Sandus, Kumano, Überstadt pass Social System Treaty

The three social states of Sandus, Kumano, and Überstadt have ratified the Treaty Establishing the Social System and the treaty went into force on 8 November 2016. Sandus ratified the treaty first on 3 October 2016. Überstadt ratified the treaty next on 7 October, but Kumano did not ratify the treaty until 5 November. It formally went into effect on 7 November.

The treaty is divided into three chapters on the purpose of the organisation, membership in the system, and the social citizenship. It establishes an international organisation for like-minded states, based off of Sandus’s socia citizenship arrangement. The term “social” is derived from the Latin adjective socialis. Socius, the noun which gives meaning to the word socialis, signifies a kindred, aligned, allied, or associated person. It can translated to mean “associate,” “ally,” “companion,” and “comrade” — thus giving more nuanced meaning to the name of the Social System.

TREATY ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SYSTEMA SOCIALIS

The parties to this present agreement,
Affirming their shared values and ambitions,
Recalling the positive relationships which they have enjoyed for years,
Cognizant of the ways in which past treaties pertinent to these relationships have proven insufficient to adequately guide the multilateral system which has developed,
Desirous to formalize the Systema Socialis, or Social System, which they have formed for their mutual gain,
Have agreed as follows:

ARTICLE 1
Purpose and Organization

1. There shall be perpetual peace among the members of the Social System. They shall not incite discord amongst each other, nor invoke foreign adversaries upon one another. They shall assist one another when any falls victim to aggression.
2. The founding ideals of the Social System are humanitarianism, socialism, internationalism, and pluralism.
3. The official language of the Social System will be English; the recognized languages of the Social System will be the recognized languages of each member-state.
4. The organization of the Social System will be comprised of equal members.
5. The equal members will elect by simple majority a Secretary General who will:
   1. Moderate all business of the Social System;
   2. Arbitrate disputes under Article 2, Section 4 of this agreement;
   3. Have no allegiance to any member-state of the Social System but to the organization and its values in general;
   4. And, seek to uphold and disseminate the values of the Social System.
6. The equal members will be represented to the Social System at large by a delegate who will be synonymous to an individual member-state’s head of government.
7. The equal members may decide to perform or execute specific policies on the Social System’s behalf by a unanimous decision of the heads of government of the member-states.
8. The equal members may decide to develop the Social System further in the future by consensus of their heads of government.

ARTICLE 2
Membership in the System

1. Applications for membership in the Social System are granted to micronations which:
   1. Conform to the founding ideals of the Social System: humanitarianism, socialism, internationalism, and pluralism;
   2. Have existed for more than a year, including the micronation’s predecessors;
   3. Have not changed the constitution or regime and have not been in extraordinary political or social upheaval in more than three months; and
   4. Consistently demonstrate adherence to and compliance with established intermicronational conventions and accords.
2. Applications are voted on by all members of the Social System and are approved by a unanimous decision of the member-states.
3. A member-state may only be removed from the Social System by unanimous agreement of the other member-states, and only as a result of three unanimous ballots to that effect taken at least one month apart.
4. At times of diplomatic discord, a member-state of the Social System may request the Secretary General to investigate disputes and to arbitrate, including and up to requesting the parties to present their cases in a court of arbitration.

ARTICLE 3
Social Citizenship

1. All citizens of the Social System’s member-states will have the right to apply for social citizenship in the individual member-states.
2. An individual member-state may or may not grant social citizenship to an applicant.
3. An applicant for social citizenship in an individual member-state who has not been granted social citizenship will receive notice from the individual member-state, including that member-state’s rationale for its decision; the applicant’s respective mother-state will also receive notice and the individual member-state’s rationale.
4. Disputes over refusal to grant social citizenship to a member-state’s applicant will be arbitrated by the Secretary General.
5. Social citizens will receive fewer rights and obligations than full citizens of the member-states; these rights and obligations will be determined by an individual member-state and will be ratified by the member-states at large in a manner and in a spirit which seems just to all members.
   1. Information concerning these rights and obligations of social citizenship in the individual member-states should be published and made public when requested by an individual citizen of any member-state.
   2. Disputes arising over the rights and obligations of a social citizen will be arbitrated by:
      1. The Secretary General if the dispute arises from a member-state or from a non-citizen or applicant to an individual member-state;
      2. The individual member-state’s judicial system or system of arbitration if the dispute arises from a social citizen in an individual member-state.
   3. Recommended rights include:
      1. The right to life, which includes the right to work, the right to rest, the right to care in old age and illness, the right to housing, the right to education, the right to culture, the right to expression, the right to conscience, the right to protection from the state and the right to the inviolability of the home, and the right to equality before the law;
      2. The right to a fair trial in the individual member-states and their jurisdictions, the right to a jury in certain cases, and the right to appeal;
      3. The right to petition an individual member-state’s government for redress of its policies or functions;
      4. The right to participate in national referenda of significant importance; and
      5. The right to vote and stand for election in low-level or significantly democratic offices.
   4. Recommended obligations include:
      1. Adhering to the laws and customs of an individual member-state when and while one is exercising or performing functions associated with the jurisdiction of that individual member-state;
      2. Necessary taxes or duties associated with the right to complete and total suffrage in a state; and
      3. Performing or executing necessary and appropriate security or diplomatic functions at the behest of a social citizen’s social member-state.
   5. Social citizens shall be prohibited from obtaining foreign citizenship apart from those held in the Social System and any member-state of the United Nations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, duly authorized by their respective governments, have signed this treaty.

DONE the fourteenth day of September in the year two thousand and sixteen.

For the Kumano Jiritsu Nation, Daijo Daijin Hatsu Ryuho

For the State of Sandus, the Hon. Sôgmô Gaius Sörgel Publicola

For the Kingdom of Überstadt, HM King Adam I