on what a term means. If you have no definitions, you can skip including them as a Section. If you do have Definitions, keep them in their own section.
Some Magisters combine the Citation and Definition Section into one. Others have no Citation nor no Definition section and place a citation clause in a general provisions section.
You can have as many Sections as you want!
The Enactment section is typically reserved for when the Magisterium is repealing one bill at the same time it’s enacting another. If your proposal is not doing that, you do not need an enactment section.
Resolutions
The Magisterium uses Resolutions to express its opinion on a certain topic. Resolutions do not hold the force of law and require only the support of a majority of Magisters to pass.
The Magisterium commonly uses two resolutions formats: American and British. Of course, Americans use the English format commonly, but each is equally well-known.
There are typically two formats based on the American and English in-real life formats but edited to suit the Magisterium’s needs. Older resolutions follow the English or “old” style while newer resolutions follow the American or “new” style.
Newer Style
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAGISTERIUM OF THE EAST PACIFIC
SECTION I. CITATION
…1.1- This resolution shall be known and cited as the “Resolution Resolution.”
SECTION II. FINDINGS
…2.1- The Magisterium finds that:
…2.1.1- There are not enough resolutions; and
…2.1.2- There need to be more resolutions.SECTION III. DEFINITIONS
…3.1- For the purposes of this resolution, a resolution is a resolution.
SECTION IV. RESOLUTIONS
…4.1- There should be more resolutions!
…4.2- Resolve, resolve, resolve!
Older Style
WHEREAS the East Pacific, being a feeder region, continually loses members to other regions, and
WHEREAS recruitment efforts by other regions are a major factor in this, and
BELIEVING that the East Pacific must undertake similar efforts to retain and attract active members,
NOW THEREFORE, the Magisterium resolves as follows:
RECOMMENDS that the Delegate establish an office for tourism and recruitment, which shall be responsible for retaining and attracting new members and to publicise the East Pacific and its role in the community, and which shall be headed by one selected by the Delegate,
URGES all members of the East Pacific to contribute what efforts they can to this goal, and
DECIDES to remain seized of this matter.
Amendments
The Magisterium holds the authority to propose amendments to the Concordat by super-majority vote and regular statutory law by simple majority vote.
There tends to be two styles when dealing with amendments - the color variant, and the plain variant. You may see some people use alternate colors besides green or red - in this case, assume the color without strikethrough indicates an addition, and the color with strikethroughs indicates a removal.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE MAGISTERIUM OF THE EAST PACIFIC
SECTION I. CITATIONS
…1.1- This Act shall be known and cited as “The Cards Regulation Act”.
SECTION II. DEFINITIONS
…2.1- For the purposes of this Act, the following are defined as:
…2.1.1- “Cards” - An object a nation can trade within NationStates.
…2.1.2- “Deck Value” - The value of one’s international artwork statistic.SECTION III. GENERAL PROVISIONS
…3.1- All Citizens of the East Pacific are mandated to have a card for their nation.
…3.2.- Red with strikethrough indicates a removal from the law, and will be deleted from the law should the amendment be passed.
SECTION IV. ENACTMENT
…4.1- Following the enactment of this Act, the Cards Are Cool Act is hereby repealed.
Color Variant
Example Amendment:
BE IT ENACTED BY THE MAGISTERIUM OF THE EAST PACIFIC
SECTION I. CITATIONS
…1.1- This Act shall be known and cited as “The Cards Regulation Act”.
SECTION II. DEFINITIONS
…2.1- For the purposes of this Act, the following are defined as:
…2.1.1- “Cards” - An object a nation can trade within NationStates.
…2.1.2- “Deck Value” - The value of one’s international artwork statistic.SECTION III. GENERAL PROVISIONS
…3.1- All Citizens of the East Pacific are mandated to have a card for their nation.
…3.2.- Red with strikethrough indicates a removal from the law, and will be deleted from the law should the amendment be passed.…3.2- Green indicates an addition to the law. Anything green will be added in plaintext colors after the amendment is passed.
SECTION IV. ENACTMENT
…4.1- Following the enactment of this Act, the Cards Are Cool Act is hereby repealed.
Example Law Amended:
BE IT ENACTED BY THE MAGISTERIUM OF THE EAST PACIFIC
SECTION I. CITATIONS
…1.1- This Act shall be known and cited as “The Cards Regulation Act”.
SECTION II. DEFINITIONS
…2.1- For the purposes of this Act, the following are defined as:
…2.1.1- “Cards” - An object a nation can trade within NationStates.
…2.1.2- “Deck Value” - The value of one’s international artwork statistic.SECTION III. GENERAL PROVISIONS
…3.1- All Citizens of the East Pacific are mandated to have a card for their nation.
…3.2- Green indicates an addition to the law. Anything green will be added in plaintext colors after the amendment is passed.
SECTION IV. ENACTMENT
…4.1- Following the enactment of this Act, the Cards Are Cool Act is hereby repealed.
Plaintext Variant
Example Amendment:
BE IT ENACTED BY THE MAGISTERIUM
SECTION I. AMENDMENT TO THE CARD REGULATION ACT
…1.1- The phrase “or “The Regulation Act”” shall be added right before the end of Section 1.1 of the Act.
…1.2- The following shall replace Section 3.1 of the Cards Regulation Act in full: “…3.1- All Citizens of the East Pacific are nerds.”
…1.3- Section IV of the Act shall be completely removed.
Example Law Amended:
BE IT ENACTED BY THE MAGISTERIUM OF THE EAST PACIFIC
SECTION I. CITATIONS
…1.1- This Act shall be known and cited as “The Cards Regulation Act” or “The Regulation Act”.
SECTION II. DEFINITIONS
…2.1- For the purposes of this Act, the following are defined as:
…2.1.1- “Cards” - An object a nation can trade within NationStates.
…2.1.2- “Deck Value” - The value of one’s international artwork statistic.SECTION III. GENERAL PROVISIONS
…3.1- All Citizens of the East Pacific are nerds.
…3.2.- Red with strikethrough indicates a removal from the law, and will be deleted from the law should the amendment be passed.