Standing Orders of the Praesidium
SECTION I. DUTIES
…1.1. The Praesidium is established as the Security Branch of The East Pacific, and is made up of the Viziers, the Eastern Pacific Police Service, and the Voter Registration Office.
…1.2. The Praesidium shall maintain regional security, stability, and continuity of government.
…1.3. The Praesidium shall investigate any threat to regional security or any violation of East Pacifican law, and is compelled to investigate and prosecute any such violations to the best of its ability.
…1.4. The Praesidium shall establish and enforce an endorsement cap, with which it shall maintain the security of the legitimate government of The East Pacific.
…1.5. The Praesidium shall identify security threats to The East Pacific and bar residence or entry to any such threat through the use of proscription.
…1.6. The Viziers shall maintain a high endorsement count, above the endorsement cap, to the best of their ability.
…1.7. The Voter Registration Office shall preside over the administration of Registered Voter status.
SECTION II. PRAESIDIUM LEADERSHIP
…2.1. The Grand Vizier shall be the leader of the Praesidium, and shall be responsible for directing the branch in carrying out its duties.
…2.2. The Eastern Pacific Police Service Commissioner (hereinafter: Commissioner) shall be the deputy of the Grand Vizier, and shall be responsible for assisting the Grand Vizier in the leadership of the Praesidium.
…2.3. The Grand Vizier shall preside over debate and voting within the Praesidium according to the procedures laid in these Orders. The Commissioner is empowered to act in the same capacity.
…2.4. The Grand Vizier shall maintain a record of the Viziers, both in a topic in the Praesidium forum and in a pinned dispatch on the regional page.
…2.5. If the Grand Vizier is inactive from all on-site and off-site services for one week or more, or declares a Leave of Absence in the Memoranda of the Praesidium, the Commissioner may elect to take on the full duties and powers of the Grand Vizier until the Grand Vizier becomes active again, or declares the end of their Leave. The Commissioner, in taking on these duties and powers, shall be named the Acting Grand Vizier.
…2.6. If the Commissioner is inactive from all on-site and off-site services for one week or more, or declares a Leave of Absence in the Memoranda of the Praesidium, the Grand Vizier may select a Vizier to take on the full duties and powers of the Commissioner until the Grand Vizier becomes active again, or declares the end of their Leave. The chosen Vizier shall be named the Acting Commissioner.
…2.7. Should the Commissioner, whilst serving as Acting Grand Vizier, become inactive for one week or more following failure to complete a required action, the longest serving Vizier who is both active and willing shall serve as Acting Grand Vizier. Upon assuming office, the new Acting Grand Vizier shall appoint another Vizier to serve as Acting Commissioner.
…2.8. By a 3/4 majority vote, the Viziers may decide to remove the sitting Grand Vizier or Commissioner from office at any time. This shall initiate an election for the vacant office.
SECTION III. POLICE SERVICE
…3.1. The Eastern Pacific Police Service (hereinafter: Service) shall be the intelligence apparatus of The East Pacific. The Service shall consist of the Viziers and any Officers appointed by the Commissioner. The Commissioner shall be the head of the Service.
…3.2. All Service investigations shall be led by the Commissioner, or a representative Vizier appointed to that purpose by the Commissioner.
…3.3. The Commissioner is granted exclusive authority over the structure of the Service and the criteria for citizens to join the Service. This information shall be maintained in a topic in the Praesidium forum.
…3.4. The Commissioner shall maintain records of Praesidium membership in a topic in the Praesidium forum.
…3.5. The Service shall collaborate with the Eastern Pacific Sovereign Army on regional defense and intelligence operations.
…3.6. The Service shall be charged with enforcing the endorsement cap, issuing warnings and requesting ejections by the Delegate in full accordance with statutory law and these Standing Orders.
…3.7. All appointed Officers serve at the pleasure of the Commissioner.
SECTION IV. PRAESIDIUM ACTION
…4.1. The Grand Vizier is responsible for directing all Praesidium action upon the presentation of a problem or situation requiring Vizier involvement.
…4.2. In the event of an immediate security threat of great urgency, the Grand Vizier may act unilaterally by issuing a Memorandum, which details the action to be taken and the justification for such action. Memoranda of the Praesidium shall be maintained in a topic in the Praesidium forum. Viziers may then vote to approve or reverse the Memorandum.
…4.3. In the event of a security threat which is not immediate nor of great urgency, the Viziers may hold an informal debate within the “praesidium” Discord channel, and the Grand Vizier may direct action according to reasonably inferred consensus.
…4.4. In any event where a delay of one week or more will not endanger the region, all Praesidium action must be debated in the private Citadel subforum, and voted before being enacted.
…4.5. The Grand Vizier may delegate action to the Eastern Pacific Police Service in any event which overlaps the authority of the Viziers and the Service. In this case, the Commissioner and the Service may decide upon and direct action internally.
…4.6. All Praesidium action may be appealed to the Conclave.
SECTION V. VOTING PROCEDURES
…5.1. Votes may be initiated via a motion by the Grand Vizier or a motion by a Vizier, the latter of which must be seconded. Votes may only be initiated following the creation of a debate threat detailing the action to be voted upon.
…5.2. Upon the institution of the motion to vote, the Grand Vizier shall designate a specific voting period of one week.
…5.3. All Viziers must be notified by the Grand Vizier with the time period to vote, the subject being voted upon, and where the vote is to take place. The notification must be given before or at the start of the vote.
…5.4. All Viziers who do not vote will be considered “absent” and will not be considered as a voting Vizier in that particular vote.
…5.5. For a vote to pass, a majority of 3/4 of voting Viziers need to be in favor on the voting matter.
…5.6. Viziers will never be required to cast a vote in any voting matter, whether it be an election, amendment, or general vote.
SECTION VI. REGIONAL OFFICERS
…6.1. The Grand Vizier, Commissioner, and a number of Viziers indicated by regional law, shall be appointed to a Regional Officer position indicating such titles with the power of Border Control and Communications.
…6.2. The Grand Vizier must select the Viziers which shall serve as Regional Officers as required by regional law. These Viziers serve until the end of a Praesidium election, until their own resignation from Regional Officer status, or until their resignation or removal from Viziership.
…6.3. During their tenure, Viziers serving as Regional Officers may only be removed from their position by a recall vote of the Viziers following the procedures laid out in these Orders.
…6.4. All Viziers serving as Regional Officers must clear the regional ban list of any “disgraced” nations.
SECTION VII. ASSUMING THE DELEGACY
…7.1. Should a Vizier be named Acting Delegate following the procedures in the Concordat, they shall recuse themselves from Vizier matters and shall not be allowed to vote in Vizier matters, in order to maintain separation of powers between the Executive and Praesidium.
…7.2. Should a Vizier be ordered to take over the Delegacy by the sitting Delegate, in order to maintain security during a Delegate transition, said Vizier shall be named Delegate Pro Tempore. The Delegate Pro Tempore shall vote in the World Assembly according to the Delegate’s orders. The office of Delegate Pro Tempore shall not confer any Executive powers or responsibilities, and shall exist solely as a medium for security and transition.
…7.3. Should a Vizier assume the Delegacy by any other means, they shall be considered in violation of these Orders as well as the Concordat and regional law. They shall work with the Delegate to properly transition, or shall be considered an illegitimate Delegate which must be removed by the Praesidium.
…7.4. Once any given threat has passed, provided a legitimate Delegate exists, the Acting Delegate must cede the Delegacy to the legitimate Delegate. Any Vizier who does not shall be considered in violation of these Orders as well as the Concordat and regional law. They shall be considered an illegitimate Delegate which must be removed by the Praesidium.
SECTION VIII. ELECTIONS
…8.1. The Grand Vizier and Commissioner shall be elected to six month terms on January 1st and July 1st.
…8.2. In the event of a vacancy in either position, a special election shall be called. Grand Viziers and Commissioners elected in a special election shall serve until the next scheduled election. Should they be elected within a month of a scheduled election, their term shall be extended until the scheduled election after the next.
…8.3. Elections shall be held independently but concurrently by the Grand Vizier, Acting Grand Vizier, or any Vizier representative thereof.
…8.4. Nominations shall begin fourteen days before the end of the term, and shall last for a period of one week. Any Vizier may nominate another Vizier or themselves. All nominations must be seconded by another Vizier and accepted by the nominee to be declared official. Self-nominated candidates do not need to explicitly accept their own nominations.
…8.5. Upon the conclusion of the nomination period, all official candidates must be presented in elections lasting one week. The candidate receiving the most votes in each election shall be elected to their respective position.
…8.6. Should a tie persist in any election and no candidate concedes, the vote shall be opened to the Magisterium for a period of one week.
…8.7. Until the conclusion of elections, the previous or Acting Grand Vizier and Commissioner shall maintain all of their official powers.
SECTION IX. REMOVAL
…9.1. Viziers may resign at any time for any reason. Upon resignation, the Vizier shall resign from the EPPS.
…9.2. Should the Grand Vizier, Commissioner, or Regional Officer designees decide to resign their Viziership, they shall also resign their respective offices.
…9.3. The Praesidium may decide, by a majority vote defined in Section 5, to remove any Vizier found in violation of these Orders.
…9.4. Being elected to the office of the Delegate shall be considered a resignation from the Praesidium, effective immediately. Ceasing to Exist, Resigning from the World Assembly, Moving one’s WA nation to a different region is grounds for removal as a violation of these Orders.
SECTION X. AMENDMENTS
…10.1. Amendments to the Standing Orders may be proposed at any time by a Vizier.
…10.2. Proposed amendments shall be presented in the Citadel subforum, and shall be debated for an indefinite period of time, until the sponsor withdraws the amendment or a motion to a vote is made.
…10.3. The Grand Vizier is charged with opening a vote for the amendment in the Citadel subforum for a period of one week.
…10.4. A 3/4 majority of voting Viziers is required to pass an amendment to the Standing Orders, which will then be documented by the Grand Vizier.