Equiterra

Bill Details

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Full Name: Amendment to the Information Act
Abbreviation: RL-40

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Date: 6th April, 2024
Brief Purpose: To establish an Information System that notifies Residents of the Free Nations Federation about the government policies, election, regional events and Presidential Addresses.

Amendment to the Information Act

Section I: Government Transparency

1. Any citizen may request the release of classified, sensitive, or private information from any branch of the government provided such a request does not lead to the release of confidential or real-life information or pertain to military operations, sensitive Cabinet discussions, or any situation deemed to impact the security of The Free Nations Region.

2. The branches of the government may independently establish their own rules for transparency as long as such rules do not conflict with regional law.

3. Failure to adhere to this act will result in reasonable judiciary action to ensure full-scale implementation. An official written warning will be the first action taken by the judiciary.
   

Sub-Section I: Executive Transparency

1. The President must publish a presidential transparency report dispatch at a minimum frequency of every thirty days, detailing progress on the administration’s progress and goals.

   1. The Presidential Transparency Report must be sent out via a Region-Wide Telegram following publication.

2. The President must release directives for all ministries within the first seven days following the end of a Minister election detailing the goals and tasks of each respective ministry.

3. The Cabinet must maintain a public calendar containing regional plans and events.

4. The Cabinet shall ensure that all official government dispatches remain up-to-date.

5. The government will publish a foreign affairs update at the beginning of each month and deliver it to the NationStates forum and all embassies.

6. The Cabinet may maintain and regulate a Civil Service Performance Evaluation of all Cabinet officials, including the scoring of the evaluation in consultation with the President. This may be done no more than three times per term and results must be made public.
   

7. Mercurian Messenger shall be the official information system of the Free Nations Federation.

   1. Mercurian Messenger shall have Communication Authority over all the regions of the Free Nations Federation.

   2. This nation shall be used to inform all the residents of the Free Nations Federation about the latest government policies, regional events, election and the transcripts of the Presidential addresses.

   3. The President, Vice President and the Election Commission must have access to this nation at all times.

   
   

Sub-Section II: Judicial Transparency

1. The Supreme Court may request an in camera review of information if a defendant can reasonably prove that there is private information being withheld by the FNR government that may be used as exculpatory evidence in a legal matter,

   1. Only Court justices may review the evidence held by the government in private and if such information is deemed to be of evidentiary value then the Court may order the limited release of such evidence to the defendant and their legal counsel.
      

Section II: Confidentiality

1. Confidential information will be classified as either restricted, top secret, or state security.

   1. Restricted status will be designated with the color blue and applied to information that could reasonably be expected to threaten regional security. Government officials will have access to restricted information.

   2. Top Secret status will be designated with the color red and applied to information which could reasonably be expected to cause serious damage to regional security. The President, Vice President, Chief Justice, and relevant Cabinet members will have access to top secret information.

   3. State Security status will be designated with the color black and applied to information that could reasonably be expected to cause extreme damage to regional security. The President and members given clearance by the President will have access to state security information.

2. The President may lower the classification of or declassify confidential information and must announce any changes in classification to the Cabinet.

3. Individuals with security clearance may invoke Executive Privilege if asked to testify on a subject that pertains to classified information.
   

Proposed & Signed,
South Asians, Officer of Immigration and Internal Affairs and Associate Justice

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