Charter of the Cupertino Alliance, 2020

MicroWiki text version of the Charter of the Cupertino Alliance.

Copyright Statement

The Cupertino Alliance Printer holds copyright on behalf of the Government of the Cupertino Alliance and her member states. The Cupertino Alliance Printer permits any person to reproduce this act without asking for permission and without charge, under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0). You will be required to attribute the author, for which the name of the author is:

JAYDEN LYCON, DELEGATE FOR THE FIFTH AENDERIAN REPUBLIC

Preamble

§1 Terminology

These terms are used in this act and their meaning shall be listed below

The term “micronation” and “nation” are used interchangeably and refers to a political entity that claims to be sovereign but is not recognized by any macronations, and does not hold Cupertino Alliance membership.
The term “macronation” refers to a state which is sovereign and is recognized by at least ten (10) other macronations.
The term “member state”, “member”, or “member nation”, are used interchangeably and refers to a political entity that claims to be sovereign but is not recognized by any macronations, and does hold valid Cupertino Alliance membership. This does not include observer states.
Observer states are micronations that are in the Cupertino Alliance but have limited power, outlined in Chapter Three of this Act.
The term “obtaining membership” refers to the action of a micronation applying for membership for the Cupertino Alliance through the membership form.
“Discord” or “Discordapp” is an voiceover internet protocol software owned by Discord Incorporated.
“Membership form” refers to the membership applicant form hosted by Google Forms which is linked here. (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSew0AdbyHImiygDLkiYW-bjKiBewFvn3x1CPG7_tQ7f_BDSSQ/viewform)
“Commissioners” refers to the group of people appointed by the Division of Membership Attainment to review one’s nation and write remarks for one’s nation.
“Cupertino Parliament”, generally shortened to “Parliament” in the remainder of this act, refers to the group of delegates that attend sessions.
“Delegates” refers to people appointed by a member nation’s government to represent the nation at the Cupertino Parliament.
“Harassment” refers to multiple actions that are physical or verbal behavior that may offend one self or others, and are unwanted.
“Cupertino Alliance staff”, generally shortened to “staff” for the remainder of this act, refers to anyone who volunteers in the Cupertino Alliance. This includes delegates, electoral officers, the Chair of the Board, ministers, et cetera.
“Windhoek report” or “Windhoek document” are the reports held in the Windhoek database
“Windhoek database” is the Google Sheets document that contains all the Windhoek reports
“Removal of delegate” refers to the termination and relief of one delegate’s duties.
“Constituting instrument” refers to an / a group of Act(s) to establish a Division and their minister.
“Recently” refers to a period of two (2) weeks to one (1) month.
“English” refers to the English language and can include
1. Standard English;
2. Standard United Kingdom English;
3. Other international dialects of English.
“Suspension” refers to the act of suspending a delegate, making the delegate unable to talk and engage in the Discord server, effectively missing out on all the sessions.
“Everyone pinging” refers to the action of pinging everyone, i.e. @everyone.
“Spam” refers to any instance of unwanted messages being sent at an extremely frequent rate.

This document was written in Canadian English and may have slight differences to other forms of the English language.

§2 Acts amended

This act fully amends the following acts:

Procedures for Membership Attainment to the Cupertino Alliance, 2020
An Act to Protect our Independent Opinions, 2020
Duties of a Delegate, 2020
Delegate Cap Act, 2020
Duties of the Chair of the Board, 2020
Parliamentary Practice, 2020
Ministers Act, 2020
Procedures for Membership Attainment to the Cupertino Alliance, 2020

§3 Citation

This act’s short name shall be

“Charter Act, 2020”

This act’s short name shall be, when referred with other constitutions with the same name:

“Charter Act (Cupertino Alliance), 2020”

This act’s long name shall be:

“The Charter of the Cupertino Alliance, 2020”

§4 Area jurisdiction

This Act shall be effective in all Cupertino Alliance facilities, the Cupertino Parliament, Cupertino Alliance agencies, Cupertino Alliance divisions. By joining the Cupertino Alliance, you hereby agree that

You have read, understood, and accepted to be bound by this Act.

The Cupertino Alliance reserves the right to modify this Act, as well as to dissolve the Cupertino Alliance temporary or permanently. The aforementioned actions will be discussed in x and y of this Act respectfully. If this act is amended in any way, it will be notified. The continued membership renewal of your nation and the continued office of your delegation constitutie your acceptance of any future changes. The Cupertino Alliance has all rights to terminate your nation’s membership or delegation office with violation of this act, provided that the steps of termination are followed, which are listed in this act in article 12.

§5 Proclamation

WE THE PEOPLES OF THE CUPERTINO ALLIANCE DETERMINED

That we should work together, helping each member nation for the greater good;
To promote progress, development and to jumpstart fellow micronations;
To promote cooperation between fellow member nations.

AS SUCH Accordingly, current members of the Cupertino Alliance as of 29 May 2020, our respective governments, through delegates have attended in the 17th session on 30 May 2020 to read, revise, and present the Charter of the Cupertino Alliance, reaffirming the governance of this great alliance.

WHEREAS the Cupertino Alliance shall strive to fulfill and surpass its mission listed in the Mission for the Cupertino Alliance, 2020, this document shall be the document listing the form and measures of governance within this Alliance.

Chapter 1 - Membership

§1 Article 1

The following are required when obtaining membership in the Cupertino Alliance, hereby below:

The Ratification of the Cupertino Alliance Mission Statement (Refer to further reading) and this Act.
Considered to be in stable condition
Have been established for at least six (6) months, or considered to have the features that a micronation that is six (6) months or older has.
Must have a Discord server
Must not be in a war or major conflict with any other member state

§2 Article 2

The applicant will include in the membership form

A Discord invitation ink to the nation’s Discord server
A constitution or independence declaration for the nation applying.

§3 Article 3

When the form is sent to the Division of Membership Attainment, the Division of Membership Attainment shall send some Commissioners to review the nation, and draft remarks. Those remarks will be shown to Parliament and the applicant will be voted upon by Parliament anonymously. Delegates may direct message remarks to the Chair of the Board.

§4 Article 4

After voting is finished, the Division of Membership Attainment shall hereby create a report regarding delegate remarks and final vote result, as well as the remarks page, shall be sent to the applicant.

§5 Article 5

No person shall gain knowledge of what delegate voted what in membership application, such must remain classified. Furthermore, the Commissioners must also remain classified. The Division of Membership Attainment must not release a delegate’s name on who made a delegate remark.

§6 Article 6

No applicant nor delegate may engage in a deal for any support, oppose, or abstain vote for any political, monetary, physical gains, or actions.

§7 Article 7

No applicant nor delegate may engage in harassment within any staff in the Cupertino Alliance in regard to membership voting.

§8 Article 8

The punishment of the violation of Chapter 1 §5 of this act shall be

A punishment of three (3) months to a lifetime bans from the Cupertino Alliance, as chosen by the Superior Judge of the Cupertino Alliance
The destruction of all documents related to the incident

The punishment of the violation of Chapter 1 §6 of this act shall be

A punishment of six (6) months to a lifetime bans from the Cupertino Alliance, as chosen by the Superior Judge of the Cupertino Alliance
The removal of right from applying to the Cupertino Alliance for six (6) months to lifetime.
The removal of a delegate to the Cupertino Alliance.

The punishment of the violation of Chapter 1 §7 of this act shall be

A punishment of nine (9) months to a lifetime bans from the Cupertino Alliance, as chosen by the Superior Judge of the Cupertino Alliance
The removal of right from applying to the Cupertino Alliance for six (6) months to lifetime.
The removal of a delegate to the Cupertino Alliance.

§9 Article 9

A member nation or delegate may be expelled from the Cupertino Alliance for reasons listed below.

Violation of the North American Delegation Act, 2020, or being inactive (i.e. not attending Cupertino Parliamentary sessions) within the Cupertino Alliance.
Violations of this Act
Violations of other active Cupertino legislation
Incidents which violate the Mission of the Cupertino Alliance
Repeated delegate removals or complaints

If a delegate is removed and if the former delegate served as the sole delegate for a member nation, the member nation will have forty-eight (48) hours to appoint a new delegate. Otherwise, the member nation faces termination.

§10 Article 10

All membership applications sent before twenty-four (24) hours of the upcoming session gain the right to be discussed in the next upcoming session. Though membership applications sent after twenty-four (24) hours may get discussed in the next upcoming session, this is not guaranteed.

§11 Article 11

If, by any chance, the Division of Membership Attainment deems that an nation has already applied for an application too recently, may reject the application. This requires that over two (2) applications were sent during a period of two (2) months, with each time the Division did not see any significant improvement during the two (2) applications. This can be overturned with a fifty-one percent (51%) majority vote in Parliament. Though, a rejected member state can reapply anytime in a reasonable matter.

§12 Article 12

All member states gain the right to leave the Cupertino Alliance. Membership ends with the denouncing of this Act, or when a member dissolves. Furthermore, the Cupertino Alliance may terminate a membership of a member nation with a simple fifty-one percent (51%) majority in Parliament. Access to any services will end immediately.

§13 Article 13

All Windhoek reports are subject to the Windhoek Agreement on Greater Security, 2020, and can be destroyed after the member state leaves the Cupertino Alliance. However, a member state may request to move the reports to a secure database in their micronation, losing access from the Windhoek database and not allowing any member state to review the affected Windhoek reports. When a former member state returns to the Cupertino Alliance, the member state may choose to keep their independent database or transfer back to the Windhoek database. This will not affect their access to view the Windhoek database.

§14 Article 14

If a member state is dissolved and succeeds, their Cupertino Alliance membership will continue. If a member state dissolves into multiple states, then all of the states will be granted Cupertino Alliance membership. This provision does not include states that are

Continued after a long period of time, which during the period of time was kicked from the Cupertino Alliance;
Have a different form of government with different people, just using the name of the micronation only;
Absorbed into another Cupertino Alliance member state (Which then their membership will be merged with the respective member state.).

The Chair of the Board and the Superior Judge will decide if a successor state fulfill(s) these requirements. If so, they have the power to grant membership to the successor state(s). This can be overturned by a Delegate if they think a successor state[s] do not fulfill these requirements.

Chapter 2 - Delegates

§15 Article 15

The duties of a delegate is to represent their member nation in the Cupertino Alliance. A delegate has the power to vote and discuss proposals and topics in Cupertino Sessions. All delegates receive one vote per delegate, not one vote per nation. (All delegates can vote even if another delegate from the same member nation has voted.)

§16 Article 16

A member state may only appoint up at least one (1) to three (3) delegates to Parliament at one time.

§17 Article 17

A delegate may be relieved of their duties at any time by any reason by

A head of state of a member nation;
A head of government of a member nation;
The government of a member nation;
Seventy percent (70%) vote from the Cupertino Parliament;
When a member nation he/she represents leaves the Cupertino Alliance.

A delegate may also be relieved of their duties by

A valid violation of a Cupertino document, signed by both the Chair of the Board as well as the Superior Judge.

§18 Article 18

A delegate must fulfill these requirements of:

Be a citizen of their member nation that represents them;
Have an Discord account older than one (1) month old;
Have agreed to the terms of this Act and other Cupertino Alliance documents relating to delegates;
Must have not garnered many complaints from member nations.

The Chair of the Board with approval from the Superior Judge may deny a member nation to appoint a delegate for violations of these reasons.

§19 Article 19

If a delegate leaves the Cupertino Alliance for whatever reason and they serve as the sole delegate for a member nation, the member nation will have two (2) weeks to find a replacement or else they face expulsion from the Cupertino Alliance.

Chapter 3 - Observership

§20 Article 20

Observership is a special type of membership granted to certain Cupertino Alliance applicants. This can only be granted by Parliament and can not be applied for.

§21 Article 21

Members of Parliament can vote on granting observership to a micronation instead of full membership.

§22 Article 22

An observer state has limited powers compared to a member state. They can attend sessions, but they can not participate in any programs, ask for Cupertino Electoral Supervisory Commission support, request agency support, and they can not vote. Furthermore, their delegates can not be nominated as a minister, Superior Judge, or Chair of the Board.

§23 Article 23

An observer state must be reconsidered for member state status in the following session. If Parliament does not have confidence to grant the micronation to member status, they can keep them for observer status, or repel them for any reason. If they keep their observer status, it will be reconsidered in the following session, et cetera.

Chapter 4 - Chair of the Board

§24 Article 24

The Chair of the Board acts as the head of state and government of the Cupertino Alliance. It represents the Cupertino Alliance in official diplomatic events and supervises the sessions of the Alliance. Furthermore, the Chair plans all the sessions for the next month, with advice from Delegates.

§25 Article 25

The Chair of the Board is required to meet all of the requirements of a delegate, as well as be a valid delegate during his / her term. If a Chair loses his delegation status, they will have two (2) weeks to find another nation to delegate. If this two weeks passes by, they must resign through the process of Article 28.

§26 Article 26

The Chair of the Board shall be an elected position elected by the delegates of the Alliance. He/she shall serve an unlimited number of six (6) month terms. Possible nominations must be sent 2 weeks before an election; incumbents will be registered automatically, unless stated that they do not intend to run for another term. The nominees must also be a delegate of the Cupertino Alliance.

§27 Article 27

If there are no candidates, then the incumbent will automatically win the office. If the incumbent did not intend to run for the office, they will continue with the chairmanship for no less than four (4) months someone is nominated. If then, no one is nominated, the Chair can give another delegate the office for a term.

§28 Article 28

If there is one (1) candidate, they will automatically win the office. If there are two (2) candidates, they will be elected through first past the post. If there were three (3) or more candidates, use a single transferable vote. Each delegate, which includes all ministers, the nominees for the Chair position, as well as the incumbent Chair itself, receives one vote.

§29 Article 29

The Chair gains the right to resign for any reason, though the resigning Chair must name his / her successor. The successor will continue until the term is ended.

§30 Article 30

The Chair can be dismissed with an act of no confidence with seventy percent (70%) or more votes in the Cupertino Alliance. A delegate requires at least his/her signature and two (2) others and submit a proposal of no confidence. If it passes, a deputy leader will be called in the proposal of no confidence and will take duty for one to two (1-2) months until an election is called.

§31 Article 31

If, by any chance, the Chair of the Board needs that something is necessary, the Chair may issue a Chairmanship Order. This order can include delegates and / or member nations. This is more “powerful” than a Ministerial Order and can overturn it. Furthermore, this does not require approval from Parliament. This Chairmanship Order has to follow this Act, however.

§32 Article 32

If a delegate or delegates feel like the Chairmanship Order infringes on their rights, violates the Charter Act, 2020, or not issued on good intentions, they can call the Superior Judge to review the order. If the Superior Judge deems that the order infringes on their rights or not issued on good intentions, the Superior Judge may overturn the Order. The Chair can appeal this order through another judge.

§33 Article 33

The powers granted to the Chair of the Board are:

The power to call an extraordinary session at the Chair’s pleasure;
The power to add or remove people from the Cupertino Alliance Parliament in accordance to this Act;
The normal powers of a delegate;
The power to appoint or dismiss Ministers at the Chair’s pleasure. (This does not include the Superior Judge, who is elected by the Delegates with confidence of the house.);
The power to issue Chairmanship Orders (Refer to Article 31 and 32.);
The power to veto certain types of passed legislation at the Chair’s pleasure (Refer to Article 35).

§34 Article 34

The duties of the Chair of the Board is to:

Set up and plan sessions in advance;
Supervise projects and ministers;
Chairmanship orders at their discretion;
Be present at their job for at least one (1) day a week, unless notified in advanced or a certain emergency, family, or other urgent reasons;
Sign, or veto legislation passed in Parliament;
Comply and enforce all laws and government orders, regardless of the appeal;
Perform regular checks within all member states;
Comply with the people’s needs and wants;
Respond and resolve inter-member issues;
Effectively discuss with delegates on future projects;
Research the best time for sessions;
Maintain decorum within Parliament;
Help with the management of dependent agencies;
Participate in normal delegate activities.

If a Chair fails to fulfil these duties frequently, then a vote of no confidence can be called. Refer to article 30.

§35 Article 35

The Chair of the Board is the owner of the Cupertino Alliance Discord server, as well as be able to moderate the chat in accordance to this Act as well as other Cupertino Alliance documents relating to the use of the Discord server.

§36 Article 36

At any time, the Chair of the Board gains the right to veto certain legislation, excluding: Acts of no confidence to the Chair. These “vetos” will need to be made for the good, or the Chair may veto something if it violates this Act.

§37 Article 37

Parliament may overturn a veto through a fifty percent (50%) majority vote.

§38 Article 38

The Superior Judge can also overturn a veto if the reasoning for the veto does not follow Article 35.

Chapter 5 - Ministers

§39 Article 39

To effectively run Divisions of the Cupertino Alliance, the Chair of the Board shall appoint delegates to serve as ministers of a Division.

§40 Article 40

The ministers as of writing, are:

Minister of Membership Attainment (Ministers Act);
Minister of Agreements and Development (Ministers Act);
Minister of Asian Affairs (Ministers Act);
Minister of Environment and Geographical Information (Division of Environment and Geographical Information Act);
Minister of Public Relations (Act 126, an Act to form the Public Relations Ministry)
Minister of MicroWiki Affairs (An Act to Establish the MicroWiki Improvement Division).

Please note that the ministers list may not be up to date. It is up to date as of 30 May 2020.

§41 Article 41

The powers granted to the ministers are: The power to issue a ministerial order to delegates and/or member nations. (Refer to article 45 of this Act)

§42 Article 42

The duties of a minister is to:

Supervise their own division;
Managing projects that they are assigned to;
Doing their duties as listed in their constituting instrument;
Be the head spokesperson of a Division;
Help with the management of dependent agencies;
Participate in normal delegate activities.

§43 Article 43

The Chair of the Board appoints the Ministry at the Chair’s pleasure. Furthermore, the Chair can terminate any minister for whatever reason. However, the Chair may not appoint any recently impeached delegate. A minister has the power to resign for whatever reason.

§44 Article 44

To become a minister, one must:

Not hold any other ministerial positions or hold the Superior Judge position at the time of nomination;
Be a delegate for a member state during the ministerial tenure.
Nominees will message the Chair regarding their intent to run. If the Chair desires to, the Chair may put out a vote within Parliament regarding their opinion. The Parliament may also vote for a minister, but this vote isn’t #legally binding.

§45 Article 45

A minister can issue an ministerial order if the minister deems something is necessary that is related to their division. This order can include delegates and / or member nations. This is less “powerful” than a Chairmanship Order and a Chairmanship Order can overturn a ministerial Order. Furthermore, this does not require approval from Parliament. This ministerial Order has to follow this Act, however.

§46 Article 46

If a delegate or delegates feel like the ministerial Order infringes on their rights, violates the Charter Act, 2020, or not issued on good intentions, they can call the Superior Judge to review the order. If the Superior Judge deems that the order infringes on their rights or not issued on good intentions, the Superior Judge may overturn the Order. The minister can appeal this order through another judge.

§47 Article 47

A delegate, minister, or Chair can propose to create a new division alongside a new ministry with the creation and passing of a constituting instrument. Refer to article 49.

Chapter 6 - Divisions

§48 Article 48

A division is a government department which is headed by a minister, to manage a sector of administration within the Cupertino Alliance.

§49 Article 49

A division can be created through the proposal and passing of a constituting instrument by Parliament. The constituting instrument requires

The purpose / duties of the division;
The administration of the division.
With the passing of a constituting instrument, then the Chair of the Board has the option to sign or veto it with their powers listed at article 33 section f. With the passing of a division, then a minister shall be appointed in accordance to chapter 5 of this act. This does not affect any current divisions as listed in article 53.

§50 Article 50

If a delegate, minister, or Chair does not find the usefulness of a division, then they can propose an act to dissolve the division. If this gets passed by Parliament, then the Chair of the Board has the option to sign or veto it with their powers listed at article 33 section f. If this is signed, then the minister of the division will be demoted back to their delegation roles and all projects within the division will be transferred or terminated.

§51 Article 51

Divisions can manage projects within the Cupertino Alliance or have dependent agencies (refer to chapter 7).

§52 Article 52

Divisions can appoint interested delegates to volunteer on certain projects or at dependent agencies under the minister of the specific division.

§53 Article 53

The ministers as of writing, are:

Division of Membership Attainment (Ministers Act, supervised by the Minister of Membership Attainment);
Division of Agreements and Development (Ministers Act, supervised by the Minister of Agreements and Development);
Division of Asian Affairs (Ministers Act, supervised by the Minister of Asian Affairs);
Division of Environment and Geographical Information (Division of Environment and Geographical Information Act, supervised by the Minister of Environment and Geographical Information);
Division of Public Relations (Act 126, an Act to form the Public Relations Ministry, supervised by the Minister of Public Relations)
Division of MicroWiki Affairs (An Act to Establish the MicroWiki Improvement Division, supervised by the Minister of MicroWiki Affairs).

Please note that the ministers list may not be up to date. It is up to date as of 30 May 2020.

§54 Article 54

The Cupertino Alliance takes ownership of any projects made by divisions.

Chapter 7 - Dependent Agencies

§55 Article 55

A dependent agency is an agency which fulfills most of the duties of a division and provides a service / services to member nations, but does not have a minister. These agencies are controlled by the Cupertino Alliance.

§56 Article 56

A dependent agency can be created through the proposal and passing of an Act through Parliament. With the passing of the aforementioned act, then the Chair of the Board has the option to sign or veto it with their powers listed at article 33 section f. This does not affect any current dependent agencies as listed in article 57.

§57 Article 57

The current dependent agencies as of writing, are:

Cupertino Electoral Supervisory Commission (Kano Agreement on Electoral Supervision);
Cupertino Alliance Design Agency (An Act to form the Cupertino Alliance Design Agency);
Cupertino Community for Diplomacy (Cupertino Community for Diplomacy Act);
Cupertino Press Association (Plymouth Project);
Amalgamated Film Rating Board (Medellín Agreement on Film Classification).

§58 Article 58

If a delegate, minister, or Chair does not find the usefulness of a dependent agency, then they can propose an act to dissolve the dependent agency. If this gets passed by Parliament, then the Chair of the Board has the option to sign or veto it with their powers listed at article 33 section f. If this is signed, then all projects within the dependent agency will be transferred or terminated.

§59 Article 59

Dependent agencies can appoint interested delegates to volunteer at certain projects.

§60 Article 60

The Cupertino Alliance takes ownership of any projects made by dependent agencies.

Chapter 8 - Independent Agencies

§61 Article 61

A dependent agency is an agency which fulfills most of the duties of a division and provides a service / services to member nations, but does not have a minister. These agencies start out as controlled by the Cupertino Alliance, but slowly after time reduce their dependence to the Cupertino Alliance.

§62 Article 62

An independent agency can be created through the proposal and passing of an Act through Parliament. With the passing of the aforementioned act, then the Chair of the Board has the option to sign or veto it with their powers listed at article 33 section f.

§63 Article 63

If a delegate, minister, or Chair does not find the usefulness of an independent agency, then they can propose an act to stop the use of resources to an independent agency. If this gets passed by Parliament, then the Chair of the Board has the option to sign or veto it with their powers listed at article 33 section f. If this is signed, then the Cupertino Alliance will cut all resources to the independent agency. This may dissolve an agency, or continue living with new administration.

§64 Article 64

Independent agencies can appoint interested delegates or other civilians to volunteer at certain projects.

§65 Article 65

If a delegate, minister, or Chair thinks that an independent agency does not require Cupertino support, then they can propose an act to remove association to an independent agency. If this gets passed by Parliament, then the Chair of the Board has the option to sign or veto it with their powers listed at article 33 section f. If this is signed, then the Cupertino Alliance will cut all resources to the independent agency. This act will be reversed if the independent agency fails.

§66 Article 66

The Cupertino Alliance takes ownership of any projects made by independent agencies. This article does not affect projects after independence.

Chapter 9 - Superior Court

§67 Article 67

The Superior Court shall be the superior judicial organ of the organization, which will have full independence of the Parliament as well as the Chair of the Board.

§68 Article 68

The Superior Court shall consist of:

One Superior Judge, appointed by the Chair of the Board with the approval of the Parliament of the Cupertino Alliance;
Two Associate Justices, appointed by the Superior Judge with the approval of the Parliament of the Cupertino Alliance.

§69 Article 69

The position of the Notary General shall be terminated.

§70 Article 70

The duties of the Superior Court is to:

Investigate and respond to claims regarding violations of international or legislation relating to the internal governance of the Cupertino Alliance;
Enforcement of Cupertino Alliance legislation to delegates, ministers, as well as the Chair of the Board;
Oversee impeachment trials;
Serve as an independent court for member nations to use on request;

§71 Article 71

The applicant must inform the Superior Judge that he/she has the interest to sue the defendant. He/she must fill out a form with the following parameters:

Date, time, location of the event(s)
A detailed timeline of the incident(s)
One or more law(s) for which the applicant wants to sue the defendant for
The option of trial by jury or judge
Representation from the plaintiff (e.g. Him/Herself or contact information to an attorney general/lawyer)
How this case relates to the Cupertino Alliance (unless it follows article 70 section d.)

The final decision to hear a case will be decided by a majority vote of the Superior Court.

§72 Article 72

Parties in a lawsuit reserve the right to obtain evidence from the other party (parties) through documents, integrations, etc. This request must be honoured by the other party unless deemed unnecessary, otherwise, the court can file a motion to compel, an issue/inference sanction, or a litigation pending sanction. All documents filed in discovery will be presented at the trial.

§73 Article 73

Filings must be related to the lawsuit. If a party deems that the document requested does not suit the lawsuit, the party may request for the court to deny the discovery request.

§74 Article 74

Documents through discovery are not to be tempered with. Furthermore, it can lead to an issue/inference sanction.

§75 Article 75

A trial shall be informed to all parties of the lawsuit by the Superior Judge. Trial dates shall not be on:

Election days;
Session days;
Christmas day (Twenty-five December);
New Year’s day (One January);
Anyday where the government is closed.

All parties will get up to one (1) week to inform the Superior Judge that they want to reschedule. Special provisions may be given if the trial is less then one week but a party has to leave due to an emergency.

§76 Article 76

If a trial deems to be unfair to a party, a party can file a retrial to the Superior Judge. The Judge will investigate if it fulfills the claim and if it is fulfilled, a retrial must be done.

§77 Article 77

Witnesses which can be seen as helpful to a lawsuit may at any time be called up to testify to a lawsuit. Witnesses must follow these rules:

All witnesses must declare an oath citing that they will not violate these rules;
All witnesses must not fabricate nor forge on evidence under oath;
All witnesses must not lie under oath;
All witnesses must not have contacted the defendants nor the plaintiff after they have been called to testify.

For which is it proven that a witness has violated one of the clauses, the testification will be omitted from proceedings. Furthermore, certain actions can be taken by the Judge presiding over the case if it is found that the plaintiff or defendant has contacted the witness after they have been told to testify or that evidence had been forged or the witness had lied.

§78 Article 78

A majority vote within the Superior Court will constitute a decision. The Superior Court will be required to explain its reasoning regarding its choice to a decision.

§79 Article 79

Any decision of the Superior Court may be appealed through a request from any party in the lawsuit for a period of at least four (4) months after the final document stating that the lawsuit is over was signed by the Superior Judge. Only two appeals are allowed per party in any case in the Superior Court.

§80 Article 80

New documentation, witnesses, as well as any other materials may be brought to the appeals hearing.

§81 Article 81

The Superior Court may request an extraordinary session to Parliament. This request must be fulfilled by the Chair.

§82 Article 82

The Superior Court reserves the right to make these orders listed below if the court finds a person guilty, those being:

Suspension from the Cupertino Alliance;
Reasonable ban time from the Cupertino Alliance;
Termination from the Cupertino Alliance with the approval from Parliament.

§83 Article 83

To close a lawsuit, the Superior Judge will be required to document a final summary report, consisting of

The final decision of the Superior Court;
A transcript of all the hearings;
An summary of events brought up by all parties;
Any details related to the incident;
The form filled in article 71;
What the incident violated.

Chapter 10 - Superior Judge

§84 Article 84

The Superior Judge is the head of the Superior Court and serves as the de facto Chief Justice.

§85 Article 85

The powers granted to the Superior Judge are:

Veto certain documents listed in this Act which violate this Act;
Ensure that all legislation passed in Parliament follows this Act;
Advise the Chair and the Alliance on judicial means;
Oversee and supervise the Superior Court;
Appoint or dismiss associate judges with the approval from Parliament.
All the other powers which an associate judge would gain;
All the other powers which a delegate would gain.

§86 Article 86

The duties expected of the Superior Judge are:

Documents all court cases within the Superior Court;
Advises with Parliament and the Chair regarding recommendations to the Superior Court;
Administer chairmanship elections;
All the other tasks which an associate judge would do;
All the other tasks which a delegate would do.

§86 Article 86

The Superior Judge is nominated by the Chair of the Board and confirmed by the Parliament of the Cupertino Alliance.

§87 Article 87

If a Superior Judge is corrupt, violates this Act, or maintains an unfair partisan position in court cases, then the Superior Judge may be impeached. Refer to chapter 12.

§88 Article 88

The Superior Judge must fulfill all of these requirements:

Be a delegate within the Cupertino Alliance;
Not hold any ministerial positions within the Cupertino Alliance.

If the Superior Judge gets an ministerial position within the Cupertino Alliance, then the delegate must resign his Superior Judge position or decline the offer to take the ministerial position.

Chapter 11 - Associate Judges

§89 Article 89

The Associate Judges are the two lower judges in the Superior Court.

§90 Article 90

The powers granted to the Associate Judges are:

The attendance of Superior Court cases;
The chance to decide the outcome of a case with the Superior Judge.

§91 Article 91

The duties expected of the Associate Judges are:

Give an non-partisan fair judgement and vote to a decision regarding a case;
All the other tasks which a delegate would do.

§92 Article 92

The Associate Judges are nominated by the Superior Judge and confirmed by the Parliament of the Cupertino Alliance.

§93 Article 93

If an Associate Judges is corrupt, violates this Act, or maintains an unfair partisan position in court cases, then the Superior Judge may be impeached. Refer to chapter 12.

Chapter 12 - Impeachment

§94 Article 94

Only the positions of Superior Judge and Associate Judge are impeachable. The Chair as well as Ministers have acts of no confidence

§95 Article 95

Impeachment cases shall be filed through the procedure listed in Chapter 9.

§96 Article 96

When the Superior Judge is under an impeachment trial, the Chair of the Board shall nominate an deputy Superior Judge, approved by the Parliament of the Cupertino Alliance.

§97 Article 97

When an Associate Judge is under an impeachment trial, the Superior Judge shall appoint a deputy Associate Judge, approved by the Parliament of the Cupertino Alliance. The Superior Judge will appoint two if both are under an impeachment trial.

§98 Article 98

In regard to the trial procedures for the impeachment, refer to Chapter 9 of this act.

Chapter 13 - Parliament and Session Planning

§99 Article 99

The Cupertino Alliance’s legislative power shall be vested in a Parliament. The Parliament shall be filled by delegates appointed by member states (refer to chapter 2), non voting observers (refer to chapter 3), ministers (refer to chapter 5), as well as the Chair of the Board (refer to chapter 4).

§100 Article 100

The duties of the Parliament is to:

Propose, vote, and adopt legislation of any kind to the Cupertino Alliance;
Guide the alliance as a whole;
Serve the interest of the people of their member states;
Elect the Chair and the Superior Judge;
Promote the Mission of the Cupertino Alliance;
To perform tasks with a fifty-one percent (5r1%) majority vote in Parliament.

§101 Article 101

Any act may be proposed by a delegate, minister, or the Chair of the Board. These acts need to follow the guidelines of:

Does not allow a member state to control over their domestic affairs, unless requested by the aforementioned member state;
Infringes with this Act, unless it is an amendment;
Delegates are expected to nominate proposals which are appropriate and align with the Mission of the Cupertino Alliance, 2020. If this is not met, then such is punishable with a suspension. Repeated offenses and/or serious offences can lead to an official expulsion of the delegate. The nation will have two (2) weeks to find another delegate, or else an expulsion of the nation will take in effect.

§102 Article 102

All “major” acts must be on a document format via the Google Docs service, following a template provided by the Cupertino Alliance. All “minor” acts can be done though a Discord message.

§103 Article 103

The Chair of the Board is required to plan at least the date of the session three (3) days before the session is planned. The time of the session is to be announced at least one (1) day before the session. If these rules are not met, the session will not happen. This rule does not apply to extraordinary sessions.

§104 Article 104

The Chair of the Board is required to analyze data in sessions monthly to choose the most optimal time to hold a session. This can be done through looking at message history from the past sessions, as well as the collection of data.

§105 Article 105

Sessions will be declared cancelled if the Chair of the Board fails to appear within thirty (30) minutes after the Session was planned. This will be waived if the Chair of the Board informs the Parliament that he/she won’t attend. A makeup meeting can be hosted during the day, the next day, or the day after the next day.

§106 Article 106

If the Chair of the Board suddenly goes inactive without notice for twenty (20) minutes, a delegate may propose a “motion to close the session” It will open to voting for ten (10) minutes. All delegates may vote, and if it passes a majority (50%), the session will be closed. A makeup session can be held during the day, the next day, or the day after the next day.

§107 Article 107

All participants of a session are expected to maintain, enforce, and follow proper decorum. Refer to Chapter 14.

§108 Article 108

After a session, all acts shall be placed into a vote. All normal legislation shall be done through a Discord reaction poll. All ministerial opinion polls, elections for any kind of seat, member attainment applications, as well as anything that the Chair deems that should be anonymous, should be conducted through an anonymous poll using a Discord bot service. Voting shall end after three (3) days or when a majority of fifty-one percent from all members of Parliament has been reached, and votes should be placed no later than twenty-four (24) hours after the ending of the session.

§109 Article 109

The gazette, published by the Minister of Public Affairs, shall contain all acts, final voting information, as well as a transcript to improve transparency. However, a delegate can request to censor a part of the transcript for protection, personal information, etc.

Chapter 14 - Parliamentary Decorum and Practice

§110 Article 110

Delegates are mandated to use one of these listed below for their Discord nickname (i.e. names you change via /nick):

[Name of delegate (First and/or last)] - [Nation]
[Name of delegate] - [Position within alliance]

All delegates are to have unique nicknames. If, by any chance, there are 2 delegates from the same nation, with the same position, and have the same first and last name, they can put a numerical value after their name. Delegates do not need to use grammar or proper capitalization for their nicknames. Furthermore, delegates can also use a common nickname for their name. (e.g. Nick for Nicholas, Tom for Thomas, etc).

§111 Article 111

The Session will start when a majority of members say something.

§112 Article 112

The English language shall be the working language in the Cupertino Alliance. Though, other languages can be spoken during Cupertino Alliance sessions, to promote diversity within the alliance.

§113 Article 113

Delegates are expected to be semi-formal at least. Swear words are not allowed, however the capitalization or proper grammar of each sentence is not necessary. The use of slur words, offensive language and not safe for work content however, does not align with the Mission of the Cupertino Alliance, 2020 and will call for an immediate kick from the session, and an investigation. The delegate, minister and/or Chair may also face a suspension. If, by any chance, the member in question has a long track record, or the incident is very offensive, the Superior Judge can mandate an official expulsion of the delegate. The nation will have two (2) weeks to find another delegate, or else an expulsion of the nation will take in effect.

§114 Article 114

Sessions should be discussing the Cupertino Alliance first. Certain side conversations are allowed but they need to be minimal. If an conversation which does not relate to the Cupertino Alliance, a member state, or micronations takes an notable majority of time in the session, the Chair of the Board may request that the discussion should be moved to #general or direct messages. Repeated violations of this rule can lead to a kick of the member from the session.

§115 Article 115

Memes should be kept outside of the session. Occasional accidental posting of a meme is fine, but must be deleted afterwards.

§116 Article 116

After everything is finished, the Chair of the Board needs to leave at least a ten (10) minute grace period for any other delegates to share anything before adjourning the session.

§117 Article 117

Delegates reserve the right to kick a delegate, minister and/or Chair from a session for a rule violation. If this reaches a simple majority, the Chair is required to kick the delegate. All instances of this happening, no matter if they passed or not, must be reviewed by the Superior Judge and the Chair of the Board to determine if the delegate did violate a rule, and thus can take administrative action.

§118 Article 118

If the Chair gets kicked out of a session, the Chair is required to name a Chair Pro Tempore to finish the session. Normal proceedings of the session will continue.

§119 Article 119

All delegates are referred using gender neutral terms if possible. A delegate can make a request to change it to a feminine or masuline term.

§120 Article 120

All delegates are to treat other delegates with respect. Again, if this is violated, this will constitute the delegate getting kicked from the Session. Repeat offenders can face a suspension and after that the Superior Judge can mandate an official expulsion of the delegate. The nation will have two (2) weeks to find another delegate, or else an expulsion of the nation will take in effect.

§121 Article 121

Delegates may only have one Discord account during a session, but may have a small and reasonable amount of alternate accounts in the Cupertino Alliance Discord server.

§122 Article 122

All incidents are logged to the delegate’s Windhoek report.

§123 Article 123

If a delegate disagrees with an action taken by the alliance, the delegate can file a lawsuit against the alliance. Refer to chapter 9 of this Act.

§124 Article 124

If a delegate violates decorum, the Chair has the right to delete their message. This must be used reasonably, and repeated offences may constitute a judicial hearing.

Chapter 15 - Rules in Regard to the Discord Server

§125 Article 125

The following rules apply to anyone who is in the Cupertino Alliance Discord server and does not matter if you are a staff member within the Cupertino Alliance or not. The rules in the Cupertino Alliance server as of the following:

Be respectful;
Treat everyone equally regardless of colour, sex, etc;
Do not everyone ping (@everyone);
Post content in correct channels;
Act civil. Peaceful assembly is allowed;
No not safe for work content, including not safe for work profile pictures;
No illegal content;
Do not engage in harassment, discrimination, hate speech, etc;
Don’t spam.

§126 Article 126

Punishments of article 124 are decided upon the moderator of the Discord server. These decisions can be appealed to the Superior Court.

Chapter 16 - Dissolution of the Alliance

§127 Article 127

The Parliament of the Cupertino Alliance can choose to dissolve the alliance if All the member states have left or dissolved; An eighty-five percent (85%) majority vote in Parliament with approval from the Chair of the Board.

§128 Article 128

A conference regarding the future of the projects within the Cupertino Alliance shall be hosted. All of the contributions by Jayden Lycon (e.g. CESE graphics, the Cupertino Alliance logo, etc) shall be under his ownership.

Chapter 17 - Amending and Voiding this Act

§129 Article 129

To amend this act, a proposal for an amendment must be proposed and approved by Parliament. The guidelines for an amendment is that:

It is done on the good interest and intend of the Cupertino Alliance;
It aligns with the Mission of the Cupertino Alliance, 2020.
All amendments must be reviewed by the Superior Court. If the Superior Court deemed that an amendment violates the Mission of the Cupertino Alliance, 2020, or is considered harmful or destructive, the amendment can be denied with reasoning.

§130 Article 130

Copies of this Act, both pre- and post- amending shall be kept for the sake of archival proposes.

§131 Article 131

This Act may only be void with

A new constitution / charter or the dissolution of this alliance, and
A seventy-five (75%) majority vote in Parliament

Chapter 18 - Cupertino Printer

§132 Article 132

The Cupertino Printer is the bureau within the Cupertino Alliance responsible for producing and licensing official documents issued by the Government

§133 Article 133

The Cupertino Printer shall manage

All documents produced by the Cupertino Alliance, which includes member remarks, legislation, etc;
The Cupertino Alliance Reference Centre.

§134 Article 134

The Cupertino Printer shall hold copyright of Cupertino Alliance documents on behalf of the Government of the Cupertino Alliance and her member states.

Bill information

Writing was finished on 30 May 2020.

First reading was conducted on the 17th session, 30 May 2020 at 2PM Eastern Daylight Time or 6PM Coordinated Universal Time

Second reading was conducted on the 18th Session, 6 June 2020 at 8PM Eastern Daylight Time or 7 June 2020 at 12AM Coordinated Universal Time

Voting for the bill was conducted chapter by chapter on 6 June 2020 and was finished on 12 June 2020.

Bill effective on 15 June 2020 at 12AM Eastern Daylight Time.