From Nova

The Charter

Preamble

Fundamental Freedoms are essential for the social, political, and economic development of all nations and the well being of its peoples. At this time of heightened international tensions and worldwide conflict, the principles set forth within the Charter of the United Nations seem increasingly at risk from those who would seek to destroy the very way of life enjoyed by free and democratic people. The Unitary Technocracy of Etoile Arcture and the Great Protectorate of FreeDemGov can no longer sit idly by as such abuses occur unchallenged, and asks the support and assistance of the international community towards the creation of a Free World Alliance among the freedom-loving nations, so that it may become a bulwark against the forces of tyranny and oppression.

Chapter I: Scope

ARTICLE I
The Parties recognise the peoples of the Free World Alliance have a right to fundamental freedoms and to representative democracy exercised in accordance with the rule of law, and undertake to comply and respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all international instruments on Human Rights, Civil Rights and Worker's Rights.

ARTICLE II
As such, the Parties undertake to develop and strengthen the friendly and peaceful relations among them, and to promote and defend the fundamental principles of Democracy and Human Rights for the good of regional and international peace and security.

Chapter II: Membership Requirements

ARTICLE III Amendment II
No Party shall be accepted into the Free World Alliance whose Civil Rights and Political Freedoms are classified below the level of "Good" in their daily United Nations Report.

I. Any nation applying for membership that does not fit all or part of these requirements shall be granted a grace period of seven days from the date of their intiial application to improve their UN ratings to a standard acceptable for entrance into this Alliance.

II. If, by then, they have not improved their Civil Rights and Political Freedoms, they shall be ejected, and not considered for re-application for a week.

III. During this grace period they shall be granted probationary status within the Alliance to observe the ongoings of the Alliance, until which point they have been accepted or rejected for full membership.

Chapter III: Mutual Defence

ARTICLE IV
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by ARTICLE 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the Free World.

ARTICLE V
The parties agree, pursuant to ARTICLE II and ARTICLE IV of this charter, to establish a permanent, directly recruited Joint Rapid Reaction Force (“JRRF”) to hold the peace in a crisis, police gross violations of human rights and support multilateral defence against aggression and genocide.

Chapter IV: Governance, Procedure and Decision Making

ARTICLE VI
The Parties hereby establish a Governing Council to constitute the policy-making body of the Alliance. It shall include an elected Chairperson, seven permanent seats and five elected temporary seats. It shall consist of the following:

I. The two Founding Nations of the Free World Alliance, being the:
(a) Unitary Technocracy of Etoile Arcture
(b)

II. Five permanent members, being those senior nations who represent the first cadre of Member States to join the Alliance:
(a) Principality of Damirez
(b) People's Republic of Alfegos
(c) The Kingdom of Pinguinum
(d) The Fourth Republic of Kansiov
(e)

III. Five temporary members, each Member Nation having the right, in accordance with the principle of rotation, to serve on the Governing Council.
(a) The Empire of Mephras
(b) The Commonwealth of Bredford
(c)
(d)
(e)

IV. A Chairperson, who shall be elected from among the members of the Governing Council, who shall preside at all meetings and perform all acts incident to the office of the Chairperson, and shall have such additional powers and duties as may from time to time be assigned by the Governing Council.

ARTICLE VII
The Governing Council shall meet for regular sessions. Between regular sessions it shall meet as often as may be required for the fulfilment of its powers and functions.

ARTICLE VIII
The Parties, including all Signatory Member States to this Charter, agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Governing Council in accordance with the present Charter.

ARTICLE IX
The Governing Council shall elaborate its rules of procedure and may establish such subsidiary organs as it deems necessary for the performance of its functions.

Chapter V: Voting Rights

ARTICLE X
Each member of the Governing Council shall have one vote. The voting rights of the Parties are set forth below:

I. Unless otherwise specified in this Charter, the Governing Council shall take decisions on matters of substance by a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the members present at a meeting.

II. The Governing Council shall take decisions on questions of procedure by a simple majority of all its members present at a meeting.

III. Non-voting members of the Alliance may participate in the discussion of any question brought before the Governing Council.

Chapter VI: Amendments

ARTICLE XI
Any Party may propose or submit directly to the Governing Council an amendment or revision to the articles of this Charter. The amendments shall be approved by a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the members present at a meeting. The amendments shall then enter into immediate force.

Chapter VII: Settlement of Disputes

ARTICLE XII
I. The Parties undertake to resolve any differences in their relations with each other by peaceful means, and shall refrain from the use of force or threat to use force, in order to avoid endangering regional and international peace and security.

II. The Parties concerned shall consult together with a view to the expeditious settlement of the dispute by negotiation or by other peaceful means of the parties' choice, including by mutual consent or referal to a third-party mediator.

III. The Governing Council may contribute to the settlement of a dispute by whatever means it deems appropriate, including offering its good offices, calling upon the Member States to a dispute to start the settlement process of their choice and recommending a time-limit for any agreed procedure.

Chapter VIII: Withdrawal, Suspension and Expulsion

ARTICLE XIII Amendment II
Any Party that fails to comply with the terms set by this Charter may find their membership of the Free World Alliance suspended or terminated for any of the following reasons:

I. A failure to maintain a rating of “Good” or better in the categories of Civil Rights and Political Freedoms in their United Nations Report.

A nation shall be notified by the Chairperson of the Governing Council and shall be given a grace period of three days to correct their ratings and if failing or refusing to do so, shall then be suspended until they correct their ratings.

II. Any acts of abuse violating the fundamental rights of the citizens of a Member State, or of any other sovereign state. This shall result in the permanent expulsion of the offender, who shall then be dealt with by the Alliance accordingly.

III. The threat of force or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, except for the legitimate purpose of individual or collective self-defence against an unprovoked armed attack.

An violator shall be suspended from the Alliance for a period of three days to come to a peaceful resolution, and if failing to do so, shall then be expelled from this Alliance.

IV. A nation that uses lethal chemical, biological or radiological weapons of mass destruction (WMD) against the civilian population or the military forces of another State Party shall be expelled permanently from this Alliance, who shall then deal with them accordingly.

Only in circumstances consistent with ARTICLE IV of the Charter, where a nation is, ipso facto, the victim of an unprovoked attack using WMD, shall the Alliance support a proportional strategic retaliatory response up to and including the use of conventional and WMD weapon systems, targeting only the military and WMD capacity of the aggressor state in order to prevent any further attack.

ARTICLE XIV
Membership in the Free World Alliance may additionally be terminated in the following manner, to wit:

I. Any member may voluntarily withdraw its membership by submitting a written declaration of withdrawal to the Chairperson.

II. A member may be expelled for a cause from the Alliance by a vote of at least four-fifths (4/5) of the members present at a meeting of the Governing Council.

Chapter IX: Ratification

ARTICLE XV
This Charter shall be open to the signature of the Members of the Free World Alliance. It shall be ratified. Ratifications shall be deposited with the founding nations of the Free World Alliance.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, WE, the undersigned, being the Heads of State or Government, or duly authorised representatives thereto, have signed this Charter.

The Unitary Technocracy of Etoile Arcture
The Divinus Imperium d' Intracircumcordei
The Principality of Damirez
The Wilhelm-Hatarian Empire
The Commonwealth of Overbecland
The Liberal Republic of Hamturwinske
The People's Republic of Alfegos
The United States of Zoingo
The Empire of Mephras
The Kingdom of Pinginum
The United States of Allanea
The Fourth Republic of Kansiov
The Free Land of Turinas
The Commonwealth of Bredford

Summary of Executive Offices and Agencies

We publish this policy document on the decision making process of the Free World Alliance and the various executive agencies charged with implementing policy.

Governing Council

The Governing Council is the central decision making body of the Alliance, with responsibility for formulating policy and strategy, the creation and disbanding of executive offices and agencies within the Alliance under the provisions of Article VIII of the Charter, relations with other nations, management and budgeting issues, deployment of forces for peace operations and invocation of Article IV declarations of war.

Deliberations are made by each delegation representing five permanent seats of the Founding Members and the five temporary seats elected from the membership of the Free World Alliance in accordance with Article IX of the Charter. In addition, any non-voting members of the Alliance may send one representative to the Council who can propose motions and report facts to the Council.

Any delegate may also request the formation of a committee or working group to deal with a particular issue, such as the planning for a military campaign, developing a diplomatic strategy, or submission of ammendments to the Charter.

The decision making process is outlined below:

All substantive issues concerning the Free World Alliance are made by the Governing Council, whose composition is described in Article IX of the Free World Alliance Charter.

All members are entitled to send a single representative to the Council.

Council meetings are chaired by the delegates from either of the two Founding Members, these being the Great Protectorate of FreeDemGov and the Unitary Technocracy of Etoile Arcture.

Any member may propose a motion to vote.

Votes by the Council authorise or reject motions. A simple majority is sufficient in most matters, except for Article IV declarations of war, which requires unanimity of the Council.

Executive Offices

Each of the Executive Offices are responsible for implementation of various aspects of Alliance policy as decided by the Governing Council. Each office has a rotating presidency that lasts for 1 year (1 RL month)

The existing offices include:

High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy

The High Representative is the chief diplomatic envoy of the Alliance and is authorised to speak with the authority of the Alliance in matters of multilateral diplomacy and negotiations that have been agreed by the Governing Council.

Joint Rapid Reaction Force

The Joint Rapid Reaction Force (JRRF) is a multinational military force managed by the Free World Alliance itself. It has a Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) and Second-in-Command (S-in-C) who are drawn on a rotating basis from each of the member nations. The normal succession of command is that the next C-in-C acts as S-in-C to ensure continuity of leadership.

The JRRF is not a standing army per se, instead consisting of units earmarked by each of the Member Nations to be mobilised on behalf of the Alliance when called upon to conduct an intervention, or training and joint military exercises. Contributions to the RRF are voluntary and not a requirement for continued membership of the Alliance.

In addition to the operating forces themselves, the JRRF may also call upon a Gendarmerie Force (Military Police) for security and stabilisation operations, and Special Forces (SF) who act as the "tip of the spear". The nation of the C-in-C typically contributes both during their tenure.

Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) collects, evaluates, and disseminates vital information on political, military, economic, scientific, and other developments worldwide on behalf of the Alliance.

The Central Intelligence Agency is headed by a Director of Intelligence, who has a Deputy Director reporting to him. In addition to intelligence collection, the agency has responsibility for coordination between elements of intelligence or security services of foreign governments or international organizations on all matters involving intelligence acquired through clandestine means.

Free World Alliance International Police Agency

The International Police Agency (IPA) or "Interpol" is not a uniformed force and exists to facilitate international police cooperation among the Member States of the Alliance through the sharing of information. It is charged with investigating criminal and organised crime, narcotics production and drug smuggling, slavery and human trafficking, arms smuggling, counter terrorism, money laundering, child pornography, white-collar crime, computer crime, and corruption. It has bureaus in each Member State where it provides access to its massive database to local law enforcement agencies.

Office Holders of the Free World Alliance

Chairperson of the Governing Council:
Command-in-Chief of the Joint Rapid Reaction Force:
Second-in-Command of the Joint Rapid Reaction Force:
Director of Intelligence of the Central Intelligence Agency: Pinguinum
Deputy Director of Intelligence of the Central Intelligence Agency: Bredford
High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy:
Officer of Statistics: The People's Nation of Alfegos

Free World Alliance