SO 2017-74 Regional Language Act Voting

ARTICLE I: Preface

§1. We, the Parliament of the Union, in order to clarify the means of communication, hereby move to establish the legal status of minority languages.

§2. This document may be cited as “[The] Regional Language Act 2017”.

Article II: Minority languages:

§3. A language other than English may receive the legal status as an “Official Minority Language” (hereby mentioned as “OML”) if one or more speaker(s) send in an application to the Minister of Communications that can prove that the language fulfills these criteria:
1. The language is used by at least four Members of Our Region at the time of application.
2. At least four (4) users of the language request it to be recognized as a minority language, by signing the application.  

§4. The Minister of Communications may not dismiss or deny an OML application that fulfills the criteria specified in Article IV, §9 of this document.

§5. An OML shall have equal rights as English to be used in non-official types of communication, such as;
A) On Our Region's Regional Message Board;
B) On Our Forum;
C) On Our Discord-server.

§6. Two (2) members of parliament, may at any time, but not more than once per two months request that the status of an OML be reconsidered by the Minister of Communications, in order to determine if the OML still fulfills the criteria of Article IV, §3 of this document.

§7. An OML that no longer fulfill the criteria of Article IV, §3, after the proceedings of §6, will be removed as an OML and lose the rights associated with status mentioned in §5.

§8. Members of parliament are not obligated to initiate a request in accordance with, §6.

ARTICLE III: Department of Language

§9. A "Department of Language" is to be created within the Ministry of Communications. Our Founder shall create, within fourteen (14) days of the implementation of this Act, a forum subcategory with the name of the Department. If Our Founder is not able to create the forum subcategory, it shall be proper for any other administrator on Our Forum to do so.

§10. The position of Language official (hereby mentioned as “LO”) is to be created under the Department of Language.

§11. The Minister of Communications shall appoint an LO for each OML, to aid in determining if an OML is used by the members of the Union, in accordance with Regional laws, as well as Nationstates rules.

§12. An LO must be proficient in the OML they are appointed to.

§13. The Minister of Communications may appoint the same LO for more than one OML if §18 is fulfilled.

§14. The Minister of Communications may at their desecration dismiss an LO from their position.

§15. If an LO cannot be appointed within seven (7) days of an OML gaining its status, or after the resignation of a previous LO, the rights, mentioned in §3, of the OML, shall be temporarily suspended until an LO has been appointed for the OML.

§16. The LO is obligated to report to the Minister of Jurisprudence or the Office of the Union Prosecutor, at the earliest possible moment, if a member uses an OML to violate Regional laws or Nationstates rules.

§17. The Minister of Communications is within the Department of language responsible for creating a separate forum thread for each OML, that shall contain;

– The date, that the OML legally was approved and gained its status. – The name of the currently responsible LO.– Dates for appointments and dismissals of LOs. – The current status of the OML; Active/Suspended. 

§18 The thread mentioned in §17 shall be removed from the forum if an OML loses its status in accordance with §5.

Article IV: Conclusion

§19. We, the Parliament of the Union, hereby enact the above positions as law and order them to be executed by the president within thirty (30) days of the assent of this document.

October 4, 2017
The Hon. Saint Artica and the Nordic Kingdoms, MP
The Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Abdoa, MP LSM GSM
The Rt. Hon. Leader of Parliament Aralunya, MP LSM
The Rt. Hon. Minister of Jurisprudence Libertarian Democracy, MP LSM GSM

Debate scheduled October 4-6, 2017
Vote on amendments October 7-9, 2017, various amendments adopted October 9, 2017
Vote scheduled October 10-14, 2017

Abdoa votes in favor of the bill.

Aralunya votes in favor.

Saint Artica and the N.K votes in favor.

LibDem votes in favor.

Nassau-Windsor votes in favour of the bill.

The vote is closed, and the results are as follows:

Voting: 5 (Senators Abdoa, Aralunya, Saint Artica and the Nordic Kingdoms, Libertarian Democracy, and Nassau-Windsor)
Absent: 4 (Senators Hashkin, Lhistonia, Sepharich, and Thomolia)
Majority: 5 votes in favor required to pass

In favor: 5 (Senators Abdoa, Aralunya, Saint Artica and the Nordic Kingdoms, Libertarian Democracy, and Nassau-Windsor)
In opposition: 0
In abstention: 0

The bill has PASSED and is sent to the President for assent or veto.

I give my assent.