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< back to PPI GA 2013

Here you can write your proposal for the PPI conference. To submit your application copy-paste the table or write an e-mail with the information to board@pp-international.net and we will add it to the list.

The deadline is March 22nd 2013 23:59 CET

The current statutes and how they are voted on can be found here.

Amendments are divined to groups by aim and scope. Groups will be analyzed/discused on separate pages:

Template

Please use the following template:
Title TITLE OF PROPOSAL
Sponsor WHAT MEMBER OF THE PPI SUPPORTS THIS PROPOSAL?
member of Pirate Party WHAT PIRATE PARTIES ARE YOU A MEMBER OF AND WHAT IS YOUR FUNCTION THEREIN?
Contact data HOW CAN WE REACH YOU FOR MORE QUESTIONS?
proposal ballot(s) TEXT OF THE PROPOSAL BALLOT(S) TO BE VOTED ON?
reasoning and motivation WHAT IS THE MOTIVATION AND REASONING FOR THE PROPOSAL?


Leftovers from Prague

During the last conference not every submitted statutes amendment proposal has been voted on. Since it was also not decided to deny them all en bloc, they are still tabled and will be discussed in Kazan.

SAP-1a

Title ALLOW THE GA TO CONSIDER AN ORDINARY MEMBER PER TERRITORY
Sponsor PIRATA.CAT (PP-CAT)
member of Pirate Party Muriel Rovira Esteva, PP-CAT, International Coordinator
Contact data muriel (at) pirata.cat
proposal ballot(s) Current Statutes formulation:
IV. Ordinary Members
(2) There can be only one Ordinary Member per country.


Reformulation proposal:

IV. Ordinary Members
(2) There can be only one Ordinary Member per territory.
reasoning and motivation Allow the GA to decide whether different Organizations from the same country can become Ordinary Members as long as they don't run for the elections in the same territories. That would give flexibility to the GA to grant Ordinary membership in cases that for cultural or administrative reasons a single countrywide Organization is not convenient or even possible. [Israel/Palestine, Kosovo/Serbia, Argentina (due to its elections system)]

SAP-1b

Title ALLOW THE GA TO MAKE EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE OF JUST ONE ORDINARY MEMBERSHIP PER COUNTRY
Sponsor PIRATA.CAT (PP-CAT)
member of Pirate Party Muriel Rovira Esteva, PP-CAT, International Coordinator
Contact data muriel (at) pirata.cat
proposal ballot(s) Current Statutes formulation:
IV. Ordinary Members
(2) There can be only one Ordinary Member per country.


Reformulation proposal:

IV. Ordinary Members
(2) There can be only one Ordinary Member per country but the GA can grant Ordinary Member status to more than one Member in exceptional circumstances, at its own discretion.
reasoning and motivation Allow the GA to make exceptions to decide whether different Organizations from the same country can become Ordinary Members. That would give flexibility to the GA to grant Ordinary membership in cases that for cultural or administrative reasons a single countrywide Organization is not convenient or even possible. [Israel/Palestine, Kosovo/Serbia, Argentina (due to its elections system)]

SAP-2a

Title ALLOW CONFEDERATIONS OF PIRATE PARTIES TO BECOME ORDINARY MEMBERS
Sponsor PIRATA.CAT (PP-CAT)
member of Pirate Party Muriel Rovira Esteva, PP-CAT, International Coordinator
Contact data muriel (at) pirata.cat
proposal ballot(s) Current Statutes formulation:
VI. Multiple applicants from one country
Only one Organization from any one country can be recognized for Ordinary Membership in Pirate Parties International. A National Pirate Organization may consist of more than one Pirate Party participating in a Federation based on the common Pirate purpose. It is the responsibility of each Federation to ensure that all its constituent Associations meet the requirements of these statutes.


Reformulation proposal:

VI. Multiple applicants from one territory
Only one fully autonomous (*) Organization from any territory can be recognized for Ordinary Membership in Pirate Parties International. A Pirate Organization may consist of more than one Pirate Party participating in a Federation or Confederation based on the common Pirate purpose. It is the responsibility of each Federation or Confederation to ensure that all its constituent associations meet the requirements of these statutes.

(*) The Organization has full independence to take its own decisions and doesn't have to abide to the instructions of another higher organization.

reasoning and motivation Allow multiple Pirate Parties from a territory to organise themselves as a Confederation if they want to, and not necessarily a Federation.

SAP-2b

Title ALLOW THE GA TO RULE IN THE CASE THAT MULTIPLE PARTIES OF ONE COUNTRY CAN'T AGREE ON A JOINT FEDERATION/CONFEDERATION
Sponsor PIRATA.CAT (PP-CAT)
member of Pirate Party Muriel Rovira Esteva, PP-CAT, International Coordinator
Contact data muriel (at) pirata.cat
proposal ballot(s) Current Statutes formulation:
VI. Multiple applicants from one country
Only one Organization from any one country can be recognized for Ordinary Membership in Pirate Parties International. A National Pirate Organization may consist of more than one Pirate Party participating in a Federation based on the common Pirate purpose. It is the responsibility of each Federation to ensure that all its constituent Associations meet the requirements of these statutes.


Reformulation proposal:

VI. Multiple applicants from one territory
Only one fully autonomous (*) Organization from any territory can be recognized for Ordinary Membership in Pirate Parties International. A Pirate Organization may consist of more than one Pirate Party participating in a Federation or Confederation based on the common Pirate purpose. It is the responsibility of each Federation or Confederation to ensure that all its constituent associations meet the requirements of these statutes.
In case that there is more than one Pirate Party in a territory and that they do not agree in a Federation/Confederation, PPI's General Assembly will be able to:


[The following points should be voted separately:]

  • Reject the requests of any of the parties.
  • Split the vote of that territory between the parties existing there, under PPI's GA criteria.
  • Remove the right to vote of an organization already holding it to force it agree a fair federation/confederation agreement approved by PPI.
  • Grant ordinary membership to any other Pirate organization if PPI's GA decides to do so.


(*) The Organization has full independence to take its own decisions and doesn't have to abide to the instructions of another higher organization.

reasoning and motivation Allow the GA to take decisions concerning the membership status and voting rights of multiple applicants from the same country that don't agree.

SAP-3 withdrawn (replaced with SAP-25)

Note by PP-PT:

Title Multiple Ordinary Membership for any single country
Sponsor Partido Pirata Português (PPP)
member of Pirate Party Nuno Cardoso, International Coordinator for PPP
Contact data nuno.cardoso@partidopiratapt.eu
proposal ballot(s) Amendments to accommodate multiple Ordinary Membership for any single country:

Current wording:

IV. Ordinary Members

(2) There can be only one Ordinary Member per country.

Proposal:

IV. Ordinary Members

(2) There can be multiple Ordinary Members, with only one aggregated vote, per country.

Current wording:

VI. Multiple applicants from one country

Only one Organization from any one country can be recognized for Ordinary Membership in Pirate Parties International. A National Pirate Organization may consist of more than one Pirate Party participating in a Federation based on the common Pirate purpose. It is the responsibility of each Federation to ensure that all its constituent Associations meet the requirements of these statutes.

Proposal:

VI. Multiple applicants from one country

Only one aggregated vote from any one country can be recognized in the General Assembly of Pirate Parties International.

(a1º) Aggregation will be made by simple majority granting each Ordinary Member of that country a single vote.

or

(a2º) Aggregation will be made by simple majority granting each Ordinary Member of that country a weighted vote based on their membership size.

(b) Ties will result in an abstention from that country.

Notes:
º a1 and a2 are mutually exclusive, and should be voted on if this proposal passes

Current wording:

IX. General Assembly

(3) The General Assembly decides with the majority of the votes, one vote per Member.

Proposal:

IX. General Assembly

(3) The General Assembly decides with the majority of the votes, one aggregated vote per Country.

Current wording:

XI. Voting

(1) Each Ordinary Member shall have one vote and resolutions shall be taken by a simple majority of the Members present or represented and voting. In the event of a tie, the motion is defeated.

Proposal:

XI. Voting

(1) Each Ordinary Member shall have one º vote and resolutions shall be taken by a simple majority of the aggregated votes per Country of the Members present or represented and voting. In the event of a tie, the motion is defeated.

Notes:
º we could also add "single" or "weighted" here depending on VI(1) being option (a1) or (a2) for the calculation of aggregated votes

Current wording:

XX. Amendments

(1) This Statutes can only be amended by a vote of at least two thirds of the total Members of the General Assembly, on a regular or extraordinary meeting.

Proposal:

XX. Amendments

(1) This Statutes can only be amended by a vote of at least two thirds of the total aggregated votes per Country of Members of the General Assembly, on a regular or extraordinary meeting.

Current wording:

XXI. Liquidation.

(1) The organization can only be dissolved by a vote of at least two thirds of the total Members of the General Assembly, on an extraordinary meeting called for this purpose only. Proposal:

XXI. Liquidation.

(1) The organization can only be dissolved by a vote of at least two thirds of the total aggregated votes per Country of Members of the General Assembly, on an extraordinary meeting called for this purpose only.

reasoning and motivation

There has been a lot of internal disputes in some countries, and since PPI should not take any sides and only "II (2) (d) act as mediator for any disputes between Members if requested to do so", there should be a way to allow democracy in the vote of those countries that does not interfere in their internal organization but doesn't allow their disputes to disturb or disrupt PPI either.

Currently "(IV) (4) Ordinary Members have the right to (a) sit and vote in the General Assembly" and that would not change with this proposal, but their vote would be part of an aggregated vote of all pirate parties or organizations of their country that meet the requirements for Ordinary Membership.

There are several ways to aggregate that vote, here are two options as an example with their more relevant pros and cons:

(a1) Aggregation will be made by simple majority granting each Ordinary Member of that country a single vote.

Pros:

  • Simple to keep track.

Cons:

  • Unfair to those who struggled to be big,
  • Incentive on splitting for power, or spite, in order to try gaining a vote against an internal majority or consensus.

(a2) Aggregation will be made by simple majority granting each Ordinary Member of that country a weighted vote based on their membership size.

Pros:

  • More fair to those who struggled to be big,
  • More incentive to grow for those who are still small.

Cons:

  • Harder to keep track.

Of course, if the pirate parties and organizations of any one country wish, and can agree, they are still free to organize themselves into a federation, confederation or any other type of structure with their own rules on how to choose their country's vote and then have that organization be the single Ordinary Member of their country, and they can become Observer Members or even not be members at all.

SAP-8

Title Human Rights
Sponsor Pirate Party of France (PP-FR)
member of Pirate Party Maxime Rouquet, PP-FR co-chairman

Baptiste Marcel, PP-FR chief officer

Denis Germain, PP-FR board member, PPSFR

Contact data maxime.rouquet@partipirate.org
proposal ballot(s) At the end of II. (1), replace "." by "," and add a point with the following text :

to promote and support Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

reasoning and motivation In case one of the Members or a PPI officer would violate Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and in particular privacy, the Court of Arbitration can use the Statutes to rule on it.

SAP-9

Title Balance between privacy and transparency
Sponsor Pirate Party of France (PP-FR)
member of Pirate Party Maxime Rouquet, PP-FR co-chairman

Baptiste Marcel, PP-FR chief officer

Denis Germain, PP-FR board member, PPSFR

Contact data maxime.rouquet@partipirate.org
proposal ballot(s) At the end of II. (1), replace "." by "," and add a point with the following text :

to promote and protect privacy and transparency, to look for a fair balance between both, and in cases where both are impossible to satisfy at the same time, to favour privacy unless cases of imperious need.

reasoning and motivation All pirates respect both privacy for citizens and transparency for public institutions. But most propositions to support one might cause problem to the other if not well balanced. For example, some might defend the obligation to publish bank accounts, but this transparency does not need to publish the identity of all citizens that would have decided to make a donation. Another example would be an elected deputy or PPI officer's sexual life, that does not have to be made public as long as it is not clearly relevant for transparency. A last example would be one who would leak internal memos and communications of an official body to bring to public some corruption facts, but personal data (phone numbers, personal addresses) should be kept out of the publication. In most cases, all informations relevant to transparency of public institutions can be made public without breaching the private life of anybody : this amendment makes it a goal of the PPI to reach such balance. In the end, when it is not possible to have both privacy and transparency, privacy should be protected unless in cases of imperious need.

SAP-10 withdrawn

Title COURT OF ARBITRATION
Sponsor Pirate Party of Germany
member of Pirate Party Thomas Gaul, PP-DE, International Coordinator
Contact data thomas.gaul@piratenpartei.de
proposal ballot(s) Change XIVa. Court of Arbitration into:

XIVa. Court of Arbitration

(1) The exclusive power to resolve internal disputes shall be vested to the Court of Arbitration. All other organs and officers are required to cooperate with the Court of Arbitration to the extend needed for the proper exercise of its functions.

(2) Complaints are only admissable, if they are filed by

a) the General Assembly

b) the Board or one of its Members

c) the Secretary General or a Deputy Secretary General

d) a Member of PPI

e) any other person or organ which is explicitly allowed to do so in these statutes and internal regulations.

(3) A complaint may be regulated with a fee to be returned if the complaint is reasonable. The complainant may participate in the investigation.

(4) In particular, the Court of Arbitration has the exclusive power to

a) issue a preliminary ruling in an urgent matter of its competence,

b) declare matters of fact when necessary for the functioning of the PPI,

c) decide the disputes between the officers and the organs of the PPI,

d) decide on the restrictions on persons who breach the Statutes and the internal regulations and in these cases degrade an official or declare his further incapability to be elected,

e) decide on the validity of legal acts of the organs of the PPI,

f) decide on the matters of Membership (Art. VII par. 2]])

g) decide if a board member is inactive following to XIII. (8).

(5) The Court of Arbitration keeps a Register of Mediators. This register lists the name, contact address, and Party affiliation of the people from the Ordinary Members who are willing to help solve the disputes between the Members. All Members may consult this register and choose a Mediator who can help them solve their dispute.

(6) If the mediation fails, the Members or applicants of a dispute may present an agreement to the Court of Arbitration, which contains the description of the dispute and their consent to abide by the decision of the Court of Arbitration. The Court of Arbitration will decide the dispute within the limits contained in the agreement.

(7) The Court of Arbitration may answer the preliminary questions of the organs and individuals about the interpretation of the Statutes and the internal regulations; such answers are not legally binding.

(8) The Court of Arbitration shall have between three and seven Members and up to four Alternate Members. The provisions concerning the election of the Members of the Board and Alternate Members apply accordingly.

(9) The Court of Arbitration adopts its own rules of internal procedure.

(10) The Court of Arbitration shall adopt provisional rules of procedure which shall be employed until the General Assembly adopts rules of procedure for the Court of Arbitration. The provisional rules of procedure will only come into effect, if the Board gives its consent.

reasoning and motivation na.

SAP-11

Title Investigators
Sponsor Pirate Party of France (PP-FR)
member of Pirate Party Maxime Rouquet, PP-FR co-chairman

Baptiste Marcel, PP-FR chief officer

Denis Germain, PP-FR board member, PPSFR

Contact data maxime.rouquet@partipirate.org
proposal ballot(s) Add a point to XIVa. with the following text :

The Court of Arbitration keeps a Register of Investigators. This register lists the name, contact address, and Party affiliation of the people from the Ordinary Members who are willing to help investigate on any matter the Court of Arbitration has authority on. All Members and PPI officers may consult this register and ask, anonymously or not, an Investigator to constitute a file. Any Investigator can ask the Court of Arbitration to rule on a case. Members of the Court of Arbitration or of the Board cannot be Investigators.

reasoning and motivation When the Court of Arbitration is asked to rule a case, it may happen that all the proofs are not present and an investigation must be conducted. Nominating investigators will avoid the Court of Arbitration to both conduct the investigations and rule the case. It also allows any Member of officer with no time to look for evidence in order to file a case, to ask an Investigator to do it.

SAP-12

Title HEADQUARTERS
Sponsor Pirate Party of Germany
member of Pirate Party Thomas Gaul, PP-DE, International Coordinator
Contact data thomas.gaul@piratenpartei.de
proposal ballot(s) Change XIV. PPI Headquarters (1) into:

(1) PPI Headquarters shall be incorporated in accordance with the law of the country in which its international headquarters are located in order to enjoy the status of a legal person and a non-profit organization

reasoning and motivation na.

SAP-13

Title BORROWING POWERS
Sponsor Pirate Party of Germany
member of Pirate Party Thomas Gaul, PP-DE, International Coordinator
Contact data thomas.gaul@piratenpartei.de
proposal ballot(s) Change XVIII. Borrowing Powers into:

XVIII. Borrowing Powers

(1) Those officials empowered to operate the bank accounts of Pirate Parties International have the authority to borrow money as follows:

a) Up to ten percent of the annual budget needs the approval of the Secretary General.

b) Over ten percent of the annual budget needs the approval of threequarters of the Board.

reasoning and motivation na.

SAP-14

Title CHANGE MEMBERSHIP
Sponsor Pirate Party of Germany
member of Pirate Party Thomas Gaul, PP-DE, International Coordinator
Contact data thomas.gaul@piratenpartei.de
proposal ballot(s) Change III. Membership (3) into:

(5) The Members are obliged to respect the Statutes, internal regulations and rules of procedure, in particular abide by the decisions of the Court of Arbitration.

reasoning and motivation na.

SAP-15 - withdrawn

Title AMENDMENTS
Sponsor Pirate Party of Germany
member of Pirate Party Thomas Gaul, PP-DE, International Coordinator
Contact data thomas.gaul@piratenpartei.de
proposal ballot(s) Change XX. Amendments (1) into:

(1) These Statutes can only be amended by a vote of at least two thirds of the total Members of the General Assembly, on a regular or extraordinary meeting.

reasoning and motivation na.

SAP-16 (Withdrawn and replaced with #SAP-24)

Note by PP-PT:

Title Adoption of e-Democracy and disambiguation of conflicting motions
Sponsor Partido Pirata Português (PPP)
member of Pirate Party Nuno Cardoso, International Coordinator for PPP
Contact data nuno.cardoso@partidopiratapt.eu
proposal ballot(s) Amendments to accommodate e-Democracy and disambiguation of conflicting motions:

Proposal:

XI. Voting

(1) ...

(a) In the event of competing or conflicting motions over the same issue, a ranked vote, including the status quo, shall be cast in order to disambiguate the decision using an appropriate counting method chosen for the course of the voting process.

Current wording:

XI. Voting

(4) In appropriate circumstances determined by the Board, there may be a postal referendum to Ordinary Members between meetings of the General Assembly when the same rules as to voting, majority and in the event of a tie shall apply.

Proposal:

XI. Voting

(4) A permanent online e-Democracy system allowing for decision making from Ordinary Members between meetings of the General Assembly shall be put in place where issues can be raised, initiatives started, suggestions made, and progress checked until a final vote can be cast that sets policies to be executed.

(a) Issues and initiativesº can be raised and started by the Board¹ and anyone else who can submit motions² to the General Assembly

(b) An issue not raised by the Board needs a quorum of one third of the Members³ in order for its initiatives to be voted.

(c) The same rules of the General Assembly as to voting, majority and in the event of a tie shall apply.

Notes:
º Initiatives are competing motions on the same issue
¹ Preserving the idea of the current XI (4)
² Currently Oridinary Members, IV (4) c), and Observer Members, V (2) c)
³ Preserving the idea of IX (2)

reasoning and motivation As it stands now, the PPI has the three normal branches of democracy as follows:

Executive: Board Legislative: General Assembly Judicial: Court of Arbitration

All seems fine, but since "II (1) The goals of the association are: a) to act according to the major interests and goals of its Members", it seems counterproductive that "its Members" can only express that by voting on proposals of their "major interests" once a year at the General Assembly or "XI (4) In appropriate circumstances determined by the Board". Even if "IX (2) Extraordinary sessions can be held at the request of one third of the Members or by a decision of the Board" there is still the condition that "IX(7) Meetings of the General Assembly will be announced at least five weeks prior to the meeting."

It seems odd that the pirate party movement, a son of the Internet managed to create an umbrella organization that will move so slow when it comes to the decision making process of it's members.

Surely the board can vote and decide on how it acts on a regularly basis, but it can only do so "XIII (1) a) to act on behalf of the General Assembly between its meetings; to give effect to its decisions, recommendations and policies; and to represent it at international and national events", it can't vote and decide on real policy making for itself, as that is one of the “X. Functions of the General Assembly”, “X (1) b) to formulate the general policy of Pirate Parties International”.

There is also a feeling that some issues would gain a lot, and generate less controversy, if members could vote directly on them when they arise, like for example the location of the General Assembly. Of course that the Board already needs "XIII (1) e) to prepare the agenda and procedure of the meetings of the General Assembly, giving consideration to suggestions from Member Organizations", but it could even ease its burden if the decision itself, and not just suggestions to be considered, was to be made by those who will compose the Assembly itself. But since "XIII (3) One natural person named by each Ordinary Member shall be admitted with the right to participate in the Board meetings without the right to vote", for now that decision, and potentially others of the same controversial nature, is for the Board to bear alone.

In PPI, one of "the major interests and goals of its Members" is undoubtedly e-Democracy, and if so we should empower its statutes with a process where issues can be raised, initiatives started, suggestions made, and progress checked until a final vote can be cast by its members that sets policies to be executed by its board.

Some of PPI members are already using software platforms that provide the necessary infrastructure where such a fluid and highly participative democratic process can thrive. PPI should be using them also, to set the example and show the advantages of such systems to all its current and future members, instead of adopting the rigid models of plain old parties that bind democracy to specific election/voting dates separated by long periods of detachment where few decide for all.

Real democracy means constant democracy, not cyclic democracy, and if we are to change the world we should start by setting the example ourselves.

Anyway, the yearly/live General Assembly would not loose any relevance as it would be the natural place for both the informal meeting of members in a live forum and the formal place for elections and probably some of the more important and debatable decisions like the ones requiring two thirds majority, such as: "Admission of new Members (section III. paragraph 4)", "Exclusion of Members (section VII, paragraph 2)", "Determination of the annual affiliation fee (section XVI, paragraph 1)", "Amendment of this Statutes (section XX)",

Note by PP-CH:

New Statutes Amendment Proposals

SAP-17

Title COURT OF ARBITRATION
Sponsor Pirate Party Switzerland, Pirate Party of Czech Republic
member of Pirate Party Stefan Thöni, PP-CH, International Coordinator
Contact data stefan.thoeni (at) piratenpartei.ch
counterproposal to

PPI_Conference_2013/Statutes_Amendments#SAP-10

proposal ballot(s)

XIVa. Court of Arbitration

(1) The exclusive power to resolve internal disputes shall be vested to the Court of Arbitration which is seated in Bern and acts through its arbitral tribunals according to Chapter 12 of the Swiss Private International Law Statute.

(2) The court is competent in all disputes between the Pirate Parties International, its organs, its headquarters, its officers and its members not withstanding the competence of any national jurisdiction.

(3) The court is also competent to

a) decide on the restrictions on persons who breaches the statutes and the internal regulations and in these cases impeach an official or declare his further incapability to be elected;

b) answer the preliminary questions of the organs and individuals about the interpretation of the statutes and the internal regulations; such answers act through their persuasiveness only.

(4) The court shall consist of one judge appointed by each ordinary member. The term of office is three years and is not renewable. The term may end prematurely in case of incapacitation or resignation of the judge or if the appointing member ceases to be an ordinary member of PPI.

(5) The court elects each year a president and vice-president of the court from within its judges. The president ad interim of the court is the judge from the ordinary member selected by the assembly.

(6) For each complaint brought before the court the president names a chairperson and two or more judges which form the arbitral tribunal.

(7) The court determines its own rules of procedure.

reasoning and motivation

As it is currently unclear, how the CoA should work we propose that it should work like the Court of Arbitration for Sports [1] [2].

This would mean basing it in Chapter 12 of the Swiss Private International Law Statute which defines the basics and adding only what suits our special needs. This law is available in English [3], French [4], German [5], Russian [6], Italian [7] and Spanish [8].

Swiss law is very arbitration friendly [9], sets only minimal standards and allows for our own rules. The decisions of the CoA could be appealed directly to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland [10] which has regularly upheld international arbitral verdicts.

In the past there was also the problem that the GA hasn't had much choice in the election of judges because of the scarcity of candidates and the lack of knowledge about them. Therefore we also propose to no longer elect the CoA at the GA but instead give every ordinary member the right to appoint by their own rules one judge. This allows every party to be represented by the person they think would make a good judge. The judges of the CoA would then elect from among themselves a president which organizes the processing of complaint and assigns available and neutral judges to each complaint.

SAP-17-b

Title Procedural motion to change amandement
Sponsor Pirate Party of Czech Republic
member of Pirate Party Vojtěch Pikal, PP-CZ, Member of International relations department
Contact data vojtech.pikal (at) pirati.cz, www.pirati.cz/lide/vojtech_pikal
amendment to

PPI_Conference_2013/Statutes_Amendments#SAP-17

proposal ballot(s)

XIVa. Court of Arbitration

(7) The court determinesadopts its own rules of procedure.

reasoning and motivation

As for GA, we think rules of procedure should be not optional.

SAP-17-a

Title Procedural motion to change SAP 17
Sponsor Pirate Party of Czech Republic
member of Pirate Party Vojtěch Pikal, PP-CZ, Member of International relations department
Contact data vojtech.pikal (at) pirati.cz, www.pirati.cz/lide/vojtech_pikal
change to

#SAP-17

proposal ballot(s)

In the proposed ballot, point (4), remove the words "ordinary".

reasoning and motivation

Thus leading to:

(4) The court shall consist of one judge appointed by each ordinary member. The term of office is three years and is not renewable. The term may end prematurely in case of incapacitation or resignation of the judge or if the appointing member ceases to be an ordinary member of PPI.

We don't see any reason why observer members, if they can propose Judge now should not appoint some after the changes.

The more (judges) the merrier.

SAP-18

Title Technicalities
Sponsor Pirate Party of Czech Republic
member of Pirate Party Vojtěch Pikal, PP-CZ, Member of International relations department
Contact data vojtech.pikal (at) pirati.cz, www.pirati.cz/lide/vojtech_pikal
counterproposal to SAP-12, SAP-13, SAP-14, SAP-15
proposal ballot(s) Change III. Membership (3) into:

(5) The Members are obliged to respect the Statutes, internal regulations and rules of procedure, in particular bear the implications ofabide by the decision of the Court of Arbitration.

Change XIV. PPI Headquarters (1) into:

(1) PPI Headquarters shall be incorporated in accordance with the law of the country in which its international headquarters are located in order to enjoy the status of a juristic personlegal person and a non-profit organization. It should be a non profit organization.

Change XVIII. Borrowing Powers(1) into:

(1) Those officials empowered to operate the bank accounts of Pirate Parties International have the authority to borrow money as follows: a) Up to ten percent of the annual budget needs the approval of the Secretary General. b) Over ten percent of the annual budget needs the approval of three quartersthreequarters of the Board.

Change XX. Amendments(1) into:

(1) ThisThese Statutes can only be amended by a vote of at least two thirds of the total Ordinary Members of the General Assembly, on a regular or extraordinary meeting.

reasoning and motivation Minor technical and legislative changes for better wording and clarification of original meaning.

SAP-18-a

Title Procedural motion to change SAP 18
Sponsor Pirate Party of Czech Republic
member of Pirate Party Vojtěch Pikal, PP-CZ, Member of International relations department
Contact data vojtech.pikal (at) pirati.cz, www.pirati.cz/lide/vojtech_pikal
change to

#SAP-18

proposal ballot(s)
  • add to the proposed ballot new point, that says:

" Add XX. Amendments(3) that says:

"(3) Unless otherwise specified, the amendments shall come into force immediately."

"

  • also add to the ballot statement:
"These amandements come into force immediatelly."
reasoning and motivation

Incorporating technical change in SAP 22, thus allowing to vote technical stuff in one simple vote.

Stating, that these changes come into force imidiatelly.

SAP-18 Motion

After this, we propose for the GA to vote on this resolution: >All the previous statuses amendments are considered valid thou they might have not been agreed upon by two thirds of all Members.

Reasoning:

Previous statuses amendments might be considered invalid and thus nullified due the fact that only 2/3 of ordinary members voted for them, not 2/3 of all members (including Observer members).

SAP-19

Title Multiple members from one sovereign state
Sponsor Pirate Party of Czech Republic
member of Pirate Party Vojtěch Pikal, PP-CZ, Member of International relations department
Contact data vojtech.pikal (at) pirati.cz, www.pirati.cz/lide/vojtech_pikal
counterproposal to

SAP-1a, SAP-1b, SAP-2a, SAP-2b, SAP-3

proposal ballot(s)

I. Change IV. Ordinary Members(2) into:

2) There can be only one Ordinary Member per countrymultiple Ordinary Members per sovereign state.

II. Change VI. Multiple applicants from one state into:

VI. Multiple Ordinary Members from one state
If there are multiple Ordinary Members from one state the Vote of this state is equally split between these Members.

III. Change IX. General Assembly(3) into:

(3) The General Assembly decides with the majority of the vVotes, one vote per Member.

IV. Change IX. General Assembly(5) into:

(5) The physical or remote presence of one third of the Ordinary MembersVotes shall constitute a quorum.

V. Change XI. Voting(1) into:

(1) Each Ordinary MemberAll Ordinary Members from one sovereign state share one vVote and resolutions shall be taken by a simple majority of the MembersVotes present or represented and voting. In the event of a tie, the motion is defeated.

VI. Change XIa. Revocation(1) into:

(1) At any time, a fifth of the Ordinary MembersOrdinary Members wielding at least a fifth of all Votes can initiate the revocationcall of an PPI officer elected representative by asking calling upon the Court of Arbitration. The Court of Arbitration can reject the revocationcall request if it is supported by less than a fifth of the Ordinary Membersall Votes, if an election for the seat took place less than a month ago or will take place within a month, or another revocationcall process of the same PPI officer elected representative is already in progress.


reasoning and motivation

This is proposed solution for the "Multiple members from one country/state/teritorry problem".

Its based on these principles:

  • We can recognize[11] sovereign states by some definitions. Better than ambiguous terms like "country" or "territory". (It is much easier to rule upon whether something is a sovereign state or not than whether something is a country and whether two members share the same country.)
  • If there are multiple organizations in one state which are acceptable as Ordinary Members, we don't want to put one in front of the other.
  • It is also not our goal to force them into some sort of a cooperation with one another.
  • We don't wont to encourage multiple members from one country. (therefore, splitting cannot be beneficial.) Thus one Vote per sovereign state with ordinary Members. (It still might be seen as beneficial to split as it gives you more delegates, but this should be discouraged by affiliation fees - more parties per country - more payments.)
  • We have equality of rights among members, thus the Vote per country is split between Ordinary Members from one country equally.
  • The vote-sharing countries can proxy or delegate their votes or even establish some rules between them of handling this any way they wont.
  • Voting outcomes and such are now determined by Votes, not Ordinary Members. (Some things are still calculated by All Members, like requesting an extraordinary session.)

To address each change:

  • ad I. - establishing, that there may be multiple Ordinary members from one sovereign state.
  • ad II. - Now, we dont need to worry about multiple aplicants from one country -- we just establish that if there are more Ordinary Members from one state, the vote for them is equally split between these Ordinary Members
  • ad III. and IV. - on GA session, we now count simply by Votes, not Ordinary Members.
  • ad V. - once again, we establish that each sovereign state has one Vote which is equally split between the Ordinary Members from one sovereign state. (better wording welcomed)
  • ad VI. - technical changes.

SAP-19-a

Title Procedural motion to change SAP 19
Sponsor Pirate Party of Czech Republic
member of Pirate Party Vojtěch Pikal, PP-CZ, Member of International relations department
Contact data vojtech.pikal (at) pirati.cz, www.pirati.cz/lide/vojtech_pikal
change to

#SAP-19

proposal ballot(s)
  • add point points VII and VIII to the proposed ballot, that say:
    • VII. Change XX. Amendments(1) into:

(1) This Statutes can only be amended by a vote of at least two thirds of the total Votes of Members of the General Assembly, on a regular or extraordinary meeting.

    • VII: Change XXI. Liquidation(1) into:

(1) The organization can only be dissolved by a vote of at least two thirds of the total Votes of Members of the General Assembly, on an extraordinary meeting called for this purpose only.

reasoning and motivation

Adding ommited technicatlities into the proposal.

SAP-19-b

Title Procedural motion to change SAP 19
Sponsor Pirate Party of Czech Republic
member of Pirate Party Vojtěch Pikal, PP-CZ, Member of International relations department
Contact data vojtech.pikal (at) pirati.cz, www.pirati.cz/lide/vojtech_pikal
change to

#SAP-19

proposal ballot(s)
  • change the point II. of the proposed ballot into:
    • II. Change VI. Multiple applicants from one state into:

VI. Multiple Ordinary Members from one state

  • (1) If there are multiple Ordinary Members from one state, the Vote of this state is split between these Members.
  • (2) The spliting method will be, in order of preference:
    • a) a self agreed method between all Members from the sovereign state in question;
    • b) a mediated method between all Members from the sovereign state in question with the help of a Registered Mediator from the Court of Arbitration ( Art. XIVa (4) );
    • c) a method decided by Court of Arbitration within the limits contained in proposals given by Members from sovereign state in question;
  • (3) Until some of the prefered methods comes into action, the Vote is split equally between Ordinary Members from the sovereign state in question.
reasoning and motivation

Incorporating some ideas from the SAP-25. Equally split vote is still default, but there are prefered ways to get some more "reasonable method".

SAP 19 - motion

Motion:

Procedural motion to suspend the meeting for 10 minutes and asses the quorum afterwards.

Reasoning: After section, in witch this amendement will be discused, we propose a recalculation of votes and reestablishing of quorum. The quorum and voting povers of delegations may actually change.

SAP-20

Title Passing of voting rights, max votes per delegate and voting majorities
Sponsor Pirate Party of Czech Republic
member of Pirate Party Vojtěch Pikal, PP-CZ, Member of International relations department
Contact data vojtech.pikal (at) pirati.cz, www.pirati.cz/lide/vojtech_pikal
proposal ballot(s)

I. Change XI. Voting(3) into:

(3) An Ordinary Member which is unable to be present at a meeting of the General Assembly may vote by proxy given to another Member, but no Member may accept more than one proxy.


II. Change IX. General Assembly(4) into:

(4) Members Organizations are represented at any meeting of the General Assembly by a delegate or delegates not exceeding six from any one Member Organization per Member. One delegate cannot yield more than one Vote.

III. Changes XI. Voting (1) and (2) in:

(1) Each Ordinary Member shall have one vote and resolutions shall be taken be amended by an simple absolute majority of the Votes present or represented and voting. In the event of a tie, the motion is defeated.

(2) Decisions concerning the admission of new Members (section III. paragraph 4), the exclusion of Members (section VII, paragraph 2), the determination of the annual affiliation fee (section XVI, paragraph 1) and the amendment of these Statutes (section XX) shall be passed by a two thirds majority of the Votes cast present.

reasoning and motivation

Two main changes by this:

(A) Simplifying the rules of proxying and (B) requiring greater (real) majorities for binding decisions.

The (A) goes by eliminating possible interlink between the Party holding the votes and the actual voter at the assembly. Now, the Party establishes its delegation consisting of one to six persons, whom are able to speak and act on its behalf. Multiple parties can set same people as their delegation.
So for example if PP-DE decides to split into multiple Ordinary Members, they can send a joint delegation of six people to the session, all with the competence to speak and vote (if holding the vote at that point) for each Member they are delegated for. Also, the voting and representing rights can be delegated to a person from Observer Member or from no Member at all.
PPI is there not to inspect and speak into the relation between Member and its representative/delegate.

As a result, there are now no Members "represented", they are simply "present" by its local or remote delegate, or not here, not able to vote nor interfere.

More about this (appointing delegates, delegates rights, passing Votes between delegates of the same delegation and such) should be specified in rules of the procedure of the GA.

The (B) is done by raising the required majorities from simple (more FOR than AGAINST) to absolute (more FOR than AGAINST and ABSTAIN together). The simple majority is still enough for procedural things. The reason for this is simply that now a member can be accepted or expelled based on a few votes, if those are the only ones acting.
We feel that there is a need for that while we don't want to be controlled by an active minority. Also the decisions has to be now better reasoned and explained, as you need real majority of participants to agree with you.
The requirements for different motions are now:

simple procedural motion any majority of Votes(OM) present (might be specified in RoP)
motion to amend a proposal any majority of Votes(OM) present (might be specified in RoP)
amending a resolution, like adopting RoP or internal regulations or giving task to the board absolute majority of Votes(OM) present
(FOR > (AGAINST + ABSTAIN) or equally
(FOR > (1/2* PRESENT VOTES))
accepting or expelling member or setting membership fees 2/3 of Votes(OM) present
(FOR > (2/3*PRESENT VOTES))
amending the Statutes 2/3 of Votes(OM)
(FOR > (2/3*ALL VOTES))

The concrete changes go like this:

  • ad I. - Removing the proxying rule so there is no more such a thing. Votes are not passed between organizations, just from organizations to delegates.
  • ad II. - Adding limit of how many votes can one person hold and use at a given moment. Proposals on changing number possible. (+ technical changes).
  • ad III. - Changes regarding part (B).

This amend can be split into two, but we support it connected, as it both relates voting rights.


SAP-20-a

Title Procedural motion to change SAP 20
Sponsor Pirate Party of Czech Republic
member of Pirate Party Vojtěch Pikal, PP-CZ, Member of International relations department
Contact data vojtech.pikal (at) pirati.cz, www.pirati.cz/lide/vojtech_pikal
change to

#SAP-20

proposal ballot(s)
  • add ballot statement:
    • These changes come into force right after the accepting meeting is closed.
reasoning and motivation

We don't think it is reasonable to change "the game rules" during the match. I would cost too much inconvenience.

SAP-21

Title Reform of Board
Sponsor Pirate Party of Czech Republic
member of Pirate Party Vojtěch Pikal, PP-CZ, Member of International relations department
Contact data vojtech.pikal (at) pirati.cz, www.pirati.cz/lide/vojtech_pikal
proposal ballot(s)

Changing XII. Board into:

XII. Board

(1) Pirate Parties International is managed by the Board, the executive body. Members of the Board shall consider the interests of the Pirate movement as a whole and shall neither consider themselves nor be considered as representatives of any particular Member or non-member Organization or region.

(2) The Board and the Alternate Members are is elected by the General Assembly at regular sessions or at an extraordinary session requested for that purpose. Members of the board should be elected by a majority of Votes present.

(3) The Board is composeds of:

  • a) two Co-Chairmen, a Chairperson and
  • b) five Board Members at least four Vice-Chairpersons.

(4) The Board Members of the Board elects among the Board Members themselves:

  • a) a Treasurer and
  • b) a Chief of Administration. a Secretary.

No Board Member Member of the Board shall fulfill more than one office.

(5) Other positions may be created by the Board.

(6) There shall be four Alternate Members of the Board. If one seat of the Board becomes vacant, one of the Alternate Members shall follow-up according to a list. The position of the Alternate Members on the list shall be determined by approval voting.

(7) Alternate Members following-up on the Board shall have no office, but may be elected into one by a majority vote of the Board.

reasoning and motivation

This was initially motivated by making the Board more effective in work and simpler to follow. Main changes are (A) 1 chairperson instead of 2 co-chairmen; (B) an unlimited number of vice-chairpersons, starting from 4; (C) eliminating the unnecessary Alternate Members; (D) stating that the representatives should be elected by an absolute majority without specifying the system (which should go to the RoP).

The change (A) is aimed to simplify the processes of the Board and thus the PPI. To make one person responsible and addressable. We see the PPI as a serving organization of its members, not as some supreme international political "over"-party.

The changes (B) and (C) are there for greater simplicity and effectivity. There is no need to state some upper limit for the members in board. (It might still be decided by the GA through a process specified in RoP.)
As these people are there to work for the PPI, everyone willing and acceptable is welcomed. There is no need for anyone to wait in the shadows for their chance. Let them show what is in them.
The only limit is that they have to be elected (by majority of present Votes(MO)). There is also a bottom limit of five board members to make sure they start with full board and some backup.

The change (D) is there to state that we want our representatives to be supported by real majority of voters. In RoP we would suggest the board (all members of the board, including the Chairperson) to be elected by a single voting using the STV (Single Transferable Vote) method. This method can elect all the candidates with majority support through a single ballot. Thus it can save a lot of time at the conference.

There are also some minor technical, legislative and grammatical changes.

SAP-22

Title Clarify when statute amendments come into effect
Sponsor Pirate Party Switzerland
member of Pirate Party Stefan Thöni, PP-CH, International Coordinator
Contact data stefan.thoeni (at) piratenpartei.ch
proposal ballot(s)

XX. Amendments

(1) [...]

(2) [...]

(3) Unless otherwise specified, the amendments shall come into force immediately.

reasoning and motivation

The statutes should clarify when statute amendments come into effect in order to avoid discussions on this. There are cases where it makes sense that statute changes may come not into effect immediately.

SAP-23

Title Deciding on periodic measurable goals by the GA
Sponsor Pirate Party Switzerland
member of Pirate Party Stefan Thöni, PP-CH, International Coordinator
Contact data stefan.thoeni (at) piratenpartei.ch
proposal ballot(s)

"X. Functions of the General Assembly" shall be appended as follows

(*) defining specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-framed goals for the upcoming period. The goals should be prioritized if possible.

reasoning and motivation

the board is often relying on unclear assumptions about what the members want; this is partially fueled by the fact that - except for GAs - there is no overall discussion among the responsible delegates. Furthermore doubts may arise to what extend the elected board was able to fullfil wishes. This proposal intends to alleviate this situation for the next period. The SMART criteria are a suitable mean to define such goals.

Motion to SAP-23

Title Decision on the goals for 2013
Sponsor Pirate Party Switzerland
member of Pirate Party Stefan Thöni, PP-CH, International Coordinator
Contact data stefan.thoeni (at) piratenpartei.ch
proposal ballot(s)

1. The PPI, its board and its members shall work achieve the following goals in 2013:

a) Become an observer member to the WIPO.

b) Work out and present a strategy for communication and relations with international organizations.

c) Reach a common understanding of an online General Assembly.

d) Organize at least two extraordinary online General Assemblies.

2. To achieve goal c) the General Assembly forms the Committee on the Online General Assembly with a representative of every ordinary member and from the PPI board. The committee is competent to work out the rules of procedure for the online General Assembly to be accepted at the opening of the first online General Assembly.

3. The PPI board shall report on the progress made towards these goals quarterly.

reasoning and motivation

To see some tangible benefits from PPI we should first work on goals only the PPI can achieve like becoming a member of WIPO and on generally agreed goals such as improving communications between the members. Since there is no common understanding of the procedures for an online GA, we should discuss this subject with all members before deciding on any rules of procedure.

If you have another idea of what the PPI should absolutely do, please propose it.

SAP-24

Note by PP-PT:

Title Adoption of e-Democracy and disambiguation of conflicting motions
Sponsor Partido Pirata Português (PPP)
member of Pirate Party Nuno Cardoso, International Coordinator for PPP(PP-PT)
Contact data nuno.cardoso@partidopiratapt.eu
proposal ballot(s)

Amendments to accommodate e-Democracy and disambiguation of conflicting motions:


Proposal:

XI. voting

  • (1) ...
    • (a) In the event of competing or conflicting motions over the same issue, a preferential vote shall be cast in order to disambiguate the decision using an appropriate single-method election system that ensures a condorcet criterion.

Current wording:

XI. voting

  • (4) In appropriate circumstances determined by the Board, there may be a postal referendum to Ordinary Members between meetings of the General Assembly when the same rules as to voting, majority and in the event of a tie shall apply.

Proposal: XI. voting

  • (4) A permanent online e-Democracy system allowing for decision making from Ordinary Members between meetings of the General Assembly shall be put in place where issues can be raised, initiatives started, suggestions made, and progress checked until a final vote can be cast that sets policies to be executed.
    • (a) Issues and initiatives<ref group="n">Initiatives are competing motions on the same issue</ref> can be raised and started by the Board<ref group="n">Preserving the idea of the current XI (4)</ref> and anyone else who can submit motions<ref group="n">Currently Ordinary Members, IV (4) c), and Observer Members, V (2) c)</ref> to the General Assembly
    • (b) An issue not raised by the Board needs a quorum of one third of the Members<ref group="n">Preserving the idea of IX (2)</ref> in order for its initiatives to be voted.
    • (c) The same rules of the General Assembly as to voting, majority and in the event of a tie shall apply.

Notes: <references group="n" />

reasoning and motivation

As it stands now, the PPI has the three normal branches of democracy as follows:

  • Executive: Board
  • Legislative: General Assembly
  • Judicial: Court of Arbitration

All seems fine, but since "II (1) The goals of the association are: a) to act according to the major interests and goals of its Members", it seems counterproductive that "its Members" can only express that by voting on proposals of their "major interests" once a year at the General Assembly or "XI (4) In appropriate circumstances determined by the Board". Even if "IX (2) Extraordinary sessions can be held at the request of one third of the Members or by a decision of the Board" there is still the condition that "IX(7) Meetings of the General Assembly will be announced at least five weeks prior to the meeting."

It seems odd that the pirate party movement, a son of the Internet managed to create an umbrella organization that will move so slow when it comes to the decision making process of it's members.

Surely the board can vote and decide on how it acts on a regularly basis, but it can only do so "XIII (1) a) to act on behalf of the General Assembly between its meetings; to give effect to its decisions, recommendations and policies; and to represent it at international and national events", it can't vote and decide on real policy making for itself, as that is one of the “X. Functions of the General Assembly”, “X (1) b) to formulate the general policy of Pirate Parties International”.

There is also a feeling that some issues would gain a lot, and generate less controversy, if members could vote directly on them when they arise, like for example the location of the General Assembly. Of course that the Board already needs "XIII (1) e) to prepare the agenda and procedure of the meetings of the General Assembly, giving consideration to suggestions from Member Organizations", but it could even ease its burden if the decision itself, and not just suggestions to be considered, was to be made by those who will compose the Assembly itself. But since "XIII (3) One natural person named by each Ordinary Member shall be admitted with the right to participate in the Board meetings without the right to vote", for now that decision, and potentially others of the same controversial nature, is for the Board to bear alone. In PPI, one of "the major interests and goals of its Members" is undoubtedly e-Democracy, and if so we should empower its statutes with a process where issues can be raised, initiatives started, suggestions made, and progress checked until a final vote can be cast by its members that sets policies to be executed by its board.

Some of PPI members are already using software platforms that provide the necessary infrastructure where such a fluid and highly participative democratic process can thrive.

PPI should be using them also, to set the example and show the advantages of such systems to all its current and future members, instead of adopting the rigid models of plain old parties that bind democracy to specific election/voting dates separated by long periods of detachment where few decide for all.

Real democracy means constant democracy, not cyclic democracy, and if we are to change the world we should start by setting the example ourselves.

Anyway, the yearly/live General Assembly would not loose any relevance as it would be the natural place for both the informal meeting of members in a live forum and the formal place for elections and probably some of the more important and debatable decisions like the ones requiring two thirds majority, such as:

  • "Admission of new Members (section III. paragraph 4)",
  • "Exclusion of Members (section VII, paragraph 2)",
  • "Determination of the annual affiliation fee (section XVI, paragraph 1)",
  • "Amendment of this Statutes (section XX)",

SAP-24-a

Title Procedural motion to change SAP 24
Sponsor Pirate Party of Czech Republic
member of Pirate Party Vojtěch Pikal, PP-CZ, Member of International relations department
Contact data vojtech.pikal (at) pirati.cz, www.pirati.cz/lide/vojtech_pikal
change to

#SAP-24

proposal ballot(s)

The first point of this proposal is deleted.

reasoning and motivation

Although we like the idea of permanent e-democracy, we don't think that the first part is anyhow related to it, moreover, such think is too specific and should be in Rules of procedure, not in the Statuses.

SAP-24-b

Title Procedural motion to change SAP 24
Sponsor Pirate Party of Czech Republic
member of Pirate Party Vojtěch Pikal, PP-CZ, Member of International relations department
Contact data vojtech.pikal (at) pirati.cz, www.pirati.cz/lide/vojtech_pikal
change to

#SAP-24

proposal ballot(s)
  • The second point of proposal is changed this way:

(4) A permanent online e-Democracy system allowing for decision making of General Assembly' from Ordinary Members between its meetings of the General Assembly shall be put in place where issues can be raised, initiatives started, suggestions made, and progress checked until a final vote can be cast that sets policies to be executed.

  • (a) Issues and initiatives(*) can be raised and started by the Board and anyone else who can submit motions to the General Assembly;
  • (b) An issue not raised by the Board needs a quorumsupport of one third of the Members in order for its initiatives to be voted.
  • (c) The same rules of the General Assembly as to voting, majority and in the event of a tie shall apply.

(*) Initiatives are competing motions on the same issue

reasoning and motivation

We propose this wording to make things clearer and simpler. Its permanent decision process of GA between its meetings - thus all the rules that apply for GA decisions apply.

SAP-25

Note by PP-PT:

Title Multiple Ordinary Membership for any single sovereign state
Sponsor Partido Pirata Português (PPP)
member of Pirate Party Nuno Cardoso, International Coordinator for PPP(PP-PT)
Contact data nuno.cardoso@partidopiratapt.eu
proposal ballot(s)

Amendments to accommodate multiple Ordinary Membership for any single sovereign state:


Current wording:

IV. Ordinary Members

  • (2) There can be only one Ordinary Member per country.

Proposal:

IV. Ordinary Members

  • (2) There can be multiple Ordinary Members, with only one aggregated vote, per sovereign state.

Current wording:

VI. Multiple applicants from one country Only one Organization from any one country can be recognized for Ordinary Membership in Pirate Parties International. A National Pirate Organization may consist of more than one Pirate Party participating in a Federation based on the common Pirate purpose. It is the responsibility of each Federation to ensure that all its constituent Associations meet the requirements of these statutes.

Proposal: VI. Multiple applicants from one sovereign state Only one aggregated vote from any one sovereign state can be recognized in the General Assembly of Pirate Parties International. The aggregation method will be set on a case by case basis by choosing, in order of preference:

  • a) a self agreed method between all Members from the sovereign state in question;
  • b) a mediated method between all Members from the sovereign state in question with the help of a Registered Mediator from the Court of Arbitration. ( Art. XIVa (4) )

(If “Court of Arbitration reform with Council and Jury” amendment passes)

  • c) a Court of Arbitration decision as it is defined for mediation failures; ( Art. XIVa (5) )

(If “Court of Arbitration reform with Council and Jury” amendment does not pass)

  • c) a General Assembly decision as follows. Each of the Members of the sovereign state shall present an agreement to the General Assembly, which contains their solution and their consent to abide by the decision of the General Assembly. The Court of Arbitration will present an independent solution within the limits of opposing views. Other solutions may also be presented by independent third parties. The General Assembly will decide the dispute by casting a preferential vote on all presented solutions using an appropriate single-method election system that ensures a condorcet criterion..

Current wording:

IX. General Assembly

  • (3) The General Assembly decides with the majority of the votes, one vote per Member.

Proposal:

IX. General Assembly

  • (3) The General Assembly decides with the majority of the votes, one aggregated vote per sovereign state.

Current wording:

XI. Voting

  • (1) Each Ordinary Member shall have one vote and resolutions shall be taken by a simple majority of the Members present or represented and voting. In the event of a tie, the motion is defeated.

Proposal:

XI. Voting

  • (1) Each Ordinary Member shall have one vote and resolutions shall be taken by a simple majority of the aggregated votes per sovereign state of the Members present or represented and voting. In the event of a tie, the motion is defeated.

Current wording:

XX. Amendments

  • (1) This Statutes can only be amended by a vote of at least two thirds of the total Members of the General Assembly, on a regular or extraordinary meeting.

Proposal:

XX. Amendments

  • (1) This Statutes can only be amended by a vote of at least two thirds of the total aggregated votes per sovereign state of Members of the General Assembly, on a regular or extraordinary meeting.

Current wording:

XXI. Liquidation.

  • (1) The organization can only be dissolved by a vote of at least two thirds of the total Members of the General Assembly, on an extraordinary meeting called for this purpose only.

Proposal:

XXI. Liquidation.

  • (1) The organization can only be dissolved by a vote of at least two thirds of the total aggregated votes per sovereign state of Members of the General Assembly, on an extraordinary meeting called for this purpose only.
reasoning and motivation

There has been a lot of internal disputes in some countries, and since PPI should not take any sides and only "II (2) (d) act as mediator for any disputes between Members if requested to do so", there should be a way to allow democracy in the vote of those countries that does not interfere in their internal organization but doesn't allow their disputes to disturb or disrupt PPI either.

Currently "(IV) (4) Ordinary Members have the right to (a) sit and vote in the General Assembly" and that would not change with this proposal, but their vote would be part of an aggregated vote of all pirate parties or organizations of their sovereign state that meet the requirements for Ordinary Membership.

Of course, if the pirate parties and organizations of any one sovereign state wish, and can agree, they are still free to organize themselves into a federation, confederation or any other type of structure with their own rules on how to choose their sovereign state's vote and then have that organization be the single Ordinary Member of their sovereign state, and they can become Observer Members or even not be members at all.

SAP-26

Title Court of Arbitration reform with Council and Jury
Sponsor Partido Pirata Português (PPP)
member of Pirate Party Nuno Cardoso, International Coordinator for PPP(PP-PT)
Contact data nuno.cardoso@partidopiratapt.eu
proposal ballot(s)

Amendments to transform the Court of Arbitration into an organ with a Council of individuals and Jury of Members

Proposal:

XIVa. Court of Arbitration

  • (0) The Court of Arbitration shall be constituted by a Council composed of individuals and a deciding Jury composed of all the Ordinary Members.

Current wording:

XIVa. Court of Arbitration

  • (5) If the mediation fails, the Members or applicants who are in a dispute may present an agreement to the Court of Arbitration, which contains the description of the dispute and their consent to abide by the decision of the Court of Arbitration. The Court of Arbitration will decide the dispute within the limits contained in the agreement.

Proposal:

XIVa. Court of Arbitration

  • (5) If the mediation fails, each of the Members or applicants who are in a dispute may present an agreement to the Court of Arbitration, which contains their description of the dispute, their solution and their consent to abide by the decision of the Court of Arbitration. The Council of the Court of Arbitration will present an independent solution within the limits of opposing views. Other solutions may also be presented to the Court of Arbitration by independent third parties. The Jury of the Court of Arbitration will decide the dispute by casting a preferential vote using an appropriate single-method election system that ensures a condorcet criterion.

Current wording:

XIVa. Court of Arbitration

  • (6) The Court of Arbitration may answer the preliminary questions of the organs and individuals about the interpretation of the Statutes and the internal regulations; such answers act through their persuasiveness only.
  • (7) The Court of Arbitration shall have between three and seven Members. The provisions concerning the election of the Members of the Board and vacancies apply accordingly.
  • (8) A member of the Board cannot be also a member of the Court of Arbitration. In case the results in the General Assembly elections would put the person in position to occupy a seat in both Board and Court of Arbitration, she must immediately relinquish one of the two. In case the person is not able to choose, it is considered by default that she relinquishes any seat position in the Court of Arbitration.

Proposal:

XIVa. Court of Arbitration

  • (6) The Council of the Court of Arbitration may answer the preliminary questions of the organs and individuals about the interpretation of the Statutes and the internal regulations; such answers act through their persuasiveness only.
  • (7) The Council of the Court of Arbitration shall have between three and seven Members. The provisions concerning the election of the Members of the Board and vacancies apply accordingly.
  • (8) A member of the Board cannot be also a member of the Council of the Court of Arbitration. In case the results in the General Assembly elections would put the person in position to occupy a seat in both Board and Council of the Court of Arbitration, she must immediately relinquish one of the two. In case the person is not able to choose, it is considered by default that she relinquishes any seat position in the Council of the Court of Arbitration.

Current wording:

XIa. Revocation At any time, a fifth of the Ordinary Members can initiate the revocation of a PPI officer by asking the Court of Arbitration. The Court of Arbitration can reject the revocation request if it is supported by less than a fifth of the Ordinary Members, if an election for the seat took place less than a month ago or will take place within a month, or another revocation process of the same PPI officer is already in progress.

When the request is valid, within seven days the Court of Arbitration warns the Members of the revocation process, and opens an internal consultation of seven days to collect grievances against the concerned PPI officer. The Court of Arbitration then has seven days to send him a synthesis of the grievances. The PPI officer has seven days to answer. At reception of his answer, or at the end of the time, the Court of Arbitration organizes a postal referendum on the revocation of the PPI officer with the synthesis of the grievances and, if any, his answer. If the revocation is voted, the PPI officer's seat is treated as vacant and this person cannot occupy the same seat until the following General Assembly.

Proposal: XIa. Revocation At any time, a fifth of the Ordinary Members can initiate the revocation of a PPI officer by asking the Court of Arbitration. The Council of the Court of Arbitration can reject the revocation request if it is supported by less than a fifth of the Ordinary Members, if an election for the seat took place less than a month ago or will take place within a month, or another revocation process of the same PPI officer is already in progress.

When the request is valid, within seven days the Council of the Court of Arbitration warns the Members of the revocation process, and opens an internal consultation of seven days to collect grievances against the concerned PPI officer. The Council of the Court of Arbitration then has seven days to send him a synthesis of the grievances.

The PPI officer has seven days to answer. At reception of his answer, or at the end of the time, the Council of the Court of Arbitration organizes a postal referendum on the revocation of the PPI officer with the synthesis of the grievances and, if any, his answer. If the revocation is voted, the PPI officer's seat is treated as vacant and this person cannot occupy the same seat until the following General Assembly.

reasoning and motivation

Given the events leading to the resignation of the members of the Court of Arbitration, it became perfectly clear that we need an arbitration model that Members can and must respect. Placing a mirror in front of them and allowing a full democratic model will help to accomplish that. We still need someone with time committed to make sense of conflicting parts, but we can have that in the form of one or more opinions/solutions from a Council of elected individuals. Then those opinions/solutions, along with the claims/solutions from each conflicting part, and any other volunteered opinions/solutions, can be voted by the Members, who become effectively a Jury of peers in the decision making. In cases of extreme controversy the vote could even be secret to avoid any kind of targeted threats from any Member, like the legal threats raised against the individuals elected to the previous Court of Arbitration, because all public opinions are just that, opinions protected by freedom of speech. Also, the actual final binding decision would include all Members and as such it would be senseless to make legal threats against themselves. The existence of the Council serves to address all bureaucratic issues and guarantee that at least an independant opinion is put up along with the opinions of the conflicting parts in case no other independent volunteered opinions/solutions are presented. In the case of article VII (2), regarding “Termination of Membership”, it would seem that appealing to the General Assembly would result in the same result, as the voters are the same, but since it’s a particularly delicate issue, an appeal with a final plea seems justified.


SAP-27

Title

Board of Representatives

Sponsor Partido Pirata Português (PPP)
member of Pirate Party Nuno Cardoso, International Coordinator for PPP(PP-PT)
Contact data nuno.cardoso@partidopiratapt.eu
proposal ballot(s)

Amendments to transform the Board into a Board of Representatives


Current wording:

XIIa. Board

  • (1) Pirate Parties International is managed by the Board, the executive organ. The members of the Board shall consider the interests of the Pirate movement as a whole and shall neither consider themselves, nor be considered, as representing any particular Member or non-member Organization or region.
  • (2) The Board and the Alternate Members are elected by the General Assembly at the regular sessions or if an extraordinary session is requested for that purpose.
  • 3)The Board is composed of:
    • a) two Co-Chairmen,
    • b) five Board Members
  • (4) The Board elects among the Board Members
    • a) a Treasurer and
    • b) a Chief of Administration


No Board Member shall fulfil more than one office.

  • (5) Other positions may be created by the Board.
  • (6) There shall be four Alternate Members of the Board. If one seat of the Board becomes vacant, one of the Alternate Members shall follow-up according to a list. The position of the Alternate Members on the list shall be determined by approval voting.
  • (7) Alternate Members following-up on the Board shall have no office, but may be elected into one by a majority vote of the Board.

Proposal:

XIIa. Board of Representatives

  • (1) Pirate Parties International is managed by the Board of Representatives, the executive organ. The members of the Board shall consider the interests of the Pirate movement as a whole and shall neither consider themselves, nor be considered, as representing any non-member Organization or region.
  • (2) Each Ordinary Member shall name a natural person as their Representative for the Board that will be empowered by the General Assembly at the regular sessions or if an extraordinary session is requested for that purpose.
  • (3)The Board is composed of:
    • a) a representative of each Ordinary Member,
  • (4) The Board elects among the Board Members.
    • a) a Chairperson,
    • b) a Treasurer and
    • c) a Secretary General


No Board Member shall fulfil more than one office.

  • (5) Other positions may be created by the Board.
  • (6) If one seat of the Board becomes vacant, the Ordinary Member it represents is responsible for providing an alternate representative.

Current wording:

X. Functions of the General Assembly

  • d) to hold elections of the Board, and other committees,

Proposal:

X. Functions of the General Assembly

  • d) to empower the nominated Representatives to the Board, and hold elections of other committees,

Current wording:

XIII. Functions of the Board

  • (3) One natural person named by each Ordinary Member shall be admitted with the right to participate in the Board meetings without the right to vote.
  • (5) One of the Co-Chairmen convenes, opens, suspends, and closes the sessions and meetings and presides over them to ensure the observance of procedure, communicates the points of concern, and informs the Board about absences. In the absence of both of the Co-Chairmen another Member of the Board may be appointed to perform all these functions.
  • (8) ... Pending the decision of the Court of Arbitration or until the decision of the Board cannot be appealed anymore the seat shall not be taken by an Alternate Member, but all rights of the concerned Board Member will be suspended.

Proposal:

XIII. Functions of the Board of Representatives

  • (3)
  • (5) The Chairperson convenes, opens, suspends, and closes the sessions and meetings and presides over them to ensure the observance of procedure, communicates the points of concern, and informs the Board about absences. In the absence of the Chairperson another Member of the Board may be appointed to perform all these functions.
  • (8) ... Pending the decision of the Court of Arbitration or until the decision of the Board cannot be appealed anymore the seat shall not be taken by an alternate Representative, but all rights of the concerned Board Member will be suspended.
reasoning and motivation

Sometimes the communication between the board and its members may not be the best both ways, this aims to fix that and at the same time mitigate the stress and conflict that sometimes arises from it.

Giving the Members permanent responsibility in the Board will force both to work out solutions to problems instead of deflecting blame and throwing accusations because through the Representatives the Members are the Board and vice-versa.

We as Pirates should know better than to select a “few” to represent the “many”, in this case a Board of “few” to represent the “many” Members is not a good solution, a better one is where every Member can have it´s voice heard at any time from within.

SAP-28

Title Public Voting
Sponsor Pirate Party of France (PP-FR)
member of Pirate Party Maxime Rouquet, member of the international team
Contact data maxime.rouquet @ partipirate.org
proposal ballot(s)

At paragraph XI. Voting add a first point as follows : (1) All votes are public.

reasoning and motivation Pirate Parties International members are organisations, that deserve to be transparent towards their respective members.

SAP-29 An ordinary Member per Souvereign State

Title An ordinary Member per Souvereign State
Sponsor Pirate Party of France (PP-FR)
member of Pirate Party Maxime Rouquet, member of the international team
Contact data maxime.rouquet @ partipirate.org
proposal ballot(s)

Current Statutes formulation:

IV. Ordinary Members
(2) There can be only one Ordinary Member per country.

Reformulation proposal:

IV. Ordinary Members
(2) There can be only one Ordinary Member per sovereign state.

Temporary disposition : this amendement will enter into effect at the beginning of the next General Assembly of Pirate Parties International. In case multiple Ordinary Membres could claim the voting power of a given sovereign state at that time, they will all become Observer Members and the first vote of the PPI GA will be to decide if one of them shall be given back Ordinary Membership. .

reasoning and motivation According to the definition of Wikipedia a sovereign state is a political organization with a centralized government that has supreme independent authority over a geographic area. It has a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither dependent on nor subject to any other power or state.

SAP-30

Title Amendments
Sponsor Pirate Party Germany
member of Pirate Party Thomas Gaul
Contact data Thomas Gaul <thomas.gaul @ piratenpartei.de>
proposal ballot(s) Change XX Amendments (1)

XX. Amendments (1) These Statutes can only be amended by a vote of at least two thirds of the attending Ordinary Members of the General Assembly, on a regular or extraordinary meeting.

reasoning and motivation will be delivered in session

SAP-30-a

Title Procedural motion to change SAP 30
Sponsor Pirate Party of Czech Republic
member of Pirate Party Vojtěch Pikal, PP-CZ, Member of International relations department
Contact data vojtech.pikal (at) pirati.cz, www.pirati.cz/lide/vojtech_pikal
change to

#SAP-30

proposal ballot(s)

Add "called for this purpose" at the end of proposed text.

reasoning and motivation

Thus:

XX. Amendments
These Statutes can only be amended by a vote of at least two thirds of the attending Ordinary Members of the General Assembly, on a regular or extraordinary meeting called for this purpose.


We know what issue is addressed here and can understand that, but we can not support the possibility of changing Statuses on extraordinary meeting held for different reason and learning about this max week prior. If you are going to change statuses on extraordinary meeting, the meeting should be called for this reason.

SAP-31

Title Amendments
Sponsor Pirate Party Germany
member of Pirate Party Thomas Gaul
Contact data Thomas Gaul <thomas.gaul @ piratenpartei.de>
proposal ballot(s) Change XIVa. Court of Arbitration into:

XIVa. Court of Arbitration

(1) The exclusive power to resolve internal disputes shall be vested to the Court of Arbitration which is seated in Bern and acts through its arbitral tribunals according to Chapter 12 of the Swiss Private International Law Statute [1].

(2) All other organs and officers are required to cooperate with the Court of Arbitration to the extend needed for the proper exercise of its functions.

(3) Complaints are only admissable, if they are filed by

  • a) the General Assembly
  • b) the Board or one of its Members
  • c) the Secretary General or a Deputy Secretary General
  • d) a Member of PPI
  • e) any other person or organ which is explicitly allowed to do so in

these statutes and internal regulations.

(4) A complaint may be regulated with a fee to be returned if the complaint is reasonable. The complainant may participate in the investigation.

(5) In particular, the Court of Arbitration has the exclusive power to

a) issue a preliminary ruling in an urgent matter of its competence,
b) declare matters of fact when necessary for the functioning of the PPI,
c) decide the disputes between the officers and the organs of the PPI,
d) decide on the restrictions on persons who breach the Statutes and

the internal regulations and in these cases degrade an official or declare his further incapability to be elected,

e) decide on the validity of legal acts of the organs of the PPI,
f) decide on the matters of Membership (Art. VII par. 2]])
g) decide if a board member is inactive following to XIII. (8).

(6) The Court of Arbitration keeps a Register of Mediators. This register lists the name, contact address, and Party affiliation of the people from the Ordinary Members who are willing to help solve the disputes between the Members. All Members may consult this register and choose a Mediator who can help them solve their dispute.

(7) If the mediation fails, the Members or applicants of a dispute may present an agreement to the Court of Arbitration, which contains the description of the dispute and their consent to abide by the decision of the Court of Arbitration. The Court of Arbitration will decide the dispute within the limits contained in the agreement.

(8) The Court of Arbitration may answer the preliminary questions of the organs and individuals about the interpretation of the Statutes and the internal regulations; such answers are not legally binding.

(9) The Court of Arbitration shall have between three and seven Members and up to four Alternate Members. The provisions concerning the election of the Members of the Board and Alternate Members apply accordingly.

(10) The term of office is three years. The term may end prematurely in case of incapacitation or resignation of the judge or if the appointing member ceases to be an Ordinary Member of PPI.

(11) Each year the court elects a president and vice-president of the court from within its judges. The president ad interim of the court is the judge from the Ordinary Member selected by the assembly.

(12) For each complaint brought before the court the president names a chairperson and two or more judges which form the arbitral tribunal.

(13) The Court of Arbitration adopts its own rules of internal procedure.

(14) The Court of Arbitration shall adopt provisional rules of procedure which shall be employed until the General Assembly adopts rules of procedure for the Court of Arbitration. The provisional rules of procedure will only come into effect, if the Board gives its consent.


[1] https://www.swissarbitration.org/

reasoning and motivation will be delivered in session

SAP-31-a

Title Procedural motion to change SAP 19
Sponsor Pirate Party of Czech Republic
member of Pirate Party Vojtěch Pikal, PP-CZ, Member of International relations department
Contact data vojtech.pikal (at) pirati.cz, www.pirati.cz/lide/vojtech_pikal
change to

#SAP-31

proposal ballot(s)
  • Change points (9) and (10) of the proposed ballot into:
    • (9) The court shall consist of one judge appointed by each member.
    • (10) The term of office is three years and is not renewable. The term may end prematurely in case of incapacitation or resignation of the judge or if the appointing member ceases to be an Ordinary Member of PPI.
reasoning and motivation

Although we like this bit more than the SAP 17, we like the idea of one apointed judge per member more, than the elected members. Its easier on th GA.

SAP-32

Title Amendments
Sponsor Pirate Party Germany
member of Pirate Party Thomas Gaul
Contact data Thomas Gaul <thomas.gaul @ piratenpartei.de>
proposal ballot(s) Change VI. Multiple applicants from one country into:
VI. Multiple applicants from one sovereign state 

Only one Organization from any one sovereign state can be recognized for Ordinary Membership in Pirate Parties International. A National Pirate Organization may consist of more than one Pirate Party participating in a Federation based on the common Pirate purpose. It is the responsibility of each Federation to ensure that all its constituent Pirate Parties meet the requirements of these statutes.

reasoning and motivation will be delivered in session


SAP-33 An ordinary Member per Souvereign State (SAP-29 giant compromise reformulation proposal)

Title An ordinary Member per Souvereign State
Sponsor Pirate Party of France (PP-FR)
member of Pirate Party Maxime Rouquet, member of the international team
Contact data maxime.rouquet @ partipirate.org
proposal ballot(s)

I. Change IV. Ordinary Members(2) into:

2) There can be only one Ordinary Member per country multiple Ordinary Members per sovereign state. In this case, the voting power of this sovereign state is split between these Members.


II. Change VI. Multiple applicants from one country into:

VI. Multiple applicants from one country sovereign state

Only one Organization from any one country can be recognized for Ordinary Membership in Pirate Parties International. A National Pirate Organization may consist of more than one Pirate Party participating in

  • (1) If there are multiple applicants for Ordinary Membership status, they are encouraged to join together into a Federation or Confederation based on the common Pirate purpose. It is the responsibility of each Federation or Confederation to ensure that all its constituent Associations meet the requirements of these statutes.
  • (2) If a Federation or Confederation cannot be agreed on, the voting power of this state is split between these Members. The spliting method is, in order of preference :
    • a) consensus between all Ordinary Members of this sovereign state ;
    • b) compromise between all Ordinary Members of this sovereign state, with the help of a Registered Moderator from the Court of Arbitration ;
    • c) decision by the Court of Arbitraton within the limits contained in proposals given by Ordinary Members from the sovereign state.
  • (3) As long as none of the prefered methods comes into action, the voting power of the sovereign state is split equally between its Ordinary Members.

III. Change IX. General Assembly(3) into:

(3) The General Assembly decides with the majority of the votes, one vote per Member sovereign state that has at least one Ordinary Member.


IV. Change IX. General Assembly(5) into:

(5) The physical or remote presence of one third of the Ordinary Members gathering one third of the total voting power shall constitute a quorum.


V. Change XI. Voting(1) into:

(1) Each sovereign state with at least one Ordinary Member shall have one vote and resolutions shall be taken by a simple majority of the sum of the votes of the Ordinary Members present or represented and voting. In the event of a tie, the motion is defeated.


VI. Change XIa. Revocation(1) into:

(1) At any time, a fifth of the Ordinary MembersOrdinary Members wielding at least a fifth of the voting power can initiate the revocation of a PPI officer by asking calling upon the Court of Arbitration. The Court of Arbitration can reject the revocation request if it is not supported by less than a fifth enough of the Ordinary Members, if an election for the seat took place less than a month ago or will take place within a month, or another revocation process of the same PPI officer is already in progress.


VII. Change XX. Amendments(1) into:

(1) This These Statutes can only be amended by a vote of at least two thirds of the voting power of the attending Ordinary Members of the General Assembly, on a regular or extraordinary meeting called for this purpose.


VII: Change XXI. Liquidation(1) into:

(1) The organization can only be dissolved by a vote of at least two thirds of the total voting power of the Ordinary Members of the General Assembly, on an extraordinary meeting called for this purpose only.


Temporary disposition

This amendement will enter into effect immediately for new Ordinary Members, but for the Ordinary Members that belonged to the same sovereign state before this General Assembly opening, they will each one keep their voting power until the closing of the conference.

reasoning and motivation This amendement is a compromise written to replace SAPs about multiple applicant by country system reform.

Basically it states that :

  • There will be one voting power per sovereign state (many amendements).
  • The encouragement to self-organise into a Federation is kept as a first step solution, and extended to the possibility to organise as a Confederation.
  • The ability to recognise multiple Ordinary Members from one sovereign state is added as a second step, under the condition that concerned Parties split the vote of this sovereign state among them.
  • Multiple substeps of organisation are added and made more clear (consensus, if not reached compromise with help of mediator, if not reached decision by Court of Arbitration). In the meantime the vote is split equally.
  • A temporary disposition makes it clear the system enters into effect immediately, except for PP-ES and PP-CAT who both will keep the same voting power until the end of the General Assembly.

Inspired by SAPs 2a (+Confederation), 19 (multiple Ordinary Members that split the vote), 32 (sovereign state) and 299 (sovereign state & temporary disposal).

(Also contains SAPs 30 and 30-a like changes.)