Great Council

A Great Council is a constitutional convention called in the South Pacific to significantly alter existing laws.

Procedure

The procedure of Great Councils is laid out in the Charter of the Coalition of the South Pacific.

Great Council of 2003

In August 2003, tensions arose on the Regional Message Board, with the nation Casalanario criticizing the Charter and the off-site community. Slackervania announced a Great Council on 20 August. The Council was to occur on the onsite forums and hold discussions on amendments to the Charter, election processes, and the role of the Cabinet.

Outcomes

The onsite forum records are lost, but the amended Charter is available here.

Great Council of 2006

Over the course of 2005, Tsrill, with Cabinet approval, worked privately on improvements to the Charter, identifying and resolving inconsistencies in the law. This was brought to the attention of the Council in November 2005, causing debate on if the revision process should be opened up to the public. The resulting Great Council lasted from 6 to 19 January 2006.

Outcomes

• Several offices changed names - the Council of the South Pacific became the Assembly of the South Pacific, the Vice Delegate became the Prime Minister, and all Cabinet Secretaries became Ministers.
• Judicial procedure was codified.
• The Chair of the Assembly was established (initially under the name Chair of the Council) with the responsibilities of running votes and maintaining the law archives.
• The procedure of law-making was codified, setting vote thresholds and giving the Minister of the Region the responsibilities of running votes and maintaining the law archives.
• Treason was made a crime.
• The impeachment process was set out.

Great Council of 2007

In late 2007, a forum server crash destroyed all records of contemporary South Pacifican law. The Great Council of 2007 was proposed as an opportunity to improve and reconstruct the laws of the South Pacific. The Great Council was called by Caer Rialis and lasted from 6 January to 20 January 2007.

Outcomes

As the previous laws were lost it is difficult to determine changes made in this Council. Some votes passed on changes that had previously been made but records were lost.

• The position of Minister of Security was created, combining the roles of Ministers of Defence and Intelligence.
• Term lengths of three months were set. This amendment had already passed, but records were lost in the crash.
• The Charter was confirmed as the supreme document of South Pacifican law. The Ministry of Justice was given the power to declare void any law if it conflicted with the Charter, and a procedure was set out for Judicial Review of laws.
• Breaking forum rules became equivalent to breaking on-site rules.

Great Council of 2010

I can't find any evidence for this outside this thread: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/thespacific/viewtopic.php?p=179658#p179658 and it was mentioned here: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/thespacific/the-great-council-2012-t8490.html#p194925

Great Council of 2012

The Great Council of 2012 was called by Hileville due to contradictions in election laws, overly complicated procedures, and general dissatisfaction. Citizens also hoped that the Great Council would spark legislative activity. The Great Council lasted from 13 February to 6 March 2012. It resulted in judicial changes and general clean-up of the Charter.

Great Council of 2013

The Great Council of 2013 was called by Belschaft to solve issues of contradictory and confusing laws. It lasted from 13 March to 25 April 2013. On 20 April 2013, two days into the voting period, Milograd couped and declared the South Pacific Socialist Republic. He was recalled and replaced by Brutland and Norden, who retook the delegacy on 25 April.

Outcomes

• The position of Minister of Justice was abolished and replaced with the Supreme Court.
• The Committee on State Security (now the Council on Regional Security) was created. The role had previously been filled by multiple vice-delegates; these were reduced to one, formally nominated by the Delegate.
• The South Pacific Army was renamed the New Southern Army.
• The Ministry of Security was renamed to the Ministry of the Army.
• The Election Commission was abolished and its responsibilities given to forum administration.

First Great Council of 2015

The First Great Council of 2015 was called by Tsunamy after a successful delegate run where he campaigned on expanding government responsibilities gameside. The first phase of discussion centred on introducing a bicameral government, and several proposals were made; however, none passed vote. Following these discussions, the Local Council was eventually established in March 2015. The Great Council lasted from 12 January to 24 February 2015.

Outcomes

• A supermajority threshold was set for Great Council amendments; previously, these could be proposed by whoever called the Great Council.
• Citizens were permitted to request release of government threads under the Sunshine Act.
• The Bill of Rights was expanded.
• Court Justices were permitted to join political parties.

Second Great Council of 2015

The Second Great Council of 2015 was initially called by Farengeto, motivated by judicial reform. The Assembly voted against a proposal for the rules of this Great Council, and after disputes on if passing a resolution was necessary to call a Great Council at all, Farengeto withdrew. ProfessorHenn then officially called for the Great Council. It lasted from 12 October to 21 November 2015. Three bills were brought to vote during this Great Council; a bill to remove the Chair of the Assembly from the Cabinet failed, but would later be passed in the Great Council of 2016.

Outcomes

• The Judicial Act was introduced; judges were to be appointed by the Cabinet rather than elected.
• The Regional Officers Act was created.

2016 Great Council

8 March - 26 May 2016

https://tspforums.xyz/forum-248.html

https://tspforums.xyz/thread-3854.html

2022-23 Great Council

31 July 2022 - 28 March 2023