[2305.FA] Proposed Treaty: The Award Accords

[Sandaoguo]

The Award Accords is a project the past few administrations has been working on with defender allies. The purpose is to set ground rules for the Defender Awards, removing the causes of potential and past conflicts. This is a 100% cultural treaty meant to strengthen the social & cultural ties between our regions.

The Cabinet presents it for Assembly debate and assent.

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The Award Accords

1 Preliminaries

1.1 Nature

1.1.1. The Award Accords (the Accords) is a binding treaty between the Parties.

1.2 Purpose

1.2.1. The purpose of the Accords is to allow the Parties, being leading defender groups, to host the Defender Awards.

1.2.2. The Parties recognise the historical heritage of the Defender Awards and their status as a defending institution.

1.2.3. The Parties recognise the Defender Awards held under the Accords as a direct successor to the Defender Awards held prior to the Accords.

1.3 Interpretation

In the Accords:

• Host means the Party currently hosting the Defender Awards in accordance with Section 2.
• Law includes any established practice in the absence of applicable law.
• Party means a party to the Accords in accordance with Section 1.5.
• Special Majority means the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of Parties.

1.4 Parties’ obligations

1.4.1. The Parties must comply with their obligations in the Accords.

1.4.2. Matters not covered in the Accords are left to the determination of the Parties. The Parties must have regard to the purpose of the Accords and to the spirit of the Defender Awards.

1.4.3. The Parties agree to discuss and resolve any disputes that arise from the Accords amicably and through appropriate private diplomatic channels.

1.5 Parties

1.5.1. The Parties to the Accords are each of the following regions or groups that has ratified the Accords in accordance with its Law by the time the Accords come into force in accordance with clause 4.1:

1. 10000 Islands
2. The Grey Wardens
3. The League
4. The Rejected Realms Army
5. The South Pacific
6. The Union of Democratic States.

1.5.2. A region or group ceases to be a Party if it:

1. Ceases to exist;
2. Renounces its defender status;
3. Participates in the invasion of another Party; or
4. Announces its intention, in accordance with its Law, to cease to be a Party.

1.5.3. A region or group also ceases to be a Party with the agreement of a Special Majority.

1.5.4. A region or group may become a Party with the agreement of a Special Majority. The new Party will be added to Section 2.2 in the final position, unless otherwise agreed by a Special Majority.

2 Hosting of the Defender Awards

2.1. The Defender Awards are held once every calendar year.

2.2. The Parties are to host the Defender Award in the following order, beginning in 2023:

1. The League
2. 10000 Islands
3. The South Pacific
4. The Grey Wardens
5. The Union of Democratic States
6. The Rejected Realms Army

2.3. If a Party is unable to host the Defender Awards in its designated year, it must inform the other Parties as soon as possible. The next scheduled host that is able to host the Defender Awards must take over hosting, and the two Parties swap their places in the hosting order. The Parties may publish a hosting order list reflecting any changes made to the order in clause 2.2.

2.4. Any other change to the hosting order in Section 2.2 must be agreed to by a Special Majority.

3 Conduct of the Defender Awards

3.1. Announcement

3.1.1. The Host must publicly announce the proposed schedule for the awards, and the awards to be awarded under Section 3.2, at least 72 hours before the beginning of nominations.

3.2 The Awards

3.2.1. The staple awards must be awarded. The Host must decide which of the optional awards, if any, are to be awarded. The Host may propose additional awards, which must be agreed to by a Special Majority.

3.2.2. The staple awards are the following awards, as described in previous Defender Awards:
• Defender of the Year
• Ananke Award
• Anarchtopia Award
• Sir Lans
• Operation of the Year
• Newcomer
• Lifetime Achievement
• Best Defender Quote
• The Numero Capitan Award
• Karputsk Award

3.2.3. The optional awards are the following awards, as described in previous Defender Awards:
• The Worst Invasion / Worst Operation Award
• Meltdown of the Year
• The Belgium Award
• The Worst Invader Group
• The Eluvatar Award
• The Blackbird Award
• Mentor of the Year

3.3. Nominations

3.3.1. If a player proposes a nomination, and it is seconded by another player within the nomination period, the nominee must be placed on the ballot.

3.3.2. Despite clause 3.3.1, the Host may reject a nomination made in bad faith. A rejection must be made as soon as reasonably practicable after the nomination, and the rejection must be communicated to every other Party at least 24 hours prior to the end of the nomination period (which may be extended if necessary). A Party may object to the rejection prior to the end of the nomination period. If an objection is made, a majority vote of the Parties is required to uphold the rejection. Parties have 48 hours to vote on the rejection, and the nomination period must not end during the vote.

3.3.3. The Host must allow at least 7 days for the nomination period.

3.4. Voting

3.4.1. The Host must publicise a ballot containing all nominations made for all awards at the beginning of the voting period.

3.4.2. The Host must allow a period of at least 7 days for voting.

3.5. Means of nominations and voting

3.5.1. The Host must either:

1. host the Defender Awards in a platform that is publicly available, irrespective of gameplay alignment or regional affiliation, and viewable by unregistered users; or
2. publish all information required to participate in the Defender Awards, including in relation to nomination and voting, in a regularly updated dispatch on the NationStates site.

3.5.2. The Host must accept nominations and votes via Telegram from any NationStates player whose identity it can ascertain and who is of good out-of-character standing. The Host may also accept nominations and votes in any other way.

3.5.3. The nation that publishes the Dispatch and accepts nominations and votes via Telegram must have “Defender Awards” in its name.

4 Final Matters

4.1. The Accords come into force on 16 February 2023 if there are at least 4 Parties.

4.2. Except as otherwise provided, the Accords may be amended by an agreement of all Parties.

4.3. A Special Majority may agree to terminate the Accords.

[Teien]

This is a well-written treaty that formalizes an enjoyable event - many thanks to all those involved in the drafting and negotiations! When time comes I’ll support ratification.

I can’t help but notice the absence of a suspension mechanism. If a party fails its obligations or is otherwise in poor standing it seems the only options are to let it slide, move them down the Host order in the hope that their government get their stuff together later (§2.4), or expel them via §1.5.3. Has a clause allowing for the suspension of Parties been considered? Or perhaps it is unnecessary given they could just expelled and readmitted later down the line?

On a formatting consistency note, shouldn’t §3.3 be italicized rather than bolded, and §3.5 be italicized?

Great work overall, can’t wait to see this one come into force!

[North]

I motion this bill to vote

[Cloud]

I second

[HumanSanity]

Not sure it can go to vote since Cabinet hasn’t voted on it yet

I’ll gladly vote for though. Glad to see this finalized

[BlockBuster2K43]

The two seperate motions to a vote are recognised, the proposed treaty is now at a vote!

Click Me!