SO 2016-20 Publications Act 2016

An Act to regulate publications of decisions made by public bodies

CONSIDERING that publications do currently not have to be published in a specific manner;

BELIEVING that the publication of decisions made by public bodies is a right of Our Citizens, as they have the right to know what their bodies are doing;

CONSIDERING that there is a place for such publications on the NationStates Forums (The International Gazette);

BELIEVING that, by publicising decisions of Our public bodies, we can not only notify Our fellow Members, but also increase the focus and attention of other NationStates users to Our Region, and thus that the activity and membership of Our Region may rise;

BE IT ENACTED by and with the advice and consent of Parliament, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-

Article 1
Decisions made by Parliament, the President, any Minister (including the Prime Minister), or any body that is established by Act of Parliament, shall place a notification in the International Gazette on the NationStates Forums.

Article 2
The announcement of a decision regarding any Member of Our Region, not holding any office at that moment, does not have to be published in the International Gazette. Announcements of any decisions regarding any Member of Our Region, holding any office at that moment, but tho whom the announcement is directed to him or her and not the holder of that office, does not have to be published in the International Gazette unless otherwise stated by the President or Prime Minister.

Article 3
The following decisions have to be published:

1) Passage of Bills of Parliament into Acts of Parliament;
2) Decisions that dissolve or establish a (Member of) Parliament;
3) Decisions that resign or create a Cabinet Minister, including the Prime Minister, President, Founder, or any officeholder with administrative powers;
4) Decisions that confer an honour, a title, a style, et cetera upon any Member of Our Region.

Article 4
Parliament, by a simple majority vote, may also decide that decisions require publication somewhere else other than in the International Gazette.

5th December 2016
Nassau-Windsor, Senator

This bill us great

I support this bill. A news thread on the NS forums could bring some attention and recognition to our region. However, I completely disagree with Article 2. All actions of the Government and Legislature are already public domain. Article 2 would only serve to impede the effectiveness of the Government/Legislature.

I also support this bill except article 2

I will support this bill if and when Article II, which I believe superfluous and unconstitutional, is removed.

Agreed

Well, the only thing I would say to that is that this is what nations and international organizations have written down in their constitutional law as well. And by nations I do not mean just simply the nations of today, but most nations over the world since Hammurabi (1810 BC - 1750 BC).

The reason for this is, that it cannot be expected from citizens (Members) to know the [update of the] law if there has not been any notification. Therefore, the law is presumed to have no effect until it has been publicized. Because: how could one possible follow the rules when one does not know whether there are rules, and if so, what the rules are?

So this is why I included article 2.

I will give you the opportunity to react first before I would like to edit the Bill as of right now.

The forums are public domain. Any post here, including this conversation, and all former and current bills, passed or not, can bee seen by anyone, registered or not. In effect, every single post on this forum is published, therefore every single bill is published.

I second LibDem on this. I think that by the very nature of our forum being written into our Constitution as the place of government activity, we are already being obliged to publish things in an accessible location, in the public domain as LibDem pointed out. I find that requiring everything to be in addition published in the IG just adds a superfluous level to the government process. And in any case, someone who doesn't want to look at the forum won't want to look at the IG either. They're equally accessible.

Well, LibDem, in such a way you are right. I will edit Article 2 out and renumber the Bill.

I see both sides of the argument here, but just want it to be known I will vote yes on this bill whether Article II is present in the final draft or not.

One more thing. I propose that you write in to the bill that it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Communications to maintain the publication thread.

Libertarian Democracy wrote:One more thing.  I propose that you write in to the bill that it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Communications to maintain the publication thread.

I would tend to say that this is somewhat impractical. Surely, It is very handy when one and the same official maintains the regional publications in The International Gazette, however, we also have to bear in mind that the branches of government are separated.

So, if a decision is made within the Cabinet (or even the whole of the executive branch for that matter), it seems arguable that the Minister would have such powers. But what if the King of Arms will grant someone the LSM by virtue, should the KoA or the Minister then place the notice (given that the Minister has neither de facto nor de jure anything to do with the award). The same can be said when a vote in Parliament has been held. In my opinion, the Chair of Parliament should announce the outcome of the vote in the Gazette, not the Minister (because the executive should not interfere with legislative matters).

Thus, I propose that the officeholder that is in charge of the matter that must be notified, should also make the notification. Of course the offices can make agreements on who will place the notification, but I would say that such is the privilege of the offices themselves to decide upon...

I think Nassau has a very good point here. We don't need to make everything set in stone: there should be leeway for practicality.

Good point; I agree.

Considering that several Senators have expressed their support for this Bill, I would ask the Chair to move this Bill to the Debate Hall.

Why ask the Chair? Watch me magically make it happen!

*says "I co-sponsor this bill"*

Sorry for the delay, but since the Constitution still says we can only debate one bill at a time, I couldn't pass it on until now.

Abdoa wrote:Sorry for the delay, but since the Constitution still says we can only debate one bill at a time, I couldn't pass it on until now.

Actually, SO 2016-9 says otherwise.

SO 2016-9 was never passed by the region membership: it's a constitutional amendment.