A Moment in Time: The Abolishment of the Consilium de Civitate

[Shankbot de Bodemloze]

On the 10th March 2014 the Abolish CdeC Amendment was passed.

Background:

On the 19th February 2014 at 15:25 GMT Squid, a Citizen of the Curia, proposed an amendment titled "CdeC no long decides on citizenship" which would change the Constitution to allow all Citizens to vote and post in Citizenship application threads as well as the 12 elected members of the Consilium de Civitate (CdeC). Citizenship applications would still take place in the Quaestiones Perpetuae forum but all Citizens would be able to post in it^{[citation needed]}. In this initial amendment the CdeC would remain as the elected body that dealt with Staff and Citizen referrals and the elections would continue to take place.

However after discussion there was a question as to whether or not the CdeC should remain to handle disciplinary cases and Stealthfox, a Citizen of the Curia, suggested "How about having a citizens triumvirate consisting of the curator and both magistrates, and they can privately review disciplinary cases. I think that would work really well." This suggestion was adopted by Squid and incorporated into the Amendment which was re-written and discussed numerous times to remove the CdeC and have disciplinary cases handled by the Curator and the elected Magistrates. After further discussion the amendment was requested to be moved to vote on the 3rd March 2014 at 03:18 GMT and the voting began at 06:25 GMT of the same day - controversially the vote was requested to be made public upon conclusion at the request of the proposer, an unusual practice which was met with some opposition.

After 7 days the voting was concluded with 58 Citizens voting in favour, 26 voting against, and 4 choosing to Abstain, and thus the bill was passed. Historically the proposal featured a high number of votes.

Constitution Changes:

Below are the Constitutional changes as proposed in the Amendment. There have been minor formative changes, but no contextual changes. This is the final version of the proposal per this thread.

Changes to Section II Article II

Originally Posted by Section II Article II Election Votes When a Curial Election is required, the Curator shall open an application thread in the Curia and the Curator shall post an announcement in any relevant forum. Applicants for the vacant position must post their reasons for wishing to hold the position and any relevant qualifications in the application thread. Any comments, debates or off topic posting shall be deleted. The thread shall remain open for one week. The Hexagon Council may veto applicants, and should more than six members apply for any position, may shortlist six members to stand for the election. Once applications are complete, the Curator shall open a poll in the Curia Votes and sticky the thread. The vote shall last for one week, and the member who receives the plurality of votes shall be elected. Where more than one of the same position is vacant, the procedure is the same, and the members with the highest votes are elected. In the case of ties, a run off vote is held between the tied members lasting 3 days. Where the election is for the vacant position of Curator, all candidates must meet the requirements of CdeCMagistrate applications. A debate thread shall be opened at the same time as the application thread in the main Curia by the Curator for Curia members to question candidates on their election. Non-candidates may post in this thread but all posts must be directing a relevant question or questions towards the candidates. Candidates may post as much as needed in this thread. The debate thread shall be closed at the end of the elections. Votes of No Confidence At any time, any Citizen of Total War Center may initiate a Vote of No Confidence in any member holding a position elected by the Curia, or in any individual who is responsible for managing some part of the site. A VoNC may only be initiated for neglect of duty or abuse of authority. Frivolous use of this procedure shall be considered grounds for CdeCCurial disciplinary proceedings. VoNCs are exempt from veto. A VoNC against an elected member results in that member's immediate demotion, while other VoNCs are non-binding. The debate and vote on a Vote of No Confidence shall follow the same procedure as that of a bill as per Section II, Article III. In the event that a current member of the CdeCMagistrate wins an election for the position of Curator, they will then beare required to immediately resign their CdeC seatas Magistrate. The new occupant of the vacated CdeC seatA new Magistrate will be selected as per Section II, Articles II& V.

Changes to Section II Article IV

Originally Posted by Section II Article IV Article IV. Disciplinary ProcedureThe Consilium de Civitates The Consilium de CivitatesCitizens Triumvirate manages the granting and removal of all Curia Ranks by voting. The Consilium de Civitates may also function as an advisory body to the staff of TWC in matters concerning the Curia and its Citizens. Membership The full membership comprises of: The current sitting Magistrates The Curator, who maymust take part in all Consilium de CivitatesCitizens Triumvirate discussions, and has the deciding vote only in the case of a tie. The Curator has veto powers over any Consilium de Civitates decision Hexagon members, who may discuss all matters within the Consilium de CivitatesPolitia Forum, but have no vote. Elected members of the Consilium de CivitatesThe Magistrates and the Curator must actively participate in discussions and votes. Hexagon members' participation is optional. Elections Consilium de Civitates members are elected as per Article II, Section II for three months, with the added requirements that that they currently have no active staff warnings and that for the period of three months prior to the commencement of the elections they have; held their rank as citizen, and received no warnings from the Consilium de Civitates. Applicants who do not meet these requirements will be invited to withdraw by the Curator by PM detailing on what criteria they failed. Should the notified candidate fail to satisfy the Curator that they do indeed meet the criteria for application they will be removed from consideration by the Curator prior to the shortlisting of candidates for election. At the time of removal the candidates failed criteria will be placed in the application thread for public scrutiny. If a member of the Consilium de Civitates leaves office for any reason before the expiration of their term, the vacant position may be filled by Curator appointment. The Curator may appoint a Citizen that ran in the immediate previous election or a Staff Member who otherwise fits the requirements for the position. The appointment shall expire with the positions that are next up for election when a replacement member will be elected to serve the remainder of the term. If choosing from a pool of election candidates, any vacant positions will be filled in decreasing order of time remaining on the term starting from the next highest vote recipient after those who are elected to full terms. The Curator should take appropriate and reasonable actions within the guidelines set out above to ensure that the Consilium de Civitates remains at full strength. Removal from Office A Consilium de Civitates member may resign from office, or can be removed from office by a majority vote of the elected councillors, such a vote being triggered by any of the following: Incurring a warning level of one Incurring two cautions in the space of three months Incurring a Consilium de Civitates warning Incurring two Consilium de Civitates notes in the space of three months Prolonged inactivity, as decided by a simple majority vote in the Consilium de Civitates Upon conclusion of a vote to remove a councilor the proceedings shall be made public. Voting Procedure All votes conducted by The Consilium de Civitatesthe Citizens Triumvirate shall list the vote option chosen by each voting member.

Changes to Section III Article II

Originally Posted by Section III Article II Article II. Patronisation Any Citizen holding their rank for three months can patronise a Peregrinus for citizenship subject to the requirements in Article I above. The process of patronisation is as follows. The patron confirms the candidate meets the requirements, OR a candidate meeting the requirements contacts a Citizen asking for patronage. The nominee sends the patron a PM explaining his duties and privileges as a Citizen, and his contributions to the community. In the case that the nominee wishes his citizenship application to be public:The patron posts this paragraph, along with his own, outlining why he nominated this member, in a new thread in the Quaestiones Perpetuae forum. Transparency of the Quaestiones Perpetuae forum is limited to Citizens only. If the nominee wishes his citizenship application to remain private, the patron sends the paragraph, along with his own, outlining why he nominated this member, to either the Curator or a member of the Consilium de Civitate. The application itself will then be posted in the Politia. After two days have passed the Curator adds a Poll lasting for five days. If the nominee achieves sixty per cent of the non-abstaining votes and at least two-thirds of all CdeC members voted, he becomes a Citizen. In exceptional circumstances, tThe period of discussion can be extended at the behest of Councilors anddiscretion of the Curator, to comply with the voting requirements or otherwiseprovided he explains his action. The Curator informs the candidate and patron of the result. If the candidate does not pass, the Curator includes the date at which they may re-apply. If the candidate passes, the Curator promotes the member to Citizen. After the conclusion of the vote, if the examination was private the applicant can make it public by PMing the Curator. If a nominee fails his vote, he is not eligible to be considered again for one month after the conclusion of the traditional seven day processing period. Members of the CdeCCitizens must not voteneither vote nor post in applications of members they patronizse.

Changes to Section III Article IV

Originally Posted by Section III Article IV Article IV. The Curator The Curator shall be elected by the procedure in Section 2 Article 2, with the addition that the Curator shall post the mandate for the job in the Qualifications thread. The Curator shall hold office for a period of three months from the day the individual is elected. If the Curator is absent (has not logged into the site) for 7 days without giving notice of an absence, or if the Curator is absent for more than 15 days regardless of notice, or if the Curator resigns, the Curator is automatically removed from office along with any appointed staff. Any decisions of this office shall be held over until a replacement is elected. Where such a decision is time-limited, time from the moment the office of the Curator is removedempty shall not count towards the limit and will continue only from when a new Curator is elected. When the office of the Curator has been removedis empty the Magistrate whose term is closest to completion will organize the election for a new curator., the CdeC shall appoint a Pro-Curator. The Pro-Curator shall be the longest serving current elected CdeC member. Where multiple members were elected on the same day, the Pro-Curator shall be the member with the highest number of votes in the CdeC election. Should the qualifying CdeC member intend to stand for Curator, the said individual may not become Pro-Curator and the next longest serving member is appointed. The Pro-Curator shall carry out any outstanding tasks of the Curator that should have been done during the time the Curator was absent. During the Curator's absense, the Pro-Curator's duties shall be limited to organising any election proceedings for vacant Curial posts and organising any required CdeC polls. Once a new Curator is elected, the Pro-Curator shall resume duties in the CdeC. If, in the judgement of the Consilium de Civitates, the Curator has neglected the duties of the office or abused the position, it may dismiss the Curator and arrange new elections. The procedure to remove the curator is the same as that to remove a councilor. The Curator is responsible for ensuring the Curia's day-to-day tasks get done. Upon entering office the Curator must officially appoint at least one Citizen to fulfill the Curator's role on a planned or unplanned absence, and should the Curator wish, to assist with day to day tasks. No matter who carries out the tasks assigned to the Curator, the Curator is the one responsible for seeing that they are done promptly and correctly.

Changes to Section IV

Originally Posted by Section IV Section IV - The Judiciary Article I. Citizen's Behavior The suspension and removal of a Rank is handled by the Citizen's TriumvirateConsilium de Civitates via the following disciplinary process. No Citizen may be subject to more than one process for a single post. Procedure If any Citizen receives a staff warning from a moderator they will be referred to the Citizen's TriumvirateConsilium de Civitates for potential action. The Moderation Overseers will appoint one of themselves to keep track of Citizen's infractions and promptly forward any new ones to the Curator for posting. The accused will then be asked by the Curator to produce a defence within ninty six hours. At the request of the accused, the Curator shall also accept materials provided on behalf of the accused. Also such materials by the accused or on behalf of the accused shall be posted up and until the first poll voting is concluded and must be considered by Citizen's TriumvirateCdeC in the second poll if such a poll is required. At the conclusion of this period, regardless of whether a defence has been received, a vote shall be opened by the Curator to conclude after four days. The options are: Dismiss the Case Take Further Action Abstain If the Citizen's TriumvirateCdeC vote to take further action, The Curator shall open a second poll for four days. The options are: CurialCdeC Note: Censure CurialCdeC Warning: Suspension of rank for 1 week Suspension of rank for 2 weeks Suspension of rank for 1 month Suspension of rank for 2 months Removal of Rank No CurialCdeC Penalty: Abstain A simple majority of non abstaining members is required for the vote to pass. In the case of a disciplinary action vote, the option with the highest number of votes is the action taken. Where two options have the same number of votes, the action taken is determined by multiple transferable vote. If a Citizen is referred by another Citizen, the process is the same, except that the warning is substituted for the referrer's accusation, and the defendant shall receive an anonymous copy of the accusation from the Curator. At the conclusion of the process, the Curator informs the referred member of the result, and asks whether the member wants the case to be made public or kept private. Cases made public are moved to the Antechamber, viewable by all members; private cases are kept in the Politia, viewable only to the CdeC. A Rank may not be removed except by the procedure outlined in this Article. Divus, Opifex and Phalera awards may only be removed by a Decision of the Curia or by the request of the rank holder. Members of the Citizen's TriumvirateCdeC must neither post nor vote in their own disciplinary cases. Article II. Tribunal To defend the rights of Members, and to ensure fair and just punishment towards those who violate the laws of TWC, a Tribunal shall be established. The purpose of the Tribunal is to provide those members of TWC who have been punished in the past by the Moderation Branch a place to request the reversal of their punishment. This is in no way a guarantee that the punishment will be removed, but every case presented will be reviewed by a panel of three judges. Members may create a thread in the Tribunal Forum, The Judges will study the case details, and may request any additional information on the member from the Senior Moderators. The Judges will then post the majority decision. The Judges are not tasked to decide the appropriateness or validity of a Forum Rule of Term of Service, and may only rule on whether the Term was correctly enforced and the punishment suitable for the offence. Article III. Judges To serve on the Tribunal, a panel of Tribunes is appointed by the Hexagon Council. Tribunes can only be drawn from the ranks of those with at least a Silver Moderator's Mace or from those who have served as Magistrate for at least one term. In addition, two Magistrates shall be elected, for 3 month terms, by the procedure in Section II, Article II. Applicants cannot have received an infraction, or a Curial Warning in at least one year and must have been citizens for at least 3 months. Magistrates cannot serve consecutive terms. Magistrates rotate as acting Tribunes, each voting on one of every two cases. Should a Tribune recuse himself or there is a tie between Tribunes, the other Magistrate respectively votes in their stead or is called to break the tie. Magistrates are terminated by a unanimous vote of the Tribunes.

This amendment required forum changes.

Overview of Forum Changes:

• Move Questiones Perpetuae from CdeC to Curia Votes
• Change permission on Questiones Perpetuae to allow Full Members to view
• Move Citizens Antechamber to Curia Archive
• Move Politia to Curia Main forum
• Removal of various CdeC forums that are no longer needed, and threads to be kept are moved to the Politia