B-006: Aldurian Accession to the Raspur Pact Act, 1680

[Speaker Rejo]

Aldurian Accession to the Raspur Pact Act, 1680
An Act to make provisions for the accession of the Republic of Alduria to SANE (also known as the Raspur Pact); among other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED by the duly elected Parliament of the Republic of Alduria assembled, - 

ARTICLE 1.Citation, Applicability.

1. This Act shall be cited as the Aldurian Accession to the Raspur Pact Act, 1680. 
   
2. This Act shall be applicable to all of the Republic of Alduria. 
   

ARTICLE 2.Recognition of Invitation.

1. The Republic of Alduria recognizes the invitation to join the Raspur Pact extended by the Imperial State of Constancia and its Government, and expresses its most sincere thanks in extending this invitation;
   
2. Article 24 of the SANE Treaty (the Treaty that establishes the Raspur Pact) makes provisions for the legal and lawful invitation of a sovereign state, and that by virtue of Article 2 of this Act, the legal and lawful invitation has been extended.
   

ARTICLE 3.Ratification of the Treaty and effect in the law.

1. The Treaty, a copy of which is present as Schedule I, is hereby ratified and shall have the full and binding effect on the laws of Alduria through this Act. All such implications shall be subject to this Act's enforcement.
   
2. Upon passage of this Act, the Secretary of State shall deposit this instrument of accession and take all other necessary measures to complete the process of joining the Raspur Pact.
   

ARTICLE 4.Commencement, Severability. 

1. This Act shall go into effect immediately upon constitutional passage. 
   
2. The provisions of this act are severable. If any part of this act is declared invalid or unconstitutional, that declaration shall not affect the part which remains. 
   

SCHEDULE I.SANE Treaty / Raspur Pact Treaty.

The Shirerithian, Alexandrian, and Natopian Entente

As agreed upon and proposed by the ministers of the governments of Shireroth, Alexandria, and Natopia united together in friendly congress, the occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of Shireroth, Alexandria, and Natopia are involved, that the Western Hemisphere, that is the continents of Benacia, Cibola, Tapfer, and associated major and minor outlying islands, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future interference by any Other states. We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between Shireroth, Alexandria, and Natopia and those Other states in the world to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their influence to any portion of the Western Hemisphere as dangerous to our collective stability, peace, and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any Other state we have not interfered and shall not interfere. But with the Governments who have declared their independence and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any Other state in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the Western Powers. To further this shared goal Shireroth, Alexandria, and Natopia join together as allied, aligned, and cooperative states under the following provisions.

WE, THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE SIGNATORY NATIONS -
RECOGNISING the necessity for the creation of a new partnership of nations confirming as the basis of their partnership the certitude of adhering to the same set of common beliefs and values that encourage freedom and stability throughout the Western Hemisphere;

SEEKING to preserve freedom for posterity, as well as the common heritage and civilisation of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law;

DESIRING to work together towards the preservation and the establishment of a lasting and strong state of international stability and well-being to Micras;

STRESSING the need to take necessary and effective steps to prevent and remove threats to the peace and stability of our nations, and to work together for the suppression of acts of aggression;

BELIEVING that a strong and real international partnership based on co-operation will include a commitment to working together to solve international problems of a economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character; 

1. The Signatory Nations hereby declare that they undertake to settle any possible international disputes in which they may be involved by peaceful means in such a manner that the international peace and security are not endangered, and to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of this partnership;
   
2. The Signatory Nations will contribute toward the continued development of peaceful and friendly international relations by strengthening their institutions, by bringing about a better understanding of the principles upon which these institutions are founded, and by the continued promotion of stability and well-being.
   
3. The Signatory Nations shall strive to consult together when in the opinion of any of them the territorial integrity, national sovereignty, political independence or security of any of its members is threatened;
   
4. The Signatory Nations hereby pledge that an armed attack against one or more of them shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently agree that in the occurrence of such attack, that each of them shall exercise their right of individual or collective self-defence and assist in concert with the other Signatory Nations to pursue the necessary and proper actions to restore and maintain the security of the threatened and attacked.
   
   1. Where a Signatory Nation is the instigator of an attack on another power that was not in self-defence in the face of an imminent proven threat of attack, no obligation shall exist on the part of other Signatory Nations to intervene except to offer humanitarian assistance and or mediation to the belligerent parties.
      
5. The Signatory Nations pledge to, jointly and separately, maintain and develop their individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack, and to defeat any threat to its security, domestic or foreign through effective self-help and mutual aid;
   
6. The Signatory Nations have agreed to work together to create, under Natopian guidance, an orbital defence force for the better protection of the Western Hemisphere, the swifter detection and interception of unsanctioned weapons of mass destruction and for the defence of Micras and the interests of the Signatory Nations in the wider Atos System against any external force or anomalous phenomena;
   
   1. Except in the aforementioned instance of the interception of inbound threats, the orbital defence force may only be used with the expressed unanimous consent of all the Signatory Nations;
      
7. The Signatory Nations agree to the exchange of sensitive commercial and military technologies within the confines of the Shirerithian Alexandrian and Natopian Entente with the understanding that such exchanges shall be mutually beneficial, reciprocal, adequately compensated and subject to export controls to prohibit the passage of technologies or the product of the application of those technologies outside of the alliance;
   
8. The Signatory Nations pledge to conduct joint maritime exercises to better familiarise their respective armed forces with their allied counterparts;
   Being mindful of the Convention on the Laws of the Seas which states that acts of piracy, boarding with hostile intent, purposeful harm to a person, and purposeful obstruction of transit in International Waters are to be considered intolerable and go against the order and law of the high seas; the Signatory Nations authorises and institutes a Joint Mission which shall be known as the Festival de las Armadas.
   
   1. The objective of the Festival de las Armadas shall be to prevent, detect, deter, disrupt and suppress acts of piracy, sea-based terrorism, armed robbery at sea, and other acts of organized maritime crime by:
      
      1. carrying out patrols;
         
      2. coming to the aid of vessels under piratical attack or other distress at the request of its captain;
         
      3. arresting persons engaged in piratical activity;
         
      4. liberating vessels hijacked by pirates;
         
      5. freeing persons kidnapped or otherwise unlawfully held by pirates;
         
      6. seizing goods taken by pirates to return them to their rightful owner, with the Natopian Supreme Court having the legal role of admiralty court;
         
      7. escorting ships accross the seas at the request of the owner(s).
         
   2. The activities in the preceding Article shall be carried out on the High Seas as well as waters adjacent to "The Green". The Festival de las Armadas may also take out pirate dens in "The Green";
      
   3. The naval forces of the Signatory Nations, participating in the Festival de las Armadas may use, where they encounter force or threat of force by pirates or other aggressor force, such reasonable force as needed to counter that force;
      
   4. The Signatory Nations may, by mutual agreement, terminate the mission of the Festival de las Armadas when they are satisfied that its objectives have been substantially met.
      
9. The Signatory Nations have agreed to establish a Joint Command of the armed forces that by agreement among the Signatory Nations shall be assigned to the Command, which shall function on the basis of jointly established principles. They shall likewise adopt other agreed measures necessary to strengthen their defensive power, in order to protect respective peoples, guarantee the inviolability of their frontiers and territories, and provide defence against possible aggression.
   
   1. The Joint Military Council shall be composed of an equal number of representatives for all Signatory Nations. Representatives shall be appointed by the chief military authority of each Signatory Nation to this treaty. The Joint Military Council shall implement Articles 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 of this agreement. The Council shall have a Chairman elected among themselves who shall preside over its meetings who shall cease to be a representative upon election, with a new representative selected to fill these vacancies. The Chairman shall serve at the pleasure of a majority of the representatives.
      
10. The maritime borders between the States shall be governed with the provisions of the Micras Treaty Organization's Convention on the Laws of the Seas, the Tapfer Treaty and pre-existing bilateral treaties among the Signatory Nations;
    
11. Transit passage is permitted only for private and commercial vessels registered to the States through the reserve zones and territorial waters solely for the purpose of continuous and expeditious travel between one part of the international waters or reserve zone and another;
    
12. Military vessels from of the Signatory Nations are barred from the reserve zones and territorial waters of their fellow Signatory Nations without prior authorisation.
    
13. No systems of burdensome tariffs, taxes, searches, or regulations will be applied to goods or services produced or bought in one Signatory Nation and exported or sold in the others;
    
14. Internal laws regarding prohibition of certain goods or products are not affected by this treaty and the Signatory Nations retain the right to refuse banned goods and products;
    
    1. The Imperial States of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth may opt to not participate in the economic provisions of this treaty by notification to the Imperial Government of Shireroth which is then to notify the Government of the Bovic Empire of the Natopian Nation who shall formally advise the other Signatory Nations of a derogation from the treaty by a Shirerithian Imperial State. No derogation by a Shirerithian Imperial State shall affect the full standing of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth as a Signatory Nation.
       
15. The Signatory Nations shall in their own territory allow the citizens of the other Signatory Nations the right to take on residency, work and study without let or hindrance in accordance with their respective laws;
    
16. Each Signatory Nation may deport a citizen of the other Signatory Nations only if such person has been found guilty in a native court of law of a crime, if such person is by a court of law deemed a reasonable threat to the peace, or if such person is deemed by the Executive to be an agent of the government of the other Signatory Nation and has engaged in espionage;
    
17. In criminal proceedings, a court of law in one Signatory Nation may request to a court of law in the other to extradite any person resident in or citizen of that first Signatory Nation if that resident or citizen has been indicted for a crime. Such request shall be granted unless it is obvious that the alleged crime is political in nature.
    
18. In criminal proceedings, a court of law in one Signatory Nation may request to a court of law in the other to extradite any person resident in that second Signatory Nation if that person has been indicted for a crime. Such request shall be granted only if agreed by the governments of the Signatory Nations concerned.
    
19. The airspace of a Signatory Nation is defined as all air, up to 100km, directly above the Signatory Nation and its territorial water, but not its reserve zone. The airspace of Bencia, Cibola, and Tapfer is open to all other Signatory Nations for commercial and passenger services. This access may be temporarily revoked by a Signatory Nation in national emergencies. Airspace within a Signatory Nation's reserve zone, or international airspace beyond a Power's reserve zone and not included in any other nation's reserve zone may be placed under the air traffic control agency of a Signatory Nation for controlling passenger and cargo planes safely. Military aircraft may not use another Tapfer Power's airspace without prior authorization.
    
20. The Signatory Nations agree upon the principle of expanding the regime of international governance enshrined in the "Tapfer Continental Organization and Standardization Treaty", being an example of modern best practice in the genre, to the other Western Hemisphere continents of Benacia and Cibola.
    
21. Each Signatory Nation declares that none of the international engagements now in force between it and any other of the Signatory Nations or any third State is in conflict with the provisions of this Treaty, and undertakes not to enter into any international engagement in conflict with this Treaty.
    
22. Each Signatory Nation gives to the other full faith and credit to all public acts, records, contracts and judicial proceedings in the field of civil law, including records and documents on marriage, property, titles, death and inheritance, in as much as any act, record, document, contract, proceeding is done according to the law. Executive agreement between the governments of the Signatory Nations may provide for the manner that any act, record, document, contract or proceeding from one contracting party may be validated in the other.
    
23. There shall be a Permanent Commission to implement this agreement, to be composed of a single Plenipotentiary to be appointed by the respective Governments of the Signatory Nations, in accordance with their internal procedures. The Permanent Commission shall elect a High Commissioner, who need not be a Plenipotentiary of the Permanent Commission, but who must be a national of a Signatory Nation, and who shall preside over the meetings of the Permanent Commission. The High Commissioner shall administer the Secretariat, which shall provide administrative and operational support to the Permanent Commission.
    
24. The Signatory Nations may, by unanimous agreement, invite any other Nation in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the peace, stability and security of the Western Hemisphere to accede to this Treaty. Any Nation so invited may become a Signatory Nation to the Treaty by depositing its instrument of accession with the Government of the Bovic Empire of the Natopian Nation. The Natopian Government shall inform each of the Signatory Nations of the deposit of each such instrument of accession.
    
25. This Treaty shall be ratified by its Signatory Nations and its provisions carried out by them in accordance with their respective constitutional processes and requirements. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited as soon as possible with the Government of the Bovic Empire of the Natopian Nation, which will notify all other signatories of each deposit. The Treaty shall enter into force between the Nations which have ratified it as soon as the acts of ratification of Shireroth, Natopia and Alexandria have been deposited and shall come into effect with respect to other Nations on the date of the deposit of their act of ratification.
    
26. Any time after the Treaty has been in force for at least one (1) year, any of the Signatory Nations may call for the collective review of the Treaty, having regard for the factors then affecting the peace and security of their nations, the defence of the common values of the Western Hemisphere.
    
27. Any Signatory Nation, after having been a Signatory Nation for six (6) months, may withdraw from the Treaty and end its commitment and involvement in the Shirerithian Alexandrian and Natopian Entente. The Government of the withdrawing Signatory Nation must deposit a notice of withdrawal with the Government of the Bovic Empire of the Natopian Nation, which will inform the Governments of the other Signatory Nations of the deposit of each notice of denunciation.
    
28. This Treaty shall be deposited in the archives of the Government of the Bovic Empire of the Natopian Nation, with duly certified copies transmitted by that Government to the Governments of other signatories.
    

Signed for ShirerothZir Magnificus, Dominus Thorgils Tarjeisson Einhorn Ettlingar Verion
Kaiser of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth

Signed for Alexandria:Jaime Augustin Joaquin Primo de Aguilar
First Consul and Third Consul
Empire of the Alexandrians


Signed for Natopia:Her Imperial Highness, Asara Sisu, Princess of Natopia
Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Chamberlain of the Court of the Calm Waters

 

Parliament will now come to order to consider this bill, presented by the Prime Minister on behalf of the Government. 

The Chair now recognizes The Prime Minister.

[Alfonso Velez]

Madam Speaker,

As members of Parliament will know, I have been a proponent of maintaining a great degree of neutrality and have resisted the idea of formally joining the Raspur Pact. It has been my view that Alduria must remain above the international fray and not become entangled with foreign engagements. Unfortunately Madam Speaker, this neutrality has been threatened by the aggression by The Iron Company against Aldurian interests and our allies. I have made the difficult determination that we can no longer remain on the sidelines and that it is in the best interests of the Republic that we join the Raspur Pact so that we can come together in strength to restore order and peace.

There are difficult times in the life of a public servant where we must subjugate our own personal beliefs when they are outweighed by the best interests of the Republic. I have come to conclude that this is such a time--and therefore I have made the determination that we ought to join the Raspur Pact in order to strengthen our alliance with our allies and have the assurances of mutual military support to defend against any acts of aggression.

I know that there will be many here--especially in my own party--who will have principled and sincere objections to this. I respect these objections. This is a difficult call for many--but I believe this is the right call. In respect of the beliefs of many of my colleagues, my party will not be whipping this vote and will consider it a conscience vote. I encourage all other parties to do the same, and respectfully commend this legislation to Parliament.

[Speaker Rejo]

The Chair now opens the floor for general debate. All members may offer debate or amendments at this time. Debate shall last for no less than 48 hours.

[Alfonso Velez]

Roberto Perlas, a L&D MP, rises to speak in opposition to the bill:

Madam President,

I respectfully rise to oppose this legislation. I respect the difficult decision that the Prime Minister is in. I applaud him for doing the right thing and making this a free vote of conscience for all L&D members. I know that he has struggled with this decision. I regret to say that I believe he's made the wrong one by concluding that we need to join the Raspur Pact. 

This party ran on the platform of avoiding entanglements in foreign affairs that don't relate to our national interests. While I agree with the Prime Minister that the threat of The Iron Company against the Florian Republic and our interests warrants our intervention--non-militarily if at all possible and militarily only as a last resort--I do not believe that joining the Raspur Pact is consistent with our platform and beliefs.

The underlying problem with the Raspur Pact is that if we join it, we will be holden to join in military engagements with other countries that may not concern us or our interests. This is against everything I believe, so I will oppose this bill and encourage everyone to join me in doing the same.

[Yakim Beg]

Madam Speaker,

The attack upon, and seeming occupation of, the island of Togofaga by the Iron Company, is an affront to sovereignty of all Euran powers. While it is true that technically Togofaga is a colonial settlement, the Florians are by far the least heinous of those who have staked claims upon our sacred Euran Fatherland. Indeed, the settlement of the Aldurians along our Euran shores would not have been possible without the ties of amity and commerce linking the coastal cities of Alkhiva with the Apollonian mainland. The attacks by the Iron Company, whose piratical fleet was funded by the systematic looting of state treasuries around the globe, represent a direct threat to our international trade.

The Iron Company, backed by sovereign power and a pernicious global ideology, has established a controlling influence over the government of the Norfolk Isles, and by the barbarically reckless use of a biological weapon of mass destruction, has taken Port Farrar out of commission, and, by establishing a strong cruising squadron in the Dyre Straits, threatens Alduria's remaining trade with the Jingdaoese treaty ports and with our Natopian friends on Tapfer also. 

The Iron Company's reputation for reckless aggression is well established. It has sponsored rebellions in Elwynn and Shireroth, engaged in the wholesale destruction of a Ralgonese port, and plundered the rice harvest of Palesmenia. Still more legendary are the stories of its boundless corruption and avarice; the state coffers of first Shireroth, and then Batavia, were systematically plundered by Iron Company placemen and the misdirected revenues employed in the building up of the monstrous Iron Fleet whose activities are now such a peril to global trade and world peace. That the Iron Company has overreached in its greed can be seen in how it has been hounded from pillar to post. The Jingdaoese closed their ports to the Iron Company in 1642, the Ralgonese doing likewise in 1675 with the Raspur Pact followed suit in the following year. The "Verionist Vespers", triggered by the great calamity that Verionist mismanagement visited upon the land of Elsenar, saw the Iron Company's network of trade and influence dismantled in eastern Benacia.  In Batavia today also, representatives of the law are proceeding with quiet determination to unravel the web of corruption spun by Iron Company agents during the preceding ministry there. 

The beast is wounded and at bay, it may not even be long for this world, but a wounded animal, lashing out in primal rage, and with no concern for consequences beyond immediate survival, represents a profound danger to those caught in its path, as Alduria is by its proximity to the present theatre of war. Do not imagine that we can preserve ourselves from the present calamity by recourse to the tried and tested maxims of neutrality, for the beast has us already marked amongst the ranks of its "oppressors". Already Alduria has been obliged to make a display of strength and collective solidarity with its neighbours to deter efforts at closing those international shipping lanes. Our stand against the machinations of the sickly vicious beast has determined our standing in its worldview, a grotesque one which divides the nations and peoples of the world into two categories - predators and prey; the former it seeks to tear down out of fear, the latter it seeks to destroy purely out of hunger and exultation for the kill. By having stood against the animal before, it marks us as an enemy and will work for our undoing.  

There are times when a wounded and cornered animal can be calmed by consoling words and kind gestures, sufficient as to allow those possessed of a generous spirit to render aid and so ensure that the beast causes no further harm to others or to itself. But when you are dealing with a rabid dog, its lips frothing with its own demented spittle and the freshly shed blood of blameless innocents, the only humane and rational recourse is to the rifle. I urge you my fellow delegates, for the defence of our people and our homeland, and for the defence of the rules based international order we wish to see born into existence, now is the time to set aside kindly thoughts and take up the gun, without malice, but with a firm resolve to do good for the world.

So how then does the Raspur Pact represent the best armament for us to take up in our own defence? Put simply it is an association of free and sovereign nations brought together for mutual defence, collective security, and the promotion of free trade. The forces at its disposal are formidable, the markets it would give us access to are vast - especially in Elwynn and Natopia - and global. Moreover our friends and neighbours in Constancia, with whom we share a common interest in the protection of freedom of navigation upon the high seas, are firm and fast members of the Pact, and we can do much to aid them and them to aid us, without this representing a diminishment  of our sovereignty. Indeed, by acceding to the Pact we would benefit from the resources allocated to the Euran continental theatre command, acting as a force multiplier for our own navy. 

Let us be clear - we need those forces, and access to the vast shipbuilding and manufacturing capacity of the Pact also, for the threat of piracy will remain the bane of our ocean going trade even when the last ship of the Iron Fleet is inevitably sent to rest at the bottom of the ocean. A vast pirate concern, tolerated, I am sad to say, by our friends in the USSO, operates in the coastal waters of Eura and daily attempts to compete with the Iron Company in causing the greatest harassment and harm to the merchant-shipping of our Florian friends. Now we have been assured in the past that Aldurian vessels would not be targeted out of respect for our neutrality, but the Bassarids themselves admit that these "prohibitions are not always obeyed by specific captains or crews". The fact remains therefore that the only cure for piracy is a fair trial and (ideally) the hangman's noose. With the USSO taking no steps against piracy, we must look to the Raspur Pact to help us in restoring the rule of law in the international waters which are, as I need not remind you, the primary conduit of our trade, the lifeblood upon which our prosperity and freedom depends.

[Speaker Rejo]

All time for debate has now expired. The question is: Shall Parliament pass the pending bill? Voting shall last for no less than 48 hours

DIVISION: CLEAR THE LOBBIES!

[Alfonso Velez]

AYE

Free Vote for L&D

L&D Votes breakdown:

75 AYE
15 NAY
10 ABSTAIN

[Alduria]

Independents: unanimously vote AYE in light of the biological attack by the Iron Company in the Florian Republic.

[Yakim Beg]

The EDP delegates vote: Aye

[Soraya Hoseini]

RB: AYE.

The ALA shall have a free vote, which breaks down as follows:

• 18 AYE;
  
• 20 NAY;
  
• 16 ABSTAIN.