Charter of the Grand Unified Micronational (2016)

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2016 CHARTER OF THE GRAND UNIFIED MICRONATIONAL

This is the 2016 GUM Charter. It is no longer in force, and has been replaced by the 2021 Charter.


PREAMBLE

We, the nations of the Grand Unified Micronational,

Desiring the formation of a union to create a legal and community framework for new and old nations to achieve cooperation on projects of national and international significance as well as enabling newer nations to transition into the community in an easier, more solidified fashion than they can at the present time,

Hereby resolve to adopt the charter of the Grand Unified Micronational to govern the way we communicate, govern and cooperate within this organization and to provide a bureaucratic framework to achieve this goal.

The governments party to this document’s signing are hereby resolved to accept this Charter as legally binding under statute of international law and further to adhere to the particular articles of this charter.


TERMINOLOGY

To ensure easy reading and dissemination of this charter, the following terminology shall be defined here:

  • a. The terms “Chair”, “Chair’s office”, “Chair of the Grand Unified Micronational” and equivalents and so forth shall be considered synonyms in the context of this charter.
  • b. The terms of “Vice Chair”, “Vice Chair’s office”, “Vice Chair of the Grand Unified Micronational” and equivalents and so forth shall be considered synonyms in the context of this charter.
  • c. The terms of “GUM”, “Grand Unified Micronational”, “institution” or “organization” shall be considered synonyms in the context of this charter unless otherwise specified.
  • d. The terms of “Supreme Court”, “court”, “judiciary”, “Supreme Court of the Grand Unified Micronational”, and equivalents and so forth shall be considered synonyms in the context of this charter. Likewise, “President of the Supreme Court”, “Judicial President”, “Chair of the Supreme Court”, “Supreme Judge” and equivalents and so forth shall be considered synonyms in the context of this charter.


ARTICLE I - THE ORGANIZATION

  • a. The Grand Unified Micronational shall be an international organisation that comprises freely associated sovereign member states coming together to foster international cooperation on projects of micronational significance, as well as to promote international relations and streamline the process of new micronations entering the community and improving the quality and output of such nations’ contributions to the community.
  • b. The organization shall be constructed hierarchically into three separate branches of administration: the Chair, and their deputy - the Vice Chair - who shall constitute the executive branch of the GUM; the Quorum, which in this context refers to the legislative branch of the GUM made up of delegated representatives of the various member states; and the Supreme Court, which shall be used to resolve cases of international significance between members party to this charter and to resolve disputes in regards to the interpretation of this Charter and the implementation of its provisions.
  • c. The three branches of the GUM shall be organized as follows:
    • i. The Chair shall be the leader of the organisation, elected by the delegations of the member states to co-ordinate the activities of the organisation.
    • ii. The Quorum shall be the collective body of delegations from each member state. Each member state , regardless of population, shall be represented by one voting delegate, with each delegation being able to have observing delegates as well.
    • iii. The Supreme Court shall consist of a Supreme Justice, appointed by the Chair and approved by Quorum.

ARTICLE II - PRINCIPLES OF THE ORGANIZATION

  • a. The Grand Unified Micronational is formed according to the following principles, which shall be regarded in both judgements relating to the organization itself and the conduct of members of the organization as inviolable, fundamental characteristics of the organization as a whole:
    • i. All states are equal in status regardless of cultural, social, political or any other characteristic, and further regardless of their deemed influence or reputation;
    • ii. That the sovereignty of a member state is fundamentally inviolable;
    • iii. That it is fundamental for the continued success, activity and prosperity of the community for its members to work together in order to achieve fundamental, meaningful progress;
    • iv. That micronationalism is a valid, genuine political movement that deserves recognition and respect, macronational politics notwithstanding;
    • v. That by organizing themselves sufficiently as serious political entities, micronational states can achieve sufficient autonomy to be deemed sovereign states;
    • vi. That through mutual cooperation and peaceful development, all micronational states can better themselves;
    • vii. That micronational citizens have the right to be identified as a people equal in cultural, social and political status to macronational groupings.
  • b. As to sovereignty of member states:
    • i. The Grand Unified Micronational may not attempt to impose membership on unwilling nations under any circumstances;
    • ii. The Grand Unified Micronational may not involve itself in the domestic policy of its member states without their consent;
    • iii. As a voluntary association of micronations, every member state can leave the Grand Unified Micronational. The process for leaving is detailed later in this charter.
  • c. As to unified foreign policy:
    • i. While the member states should act in such a way as though they recognize each other when conducting Quorum business, the GUM cannot enforce a policy of nations recognizing each other to become a member of the organization;
    • ii. The GUM may, however, promote in any way deemed appropriate the mutual recognition of all member states party to this Charter.

ARTICLE III - SPECIFIED POWERS, LIMITATIONS, AND SEPARATIONS OF BODIES AND ORGANS OF THE GUM

  • a. As per Article I, b) and c), the activity of the GUM shall be administered by a legislative body (the Quorum, in this context a legislative branch of the organization), a judicial body (the Supreme Court of the GUM), and an executive body (the Chair and the Vice Chair).
  • b. The Chair and Vice Chair may, at all times, serve only at the pleasure, direction and with the confidence of the Quorum.
  • c. Only the Quorum may perform and carry out the legislative agenda of the GUM.
  • d. The Supreme Court of the GUM shall be vested with the judicial power of the organization and will serve at the pleasure of the organisation as a whole.

CHAPTER I: THE QUORUM

  • a. The Quorum shall be considered the foremost, supreme organ of the GUM. They shall, therefore, have supreme executive, legislative and judicial competence.
  • b. The Quorum is the representative body of all member states and consists of designated representative officials from the governments of all member states, as per Article I, c), as well as delegates from observer states.
  • c. The Quorum is regarded as the collective leadership of the GUM and embodies the power of the organization and community therein attached.
  • d. There shall, as per Article I, c), be a maximum of three delegates per member state, authorised by their respective government. Observer states may send one, non-voting delegate to the Quorum if they wish.
  • e. Delegates must:
    • i. Be citizens of the state they wish to represent;
    • ii. Not hold a criminal record in the state they wish to represent or in any other member state, unless a majority of the Quorum gives them a specific motion of executive clemency in this regard;
    • iii. Not have been debarred from representing a state in Quorum due to prior misdemeanours when a member of any branch of the GUM.
  • f. Member states may appoint diplomatic staff to their delegates; members of this staff may include communications personnel, adjutants, advisors, and any other personnel deemed necessary by the member states for the delegates to discharge their Quorum duties. These personnel, however, may not represent the state in Quorum and may only be a party to Quorum discussion subject to approval by a majority of the Quorum in session.
  • g. A delegate may serve as the delegate of only one country at a time.

CHAPTER II: ON DECORUM IN THE QUORUM

  • a. The Quorum of the GUM is considered to be a formal diplomatic venue, and delegates should act to each other and the Quorum as an institution in like manner.
  • b. Delegates and diplomatic staff have the right to be addressed in a form of their choosing that appropriately reflects their station and formal preferences.
  • c. Language considered offensive or otherwise unparliamentary by the Chair or Quorum will be considered a breach of decorum and liable for sanction.

CHAPTER III: THE QUORUM’S APPORTIONED DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES, AS WELL AS LEGISLATION THAT THE QUORUM MAY AND MAY NOT PASS

  • a. The Quorum of the GUM has the following due responsibilities and duties:
    • i. To adopt resolutions of any kind for the GUM;
    • ii. To uphold the security and integrity of the GUM;
    • iii. To promote order and decorum within the Quorum as well as peace and mutual cooperation outside of it;
    • iv. To assist the Supreme Court in resolving matters relating to justice and disputes between states, whether they be members or not;
    • v. To provide general direction, outside of their project-related responsibilities, to the organization as a whole;
    • vi. To approve the election of members of the Supreme Court and to elect the Chair of the organization every six months;
    • vii. To review ratifications of the Charter by prospective member states and either approve or reject them;
    • viii. To perform any other task a majority decision of the Quorum deem necessary to further the goals and principles of the organization
  • b. With specific regards to the types of resolution that the Quorum may produce, the following are expressly forbidden under this Charter:
    • i. Any resolution which will subtract from a national government’s ability to control its domestic affairs, with the exception of in cases where it has been requested by the government in question;
    • ii. Any resolution which affects the ability of a national government to prosecute foreign affairs with its own policies, with the exception of in cases where it has been requested by the government in question. Legislation that attempts to set a unified policy of foreign affairs for the entire GUM shall be considered unconstitutional under this statute;
    • iii. Any resolution which outlaws particular manners of government;
    • iv. Any resolution that creates an amendment to the Charter or any other law that cannot be altered. It is illegal and unconstitutional to create a particular article of legislation that cannot be repealed by the Quorum;
  • c. Resolutions which alter the format or content of the Charter must be passed by a two-thirds supermajority of the Quorum and the support of the Chair and Supreme Judge. Legislation may not alter the Charter such that it may not be altered to revert the change as per the previous clause of this chapter.
  • d. Voting in Quorum for or against any motion shall take the following procedure:
    • i. The voting delegate representing a given member state shall cast one vote on behalf of their delegation;
    • ii. Once all national delegations who are attending the session have voted, the votes will be tallied and whichever side gets a majority, with abstentions discarded, shall be considered to have successfully won the vote. Should a delegation thought to be present not respond in a reasonable time, or if a delegation becomes temporarily unavailable, the Chair may close the vote once a majority of votes have been cast a certain way;
  • e. Any resolution that is passed and adopted by the Quorum shall become part of the International Statutory Code of the Grand Unified Micronational. It shall be the responsibility of the Quorum in tandem with the Chair to keep this document up to date, and it must be available to all delegations at any given time in a public place.
  • f. If a situation arises in the Supreme Court where no GUM resolution points at a reasonable solution, the Supreme Court may use its own discretion in determining how to proceed. This decision must be considered binding until such a time as the Quorum move to accept or reject the precedent set by the decision made. If the Quorum choose to overturn the decision, the decision is still binding on all cases it has applied to in the past, but it may not be applied again in future court decisions.
  • g. In order to exercise these responsibilities, the Quorum must meet on regular occasions, or at least once every month, summoned by the Chair at a time convenient for as many member states as possible. At the end of each Quorum meeting, the Chair will give a notice of the time and date of the next meeting; such notices shall also be made available to be viewed by the delegations of all member states who were unable to attend the meeting at the end of which the notice had been given.
  • h. If there is a matter of emergency or international significance that must be attended to, then the Chair may call an emergency meeting of the Quorum at their own pleasure, disregarding a previously given notice.
  • i. For a meeting of Quorum to enter into and remain in session, there must be at least five delegations present.
  • j. The Chair may be compelled by a petition of one half of full members to hold a Quorum within one week of receiving such petition.

CHAPTER IV: THE CHAIR

  • a. The Chair shall be considered the administrative head of the organization. They have the capacity to perform executive tasks at their own recognizance, subject to the confidence of the Quorum, who may overturn any executive action made by them with a simple majority of the delegations in Quorum.
  • b. The Chair, while a director of the organization, is not the head and should not be considered such – the Quorum is still the primary and supreme organism of the organization.
  • c. It is the responsibility of the Chair to:
    • i. Review all applications for membership in the GUM;
    • ii. Direct the general work of the organization, as per Article III, Chapter III, a);
    • iii. Nominate members of the Supreme Court, subject to the approval of Quorum;
    • iv. Maintain peace between member states by providing an independent source of dispute resolution independent of the Supreme Court;
    • v. Hear and respond to complaints about the institution as the foremost spokesperson of the organization;
    • vi. Provide general leadership of the organization;
    • vii. Ensure that all meetings of Quorum occur on the occasions that they are required to by the statutes of this Charter;
    • viii. Fulfil all duties considered necessary by the Quorum;
    • ix. Preside over and moderate all meetings of the Quorum, maintaining decorum and formally recognising resolutions to have passed or failed;
    • x. To suspend delegates as and when necessary with the approval of Quorum;
  • d. The Chair may veto legislation that they deem non-conducive to the public good or unconstitutional by the statutes of this Charter;
    • i. This veto may be overturned by the Quorum of Delegates;
    • ii. Any delegate may propose a motion to this effect, but requires the support of a second delegate to do so;
    • iii. Such a motion shall require a two-thirds majority to pass;
  • e. The ability of the Chair to suspend delegates unilaterally shall only occur under the following circumstances:
    • i. If the delegate in question has been shown to violate the principles of the organization, the ruling on parliamentary language and formal decorum, or the Charter at large, the Chair can suspend the delegate’s position in the Quorum. This suspension may be overturned by a majority of those in Quorum provided the meeting is able to lawfully pass legislation;
    • ii. If the Quorum is not in session, the Chair can still suspend delegates provided they have evidence that the delegate violated the rule of the Charter or the principles of the organization and the Supreme Court’s primary justice countersigns any such order;
    • iii. The Quorum may suspend delegates on their own, provided they have a two-thirds majority to do so, a requirement that is reduced to a simple majority if the Chair is in favour;
  • f. The Chair shall be elected every six months. Any delegate is entitled to run, provided that the delegate in question:
    • i. Is not already running for another post within the organization, such as the Supreme Court or another bureaucratic agency within the GUM. However, if they have been nominated to one of these offices, they may decline and be considered eligible to run for the post of Chair;
    • ii. Has not already served three terms as Chair in succession;
  • g. The elections shall take place by public ballot. Each delegation has one vote.
  • h. Candidates will stand for election during the third week before the results are to be announced, spend the second week campaigning, and the week before the results are announced shall be the time during which votes may be cast. Bureaucratic agencies and other GUM subdivisions may continue to function during this period of time.
  • i. When voting, member states shall have the option of voting for one of the available candidates, or to vote against all of them. If a majority of votes are cast against all of the candidates, then the candidate list shall be restarted and new candidates will nominate themselves, with a second election being organised by the Chair, who will remain incumbent until replaced by election.
  • j. Only full member states may cast votes for Chair. Non-member states and observer delegations may not cast votes in any GUM election.
  • k. The minimum number of voting full members required to make the election of a Chair valid will be determined by the Quorum through the approval of a motion setting the minimum turnout rate.
  • l. A candidate need only get a simple plurality of votes from delegations in order to win election as Chair.
  • m. The Chair may, at any time during their term, have a motion of no confidence called in their administration. The vote of no confidence:
    • i. Can be called by any delegate in Quorum, provided they have the support of their delegation and at least two other delegations (if the head of the delegation is in favour, the entire delegation shall be considered to be in favour);
    • ii. Requires a two-thirds majority to pass;
    • iii. Shall require a debate prior to the vote being taken which shall be organized and moderated by the Vice-Chair of the Quorum and in which the Chair may not take part except when called upon to do so by the Vice-Chair or the Quorum at large;
    • iv. Shall require the Chair to temporarily suspend their actions as Chair, with the Vice-Chair executing the powers and responsibilities of the office in the interim until proceedings are concluded.
  • n. If a vote of no confidence is passed, then the Vice-Chair shall serve as Acting Chair until the next elections for Chair.
  • o. If the vote of no confidence fails to pass, the Quorum may not open a second vote of no confidence until four weeks have passed, i.e. until the Quorum session after the next.
  • p. If a Chair is removed through a vote of no confidence, they may run again in the next Chair election provided they are not otherwise incompatible with running for the office as per Article III, Chapter III, e).
  • q. The Chair may, at any time during their term, resign from their position as such, so long as there is a serving Vice Chair. Should a Chair or Acting Chair resign, then the Vice-Chair shall serve as Acting-Chair until the next elections for Chair. An Acting Chair holds all the rights, responsibilities, powers, duties and functions as an ordinary Chair, the difference being that their term ends when that of the previously elected Chair would ordinarily have done so.

CHAPTER V: THE LEADERSHIP

  • a. The Chair and their Vice Chair shall ensure the administrative operation of the organization, as well as promoting the cooperation of all kinds between member states.
  • b. The Vice Chair shall advise the Chair in the execution of their duties
  • c. The Vice Chair will be nominated by the Chair, and the nomination will be approved by a majority vote of the Quorum of Delegates.
  • d. The Vice Chair presides over and moderates the Quorum in necessary in the absence of the Chair, and the Chair may delegate any of their powers to oversee and coordinate the organisation to the Vice Chair for part or all of the duration of their term in office should they wish.
  • e. The Vice Chair may be removed from office in the same way as the Chairman, through a vote of no confidence. Should the office of Vice Chair become vacant, a new Vice-Chair will be appointed by the usual method.
  • f. The Vice Chair may not hold any other position in the GUM.
  • g. The Vice Chair may resign at any time during their term.

CHAPTER VI: THE SUPREME COURT

  • a. The Supreme Court of the Grand Unified Micronational shall be the supreme judicial body of the organisation.
  • b. The Supreme Court shall be independent of the Quorum and the Chair of the Organisation.
  • c. The Supreme Court shall have the responsibility to:
    • i. Investigate allegations of an individual or organisation violating International and GUM Law;
    • ii. To enforce relevant GUM Law;
    • iii. In cases where no legislation on a subject is present, to enforce International Law;
    • iv. Provide an independent, impartial tribunal in which cases may be brought by one member nation against another;
    • v. Provide an independent, impartial tribunal in which cases may be brought by the Organisation against member states;
    • vi. Provide an independent, impartial tribunal in which cases may be brought by Member States against the Organisation;
    • vii. Provide an independent, impartial tribunal in which individuals who, for whatever reason, cannot be fairly tried in their home states, may be tried;
    • viii. Provide an independent, impartial tribunal in which the officers of the organisation may be tried, in the event of impeachment proceedings;
    • ix. Provide an independent, impartial court of arbitration which member and non-member states may use to resolve disputes between them;
    • x. Review all cases brought before it in good time;
    • xi. Answer any questions of a legal nature with regard to the Organisation, its offices, documents and organs;
    • xii. Provide advisory opinions on specific points of law by request of any Organisational organ;
    • xiii. Perform any additional functions or tasks assigned to it by the Quorum
  • d. The Supreme Justice shall have the responsibility to:
    • i. Ensure that all legislation passed by the Quorum is compatible with the Charter;
    • ii. Veto any legislation passed by Quorum that is incompatible with the Charter;
    • iii. To advise Quorum and the Chair of the Organisation on constitutional matters;
    • iv. To oversee and regulate the daily function of the court.
  • e. Court procedure shall be laid out in the Procedures of the Court, decided by the Court, and then passed by Quorum.
  • f. The official language of the Court shall be English.
  • g. The Supreme Court may make any appropriate order against any party in final judgment, including, but not limited to:
    • i. Reprimand;
    • ii. Motion of censure;
    • iii. Suspension from the Organisation;
    • iv. Expulsion from the Organisation (with the approval of Quorum)
  • h. The Supreme Court may make interim orders against parties, to be specified in the Procedures of the Court.
  • i. The Supreme Court shall be composed of:
    • i. a Supreme Justice, who is nominated by the Chair and approved by the Quorum for a term of six months. The Supreme Justice is the Chairperson of the Supreme Court;
    • ii. Two Associate Justices, who are nominated by the Supreme Justice and approved by the Chair and Quorum for a term of six months;
  • The members of the Supreme Court may resign at any time during their term.
  • j. Cases brought to the Supreme Court may be heard by any of the three Justices, or the Supreme Judge may order that a case be heard in front of all three Justices.
  • k. If the Supreme Justice is temporarily incapacitated:
    • i. The Supreme Justice will appoint, with the consent of the Chair, an Acting Supreme Justice, to serve until his incapacity ends;
    • ii. In the event the Supreme Justice is unable to appoint an Acting replacement, the Chair of the Organisation may nominate an individual, with the consent of the Associate Justices and the Vice-Chair, to serve as Acting Supreme Justice, until the Supreme Justice may resume his position.
  • l. Any delegate may serve as a Justice:
    • i. The Supreme Justice may not serve in any other position save as Delegate of their member state;
    • ii. Associate Justices may serve in other positions in the organisation except for the positions of Chair and Vice-Chair.
  • m. If any case is brought involving a Justice’s state, the three Justices will be required to hear the case.
  • n. The Justices shall serve at the pleasure of Quorum and may be removed from office by impeachment proceedings initiated by a vote in the Quorum.
    • i. In the event of impeachment proceedings being initiated by Quorum against one of the Justices, the court shall be chaired by the Chairman of the organisation, and all members of Quorum shall vote on whether to pass or refuse the motion, which requires a two-third majority to pass.
  • o. The Supreme Court shall keep a full record of the proceedings of the Court, to be made available to all interested parties.
  • p. Any Member State may bring a case before the Supreme Court for review, either against another Member State, or the Organisation. Any case must be alleged to represent:
    • i. A violation of international or intermicronational law;
    • ii. A violation of the Charter by a piece of unconstitutional legislation
  • q. The Organisation itself may bring a case before the Supreme Court for review. Any case must be alleged to represent:
    • i. A violation of international or intermicronational law;
    • ii. A violation of the Charter by a piece of unconstitutional legislation;
    • iii. Improper or illegal conduct by an officer of the Organisation
  • r. Cases may be brought before the Supreme Court by Member or Non-Member States where it is believed that an individual cannot be fairly tried in the domestic judicial system of said State.
  • s. Member and non-member states may submit cases to the Supreme Court acting as a court of arbitration for the resolution of disputes.
  • t. The Court may be called upon by any organ of the Organisation to give an advisory opinion on a specific point of law. When the Court is asked, and accepts a request for an advisory opinion, the operation of any process contingent upon the Court’s decision shall be temporarily suspended, until the Courts decision is made.
  • u. The Court may itself bring an investigatory case against any member state, or the Organisation itself, should it have reason to believe that a situation has arisen representing:
    • i. A violation of international or intermicronational law;
    • ii. A violation of the Charter by a piece of unconstitutional legislation;
    • iii.Improper or illegal conduct by an officer of the Organisation
  • v. Decisions of the Supreme Court, including judicial vetoes, or lack thereof, may be appealed through the filing of a petition for review, no later than six months after the decision to be appealed was made, to the court.
    • i. The Supreme Court, by majority vote of the three Justices or by order of the Supreme Justice, shall decide whether to hear said appeal;
    • ii. An appeal of decisions of the Supreme Court made by an Associate Justice shall be heard by the Supreme Justice. The decision of the Supreme Justice can then also be appealed.
    • iii. Appeals of decisions of the Supreme Court made by the Supreme Justice can be appealed and shall be heard by the entire Supreme Court, whose verdict shall be based on a majority vote of the Supreme Court;
    • iv. Only one appeal shall be permitted for every case, but a delegate denied appeal may make up to two further requests to the Supreme Court to have their appeal heard;
    • v. Appeals related to decisions made by the Supreme Justice regarding constitutionality of legislation or actions of the leadership shall be heard by the entire Supreme Court and a verdict shall be made by majority vote. Such an appeal can only be made with the sponsorship of two additional delegates from different member states;
  • w. Parties before the court may appear before the court in person, or, with the permission of the court, by their chosen advocates.
  • x. The Supreme Court shall be required to explain in detail the reasoning behind any decisions it makes;
  • y. Advocates before the court enjoy all privileges necessary to exercise their duty in an independent manner.
  • z. The Supreme Court may, with the approval of Quorum convene ad hoc tribunals to consider matters of specific and wide ranging international concern.
  • aa. All Member States shall be deemed to submit to the Judgment of the Court

CHAPTER VII: VENUES OF THE GUM

  • a. The GUM, in order to secure optimum conduct of its proceedings, shall have official venues in which the aims of the organization shall be pursued.
  • b. The Quorum shall conduct its activities when it is in session in a room with the same name on Discord.
  • c. In order for delegates and states to make productive contribution to the development and activity of the GUM when the Quorum is not in session, a lounge room will also be used on Discord, shortly called “GUM Lounge”.
  • d. The Quorum may organize and approve other venues of communication and cooperation at its discretion.
  • e. The Quorum Chamber shall have the role of venue for the Quorum of the GUM.
  • f. The Quorum Chamber shall be administered by the Chair of the organization, with the support of the Vice Chair.
  • g. In the Quorum Chamber, there shall only be a formal conduct of affairs, in accordance with internationally recognized diplomatic principles and Article II of the Charter.
  • h. The GUM Lounge shall be a venue for all delegations to the GUM and their staff to discuss matters of international significance within a semi-formal environment.
  • i. The rules of conduct within the Lounge may be set by the Quorum and enforced by the Chair and Vice Chair.

ARTICLE IV - MEMBERSHIP OF THE GRAND UNIFIED MICRONATIONAL

CHAPTER I: JOINING THE GUM

  • a. A member state of the GUM is defined by their capability to sign and ratify the Charter of the GUM, and to be recognized as such by the other member states within the context of approval of the Quorum.
  • b. For the Quorum to recognise the ratification of a particular state, a motion must be passed to approve its membership that must achieve a majority of those in attendance, with the usual minimum number of delegations required.
  • c. In order for the organization to assure a wide range of membership options for the states that wish to ratify the Charter, the following types of membership shall exist:
    • i. Full membership
    • ii. Observership
    • iii. Provisional membership
  • d. Full member states shall enjoy all rights and fulfil all duties implied by membership of the organization as per the Charter, as well as any other legislation passed by the Quorum of the GUM. A micronation may only become a full member after two weeks of provisional membership.
  • e. The provisional member states shall comprise those member states whose ratification of the Charter has only just been recognized by Quorum, or states in the process of being expelled from the organisation. After a period of fourteen days, the Quorum (without the inclusion of the provisional state) shall vote on whether to either promote the state to full membership as per the former or not, or to expel the nation from the organisation or not. If the nation does not achieve full membership at this vote, a second waiting period of fourteen days will commence, unless the Quorum move to remove the country from the GUM as part of rejecting their application for full membership. Provisional members do not enjoy the right to vote in Quorum, but do have the right to propose motions and give their opinion on all matters discussed during Quorum. Provisional members are not required to fulfil the duties of full members.
  • f. Observer states shall comprise those states that wish to observe the function of the GUM but not be considered beholden to the Charter or take part in the legislative process. They do not enjoy the rights or need to fulfil the duties of member states of the GUM, except for the following:
    • i. They must renew their observership status in the GUM every three months by sending correspondence to the Chair from their respective foreign office expressing their intention to continue to observe the GUM;
    • ii. They can observe sessions of Quorum and may send messages to Quorum with the approval of the Chair;
    • iii. They can take part in the GUM Lounge with all of the rights of full member states.

CHAPTER II: CEASING MEMBERSHIP

  • a. Membership of a state shall end when the nation’s government formally informs the Chair of the nation’s having denounced the Charter of the GUM, the nation ceases to exist without a successor state, or when the state is removed by a vote of the GUM.
  • b. The procedure of denouncing the Charter of the GUM shall be decided internally by each member state.
  • c. The procedure of removing a member state following disbandment shall be dealt with as per Article IV, Chapter III.
  • d. The procedure of expelling a member state from the GUM shall require a vote of the Quorum (excluding the vote of the delegation in question) to achieve a two-thirds majority in favour.

CHAPTER III: DISBANDMENT OF MEMBER STATES

  • a. If a member state has been disbanded and there is another nation, deemed through internal legislation of the nation being disbanded to be the successor state of the country disbanded, the successor state shall have a period of fourteen days in which it may declare to the incumbent Chair of the organisation that they wish to inherit the membership of the former state. This inheritance shall be exempt from the procedure of Article IV, Chapter I, e).
  • b. If there is no internal legislation that specifically mentions a successor state, the membership of the state in question shall cease.
  • c. If there is no internal legislation that specifically mentions a successor state, but there are claimants to that status, the Quorum shall decide on whether or not to recognise the claimant, or claimants, as successor state(s) to the original member state. They shall only be given membership upon the approval of the Quorum of such legislation to recognise successor entities.

CHAPTER IV: DISCONTINUATION OF MEMBERSHIP

  • a. The status of membership of the GUM shall be considered void when the national legislature of the member state has passed a resolution denouncing the Charter of the GUM. The delegation of the state must deliver this resolution to the Chair for it to be valid.

CHAPTER V: EXPULSION OF A MEMBER STATE

  • a. Expulsion of a member state is a very serious procedure that shall only be considered a proportionate action when one or more of the following conditions are met:
    • i. The member state is found to have violated the terms of the Charter, and continues to do so even after having received a warning from the Chair;
    • ii. The member state is deemed to have been inactive, which shall be defined as having no point of contact with the Quorum for a period of 45 days;
    • iii. The member state is deemed, by general consensus, a threat to the legal order and stability of the organisation, or which is otherwise deemed incompatible with the objectives of this organisation;
    • iv. The member state declares an act of hostility upon another member state, and the conflict cannot be resolved peacefully in a period shorter than 20 days
  • b. The process for expelling a member state from the GUM shall start with a motion of suspension put before the Quorum. The Supreme Court may elect to throw out the motion if it is not in accordance with the Charter.
  • c. If the motion in question passes with a simple majority, the nation will be suspended, and become a provisional member for the next two weeks before a new motion will be tabled to either expel the member, keep them suspended, or remove the suspension. If the initial motion fails, and the Quorum considers the motion to be counter to the principles of the Charter, the Chair may open a procedure of expulsion against the state that proposed the original motion.
  • d. If one of the suspended member states’ delegates holds an office in the GUM at the time of their suspension, then they must appoint an interim delegate from outside of their delegation to take their place during proceedings. The Quorum shall organise a more permanent replacement should the expulsion procedure be successful.
  • e. After the motion passes, the Supreme Court and the Chair shall convene an emergency meeting to determine whether the motion of suspension qualifies as constitutional or not. They shall then produce a report as to whether the motion is indeed constitutional, and the suspended state and any other interested party, whether a member state or not, may submit statements to this emergency committee during their session should they wish to do so.
  • f. If a nation is expelled from the GUM, all offices that they hold shall be reappointed with immediate effect by the Quorum pending more permanent elections to the posts in question.

ARTICLE V - FINAL PROVISIONS

CHAPTER I: ENTRY INTO FORCE

  • a. The present Charter is to enter into force as soon as both two-thirds of all current delegations to the GUM - as recognised under the motion passed during the Quorum of 14 April 2016 - have ratified it and five of said ratifications are for full membership. Said ratifications will automatically provide membership of the type requested for said micronations, until the Charter enters into force.
  • b. Upon this Charter entering into force, ratifications will no longer provide automatic membership, but those ratifying the Charter will apply for membership under the terms set out above.

CHAPTER II: SOURCES OF LAW

  • a. The present Charter of the Grand Unified Micronational and the International Statutory Code of the Grand Unified Micronational shall be deemed as the only sources of legislation in the GUM.
  • b. Widely-accepted international law and legal conventions may only be taken into account when no legal precedent exists within the organisation for a particular situation.

CHAPTER III: REVISION

  • a. This Charter serves as the fundamental law of the GUM, and as such can only be amended under special guidelines, as presented in this Charter.
  • b. The Quorum has the sole sovereign power to amend the Charter, and it can only do so with the requisite two-thirds supermajority as per Article III, Chapter III, c).
  • c. The Charter may not be amended to include a section that cannot be repealed.
  • d. The first amendment to this Charter was made on 21 September 2016, and consisted of the addition of chapters IV.p and V.g of Article III, the revision of Article IV, chapter I.e, and the addition of this same chapter.
  • e. The second amendment to this Charther was made on 17 March 2017, and consisted of the addition of chapter IV.d and chapters VI.d., VI.j, VI.k, VI.ab, VI.ad, the revision of Chapters IV.c and IV.m and Chapters VI.c, VI.i, VI.o., VI.q,VI.r, VI.s.of Article III.
  • f. The third amendment to this Charter was made on 29 July 2017, and consisted of the addition of chapter V.h. of Article III.
  • g. The fourth amendment to this Charter was made on 15 December 2017, and consisted of the revision of chapter III.g of Article III and the addition of chapter III.g to the same chapter.
  • h. The fifth amendment to this Charter was made 23 December 2017, and consisted of the repeal of Chapter V.h. of Article III.
  • g. The sixth amendment to this Charter was made 27 November 2018, and consisted of moving the organisation's official venues from Skype to Discord.
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