February 4th, 2022 - Year 24


CONSTITUTION CHANGES COMPLETED

As mentioned in the previous news story CONSTITUTION CHANGES NEEDED, gaps and contradictions in the current version of the KGB Constitution are interfering with smooth operations in the Senate. I felt there was no alternative but to unilaterally make changes to address these issues.

KGB has a long history of operations that contradict some of the verbiage in the Constitution. I have done my best to align our historical practices with the Constitution and provide as much clarity as possible.

What I have addressed:

Article 1 - Distribution of Powers, Section 1, Clause 1: The powers of the government of the KGB are divided into three distinct departments, the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch; and no person or collection of persons charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one of these departments shall be permitted to exercise any powers properly belonging to either of the others, except as in this constitution expressly directed or permitted.

• Historically Federal Officers have been able to serve in the Senate. Federal Officers that hold executive power or can by delegation, will no longer be able to serve in the Senate to avoid conflict. This includes the High King, King, and Prime Ministers. The Chiefs of Staff have duties in the Senate for Awards and Promotions and do not hold executive power. This means they can serve as Senators in addition to Chief of Staff. This has been defined in the Constitutional update in Article 1, Section 1, Clause 2 and 2a.
• Historically Supreme Court Justices have been able to serve in the Senate. There was a conflict in the original version of the constitution that stated "The KGB Supreme Court will work in tandem with the(GM10) High King / High Queen or (GM5) King / Queen and Prime Ministers to enforce and review the laws of the Guild". There is no process nor historical precedent for this statement: "review the laws of the Guild". This statement created a conflict of interest and would bar Justices from serving in the Senate as they have historically. I have therefore removed this statement from Article 4, Section 1, Clause 1 to account for the court's historical role. Please see more below where this is addressed directly. This change removes the conflict of interest means they can serve as Senators in addition to Supreme Court Justices. This has been defined in the Constitutional update in Article 1, Section 1, Clause 2 and 2a.
• Historically, Faction High Chancellors, and in some cases, other faction officers, have been appointed Senators as well. Their ability to serve in the Senate was not clearly defined in the Constitution. Since all Faction are subordinate to the Constitution, there is no direct conflict of interest. A statement was added as part of the Constitutional update in Article 1, Section 1, Clause 2 and 2a.
• Removed the redundant "the (GM10) High King / High Queen or (GM5) King / Queen may remove any Senator at any time during his/her tenure and review his or her performance." from Article 3, Section 2, Clause 2. The Senate manages itself and can remove its own members by process. The (GM10) High King / High Queen and (GM5) King / Queen still retain overall control of membership status as defined in Article 2, Section 3, Clause 4, and Section 4, Clause 2.

PLEASE NOTE: All Senators are equal, meaning that an individual that serves across branches carries no authority or privledge from any other duty or position in the Senate. This is a key point.

Article 4 - Judicial Branch and Powers, Section 1, Clause 1:Section 1
Clause 1: The KGB Supreme Court will work in tandem with the(GM10) High King / High Queen or (GM5) King / Queen and Prime Ministers to enforce and review the laws of the Guild. The (GM10) High King/High Queen will appoint a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for the term of life.

• As mentioned above, the Court was created to provide impartial judgment when it comes to member conduct and violations of the KGB General Orders and laws. It was not designed to oversee the validity of KGB law. That duty is owned by the executive branch in the Constitutional Monarchy model.
• The statement "to enforce and review the laws of the Guild" incorrectly assigns power and authority to the Court. This statement was changed to read "to enforce KGB General Orders and conduct code."
• This change is in alignment with the historical responsibilities of the court and allows for Justices to continue to serve in the Senate.
• Justices and recusal in Article 4, Section 1, Clause 8

Leadership is a thankless job. Service in the KGB Senate for KGB Administrators, KGB Chiefs of Staff, and Justices in the Supreme Court is considered a reward for the jobs they do and the services they provide. This gives them a direct say in how the guild is run and how it adapts over time. I felt it was very important to continue this tradition.

These changes allow the Senate to continue operations with it's current list of Senators. If additional changes are needed, they can be proposed and go through to process.

I will now instruct the KGB Senate Chair to resume operations.

You even updated it on the Constitution page already. Consider me impressed!

If only those dang emojis worked....

The facepalm emoji is mission-critical. It is national emergency that it does not work! We could be invaded any moment and nobody would be able to do anything about it.

Forget the constitution, the does not work!!!

All of the emojis are showing for me (at least the beer mugs and the facepalm you posted).

I think it has to do with https. Working on it. Exey broke it.

From a logistics stand point, this seems a lot more accurate of how KGB should have always operated and from my time in the Senate this was always a concern with me, happy it's finally been revised.

Article III, Section 1, Clause 1, sentence 3 states, "The Prime Minister and all Senators vote on presented proposals."

This conflicts with your statement above, " Federal Officers that hold executive power or can by delegation, will no longer be able to serve in the Senate to avoid conflict. This includes the High King, King, and Prime Ministers. "

I didn't address that section. It sounds like an update is needed. I will take a look.

I posted a proposal in the Senate forums to update it.