An Act
To fully enshrine the processes of citizenship in the Union’s legal code

Introduced to the General Assembly of the Union of Democratic States on the twenty seventh of June 2020.

Sponsored by Dome artan

APPRECIATING the rights granted to citizens by the Constitution in Article 1: Fundamental Right;

NOTING the Constitutional definition of a citizen in Article 2 Section 1.1 that defines citizens as “residents who have obtained citizenship”;

CONCERNED that following this clause there is no legally established process for obtaining citizenship in the Union of Democratic States;

ACKNOWLEDGING the de facto nature of the Citizenship Counter and the corresponding Citizenship Roster as maintained by the Ministry of the Census;

BELIEVING these widely accepted practices should be relieved of their status as de facto procedures and be fully enshrined as de jure procedures,

THE FOLLOWING IS ENACTED AS LAW:

Section I: Definitions

1. The Oath is the official statement of allegiance to the Union of Democratic States and is cited as follows: "I, [nation], do solemnly swear that I bear true allegiance to the Union of Democratic States, that I will faithfully obey and have read the laws and Constitution of the Union, and that I will never deceive, disrespect, damage, or otherwise neglect the Union of Democratic States."

2. The “Applicant” is the resident nation that is applying or has applied for citizenship in the Union of Democratic States.

3. The “Ministry of the Census” is the permanent ministry designated by the President as responsible for the management of citizenship applications of which the Minister of the Census is the head.

Section II: Application Process

1. The Applicant must post a thread to the Citizenship Counter board of the Welcome Center on the Forum.

2. The thread must answer all the questions of the Citizenship Application Template pinned in the Citizenship Counter.

3. The Applicant must additionally correctly state the Oath, substituting [nation] for the relevant resident nation name, failure to do so shall result in an invalid application.

Section III: Citizenship Application Template

1. The Citizenship Application Template must inquire as to the Applicant’s nation, must include the Oath and must inquire as to the Applicant’s other nations.

2. Any section or sections of the Citizenship Application Template may be altered, expanded or omitted by the executive at the behest of the President except those mandated in Section 3.1.

3. If the Applicant is found to have not disclosed all the information required in the Citizenship Application Template they may be guilty of Fraud as defined by the Criminal Code Act.

Section IV: Requirements for Approval

1. The Applicant must not have been found guilty of crimes which the Union considers as High Crimes per the Criminal Code Act.

2. The Applicant must have and maintain a nation in the Union of Democratic States on NationStates.

3. The executive branch may also exercise the authority to deny an Applicant citizenship for reasons not included here.

4. If the Applicant is denied citizenship under Section 4.3 the executive is responsible for clearly indicating the reasoning that has resulted in a failed application by the Applicant.

5. Applications can not be approved within 3 days of any election period being opened and throughout the election period.

6. The Applicant may appeal a denial of citizenship under 4.3 to the Supreme Court of the Union of Democratic States. The denial can be overturned by unanimous decision by the Supreme Court.

Section V: Approval Procedure

1. The President and the Minister of the Census may approve applications that are submitted in full accordance with Section 2.

2. This authority may be extended to Deputy Ministers of the Census by explicit permission of the President or the Minister of the Census.

3. Approval of citizenship shall be accomplished by posting a reply to the Applicant’s posted thread in the Citizenship Counter.

4. The posted reply must explicitly state the approval of citizenship to be considered fulfilling Section 5.3.

5. Additionally the executive must formally notify the Applicant on NationStates of the approval of their application.

Section VI: Record Keeping

1. An accurate record of the Union of Democratic States’ Citizenship Roster must be maintained by the Ministry of the Census at all times and be publicly accessible.

2. The roster must contain every approved Applicant’s nation name, Forum name and a link to their approved application.

3. Other information as deemed relevant by the executive may be included in the roster.

4. If the Applicant is unable to continue to meet the citizenship requirements they are to be distinguished as inactive citizens on the roster. They should not be removed from the roster.

Section VII: Retention of Citizenship

1. If at any point either of Section 4.1 and Section 4.2 are not met by the Applicant, their citizenship is to be considered inactive and all benefits associated with citizenship withheld.

2. If Section 4.2 is not met by a member of the Union of Democratic States’ regional government the withholding of the benefits of citizenship shall be delayed 48 hours for the situation to be remedied, if it is not remedied in the stated time period the position shall be considered vacant.