NationStates Jolt Archive

Repeal "Rights and Duties of UN States"
A proposal to repeal a previously passed resolution


Category: Repeal
Resolution: #49
Proposed by: Tekania

Description: UN Resolution #49: Rights and Duties of UN States (Category: Political Stability; Strength: Significant) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Argument: Throughout most of the NationStates United Nations history, Resolutions have focused on the rights of people; namely that of individuals.

On the flip side; the eyesore of the "Rights and Duties" resolution sits upon the books. It grants rights to government, rights which can exist at the expense of those to which it governs. This is something we, as free peoples cannot tollerate.

The liberties and the freedoms of the people must be held tantamount in the eyes of all of the free nations of these United Nations. As such, we the people of the Constitutional Republic of Tekania appeal to the body of free member-nations of this august body of the United Nations, to repeal this resolution. And encourage the United Nations increasing endeavors to bring about individual freedom and liberty, and to be a light of true liberty and freedom of NationStates.

Proposal up for approval.

While I feel your proposal is well written, I do disagree with your basic assumption that United Nations resolutions have always focused on the individual.

I will keep my comments brief, but we already know that the UN Secretariat (Game Mods) are debating new proposal categories. One of these categories may in fact be geared towards international aid. I will cite two proposals that have been deleted by mods in the past few months:

Adam Island's: Food and Agricultural Organization, and
Mikitivity's (my government's): International Disaster Assistance.

I imagine there are many more. With respect to Adam Island's proposal, his government was specifically asked to wait by the UN Secretariat.

Furthermore, Hersfold has reported that the UN Secretariat are also considering a new category with respect to education.

My second point in favour of the international scope of UN resolutions would be the Environmental and Free Trade categories. Though there are certain examples of both of these resolutions taking a local focus, resolutions like the Ballast Water or any of the air quality resolutions focus on finding international solutions to global problems, and are in fact pursuant with the goals of the Rights and Duties of UN States resolutions.

I will now extend this example to point out that the International Peace and Security resolutions, such as the Illegal Trafficking of Small Arms and Tracking Near Earth Objects resolutions both are focused on the relationships between governments and the exchange of information. The International Red Cross Organization and the three resolutions based on that landmark piece of international law are all equally focused on international, not individual, relationships and rights.

I'd be prepared to provide a list of all 105 resolutions this body has voted on (I'm discounting proposal that were deleted prior to reaching the UN floor) and I am convinced that enough of these resolution do in fact share an international standing, to which the Rights and Duties called upon this body to consider.

Finally, I'd also submit that the level of detail of UN resolutions has increased measurably since this organizations creation. Many of the repeals seem to focus around the earlier resolutions, and in part I believe that as newcomers to making international law, we've slowly shifted from "domestic" focused to more "international" focused issues.

The Rights and Duties resolution is merely a reaffirmation of the balance between the need for the UN to acknowledge and agree upon a core set of rights for individuals and rights for states. I honestly think this balance is being promoted in the UN. Granted, nations like mine tend to draft legislation that is more international in focus, while other governments tend to put a higher priority on building international concensus around the rights of individuals, but I would think that leaning too much in one direction is a dangerous course of action ... I'd ask that your government reconsider its proposal.

I'm unsure of my position on this. It doesn't seem to me that repealing it would actually do anything, since Rights and Duties just appears to give IC justification for OOC game mechanics.

EDIT: Mikitivty, where can I find out more about the considerations of the potential new categories? Is there a thread somewhere?

I kind of liking having IC justification for OOC actions.

I'm unsure of my position on this. It doesn't seem to me that repealing it would actually do anything, since Rights and Duties just appears to give IC justification for OOC game mechanics.

EDIT: Mikitivty, where can I find out more about the considerations of the potential new categories? Is there a thread somewhere?

OOC: I'd have to search through last week's moderation forum topics and some moderation forum discussions related to a thread started by Hersfold from IIRC November, but I did not "subscribe" to those threads. In any event, perhaps this week I'll try and dig those threads up, because they are very interesting ideas. :) (Though Fris, Goober, Tuesday, or the Texans may already have book marked those threads.)

I am going to correct myself. It wasn't in the moderation forum, but it was in the UN forum that Adam Island talked about a conservation he had with the mods in the IRC channel #themodcave:

http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=381979&page=2

In his post (mid-way through the thread on his proposal), he talks about "new categories".

I'll go a hunting for Hersfold's post now. :)

[edit: must be getting old ... his thread was in technical!

http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=369855

But it sounded like the mods were in fact considering new categories.]

Thanks Mik!

This interests me, because if they bring in a "scientific endeavour"-style category, I'll be able to resurrect my SETI proposal that I wrote way back in July/August - Cog told me to wait on it til they'd introduced an appropriate category.

Thanks Mik!

This interests me, because if they bring in a "scientific endeavour"-style category, I'll be able to resurrect my SETI proposal that I wrote way back in July/August - Cog told me to wait on it til they'd introduced an appropriate category.

It might be appropriate at some point in time to get a discussion of a few active UN players in the technical forum in order to let the powers that be know that some of us are still interested in this.

And for the record, I'd love to see your SETI proposal return.

And for the record, I'd love to see your SETI proposal return.

Thanks!

Anyway, we're dragging this thread off-topic. Anyone got anymore ideas about this repeal?