Law 9 - Regional Economy

[Culture of Life]

LAW 9 - REGIONAL ECONOMY
Enacted August 2, 2014

SECTION 1. The regional currency shall be the lifemark (or mark), and ₤ shall be its official symbol. All transactions with lifemarks shall be made in whole units of currency. A single lifemark (₤1) may not be divided into smaller units. No value shall be attached to the lifemark outside Right to Life and its dependencies.

SECTION 2. No more than ₤10,000 shall be in circulation at any given time.

SECTION 3. The Bank of Right to Life (or Bank) shall be responsible for supervision of the regional economy. It shall be governed by the Director of the Bank (or Bank Director) through economic policy directives (or EPDs), and routine administrative tasks shall be performed by appropriate forum staff.

SECTION 4. The Bank Director shall be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of an absolute majority of the Senate; and he shall continue in office until he resigns, loses citizenship, or is replaced by the President and an absolute majority of the Senate.

SECTION 5. At the request of the President, the Bank Director, from time to time, may be required to submit to the Senate, either in public or in private, a written report on the status of the regional economy.

SECTION 6. Any citizen may apply for and, afterwards, shall receive a one-time payment from the Bank of ₤100 as long as both of the following conditions are satisfied:

a. Membership on the regional forums for at least seven days; and
b. At least five forum posts, excluding prohibited content as defined by ZetaBoards.

Nobody who has received a citizen's payment in the past shall receive one again upon returning to the region.

SECTION 7. Noncitizens, provided they register for Bank accounts and provided they comply with regional law, may be full participants in the regional economy; but no noncitizen shall serve as Bank Director.

SECTION 8. All regular EPDs shall take effect seven days after they are issued by the Bank Director, unless an absolute majority of the Senate, during that seven-day waiting period, declares that it is vetoing an EPD. With the consent of a supermajority of the Senate, the Bank Director shall also have the power to issue an emergency EPD, which shall take effect immediately without any waiting period.

SECTION 9. By EPD, the Bank Director shall set monthly salaries for the following offices:

a. Founder;
b. President;
c. Senator;
d. Minister of Foreign Affairs;
e. Minister of Internal Affairs;
f. Director of the Bank of Right to Life.

These salaries shall be paid by the Bank on the 15th day of the month. By EPD, the Bank Director shall decide if a person who holds more than one of these offices shall receive only one salary (for his highest-paying office) or if such a person shall receive multiple salaries (one for each of these offices that he holds).

SECTION 10. By EPD, the Bank Director shall set pay for the following offices:

a. The Director of News shall be compensated a set amount for every newsletter that is published;
b. The Justice of the Peace shall be compenated a set amount for every case over which he presides, or he shall be compensated a set amount for every decision that he makes that is published;
c. Each member of the Right to Life Army (RTLA) shall be compensated a set amount for every successful RTLA mission in which he participates.

These amounts shall be paid by the Bank upon completion of the tasks aforementioned.

SECTION 11. By EPD, the Bank Director may levy taxes, which shall be deposited into the Bank.

SECTION 12. By EPD, the Bank Director shall have the power to create and modify a list of banned transactions. At minimum, that list must include bans on all of the following:

a. The (attempted) purchase or sale of a vote in an election;
b. The (attempted) purchase or sale of a World Assembly endorsement, vote, or approval;
c. The (attempted) purchase or sale of private or secret information;
d. The (attempted) purchase or sale of a basic government service or function;
e. The (attempted) purchase or sale of a good or service that violates ZetaBoards' terms.

The regional government and the Bank Director shall each have the power to block and to prosecute economic misconduct. In addition, the forum staff may block any transaction that would bring disrepute to the region or seriously compromise its integrity subject to review and possible reversal by an absolute majority of the Senate.

SECTION 13. Forum members participating in the regional economy shall not be denied employment, goods, or services, except for legitimate and reasonable purposes, based on any one of the following:

a. Age
b. Citizenship status
c. Ethnicity
d. Nationality
e. Political affiliation
f. Race
g. Raider/defender ideology
h. Religion
i. Sex

The Bank Director, the regional government, and the forum staff shall share responsibility for enforcing nondiscrimination in the regional economy. If necessary, an offended party shall have the right to sue anybody who illegally discriminates against him; and appropriate judicial relief shall be granted.

SECTION 14. By EPD, the Bank Director may seize the assets of any individual who has not visited the regional forums during the past three months, unless that individual who is inactive has a legal will, in which case the Bank shall distribute those assets to his named beneficiaries. If at all possible, the Bank shall attempt to contact an individual by telegram before an EPD is issued to seize his assets for inactivity.

SECTION 15. For a set fee, one or more people may register a corporation with the Bank. Each corporation shall have 100 shares; each corporation shall have its own Bank account; and each corporation shall be governed by a single chief executive officer (CEO), who shall be responsible for managing its account. CEOs shall be elected to or removed from their positions by absolute majority vote with each shareholder having one vote per share. Corporate funds shall not be spent for personal use, and all dividends shall be paid to shareholders in proportion to the number of shares that each person holds.

SECTION 16. Using funds from the Bank, the Bank Director shall have the authority to make loans to other individuals or to corporations in which he holds neither membership nor stock. At any given time, the Bank Director shall not loan more than ₤200 to a single individual or corporation nor shall he loan more than ₤1000 in total without approval from an absolute majority of the Senate.

SECTION 17. Whenever there is a dispute in the regional economy, the Bank Director shall be responsible for providing or arranging mediation as a form of alternative dispute resolution. All disputants shall make a good faith effort to participate in mediation overseen by the Bank for at least 10 days. Only if such mediation fails to produce a settlement accepted by all disputants may litigation proceed.

SECTION 18. The Bank shall charge the following for these special government services:

a. ₤10 for filing or amending a legal will;
b. ₤50 for a campaign advertisement during a regional election;
c. ₤75 for registering a corporation;
d. ₤250 for a subforum in the economic forum.

No fee shall be charged if an application for one of these services is not processed.

SECTION 19. Every June and December, the Senate shall conduct a review of the regional economy, examining economic activity, the performance of the Bank Director, and the usefulness of existing regulations. The Senate shall discuss ways to maintain or improve the economy, making appropriate recommendations to the Bank Director. If it sees fit, it shall amend this law according to the procedures set forth in the Constitution.

Amended October 26, 2015
Amended November 4, 2015
Amended December 11, 2015
Amended January 20, 2016
Amended February 5, 2016
Amended February 6, 2016
Amended May 17, 2016
Amended July 11, 2017
Amended August 5, 2017
Amended August 15, 2017