Pirate Congress 2015/Constitutional Amendments
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Official Party Document
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Constitutional amendment proposals must be presented to the National Council a minimum of 28 days before the National Congress, which this year is Friday 26 June 2015 at 11:59 pm (AEST) as per By-law 2013-03. Proposals submitted after that date will be held over until the following National Congress. Please email your proposals to [email protected].
If you wish to propose a change to anything here: please open a discussion topic on the forum, directly contact the person who put the amendment, or alternatively contact the Secretary at [email protected] to put you in contact.
Once the deadline for proposals has been met, unless specified by the relevant by-law, amendments may only be made by formal motion at the National Congress.
CAP-0: Raising the quorum for constitutional amendments
Put by: Constitutionally required
Motion
As per Article 9.1(3) of the Party Constitution, members must vote on whether to raise the quorum for constitutional amendments by 2%, from 18% to 20%.
Do you agree to raise the quorum by 2%, to 20%?
CAP-1: Principles Grammar
Put by: David Crafti
Motion
Principles ["Principles & Objects of the Party"]:
Paragraph 3, sentence 1: Change “International” to “international”
Rationale
International should be de-capitalised in order to use the word as an adjective, rather than make it sound like part of an official name.
CAP-2: Articles Grammar A
Put by: David Crafti
Motion
Article 2(2) ["Structure & Composition"]:
Change “comprised” to “composed”
Rationale
"Be composed of" is equivalent, in this context to "comprise", so "be comprised of" should be changed to one or the other.
CAP-3: Article Grammar B
Put by: David Crafti
Motion
Article 2(2) ["Structure & Composition"]:
Change “formally elected” to “formally elected, or appointed in the case of the party agent,”.
Rationale
The party agent is intended to be a member of the National Council, yet they are not formally elected, due to being appointed by the other National Council members to fulfil the AEC's role of Registered Officer.
CAP-4A: National Council Minutes Quorum
Put by: David Crafti
Motion
Article 3.1(4) ["Quorum and Majorities"]:
Change:
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
- The quorum for any motion to accept the minutes of a previous meeting is set at the number of Councillors who attended that meeting. All Councillors absent from the previous meeting abstain by default.
to:
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
- The quorum for any motion to accept the minutes of a previous meeting is set at the minimum to achieve a two-thirds majority of those present. All Councillors absent from the previous meeting abstain by default.
Rationale
It is currently possible, and even easy, to be in a situation where the National Council cannot accept the minutes of a previous meeting.
For example:
Meeting 1:All Councillors attend
Meeting 2:One Councillor does not attend the next meeting
Quorum cannot be met to accept the minutes of the previous meeting.
This has probably happened in the past.
Requiring 2/3 of the previous meeting's Councillors instead of 100% of them gives some leeway in case of absenteeism. Flexibility that could potentially lead to a dispute about the minutes is preferable to an inability to accept minutes at all. The DRC can help resolve the former, but not the latter.
It's worth noting that there is still ambiguity regarding "absent" in the case of a change of councillor between meetings.
Note: The text of this proposal needs to be modified to avoid ambiguity.
Where it says "of those present" in the proposed text, it should say "of those present at the previous meeting".
This will need to be discussed and amended on the floor due to the deadline for Constitutional Amendments having expired.
CAP-4B: National Council Minutes Quorum
Put by: David Crafti
Motion
Article 3.1(4) ["Quorum and Majorities"]:
Change:
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
- The quorum for any motion to accept the minutes of a previous meeting is set at the number of Councillors who attended that meeting. All Councillors absent from the previous meeting abstain by default.
to:
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
- The quorum for any motion to accept the minutes of a previous meeting is set at the quorum to open the next meeting.
Rationale
It is currently possible, and even easy, to be in a situation where the National Council cannot accept the minutes of a previous meeting.
For example:
Meeting 1:All Councillors attend
Meeting 2:One Councillor does not attend the next meeting
Quorum cannot be met to accept the minutes of the previous meeting.
This has probably happened in the past.
This merely simplifies the process to enable a valid National Council meeting to vote on the minutes of the previous meeting, without even mentioning abstention for those not previously present. This amendment is intended to be an alternative to above that maintains extra flexibility, though there is risk involved in allowing Councillors to vote on the validity of minutes for a meeting at which they weren't present.
CAP-5: Articles Grammar C
Put by: David Crafti
Motion
Article 4.1(4) ["Eligibility"]:
Change:
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
- The National Council may at its discretion opt to waive membership fees on a case-by-case basis.
to:
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
- The National Council may at its discretion opt to waive applicable membership fees on a case-by-case basis.
Rationale
CAP-6: Articles Grammar D
Put by: David Crafti
Motion
Article 4.2.1(1)(e) ["Full Membership"]:
Change:
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
- Participate in working groups defined by the National Council or any organ of the Party; and
to:
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
- Participate in working groups defined by the National Council or any organ of the Party, according to eligibility criteria specifiable in the working group’s terms of reference; and
Rationale
This makes it clearer that the body that sets the terms of reference for a working group (usually the National Council) is able to set special conditions on participation in a working group. There could be legitimate reasons for this flexibility in the National Council's powers, and the DRC can be engaged if a member disputes the legitimacy of the restriction.
CAP-7: Articles Grammar E
Put by: David Crafti
Motion
Article 9.4(3) ["Operational and Temporary Amendments"]:
Change:
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
- If such an amendment does not receive the necessary majority as stipulated at Article 9.1, then such a proposed amendment will lapse and may only be resurrected by a majority vote of the members at a National Congress.
to:
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
- If such an amendment does not receive the necessary majority as stipulated at Article 9.1, then such a proposed amendment will lapse and the National Council may not use their powers to resurrect the provisions again without an amendment proposal being put to the National Congress.
Rationale
This makes it clearer that if the National Congress disallows the continuation of a temporary constitutional amendment, then the National Council are not allowed to pass a subsequent temporary amendment with an equivalent effect.
CAP-8: Articles Grammar F
Put by: David Crafti
Motion
Article 10.1(5) ["Election"]:
Change:
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
- No more than one National Council position may be filled by one member, except in cases where a position is subject to a temporary vacancy and pending a permanent appointment.
to:
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
- No more than one National Council position may be filled by one member, except in cases where a position is subject to a temporary vacancy and pending a permanent appointment. In any case, no member of the National Council may cast more than one vote in any motion before the National Council.”
Rationale
As the constitution allows, in limited circumstances, a single Councillor to fulfil multiple National Council positions, this amendment makes it clear that a Councillor in that situation is not able to cast multiple votes.
CAP-9: Remove legal binding provisions
Put by: David Crafti
Motion
- Remove Article 11(2) ["Constitution Not Enforceable in Law"].
- Article 11(3):
Change:
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
Without limiting Article 11(2), it is further expressly intended
to:
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
It is expressly intended
- Change numbering of Article 11(3) and (4) to (2) and (3)
Rationale
This article already expresses an intent for disputes to be resolved within the party. There is no justification, however, to claim that anything done under the Constitution is not legally binding, particularly when it allows interactions with third parties who have nothing to do with our Constitution.
CAP-10: Dispute Resolution Committee term clarification
Put by: David Crafti
Motion
Article 12(1) ["Dispute Resolution Committee"]:
Add 12(1)(a):
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
- If any committee members, elected at a previous Congress, have not completed serving their term by the end of the congress, their position will not be considered up for reelection, and the number of members to be elected will be reduced accordingly.
Rationale
As DRC member terms are for 2 years and can overlap, the current wording contains an inconsistency that makes it unclear if 3 members of the DRC should be elected at each National Congress, or if enough people should be elected to bring the total number of serving members up to 3. The new wording explicitly makes it clear that the latter case is intended.
CAP-11: DRC referral protection
Put by: David Crafti
Motion
Article 12(5) ["Dispute Resolution Committee"]:
Add 12(5)(a):
“This section does not apply if a policy or bylaw that would prevent referral to the DRC is the policy or bylaw being disputed.”
Rationale
This needs to be made explicit because 2(5) only says that the NC cannot overrule the DRC, but does not preclude the NC stopping referral to the DRC.
CAP-12: Fundamental rewrite of principles
Put by: David Crafti
Motion
Principles, paragraph 2, sentence 2 ["Principles & Objects of the Party"]:
Change:
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
Overbearing and restrictive private monopolies constructed via regimes of antiquated, unfair and unbalanced laws which prevent the free development of culture and ideas are detrimental to financial, economic and cultural outcomes for the citizens of Australia
to:
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
Effective competition is essential to ensure the development of our financial, economic and cultural values. Uncompetitive business practices shall not be permitted to impair the development of free culture and ideas.
Rationale
The proposed wording contains substantially similar meaning, but is easier to understand. The current wording is a mouthful, where it's easy to forget the start of the sentence by the time the end of the sentence is reached.
CAP-13: Incorporate by-law 2013-03
Put by: David Crafti
Motion
Incorporate by-law 2013-03, by modifying Article 9.1 explicitly ["By-law 2013-03 - Constitutional Amendments"] ["Amendments"]
Rationale
By-laws are harder to find for a normal member, which decreases transparency. If the membership believes this should be in the constitution, then it should be in there, beyond the power of the National Council to revoke. On the other hand, if the membership decides that the National Council should be able to revoke the by-law, then they should vote No to this amendment.
CAP-13 Amendment A: Incorporate by-law 2013-03
Put by: Brendan Molloy
Motion
Substitute the wording of CAP-13 with the following:
- Repeal By-law 2013-03. ["By-law 2013-03 - Constitutional Amendments"]
- Substitute Article 9.1(2) ["Amendments"] with:
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
- Members must be notified by email of any proposals for amendments by 11:59pm AEST of the 28th day before the first day of the National Congress.
- Article 9.1(2) can be fulfilled by placement of the proposals at a specified place on the Party website or wiki before the specified deadline and informing the membership of their location.
- Insert paragraph at end of Article 9.1:
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
- New proposals may not be added after the deadline specified in Article 9.1(2), but already proposed amendments may be modified by the proposer prior to the National Congress, so long as:
- These modifications do not substantially change the proposed amendments but may include updates in wording for clarity, or to correct errors; and
- These modifications are recorded and justified.
Rationale
By-laws aren't written in such a way as to just be slotted into the Constitution verbatim, so this motion is invalid unless this amendment is accepted.
UPDATE: Changed the ordering of some of the wording in the first paragraph of the substitutions.
CAP-14: Multiple party membership
Put by: David Crafti
Motion
Article 4.1(1) ["Eligibility"]:
Add paragraph (e):
Constitutional Amendment Proposal Text
- Paragraphs (c) and (d), above, only apply to Full Members as defined in 4.2.1
Rationale
Brendan has proposed a full revamp of membership levels, which has triggered other discussion. I don’t feel confident putting forward big changes here, so I am proposing something minimal for now. In contrast to most of the constitution, the National Council can, at any time of the year, use Article 4.3 to add further categories of membership, so this could be done incrementally as necessary.