Serenity Concord

Prime Minister: Ethir Th'chaaveq (Andorian, Male)
Vice Minister: Strello (Vulcan, Male)

The Serenity Concord was ratified on June 27th, 2381 between Solas Tempus, the colony of Trocara (Markab Prime), the colony of Glacia (Markab II), and the Markabian Mining Confederation to consolidate these desperate organizations under a single group forming a new governmental organization to manage these four parts.

Terms

The Trocara Colony voted in their senate on 3 different resolutions, on June 25th, 2381, to both invite the other powers into a new governmental organization as well as empower the Senate to expand to encompass these new interests. The Prime Minister of the Trocara Colony moved into a position as Governor of the Trocara Colony while the President of Glacia moved into a new role as the executive of the Serenity Concord and appointed a new Governor of Glacia until elections could be held. This new leadership structure took hold as of June 26th, 2381.

Solas Tempus

Solas Tempus had not yet signed the agreement as of June 26th, 2381 when the colonies joined forces, neither had the Markabian Mining Confederation. On June 27th, 2381 Fleet Admiral Candy Poole signed General Order Number 22195 which granted administrative rights for Solas Tempus to the new Serenity Concord government. Soon after the Markabian Mining Confederation signed and issued a similar order.

Part of the provisions of the new government is to adopt the Solas Tempus role as a protector of the timeline as an official constitutionally binding role of the new military and civilian government. There is also a provision allowing the Temporal division of Solas Tempus to split off, in the event that they cannot complete their own obligations under the new governmental system.

Civilian Oversight Board

The civilian oversight board is made up of 21 members. The chair of the board is elected by the Senate from a list provided by the head of Solas Tempus. The chair then appoints 10 persons who are former military service members (a board member cannot serve in Solas Tempus or any other military while serving on the board) and 10 purely civilian members. The board members must be then confirmed by the senate and the Prime Minister.

The function of the oversight board is to make sure that the military (Solas Tempus) follows the best interests of both their mission (to protect the timeline) as well as the Serenity Concord. While the day-to-day operations are left fully in the control of the head of Solas Tempus and the council cannot override the orders of the Fleet Admiral commanding Solas Tempus they do have the right to dismiss the Fleet Admiral and appoint a new one, should they feel that the person in the position is unfit for duty. Such a decision requires consent of the Prime Minister and the leader of the Senate.

The oversight board also has the right to directly oversee and administer investigations into the conduct of Solas Tempus personnel, though this is most commonly done with the consent of the Fleet Admiral in charge, it does not have to be. Any investigation results in recommendations for punishment, which are usually adhered to by Solas Tempus, though again this is not required but commonly the case. The only time when the recommendation of the board must be adhered to is if they choose to dismiss a member of Solas Tempus from service in order to bring them to trial in civilian court. At this time, the person will be suspended from any and all military service pending the outcome of the civilian trial. Since most civilian trials give a higher burden of proof than a count martial, this is incredibly rare. Though it is used at times when a person is to be dismissed from service regardless of the trials outcome when the military wishes to wash their hands of the incident in question.

Constitutional Rights

This is not an exhaustive list.

Each of these is termed as a Guarantee, numbered. They were ratified by the original constitution.

Freedom of Speech
The government cannot prosecute for spoke, written, or distributed materials.
Freedom of Religion
The government cannot forbid any religion from being practiced that doesn't otherwise violate the laws of the Concord.

The government cannot prosecute or investigate persons based solely on their religious beliefs.
Freedom of Assembly
The government cannot impede the free assembly of persons within the Concord unless those persons pose a definite, provable, and immediate threat to the health and safety of others.
Protection from Self Incrimination
The government cannot compel a person to incriminate themselves or their spouse.
Right to Due Process
The government shall not deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without following due process through legal channels in the courts.

People have the right to an attorney to be provided by the government.

People have the right to decline to incriminate themselves.

People have the right to decline to answer questions without an attorney present.

Once asked for the law enforcement must provide an attorney either by contacting one already retained by the accused to providing one from the government.

Once informed a person is invoking their right to an attorney law enforcement must cease to question the accused.

People have the right to be charged within 72 hours of arrest or be released.

People have the right to face their accuser in a court of law and present evidence to their own defense.

People have the right to refuse to submit to a search of themselves or their property without a signed judicial warrant.

People cannot be detained by law enforcement prior to being arrested.

Police must have probable cause to arrest or search without a signed judicial warrant.

People may refuse to answer questions but later it may harm their defense if they are relying on information which was not previously provided to law enforcement.
Burden to Notification of Rights
The government or its agents must give notice to the accused, upon their arrest, of their rights under the laws of the Concord.
Equal Protections for Citizens and Non-Citizen Residents
No person in the Concord cannot be investigated or prosecuted based solely for their gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, or economic status.

Both citizens and non-citizens of the Concord are eligible for the same civil protections under the law.

No non-citizen shall be targeted or prosecuted for the sole reason that they are not a citizen.
Inability to be Prosecuted or Investigated for Acts of Race or Countries of Affiliation without Cause
The government cannot and will not open investigations into or otherwise deprive peoples of life, liberty, or property based only on their gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, economic status, or current and past affiliations.

The government cannot and will not prosecute an individual for the acts (past or present) of their relations, affiliations, race, governments, or companies for which they are affiliated so long as they did not participate in or were a party to specific crimes for which charges have been or will swiftly be brought as per judicially approved filings of said charges.
Protection from Unjust Influence
The government cannot accept donations from or directives by civilian, military, or foreign sources in exchange favors of any kind.

Relation of government officials to civilian organizations is subject to Transparent Disclosure.
Right to Transparent Disclosure
Civil servants and government officials must, upon request, turn over any and all documents relating to resources or other favors gained from others be them other officials, domestic groups and individuals, or foreign powers to the DJS, Senate, or High Court.
Citizens Right to Vote
All citizens have the right and obligation to vote unimpeded and unmolested.

No persons shall be allowed within designated voting areas without proper clearance and credentials.

No persons inside or within 50 meters of a designated voting area may engage in campaigning or persuasion for or against any candidate or policy being voted on.

No agency or group of any kind shall record or otherwise track specific people to their individual votes. All voting is to be anonymous.

Election day is a holiday within the Serenity Concord.

Voting in elections is mandatory of all peoples over the age of consent.

Rights of the Accused

Someone under arrest must be read their rights before they can be questioned after being placed under arrest or their answers to any questions are not generally admissible in court.

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. But, it may harm your defense if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. Do you understand the rights that I have read to you?

Cabinet and Agency Positions

This is not an exhaustive list.

Agency	Abberviation	Director	Race & Gender	Superior Authority
Department of Judicial Services	DJS	Lenas	Vorta Female	Cabinet
Department of Diplomatic Services	DDS	Tiadrug Dehn	Banjoran Female	Cabinet
Department of Intelligence and Security	DIS	Pethoma	Romulan Female	Cabinet
Department of Commerce and Trade	DCT	Dozera	Ferengi Female	Cabinet
Department of Military Actions and Services	DMAS	Alice Barnes	Human Female	Cabinet
Department of Protection and Investigation	DPI	Kakben Drall	Cardassian Male	DJS
Department of Civil Affairs	DCA	Luira Gunod	El-Aurian Female	DJS
Civil Intelligence Division	CID	Jiva	Orion Female	DIS
Foreign Intelligence Bureau	FIB	Tlip Gashlok	Tellarite Female	DIS
Civilian Oversight Board	COB	Zoveg	Benzite Female	DMAS

Department of Judicial Services

The DJS oversees matters of law enforcement and prosecution within the Concord and are responsible for enforcement of laws, policies, and maintain civil rights within the Concord.

Department of Diplomatic Services

The DDS maintains diplomatic ties and relationships with foreign powers, they also work with the DMAS and DIS to provide support for an intelligence relating to the efforts of allies per treaties signed by the Senate.

Department of Intelligence and Security

The DIS gathers intelligence in both foreign and domestic sectors. They are responsible primarily for information gathering. They work closely with the DJS on domestic matters and with the DMAS and DDS in foreign affairs providing background and assistance.

Department of Commerce and Trade

The DCT manages civil resource allocations as well as trade with foreign powers. They also regulate the trade of resources within the Concord and work to protect the interests of both citizens and business entities within the Concord.

Department of Military Actions and Services

The DMAS acts as a liaison between the head of Solas Tempus and the executive branch. The department is primarily civilian in nature and also manages the Civilian Oversight Board. The goal of the department is to ensure that policies and programs ordered by the Senate and executive branch are implemented and adhered to within Solas Tempus.

Organizational Structure

The new governmental body is a Socialist Representative Republic having a 3 branch structure similar to other democratic worlds. Theirs is loosely based on the simple constitution of the United States of America before the world government established it as a city-state.

Territories

Primarily the space controlled by the Concord is divided into Territories which fall into the following categories. Follow this link for a list of Serenity Concord Sectors.

Star Systems

The Concord controls the entire star system. Representation in the Senate is decided based on the size of the system, each planetary body occupied by the Concord by at least one civilian colony or military outpost gets one seat in the Senate. Planets without a full time presence by either military or civilian personnel are not considered to have a Senator.

The system has a Governor, who is a member of the Council of Governors
Each planet has its own Minister, Ministry, and Court
- The Minster acts as the local Executive authority
- The Council operates as a local Legislative authority
- The Court acts as the local Judicial authority

Members of the legislative authority and the Senator for the Concord are elected by the local population for each individual planet. A system-wide election is held to choose the Governor. The Court of each region is appointed by the Minister, the system has it's own Court which is appointed by the Governor. Each Council must confirm the court appointee's by the Minister and the Concord Senate must confirm the appointee by the Governor.

Asset Territories

The Concord controls a space station, mining operation, or other facility which is not tied to a particular star system.

The asset has a Governor, who is a member of the Council of Governors and a Senator
The Governor acts as the local Minister and is the Executive authority, there is also a Ministry and a Court
- The Council acts as as the local Legislative authority
- The Court acts as the local Judicial authority
- Local elections decide on the Governor and the Council.
- There is a single Judicial Court appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Ministry.

Outpost Territories

This is similar to an Asset territory but is considered to be too small for a full Council. This is decided by the population and potential for communication with the government. Outpost territories are rare but are assigned when a very small group sets up a colony or outpost outside of the normal reach of normal communications with the main government. The outpost has a Governor, who is a member of the Council of Governors and has a Senator.

The Governor acts as the primary authority within the territory. They may choose to have legislative body depending on the size and scope of the outpost. In these rare cases, the outpost is considered to be largely autonomous of the main government and must be granted a special charter from the main government. All laws of the Concord must be adhered to, which includes a clause to trigger a secession from the Concord and setting the outpost up as an independent government. The charter from the Concord often defines the scope of powers and authority of the Governor, most often this defines if the Governor may create or dissolve a legislative body or imposes other details such as a judicial body. Since these are unique, each one has its own qualities of how it is governed. Given that there is the potential for abuse, the Concord also has the right to depose and change the leadership of the colony if it feels the rights of the citizens are being abused. The Concord also retains control of the military assigned to the outpost who have more freedom and autonomy from the Governor than in other kinds of territories.

Executive

The executive branch is composed of a Prime Minister, Vice Minister, Cabinet, and Council of Governors. This body controls government institutions, departments, and handles foreign relations, and the military.

Legislative

Composed of a single house, the Senate, which makes laws and has a representative for each region based on population. This body creates and manages laws, levy's taxes, and must approve treaties and contracts with foreign powers.

Judicial

A High Court of 9 judges are elected by the Senate and approved by the Prime Minster, Cabinet, and Council of Governors. This body decides on the constitutionality of laws and government actions. The High Court is the highest court in the Concord, each territory has a singular court which is the head of that territory. In the cases of star systems, each planet has its own lesser court and it is subdivided further by more and more local courts, the most local court is a District or City court. Multiple municipalities can group together into a single district court if they are too small to each have their own court. A large enough city will have its own central City court, which operates roughly at the same level of authority.

Appeals and Authority

The courts cannot make laws, local courts cannot change laws on a scope above their current level. A court can, however, decide a law is unconstitutional or otherwise unfit and nullify it if a case is brought before the court which has its own individual merit. That is to say a case cannot be brought before a court simply to challenge a law there must be a case of substance which calls the law into question.

A city or district court can call into question laws at that level but cannot do more than set precedence with regards to laws above that level. A case may be then referred to a higher court to expand the scope of the findings to press for a court case to increase its scope, but this comes with the potential problem that a higher judge can simply overturn the verdict of a lower judge. Further, appeals are made to the next highest level of court that has not already been seen. That is to say appeals cannot skip levels. City or District courts would be first appealed, then System / Territory, and further up to the High Court. The High Court does not have to take every case and can decide that the case does not merit further investigation, in which case the last ruling is upheld. In either the case that the High Court makes a ruling to declines to take a case, the final ruling is final.

Separation of Powers

The Prime Minister branch has veto authority and must either sign a law passed by the Senate into law or veto it to strike it down. A law cannot go into effect unless it is signed by the Prime Minister or the Senate overrides the Prime Minister. To override the Prime Minister the Senate requires a super-majority (two thirds majority) rather than a simple majority (over 50%). The High Court cannot interfere in this process unless a case is brought before them, they are also prohibited from becoming involved in lobbying for such affairs. Any member of the other two branches cannot under any circumstances influence the verdict of cases before the High Court. Neither the court nor to the executive branch can vote in the Senate just as the Senate cannot rule on cases before the court and cannot override the executive branch's decisions without drafting a bill to do so, which would require approval by the executive or an override with a super-majority.

Impeachment

The Senate can impeach a Prime Minister but not other members of the executive branch. Similarly the Senate can impeach a judge on the High Court but not members of lower courts. Nor can the Senate order other branches to do so. The Prime Minister cannot appoint a Senator but can file suit with the local court for that Senator to impeach a Senator. In any case when a member of any branch is impeached it triggers the normal selection method for that branch. Similar restrictions follow each branch's lines throughout each territory so that the powers serve as checks and balances to each other.

Elections

Election Day: Elections are held on June 25th annually.
Inauguration Day: Newly elected officials swear the oath of office on February 28th following the elections, giving a 9 month term to transition.

Voting is done by every member and is mandatory for all persons over the age of consent (18 for humans) without a waiver. Citizens are taught as part of the eduction system to research and decide on candidates as well as how the government works so that they may make informed decisions about who to vote for. Campaigning is limited to a 4 week period and each campaign is also limited on resources that can be used, which are provided evenly by the Serenity Concord itself and may not use personal resources or outside contributions for such purposes.

Terms and Term Limits

Position	Branch	Term	Limit
Prime & Vice Ministers	Executive	5 Years	3 Terms
Governors	Executive	5 Years	2 Terms
Ministers	Executive	5 Years	2 Terms
Senators	Legislative	3 Years	5 Terms
Council Members	Legislative	3 Years	3 Terms
Judges	Judicial	Life	N/A

Citizenship

Being a citizen is not required in order to live and work within the Concord, nor is it required to join with Solas Tempus. Both will accept any race that wishes to immigrate and work for the betterment of the Concord. The path to becoming a citizen requires that perspective citizens live and work within the Concord for a period of no less than 3 years prior to submitting an application to become a citizen. The time it takes for application processing and further requirements upon prospective citizens varies depending on the particular situation but can take several years to complete. During that time prospective citizens are required to not be convicted of a felony crime, such a conviction is cause for denial of their application and potentially a revocation of permission to live or work within the Concord. For a non-citizen to enter the Concord they must be sponsored by a person, company, or government office.

The military can also sponsor a non-citizen for that person to join the military and grants the ability for said person to live within the Concord during and after their service. Citizenship can also be gained through military service of a full 4 year span providing that the person in question is honorably discharged at the end of that term. Citizenship is not guaranteed at the end of service, but it is very common providing the last commanding officer is willing to recommend citizenship, which is also very common given a reasonably good service record.

The primary merit for citizenship is the ability to vote in elections and to public service. Public service positions are available only to citizens with the exception of military service. Non-citzens cannot be elected to any office, though citizens not originally born within the Concord are able to be elected to any office. Other benefits include a priority toward civil resources and protection from the Concord in other non-Concord areas.

United Federation of Planets

While the colonies were originally those of the United Federation of Planets, under the colonial terms they are allowed to establish their own government at that location. The first act of the new government was to issue an executive order requesting separation from the Federation but requesting a peace treaty. This is rather standard procedure, separation took effect immediately upon notification while the treaty is due to be ratified July 9th, 2381.