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[RF] Legal Code
Last updated on March 25, 2025. If you find this dispatch helpful, please upvote.
Betmet.BACK TO GOVERNMENT | CHARTER | LEGAL CODE | HISTORY | FOREIGN AFFAIRS | JOURNAL | TEMPLATES | HAYMARKET'S MANUAL | STATISTICS |
Section A: Honour Code.
Section B: Electoral Code.
Section C: Criminal Code.
Section D: Penal Code.
Section E: Council Conduct Code
Section F: Roleplay and Branding Code
Section G: World Assembly Development Code
Section H: Freedom of Information
Section J: Defense Readiness
Section K: Holiday Code
1. Awards of Merit: this section regards awards for those that have done the best work for the region.
i) In order to achieve this award, one must serve this region with honor and distinction, proving that they have merit.
ii) Individuals will be added to the government document when the Council bestows this honor.
iii) Individuals will also be presented with the Medal of Merit, showcasing their fine achievements.
2) Merit Badge: a Merit Badge is a way to commend different notable activity in the region that is easily trackable.
3) There are five Merit Badges:
i) Notary Badge: Given for notable and active WA involvement.
ii) Outreach Badge: Given for active involvement in the NS forums.
iii) Community Leadership Badge: Given for quality RMB activity.
iv) Local History Badge: Given for notable, interesting, and or active Nationbuilding.
v) Honorary Townie Badge: Given to an up-and-coming new member, someone new to the region who's making waves.
4) In case of an attribution, it shall be announced in the last newsletter of the month.
1. Consecutive [Regional Message Board] posts.
i) Do not post more than once in a row. Multiple consecutive posts will be suppressed with no exceptions.
ii) Instead, reread your post before submitting, check for typos, and hit Preview to look over your formatting.
iii) Deleted posts cannot be suppressed and therefore do not count toward this rule, but it is asked that you avoid posting consecutively and deleting the posts.
iv) When quoting a post, a resident should shorten the content between the [quote] tags to 50 words or less and in a clear and concise way that is not misleading to the meaning and intent of the original post, so as to reduce spam and posting of the same thing twice in its entirety.
v) If a resident fails to comply with rule iv) then a warning will be issued, and, if it is not fixed in a reasonable amount of time, the post is to be suppressed indefinitely, until the necessary changes are made.
2. Objectionable [Regional Message Board] posts.
i) Spam is defined as completely meaningless content, or at least six consecutive posts, including deletions. Three or more consecutive posts with completely meaningless content will be considered aggravated spam.
ii) Obscene material is defined as gore, nudity, shock images, or highly R-rated text (sexually explicit or containing excessive profanity).
iii) Spamming the RMB will result in a telegram warning and suppression of all offending posts, issued by the Chief of Police. Aggravated spamming will result in summary ejection, by the same.
iv) Posting obscene material will result in summary banishment, issued by the Chief of Police.
3. Embassy [Regional Message Board] posts.
i) Nations in regions that have embassies with ours are able to post on our RMB.
ii) Frequently, though not always, you will have the same ability to post in those regions. Be thoughtful of other regions when posting on their RMBs, as your posts reflect on our region as a whole.
4. Regional image.
i) Residents shall strive to act in a way that presents the region in a positive light, and avoid actions that will tarnish its appearance or reputation before the outside world.
ii) Residents shall take care to stay within site rules at all times, and avoid bringing moderator attention upon the region.
iii) Residents shall not be allowed to remain in the county if their name is deemed to be obscene or otherwise inappropriate.
iv) Residents shall speak coherently and sensibly, keeping in mind that they represent the region as a whole, especially on foreign properties.
5. Consequences for violation of (1-4).
i) Minor violations may be met with post-suppression, post deletion, or private censure, depending on the circumstances and location.
ii) Major violations may be met with any of the above, as well as temporary or permanent bans from the region or particular offsite property, private reprimand, or removal from office if applicable, depending on the severity of the offense.
iii) The responses to violations of (4) may be determined by Court decision.
Article I: Definitions
1. This section shall only apply to votes pertaining to the passage of bills, treaties, and amendments to the charter, as well as regular elections and recall elections.
2. “Election date” shall refer to either to the date of a term’s end or fifteen days after a vacancy, whichever is most applicable.
Article II: Electoral Regulations
3. Regular elections (i.e., elections described in Charter IV.3.a) shall be administered by the Mayor.
i) The Mayor shall publicly post an application form and clear instructions about how to apply to council positions at least twenty (20) days prior to the election date, and shall only consider those applications which are sent in up until fifteen (15) days prior to the election date, except in the case of elections to fill vacancies, where applications will be taken until five (5) days prior to the election date.
ii) If an election would oust an incumbent, the Mayor shall publicly post their decision about whether an election will occur five (5) days prior to the election date.
iii) The Mayor shall publicly post the names and applications of the two (2) chosen candidates five (5) days prior to the election date in the case that an election is held.
iv) The Mayor shall subject the region to an election via an onsite poll lasting forty-eight (48) hours.
v) The Mayor shall then proceed to appoint the elected individual to appropriate regional officer authority.
4. Recall elections (i.e., elections described in Charter VI.1.a) shall be administered by the Mayor.
i) The Speaker shall notify the Mayor if a petition has been filed to recall an official with fifteen percent (15%) of World Assembly members in Ridgefield at the time of the petition’s filing.
ii) The Mayor shall then immediately subject the region to a recall referendum via onsite poll lasting forty-eight (48) hours.
iii) Should the referendum pass, the position shall be declared vacant and a regular election shall be held. The previous occupant may not return to this position without permission of the Governor.
5. Votes on bills shall be administered by the Speaker. Once language of a bill has been approved by the Speaker, the Speaker shall subject the region to a referendum via regional poll lasting twenty-four (24) hours.
6. Votes on amendments to the charter shall be administered by the Speaker. Once language of an amendment has been approved by the Judge, the Speaker shall subject the region to a referendum via regional poll lasting forty-eight (48) hours, and the amendment shall pass if two-thirds (⅔) of the region should vote in favor.
7. Votes on treaties shall be administered by the Speaker.
i) Once language of a treaty has been presented to the Speaker by the negotiating parties, the Speaker shall subject the region to a vote on the treaty lasting forty-eight (48) hours, and shall pass if two-thirds (⅔) of the region should vote in favor.
ii) For a treaty to be repealed, the Director of Relations shall file a request to the Speaker for a vote repealing a treaty, with consent of the Governor if this is an Alliance-based treaty. The vote shall last forty-eight (48) hours, and the treaty shall be repealed if two-thirds (⅔) of the region should vote in favor.
8. In all polls described in this section, all non-WA and non-resident votes shall be discarded at the time of the poll’s termination and not recorded in the final count, even if those conditions did not apply at the time the vote was cast. This shall be facilitated by the Speaker, or in the case of an election involving the Speaker or a vacancy in the Speakership, by the Mayor.
9. The Speaker shall, for votes involving charter amendments, treaties, and bills, be permitted to cast a ballot after the conclusion of a poll if that vote would change the outcome of the question, and the Speaker shall note publicly when this is done and the reason for it.
Article III: Application Regulations
10. All application forms for council positions shall include:
i. A section for describing past experience in similar roles.
ii. A section for describing motivation for applying.
iii. A section asking about foreign government commitments.
iv. A section for an affidavit to comply by the Council Conduct Code if elected, with said code linked.
v. A section wherein the duties of the role are either enumerated or linked in bulk, and the applicant is asked how they would address said duties.
vi. A section for who to contact for questions about the application, kept up-to-date.
vii. A section for basic identification information, including discord username.
viii. A section for an affidavit that all provided information is accurate.
11. Application forms may include:
i. A section for a short personal statement.
ii. A section asking for a link to their platform.
iii. A section asking who choices are for potential civil servants under the role.
12. Application forms shall under no circumstances include:
i. Questions asking about endorsement totals or constitution.
ii. Questions asking about race, gender, ethnicity, caste, or sexual orientation.
13. An application form for each office shall be publicly posted by the Mayor or their civil servants on the Regional Message Board, sent via telegram, and posted via discord at an appropriate time before the election date, including but not limited to at least once in the time between 27 and 20 days prior to an election.
14. Every application shall be reviewed and approved by the Governor and the Mayor.
15. After an election, it is mandatory the elected member to be present in the Augustin Alliance Discord. However, due to the nature of its duties, the Cultural Curator may be exempted from this policy.
Article IV: Amendment Regulations
16. An amendment shall be considered valid if:
i. They are created using the official amendment template;
ii. They are signed by the respective author of the amendment;
iii. They have the date when the amendment will be sent to the clerk/Speaker of the Council/Judge;
iv. The amendment is sent to and publicly approved by the Judge.
17. If the Judge refuses to approve an amendment, that amendment may not be resubmitted.
1. Any of the following actions shall constitute a felony:
i) Treason: Treason is defined as the taking up of arms against the County of Ridgefield and its government, or the subversion of the government by means not otherwise permitted in the Charter.
ii) Espionage: Espionage is defined as the willful communication of sensitive government or allied government information outside of appropriately designated channels.
iii) Harassment: Harassment is defined for this purpose as repeated incidents of disturbing and offensive behavior exhibited by one individual to another, forming a pattern of undesired contact. The most dangerous methods of harassment are subtle and manipulative, making these patterns hard to detect, and discouraging victims from reporting a problem. Harassment can frequently be psychological, emotional, sexual, or racial in nature, though it appears in many forms.
iv) Abuse of Office: Abuse of Office is defined as the gross violation of the authority of an office of government in the manner that gravely violates the constitutional rights of an individual resident, or that endangers the legitimacy of the government. This shall include any discriminatory enforcement or coercing of World Assembly endorsements through official channels.
v) Election Fraud: Election Fraud is defined as willful misdirection and/or deception intended to deceive about the results of an election or to cast a ballot on behalf of another voter.
vi) Puppeting: Puppeting is defined as repeatedly moving non-World Assembly nations into Ridgefield, or moving nations into Ridgefield during the period of a prior ban.
vii) Perjury: Perjury is defined as willful lying under oath of government.
viii) Term of Service Violation (ToSV): ToSV is defined as violation of the NationStates or Discord terms of service on Ridgefield channels.
ix) Felony Contempt: Felony Contempt is defined as willful violation of terms agreed to in settlement or judgment with the government.
2. Any of the following actions shall constitute a misdemeanor:
i) Willful Repeat Civil Violation (WRCV): WRCV is defined as any violation of subsection (3) after repeated warnings within several months of subsection (3) violations.
ii) Disorderly Conduct in Government (DCiG): DCiG is defined as the repeated violation of the codes of conduct within designated channels specifically pertaining to the Government of Ridgefield.
iii) Recruitment Abuse: Recruitment Abuse is defined as any recruitment channel or message usage that causes significant inhibition of recruitment efforts by the Government of Ridgefield. This shall not be construed to prevent trained residents from recruiting.
iv) Misdemeanor Contempt: Misdemeanor Contempt is defined as public, willful disrespect for a Government Official’s official duties in a government channel.
3. Any of the following actions shall not constitute a crime, but shall constitute a civil offense that may result in communications being silenced:
i) Multiple consecutive posting on the regional message board.
ii) Spam and/or nonsense posting on the regional message board.
1. Felony punishments shall include summary of the judgment to the Governor.
2. Felony punishments shall include banishment from the region for times between one year and permanently, and shall also include banishment from participating in government and roleplay for times between one year and permanently.
3. Misdemeanor punishments shall include any of the following: community service to the government of no more than forty hours, a demand for public apology by the defendant, a posting ban on the defendant lasting for no more than twelve months, a request for removal from the region of the defendant by the Governor, or banishment from participating in government and roleplay lasting for no more than six months.
4. Juries may not deviate from sentencing beyond guidelines permitted herein.
5. There shall be no statute of limitations for felonies, and for misdemeanors, the statute of limitations shall be three months.
6. The Judge shall not be required to post trial decisions on the NationStates website if it would violate site terms of service to do so.
1. Each councillor shall be required to recruit for Ridgefield regularly except for the cultural curator, given that no discord access is required for this role and a primary task thereof involves greeting new nations to Ridgefield already.
2. Each councillor shall be required to notify the Governor and/or the Mayor of any absence that would require a major departure from regular duties, and to recommend an acting replacement if possible, within two weeks of the absence being known, or as soon as practicable.
3. Each councillor except the director of relations shall, in the last week of every month, provide a list of happenings in their jurisdiction to the Director of Relations.
4. The Director of Relations shall each month publish, or direct civil servants to publish in their stead, a public report of happenings in the appropriate place to embassy regions.
5. More than two violations of this section within one year shall result in the offending party being considered lowest priority in future applications for government office for one year, and they may not be reconsidered by the Mayor for the current office during the next term.
1. Ridgefield's roleplay shall be administered ad-hoc by the Cultural Curator.
2. Ridgefield’s map shall reflect official national boundaries only by the consent of the nations included on the map, and shall be entirely administered by the Cultural Curator and their civil servants.
3. Ridgefield's title shall be "The Town of Ridgefield" in all official documents.
4. The anthem of Ridgefield is "Detroit Rock City" by KISS
1. "The Principality of Ridgefield" shall henceforth be the official title of the region for roleplay purposes.
2. The re-branding takes immediate effect upon this bill’s ratification.
Article II: Roleplay Reformation
3. "The Council of Nobles" is established, superseding the Meritocratic League.
4. Existing Roleplay Dispatches shall be archived, and new dispatches shall be created.
5. Title Holders within the Principality are granted autonomous territories, delineated in the Official Principality Borders Map.
6. The Mayor shall be replaced by the Sovereign Prince within roleplay.
7. The ”Official Principality Borders Map” shall replace the current World and Town Maps as defined in Article III.
8. The Council shall be replaced by the Privy Council within the context of roleplay.
9. The Privy Council shall be composed of the members defined in Article III of the Ridgefield Charter.
10. Members of the Council shall receive the honorific Grand prefix to their Title.
Article III: Official Principality Borders Map
11. The Official Principality Borders Map will be a map that will showcase the internal borders of Ridgefield, which itself shall contain the borders of the players taking part in the roleplay, geographic features that shall include, but are not limited to, resource deposits, various bodies of water, and topography.
12. The players taking part in the roleplay shall be granted land within the Principality and be permitted to develop their land.
13. Title Holders shall be allowed to choose a Title in the following list or any Title found acceptable by the Speaker of The Council.
i) Count or Countess
ii) Marquess or Marchioness
iii) Baron or Baroness
iv) Duke or Duchess
v) Prince or Princess
vi) Viscount or Viscountess
Article IV: Region Title
14. The region’s title shall reflect its population size, adopting the following titles at set population marks:
i) Under 30 WA residents: “The Barony of Ridgefield.”
ii) 30 to 100 WA residents: “The County of Ridgefield.”
iii) 101 to 300 WA residents: “The Duchy of Ridgefield.”
iv) Over 300 WA residents: ”The Grand Principality of Ridgefield.”
15. Official correspondence and legal documents shall employ the appropriate title, except in cases of artistic license or roleplay context.
Article V: Historical Context and Technology
16. The roleplay setting shall adhere to the historical, technological, and cultural context of the early industrial era.
17. The roleplay date of January 1st 1824 shall be set to be January 1st, 2024.
Article I: Purpose and Scope
1. The World Assembly Ambassador and their civil servants shall promote World Assembly development in the areas of proposal development, general endorsement encouragement, and community engagement with upcoming resolutions.
2. No part of this code shall be construed in any way to coerce endorsements on any specific nation(s) to the exclusion of other nation(s).
Article II: Program Features
3. The World Assembly Development Program shall be called "World Assembly Collaborative Taskforce" (WACT).
4. WACT shall include the World Assembly Ambassador or their appointed civil servants posting upcoming proposals on the RMB within forty-eight hours before they are to go to vote, and asking for community comments and feedback.
i) The World Assembly Ambassador shall take into higher consideration the opinions of those who have endorsed over 75% of the region's World Assembly nations.
5. WACT shall include a World Assembly Ambassador-led initiative to develop World Assembly proposals in Ridgefield. The World Assembly Ambassador or appointed civil servants shall organize regular meetings and feedback guidance for this purpose.
6. WACT shall include weekly endorsement campaigns by the World Assembly Ambassador or their appointed civil servants, and a compilation of all World Assembly nations in Ridgefield.
1. Any resident may send a request for information to the government, who must either note the information requested as classified or send a message with appropriate requested information within one (1) month.
2. (1) shall not apply to jury trials, or proceedings with foreign governments, or private proceedings between officials.
3. Requests for information shall be sent to the Speaker or a person publicly designated by the speaker.
Article I: The Ridgefield Regional Guard
1. Wherever Ridgefield's residents serve in an official capacity in a military operation, they shall serve under the Ridgefield Regional Guard (RRG).
2. The RRG's ranks and insignia shall be determined by Augustin Alliance policy.
Article II: Conditions of Activation
3. The RRG shall only be activated upon a call from the Augustin Alliance's Central Strategic Command (CSC), the necessity for the immediate defense of Ridgefield, or a defensive treaty obligation requiring fulfillment.
4. The RRG may only be activated by order of the Mayor or the CSC, and must be issued with necessary and sufficient conditions of deactivation in the case of the Mayor.
5. Upon the termination of activation either by order of the CSC or Mayor, or fulfillment of necessary and sufficient conditions of deactivation, the Ridgefield Regional Guard shall be suspended and all members shall return to civilians.
6. Prior to activation, residents of Ridgefield may apply to be part of the activated RRG by telegramming the Mayor with an application, to be determined in form by the CSC.
Article III: Rights of Guardspeople
7. Any member who serves in the RRG shall be entitled to information regarding whether a proposed operation is defense or offensive.
8. Any member who serves in the RRG may not be forced to participate in any operation.
9. Any member who serves in the RRG shall retain the right to membership in Ridgefield even without World Assembly membership under the exemption pursuant to Charter III.1.a.
i) this reason, the Mayor must personally approve all applications to the RRG in consultation with the Governor and Augustin Alliance Defense Officer.
1. No proceedings of the convention may occur on a holiday.
2. The Mayor shall respond to all immediate affairs on a holiday, or else shall delay them until after that (and any immediately subsequent) holiday, except in the event that the cultural curator desires to host cultural events on that day.
3. Each holiday must be announced at least a week beforehand by the Speaker.
4. The holidays are as follows each year:
i) January 1, New Year's Day
ii) January 19, Ridgefield Day
iii) March 5, Citizens' day
iv) April 13, Breath day
v) April 20, Leaf day
vi) July 17, Governor's Day
vii) October 6, Flaying bears day
viii) December 2, Charter Day
ix) December 24, Yuletide Eve
x) December 25, Yuletide Day
xi) December 26, Boxing Day
xii) December 31, New Year's Eve
Template created by August. Do not modify or add to unless part of Ridgefield Government. Upkept by Far marchen.