..........

Justices of the International Western Union,
          in appropriate response to the charges filed in Civil Action #20130905-01,

The Ultramodern Superstate of GROSS Independency, in legal representation of itself, The Rainbow Commonwealth of Kialga, The Sultanate of Fenburg, The Reverent Republic of Rachara, and The Holy Slovic Empire of Benoslovia, does reveal the following issues of defense:

Defense

Argument 1, in response to Allegation 8
The official and recognized government of the International Western Union reserves the right to govern only matters that legally influence the region as a whole. The simple creation of independent sister regions bears no effect nor influence upon the IWU or its administration, which indicates that the authority of the regional government does not extend to the creation of other regions by its nations, and therefore the creators of those regions are in no manner required to form a proposal regarding the matter. As a result the accusations listed in this charge are rendered null.

Argument 2, in response to Allegations 9 and 10
As the sister regions were created by and do rightfully remain property of the defendants, we retain the right to withhold information if we so choose. Matters that are not within the sphere of authority of the IWU regional government are under no circumstances are not required to be revealed to others, which shows that the government has no right to coerce nations under its law to provide them with information that is property of the nation. This renders the second and third accusations of this motion null.

Argument 3, in response to Allegation 11
Drawing on information revealed in Argument 1, as the IWU government does not have the right to govern actions that lack direct influence on the region, it has no authority to govern or be knowledgeable of actions or their execution. The actions which have been drawn to attention are not property of the International Western Union as of the moment, but of the defendants, leaving the whereabouts of the actions entirely under the authority of the defendants. This renders the fourth accusation of this motion null.

Argument 4, in response to Allegation 12
As previously stated in Argument 1, as the authority of the IWU government does not extend to the creation of sovereign and independent regions, the defendants are required by no law or position to consult the referenda of the IWU for the matter. Any nation retains the right to establish a new region on NationStates at any time or any place he or she wills, and no law, authority or supported idea in the IWU regional administration restricts that right. Though the future plan for the sister regions does bring about a strong governmental connection with the IWU, it has been revealed prior to this lawsuit that this clause of the plan would and will require referenda in the IWU, the INU, the ISU, and the IAU. Furthermore, as this clause of the plan has not been reached yet and the sister regions remain independent and sovereign from the IWU, the fifth accusation of this motion is rendered null.

Argument 5, in response to Allegation 13
a.) As the matters of the creation of new, independent and sovereign regions is beyond the authority of the IWU and its populace, democratic process is neither required or fair to order nations whether they can or cannot create their own region(s).
b.) Similarly, as the IWU government does not extend its authority to the matter of creating independent regions, the process of creating such regions is in no manner "undermining," "scheming," or "plotting against" the current regional administration of the International Western Union or its populace.
c.) Because the creation of such sovereign regions is a matter belonging only to the creators of the regions, there is no law that obliges the defendants to reveal a private and personal plan to others unless it encourages immediate and direct influence over them. As the charges brought up in this lawsuit are campaigning against the creation of the INU, ISU, and IAU and their development and these regions are independent from the IWU, no law has been broken in that the defendants refrained from revealing their creation to the IWU's residents at an earlier time.


In summary,
the creation of independent regions by the defendants has broken and does not break any law of the IWU. Simple formation of new regions is not under the authority of the legitimate government of the International Western Union, and therefore we defendants are not required to ask permission from the government, hold a referendum or publicly reveal the creation of the regions to others. By the points emphasized and repeated in the previous arguments and this Summary, the charges initiated by this lawsuit are rendered null by legal process of the IWU Regional Administration, and thus the defendants are relieved from the demanded punishments in this accusation.


This concludes the Official Defense #1 of the listed defendants of Civil Action #20130905-01, by The Ultramodern Superstate of GROSS Independency, in legal representation of the aforementioned defendants of such accusations, this Fifth day of September, two-thousand and thirteen.

Signed,
The Ultramodern Superstate of GROSS Independency

@Alunya: As Consul, I vote to recuse Kialga and Fenburg from this trial. I will alert Abacathea to this so that he may put his vote down. 

Seeing that only two Consuls and one Justice may be able to vote because Rachara is also involved in this, I further move that the two Consuls and the remaining Justice be allowed to rule on this matter.

The Rainbow Commonwealth of Kialga, representing himself and The Sultanate of Fenburg, wishes to address several faults in the plaintiffs allegations.

Fault #001: The Sultanate of Fenburg (henceforth "Fenburg") has been without internet for roughly two weeks. As such, he was unable to participate in the planning, discussion, and formation of the "daughter" regions. When he was offered the job of maintaining the International Eastern Union (henceforth "IEU") he initially accepted, but later backed out before any transference of Foundership could take place. Whilst initially in, Fenburg backed out and decided against the maintenance, this along with absence of internet and ability to contact, should place Fenburg beyond the reach of any complaints.

Fault #002: The Rainbow Commonwealth of Kialga (henceforth "Kialga") did take control of the International Eastern Union, for security reasons. Using the puppet, The IEU Protecting State of Adelitas (henceforth "Adelitas"), Kialga took over protection of the region. After Balfron took control of the IEU with the intention of mocking the International Western Union (henceforth "IWU"), Kialga decided that he would take over the IEU with a puppet, Adelitas, to prevent such slander to befall the IWU again. Kialga was going to simply leave the IEU an independent region, free of government and population, to prevent this incident again.

Fault #003: The Rainbow Commonwealth of Kialga, when initially approached with the proposal of "daughter" regions from The Ultramodern Superstate of GROSS Independency (henceforth "GRInd"), disliked the idea. Kialga did not wish to have "daughter" regions because he knew that the dividing of the IWU, by having other "daughter" regions, would tear the IWU apart. His worries stopped him from placing any recruitment actions into effect. Kialga still has the intent of maintaining the IEU for the simple reasons initially stated in this fault. The actions of creating the "daughter" regions went without Kialga's agreement. GRInd offered The Reverent Republic of Rachara (henceforth "Rachara") and The Holy Slovic Empire of Benoslovia (henceforth "Benoslovia") positions to found these "daughter" regions, and as such, we received the International Southern Union (Rachara) and the International Arctic Union (Benosolvia).

In Summary: The Rainbow Commonwealth of Kialga, as legal representation of himself and The Sultanate of Fenburg, asks that charges against Kialga and Fenburg to be dropped. As no official action, governmental or otherwise, has happened in these "daughter" regions from either of the accused parties, the charges as such are absurd.

Yes, I have consulted Fenburg about the above statement, and has be written as such according to my notes.

In response to The Commonwealth of Kialga's faults,

I wish to clarify that the creation of the daughter regions did not go unapproved as Kialga has stated. Kialga and Fenburg are not responsible for anything directly related to this action, and should not be charged, I agree. Regarding the approval of the creation of the daughter regions, Kialga initially contributed to and supported the idea, then turned against the idea. However, the following day, he notified Benoslovia, Rachara and I that he would not argue against the creation of the daughter regions if we followed his proposed plan (which was to have 40 nations and a regional government prior to speaking with the IWU about governmental connections). That said, the action was in technicality approved and knowledgeable of Kialga.

In addition, this court case is and can only be arguing against one thing, which is the actual creation of the daughter regions. No government connections with the IWU have been established and none have been attempted; as pointed out earlier, such connections would and were planned to require discussion and referenda in the IWU and the daughters. However, the daughter regions are not anywhere near being ready to discuss the subject, and thus nothing beyond creating the regions has been done as of now.

With that in mind, the only thing that Rachara, Benoslovia and I have done is create the regions and recruit for them. There is no rule against creating independent regions in the IWU, nor in any other region in the World, to my knowledge. As a result, none of the three of us have committed any sort of crime or underhanded "scheme." We have simply created independent regions, which is neither within nor should be within the boundaries of authority of the IWU's administration.

Signed,
The Ultramodern Superstate of GROSS Independency

My defense is simple. I did something that I wanted to, and the government doesn't have the authority to tell me that I can't create my own region. I've held my tongue for a day or so but the idea that the government can give me a slap on the wrist for doing what I wish is, to put it bluntly, stupid. You don't have the right to stop me from making my own region. Also I've been spiritually absent from this region for so long that it wouldn't even matter to the IWU if I spent my time developing my own region. I really don't know why you are so determined to slash at us like this. If this is some contest for power, then this entire trial is just foolish. As far as I'm concerned, I am not on fair trial for anything.

I will be delivering judgement on this tomorrow evening. The case has been reviewed and all information from both sides considered. The judgement will be binding.

I assume, then, that our three justices for this particular trial will be you, Abacathea, with Vizindolf and Pharthan. Correct?

Be sure that Pharthan is aware of this trial, as he will be needed for the judgement.

.

I also have a question about the execution of the judgement. Will the decisions of the justices be posted in this forum, or will the justices decide among themselves and then reveal the decision once it has been made?

Brevet-Justices, please PM me or email my gmail account, dmcfarland08@gmail.com, for discussion.
It is my opinion that to prevent further alienation and angst on behalf of either party, the Justices final decision should be posted together, rather than separately.
As the remaining original Justice, I will post the decision after we confer.

I agree with Pharthan. I will be conferring with the other justices and we will come up with a decision together that will be posted here.

This process may take more than the day that Abacathea previously allotted. Please be patient as we will be forced to communicate over telegram and email.

Myself, Abacathea, and Vizindolf have come to a conclusion:

Regional Justice of the International Western Union

PROPOSAL:

1.  The creation of the sister-daughter regions, in relation to the International Western Union, was for the purposes of recruitment.

2.  The determination that the IWU is a "democracy" is inaccurate. While it placates amiable emotions and is not entirely inaccurate, it also to a point implies that all member nations may make decisions and are of equal governing stature, which negates the point of ever having had elections. Declaring such actions as being counter to democratic process is to undermine the very nature of the electoral process. On the contrary, If their actions were as officials of the, International Western Union, with the well-being of the IWU in consideration, they upheld it.

ESTABLISHED:

1. The creation of regions is inherently separate from the dealings and government of the International Western Union and falls under the jurisidiction of Nationstates and it's rules, not that of the IWU.

2. In regard to recruiting, not all actions of recruiters are required to be openly advertised.

3. Requiring all matters and decisions on the part of the Consuls, Recruiters, et cetera to be advertised and decided upon by the members of the International Western Union would degrade the effectiveness of having the established aforementioned roles.
    -Due to Time Zones and personal lives conflicting with present the elected officials are deemed to be a representative body of the members of the IWU.
    -Such elected officials cannot be expected to process all decisions through the member-body. Expecting such is to demean their authority and render them utterly pointless, apart from the role of a directive Speaker, which has not been clearly established.

CONSIDERATION:

1. Posting such an idea, even after it's implementation, to the RMB would have not at all been difficult.

2. Creation of daughter/sister regions may have been considered "experimental."

3. The intent of such daughter/sister region's creation was not to undermine the International Western Union. (As I am to understand it, it was partly for recruitment and to create an enjoyable environment.)

4. The idea that they are "daughter" and "sister" regions - as well as their naming convention and intent to interact and later on merge with the IWU - implies they are to have some impact or connection to the International Western Union, bringing jurisdiction into question, on which myself and the Brevet-Justices must confer.

VERDICT:

1. The intent of the daughter/sister regions was benign. As such, such a creation is not criminal.

2. Withholding such information may have been against better judgement. However, it also was not inherently criminal, as the government is not required to disclose all information and may do so willfully.

3. Recruiters are to be given reign over their own recruiting methods. Those which are practiced in such fields are free to exercise new ideas. As this act of creating sister/daughter regions was a recruiting method and not a proposal, the Plaintiff has not been wronged on not being able to discuss the matter prior to it's implementation

4. The accused did not willfully act in counter to the governance of the International Western Union. The accused had an interest and an idea that they believed would be amiable to the well-being of the International Western Union, were it to have any effect on it. Requiring them to establish a committee or ask for permission from the body that elected them, believing them to be sufficiently intelligent and wise officials, on all issues is both impractical and absurd.

5. The Plaintiff's accusations are supported out of a perceived and extensive Right to Information, which has not been established and is therefore not viable as grounds for accusation.

6. As the sister/daughter regions would, once merged with the IWU, fall under IWU Constitution, no subversion against the IWU governance has occurred, acting as merely a membership boost.

7. The accused are to be acquitted of all charges.

8. It is recommended that the accused, when making large decisions or decisions which could be perceived as having a wide-sweeping effect, that they discuss the issues on the RMB or via the Forum.

Thank you. Rachara, Benoslovia and I are very grateful for your decision. I am sure that Kialga and Fenburg are as well, but neither considered themselves on trial.

All three of us are overjoyed to see that the IWU's government has kept to its duties and protected the rights of its residents; we will be very sure to work to continue to improve the IWU, and with luck, our efforts into the sister regions will not go for naught by the time the discussion over connections begins within this region. Once again, thank you.

I want to thank you all for reviewing this and coming to the decision that you did.
I do believe that you, Alunya, did what you thought to be best, and so I do not hold that against you.
But this almost, to me, should not have been a big deal, and I am glad that now we may proceed to carry on with the establishment of the sister regions without a feeling of hesitation to do so.
-The Reverent Republic of Rachara