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The Storting Reformation Amendment Act

1. Article I of the Fundamental Laws shall be amended as follows:

Article I: The Storting

1. The legislative authorities and duties of Wintreath shall be vested in a unicameral legislature called the Storting.

Membership of the Storting
2. The Storting shall consist of all Citizens of Wintreath.

3. The Storting shall have the authority to suspend a member's voting rights for a period of no more than three months at a time with a 3/4 supermajority vote of those voting. At the conclusion of the three-month period, the Storting may consider an additional suspension.

Storting Officers
4. The Speaker shall serve as Presiding Officer of the Storting.

5. The Storting shall have the right to create, modify, and remove any other Officer positions. The Storting shall have the authority to delegate duties to these Officers, except for those duties which require the full participation of the Storting.

6. All Officer positions shall come up for election on the first day of January, April, July, and October, and elections shall last for a period of seven days, after which the winners shall take their Offices. All Citizens whose voting rights are not suspended as of the end of the election may run for any Officer position.

The Legislative Process
7. All legislation shall be introduced in the Storting, which shall have the right to discuss and amend the legislation before putting it to a vote. Unless specified otherwise in this document, legislation shall pass the Storting by majority vote of those voting.

8. Upon passage by the Storting, the Speaker shall present the legislation to the Monarch for Royal Assent. Legislation signed by the Monarch shall become law immediately, while legislation vetoed by the Monarch shall not become law unless the Storting votes to override the veto with a 2/3 supermajority vote of those voting. In the event that the Monarch neither signs or vetoes the legislation, it shall become law one week after passage by the Storting.

9. Legislation concerning matters subject to alternative approval methods as approved by both the Storting and Monarch (or the previous Overhusen chamber) shall be exempt from Section 6 and instead follow the methods specified in the relevant legislation. Legislation concerning the Procedural Rules of the Storting, the voting rights of members, and Officers of the Storting shall also be exempt from Section 6 and shall be considered law upon passage by the Storting.

Authorities and Duties of the Storting
10. The Storting shall have the authority to pass legislation, repeal previously passed legislation, propose amendments to these Fundamental Laws, and take any other action deemed necessary and proper to execute the authorities and duties vested in the Storting by these Fundamental Laws.

11. The Storting shall have the authority to create and revise their own procedural rules.

12. The Storting shall have the authority to declare war upon another region or organization.

13. The Storting shall have the authority to ratify or reject treaties with other regions and organizations.

14. The Storting shall have the authority to issue non-binding resolutions expressing the opinion of the Storting in relation to all matters.

15. The Storting shall have the authority to interpret these Fundamental Laws and statutory laws and consider the constitutionality over laws brought before the Storting, determine rulings and verdicts in regard to violations of these laws, and determine punishments for violations of these laws within the parameters of these Fundamental Laws and any other laws.

16. The Storting shall have the authority to issue advisory opinions on matters of constitutionality and legality to anyone whom the Storting has determined has standing to seek an advisory opinion.

17. The Storting shall have the authority to create and revise the rules of judicial proceedings for judicial panels.

2. Article III Section 1 of the Fundamental Laws shall be amended as follows:

1. Upon the filing of cases within the Storting, a judicial panel shall convene to determine whether to accept the case and then to make an initial ruling if the case is accepted. The judicial panel shall be presided over by the Monarch or their designee as Chief Justice, and the Speaker of the Storting and a random Citizen who has voted in the last four votes of the Storting shall serve as Associate Justices. In the event that no Citizen has participated in the last four votes, a random Citizen from those has participated in the most consecutive votes including the last shall be chosen instead.

3. Article IV Section 2 of the Fundamental Laws shall be amended as follows:

2. Elections shall follow the optional preferential voting system, and the results shall be determined by either via instant runoff in single-seat positions or single transferable vote in multi-seat positions. Elections shall be overseen by the Monarch or the Monarch's designee. No person shall oversee an election in which they are running.

3. Article IV Sections 4-6 of the Fundamental Laws shall be removed, and subsequent sections renumbered accordingly.

4. Article VII shall be amended as follows:

1. No section under Administration may be amended without the consent of The Winter Nomad.

2. The Storting shall have the authority to propose amendments to these Fundamental Laws by a two-thirds supermajority vote of those voting, after which amendments shall require consent of the Monarch to be considered ratified.

5. Upon ratification, this Amendment shall go into effect on 8 April 2016, with Speaker elections beginning one week prior.

Peers (@Wintermoot @Joshua Bluteisen @Colberius X @Wuufu) may vote Aye, Nay, or may Abstain from voting.

Abstain.

I don't like open assemblies, but it seems that this is where the region wants to go.  Far be it from me to interfere.

Abstain.

While I have a strong preference towards a bicameral legislature, I'm not going to try to stop the region from going where it wants.

I have to admit, I'm not sure how to vote. I had planned on also abstaining, because I essentially wrote the amendment that I thought the people wanted based on input. I'm just as fine with an open assembly as I am the current system, personally.

However, now I'm concerned that the entire Overhusen could abstain, and I'm not sure what the result of that would be.

That certainly would be a conundrum.  Are there really no policies in place for such an occurrence?

Those in the Overhusen are here to represent the Monarchy, not the citizenry in general, and it's showing.   It seems clear that the general opinion of the Overhusen (so far) is one of unenthusiastic acceptance, rather than outright support or opposition, and abstaining demonstrates that. 

@Wintermoot, you shouldn't have to change your vote as a result of procedural concerns. Same goes for you, @Wuufu, but I won't presume to know which way you're leaning.  If it becomes an issue, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

1. Upon the filing of cases within the Storting, a judicial panel shall convene to determine whether to accept the case and then to make an initial ruling if the case is accepted. The judicial panel shall be presided over by the Monarch or their designee as Chief Justice, and the Speaker of the Storting and a random Citizen who has voted in the last four votes of the Storting shall serve as Associate Justices. In the event that no Citizen has participated in the last four votes, a random Citizen from those has participated in the most consecutive votes including the last shall be chosen instead.

Three things on this, and I'd like to hear from @Wintermoot on this specifically as he was the original author of this act. Firstly, I'm not sure on the wording as emphasised by me in this particular addition. Secondly, how are the random citizens chosen? And thirdly, I assume this will lead to a change in the Judicial Offices Act?

Apologies if these questions have already been answered before.

That particular passage was going to be awkward no matter what. Basically it means that if nobody has participated in the last four votes, then it's based on however many people have been involved in the most last consecutive votes, whether that be three, two, or one.

I made sure that the judicial changes still reflected the structures of the judicial reform we passed a few months ago, but I'm not sure about the Judicial Offices Act. I mostly wrote this amendment because I felt it was the best chance for something to come out of the Convention, and if implemented I'm trusting that the Storting will hash out any issues it creates in statutory law.

1. Upon the filing of cases within the Storting, a judicial panel shall convene to determine whether to accept the case and then to make an initial ruling if the case is accepted. The judicial panel shall be presided over by the Monarch or their designee as Chief Justice, and the Speaker of the Storting and a random Citizen who has voted in the last four votes of the Storting shall serve as Associate Justices. In the event that no Citizen has participated in the last four votes, a random Citizen from those has participated in the most consecutive votes including the last shall be chosen instead.

Three things on this, and I'd like to hear from @Wintermoot on this specifically as he was the original author of this act. Firstly, I'm not sure on the wording as emphasised by me in this particular addition.

Shouldn't it be "a random Citizen from those that have participated"? I must have overlooked that.

It should...sorry, I am from West Virginia.

Voting Nay at the request of Barnes so the UH can correct this and any other potential issues.

Also voting Nay given current issues, but the Storting should note I support the spirit of the act and will support it once the issues are cleared.

With two abstains and two nays, this act FAILS in the Overhusen.