The Articles of Association

[Kent]

ANNEX
It is agreed and concluded upon as fundamentally true, not to be disputed or questioned by any hereafter that all the powers of governance shall not be concentrated into one individual, that men ought to be free to pursue their rightwise trades, and that men need not live in fear of undue persecution in this portion of our Great Republic, nor any other place where Good Folk take up residence.

PART 1

Article I

The Governing Body of this Settlement shall make, enforce, or respect no ordinance, rule, or law which abridges an individual’s ability to voice their opinions, beliefs, or thoughts except in the case of Slander or Libel that is prove’d in a rightwise court.

Article II

The Governing Body of this Settlement shall permit no court, law-speaker, or arbitrator to operate in a secretive manner, practices in which public examination of the aforementioned body’s justice are unable to be adequately completed are thus forbidden.

Article III

The Governing Body of this Settlement shall make, enforce, or respect no ordinance, rule, or law which creates undue bodily harm as a means of punishment for a person found in violation of ordinances, rules, or laws except in those cases of Murder, Sabotage, or other extraordinarily harmful acts.

Article IV

A Militia being required for the maintenance of defense in case of attack by Afflicted or man, each person who takes residence under the jurisdiction of this Governing Body shall be REQUIRED to maintain adequate arms, armor, firearms, and munitions / etcetera, to be used in defense of the public good Whensoever the Militia is mustered, provided said person is not made infirm by age or illness.

In these exceptional cases, proof of said person’s infirmity must be adequately presented to this Governing Body or their designee and a financial contribution may be made once monthly in its stead.

The Militia may be summoned at the behest of this Assembly, Officers of the Governing Body or their designee, in times when it is appropriate for defensive or offensive acts.

Article V

The Assembly shall have the power to make and repeal laws that do not explicitly violate this charter, and shall have the power to require execution of them in all the territory of this settlement.

Article VI

The Assembly shall make no law abridging the free trade of objects, skills, thoughts, or ideas

Article VII

The Assembly shall be required to ensure adequate law enforcement measures are observed.

PART 2

Article VIII

The Membership of the Assembly shall be owed to the following persons:

One representative from each subsidiary business of Renatus & Thrupp Enterprises.

One representative from every Parish, to be chosen by whatsoever means are usual for that parish, if they make residence in the lands under the Jurisdiction of the Governing Body.

One representative for each five non-employee persons of the Commonfolk who make residence under the Jurisdiction of this Governing Body, chosen by popular election should one occur and be proven valid and legitimate to the Governing Body.

The Governing Body may choose to host an election when these satisfactions are met, or private citizens may operate an election and present proof of its legitimacy and acceptable conduct to the Governing Body for review.

Article IX

The Assembly shall see to the appointment of a Director, who may call the Assembly to meet for discussion when appropriate, no less frequently than twice in one month except in those situations where there are no matters to be discussed. The Director will prepare the Agenda, call the Meeting of the Assembly, maintain order during the assembly, tabulate action items and the results of votes, and may designate an assistant if he determines necessary to the execution of his duties, who may act in his stead by his consent if he is unavailable to discharge his responsibilities.

The Director shall further be responsible for the finances of the Governing Body, taking adequate steps to ensure the financial solvency of the Settlement and ensuring adequate budgeting for each Office’s needs, as well as dispensing funds to subsidiaries if deemed necessary.

Matters that members of the Assembly wish to be discussed should be submitted in a timely fashion, and it shall not be the norm for new subjects to be brought up at an Assembly meeting, except as determined by the discretion of the Director.
Article X

The Assembly shall not meet without a minimal quorum. A quorum shall be defined as one third of the whole sum of the Assembly’s membership, rounded upwardly by means of mathematics.
Article XI

The Assembly shall make no amendment to these articles without a minimal Plenum. For this and any other situation in which a Plenum is desired, a Plenum will be defined as this:

A Plenum shall be considered nine tenths (9/10) of the whole sum of the Body’s Membership, rounded down by means of Mathematics.

Any Amendment to these Articles must be ratified by a 3/4ths vote at said meeting that meets standards of Plenum.

If a Member of this Assembly believes that a subject is important enough to require a Plenum to be decided upon, they may petition such and if agreed upon by one third (1 / 3) of the gathered Assembly, said subject matter will be on hiatus until a Plenum can be attained. If Assembly members are unable to attend, they may cast a vote in absentia via written word.

Regular Motions, Legislation, Ratification of Treatise, and other such things shall regularly be decided by a Yay or Nay vote, of greater than one half (51%) of those assembled. In case of ties, the Director shall cast the deciding vote.

Emergency Sessions of the Assembly may be called by any Member of the Assembly who rightfully believes there to be an extraordinarily pressing matter which must be addressed immediately. Abuse of this privilege may be addressed with fines and Censure.

A Member of the Assembly may be, by standard voting procedures, Censured by the Assembly and their voting privileges revoked for a number of sessions as determined by the Director.

Article XII

Unless the Public Good may be threatened by the revelation of information, as determined by the Director, the meetings of the Assembly shall not be secretive, in their nature and must be held in such a place that the folk may view and listen to the proceedings freely. These meeting locations and times shall be posted publicly where all might see, except in those situations of emergency sessions.


PART 3

Article XIII

The Assembly Shall have the power to create new Offices, should they be determined to be necessary by an assembly, meeting standards of Plenum, and ratified by a 3/4th majority vote. Holders of these Offices shall be granted Voting Privilege within the Assembly, if they do not already possess said voting privilege, unless specifically exempted.

Article XIV

The Governing Body shall make no more than one appointment of office to a single individual at one time.

Article XV

The Assembly shall see to the appointment of a Magistrate. This Magistrate will be judge of all torts and other civil and criminal violations, and will oversee the Assembly’s court, though licensed private courts shall be valid in any matter which does not directly involve the Governing Body or the Public Good, in those cases where both accused and accuser agree to arbitrate the matter in a private court. Vacancy of this office may not exist longer than two regular meetings of this body. Only a court overseen by the Magistrate or may sentence folk to Banishment

The Magistrate, as a safeguard against conflicted interests found to be unsavory by this Assembly, shall have no voting power within the Assembly. Should an Assembly member be bequeathed this Office, their membership on the Assembly shall immediately be considered dissolved, though the Magistrate may still attend Assembly Meetings as a spectator.

Article XVI

The Assembly shall see to the appointment of an Ambassador. This person shall be responsible for representing the Settlement, Assembly, and Governing Body to outside factions, organizations, and other such similar groups in matters of diplomacy, and shall be empowered to write treaties, agreements, and other such things in the Name of this settlement and Governing Body, though any such agreement shall be preliminary in nature until ratified by a meeting of the Assembly.

Article XVII

By a three-quarters vote the members of the Governing Body, duly assembled, may declare an Emergency. An Emergency shall be any developing situation of great trepidation and danger, extraordinary in nature and generally of the potential to cause great harm to the Public Good as determined by a three-quarters majority vote by the Members Assembled.

During an Emergency, a person, assembly member or not, may be appointed as an Autocrat for one month’s time, upon which the Emergency is reviewed by the Governing Body and the Autocrat may be dismissed if not re-affirmed by three-quarters majority of the members assembled.

The Autocrat may execute the responsibilities of all offices, may perform legislature, and may summon the Militia without oversight or consideration of the Assembly if they deem so necessary.

Article XVIII

When the Militia has been called to stand the Assembly shall appoint a person of their choosing as Captain of the Militia. The Captain of the Militia shall be responsible for organizing any military operations deemed necessary by the Governing Body and duly compensated as appropriate.

The Assembly shall also issue honorifics, medals, and land-grants as needed for a rightwise reward on account of substantive valor in battle or other great deeds performed in the name of the Republic or in defense of this settlement.

Article XIX

The Assembly shall see to the Appointment of an Administrator.

This person shall be responsible for representing the Settlement, Assembly, and Governing Body to outside factions, organizations, and other such similar groups in matters of diplomacy, and shall be empowered to write treaties, agreements, and other such things in the Name of this settlement and Governing Body, though any such agreement shall be preliminary in nature until ratified by a meeting of the Assembly.


This person shall also be responsible for the management of miscellaneous laborers and other employees of this Chartered Settlement, ensuring that laws are adequately posted for viewing and understanding by the folk.

Article XX

The Assembly shall see to the appointment of an Architect. This person shall be responsible for the planning of the Settlement’s buildings and streets, any necessary fortifications, and shall have vested authority to control the placement of buildings within the settlement proper by appropriate methods.

The Architect will be responsible for maintaining adequate stores of raw materials and manufactured goods. Their storage, management, and dispersal will be handled by means deemed appropriate by their discretion.

Article XXI

The Assembly shall see to the appointment of an Interior Minister. This person shall be responsible for investigating allegations of unsavory conduct, unsavory practices, negligence of office and general acts which may be considered that of a nayer-do-well not specifically enumerated here. They shall have the vested authority to conduct investigations as appropriate into these matters and make appropriate recommendations to the Assembly.

The Interior Minister shall also be responsible for ensuring that laws are adequately posted for viewing and understanding by the folk, and acting as Prosecutor or defender for the Administration in any tort.

Part 4

Article XXII

The Assembly shall take reasonable steps to ensure that the mechanisms for adequate resolution of torts, righteous or false, are available to the commonfolk.

[Kent]

[quote]

The Assembly of Teneborough, meeting in due Quorum, upon the nineth day of Dewfall in the year One-Thousand, Three-Hundred & Forty-Six A.S. did put forth, discuss, and approve this amendment to the Articles of Association

Amendment I

The office of Administrator shall be divested of the authority to represent the Settlement, Assembly & Governing Body to outside factions, organizations, and other such similar groups in matters of diplomacy. Such matters shall be the purview of the Ambassador exclusively.

The Office of Ambassador's vacancy will be filled immediately to reflect this change, with the administrator being given due time to arrange for a transistion of diplomatic relations.

Matters of high-level trade, exchanges, negotiations for material goods so and so forth must be approved by the Administrator and it shall be the Administrator's charge to seek out such profitable and beneficial exchanges.

[Kent]

[quote]

The Assembly of Teneborough, meeting in due Quorum, upon the sixteenth day of Dewfall in the year One-Thousand, Three-Hundred & Forty-Six A.S. did put forth, discuss, and approve this amendment to the Articles of Association

Amendment II

The Interior Minister shall be vested with the authority to hire assistants, investigators, sleuths et. al as neccessary pursuant to his duties. These individuals shall serve at the pleasure of the Interior Minister