SO 2018-07 Ratification and Authority of Foreign Treaties Act

WE, the PARLIAMENT OF THE UNION, do hereby ENACT, as follows;-

Part I: Definitions
§1 – For the purposes of this Act, a “regional government” is defined as the institution or institutions recognized by the Union as representing the legitimate structure of authority of a specific region on NationStates.
 
§2 – For the purposes of this Act, a “treaty” is defined as a document in the form of an agreement or contract made between two or more regional governments.
 
Part II: General Provisions
§3 – Treaties, properly and formally signed by the Union with other regional governments, are binding in the Union with the force of laws passed by Parliament.
 
§4 – The Union may never sign a treaty with a regional government representing a force that is currently occupying the Union in violation of its integrity, as defined by the Constitution and Law of the Union, unless the provisions of that treaty provide for the immediate end of such occupation.
 
(1) If a force represented by a regional government with which the Union has signed a treaty or several treaties occupies the Union in such a violation of its integrity, the Union must, as soon as is possible and practical, withdraw its signature from the treaty or treaties concerned, unless it is amended to provide for the immediate end of such occupation.
 
Part III: The President
§5 – The President and his office are given exclusive authority to formally negotiate on behalf of the Union with other regional governments on the subject of treaties.
 
§6 – The President may express an intent to enter in formal negotiations with another or several other regional government(s) on the subject of signing a treaty with such regional government(s), in a formal communication to the Union Cabinet and Parliament specifying the envisioned subject of the potential treaty and the regional governments concerned.
 
§7 – Having duly executed §6, the President and his office may formally negotiate on behalf of the Union with other regional governments on the parameters around the possibly signature of a treaty between the regional governments concerned.
 
(1) However, the President must inform the other regional governments involved in such negotiations that his signature of any treaty or treaties is non-binding until duly ratified by the Union Parliament.
 
§8 – The President may sign a treaty, not having been ratified by the Parliament in its final wording, at any point, but not in a way such as would be interpreted as a definitive signature.
 
(1) The President may not formally sign any treaty which prohibits the Union from withdrawing its signature from the said treaty.
 
(2) If the President does nonetheless formally sign a treaty which prohibits the Union from withdrawing its signature from the said treaty, he may be accused of a Civil Offense under SO#2017-14 (“On Judicial Rights and Procedures”), and the signature of the said treaty is invalid, the provisions of that treaty thereby not having any binding force on the Union or any of its institutions.
 
(3) If the signature of any treaty is duly found to be invalid, the Founder must communicate the provisions of §8.2 to the other regional governments having signed the treaty in question.
 
§9 – Having signed a treaty, the President must then formally communicate that fact to the Union Cabinet and Parliament in the same manner as he communicated his intent to enter in negotiations.
 
§10 – If the Parliament fails to pass an Act ratifying a treaty by the procedure defined by §14, the President must immediately inform the regional governments involved in the treaty of the withdrawal of the Union’s signature from the treaty concerned.
 
§11 – If at any point in time the ratification of a treaty signed by the Union is repealed, but not otherwise, the President may and must inform the regional governments involved in the treaty of the withdrawal of the Union’s signature from the treaty concerned, within seven (7) days of the repeal of the ratification of such treaty.
 
Part IV: The Cabinet
§12 – Upon receiving a formal communication as outlined in §6, the Cabinet may formulate a formal recommendation on the subject of the envisioned treaty negotiations, to be communicated to the President and/or Union Parliament by the Leader of Parliament for their consideration.
 
(1) Such a recommendation is not binding.
 
Part V: The Parliament
§13 – Upon receiving a formal communication as outlined in §6, the Parliament may regularly call upon the President and Government to answer questions about the state negotiations.
 
§14 – Having received a formal communication of the signature of a treaty as outlined in §9, the Parliament must pass an Act within two (2) months, after having obligatorily consulted its Development and Management Committees, and the Minister of War, which ratifies and adopts the exact text of the treaty concerned that was provided by the President, or else the signature of the treaty concerned must be dropped as per §10.
 
(1) Such an Act must, as usual, receive the signature of the President before it becomes law, though in the event of a Presidential veto, the Parliament may still pass it with the requisite two thirds (⅔) majority of Senators in favor.
 
§15 – At any point in time, the Parliament may repeal an Act which ratified and adopted a treaty which was then subsequently signed by the President on behalf of the Union.
 
Part VI: Final Provisions
§16 – This Act may be referred to as “[The] Ratification and Approval of Foreign Treaties Act [2018]”, or as “[The] R.A.F.T.A. [2018]”.


January 1, 2018
The Right Honorable Leader of Parliament, the Baron Abdoa, MP LSM GSM
The Right Honourable Minister of Jurisprudence Lord Libertarian Democracy, RO MP LSM GSM

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Debate Scheduled 23 - 24 January 2018

Debate has concluded; please go vote!