Charter of Inter Alia (Nova Roma)

INTER ALIA - CHARTER

I. MISSION AND OBJECTIVES

I.a. Inter Alia is the newsletter of Provincia Britannia, a province of Nova Roma.

I.b. Inter Alia is a community project whose principal mission is to provide a place for Nova Roman citizens to publish articles about various topics related to Roman Culture in another format than the one currently used in electronic communications.

I.c. It is expected that Inter Alia will, in time, be fully distributed to all tax-paying Nova Romans of Britannia in a paper format: The goal of this mid-term project is to provide a tangible medium to reach those of our cives that do not care to check electronic lists and fora.

I.d. Inter Alia is not a political "newspaper" although cives are allowed to express opinions on matters arising from the debates related to the organisation of Nova Roma.

II. CONTRIBUTORS

II.a. Inter Alia is a voluntary project that depends on the contributions of the cives of Britannia and occasionally of Nova Roma at large.

II.b. Members of the public who are not cives of Nova Roma may also submit articles to the editores of Inter Alia. The contributions of the cives of Nova Roma will take precedence over those of non cives should there be a limit of time and / or space available in the publication of Inter Alia.

II.c. It is our hope that we may use the voluntary services of some of our citizens to publish regular features in Inter Alia (i.e. History section, Archaeological news, Religion information etc).

III. ORGANISATION

III.a. Officers: The Editores

Two editores (editors) are responsible for ensuring that Inter Alia meets its objectives.

The editores collect articles and edit their format (not the content, except spelling and grammar if/when appropriate) to meet presentation standards.

III.b. Responsiblities of the Editores

III.b.1. Mandate, election and appointment:

- Mandate:

The mandate of the Editores lasts for a period of two years.

- Election:

Voting happens during a provincial meeting and must be part of the agenda of the said meeting.

Candidates must declare themselves at least thirty (30) days prior to the meeting to allow citizens to acquaint themselves with them.

Candidates must be cives of Provincia Britannia, Assidui or Capite Censi.

Any number of candidates may present themselves.

Each voter may vote for only one of the candidates. The ballot is secret.

A simple majority of the present members, Capite Censi and Assidui but not Socii, including proxy votes, is enough for one candidate to be elected.

If a simple majority is not obtained in the first and subsequent rounds of voting, the candidate who has received the least vote will not take part in further rounds.

- In case of an equal number of votes received, ties are resolved in favour of an Assiduus candidate.

- If a tie still exists and no candidate voluntarily withdraw, then the youngest candidate must withdraw.

- In the unlikely event of yet another tie, another round is organised with all the remaining candidates still eligible.

Voting continues until one candidate is elected: The elected editor does not participate as a candidate in further rounds but may still vote in those rounds.

Voting continues until two (2) candidates have received enough votes to be elected and by dropping the candidate who has obtained the least votes each round.

Note: Proxy votes. A public announcement on the provincial list, whereby a citizen declares he empowers another to vote in his/her place, is enough to act as a proxy declaration. It is the duty of the proxy to keep a paper trail of this declaration (a paper copy of the public announcement) and to bring such documentation to the provincial meeting where the voting happens. Should no paper trail be produced the proxy vote is then null and void.

- Appointment:

The Governor, acting on the vote, then appoints the editores.

III.b.2. Vacancy of office.

It is the duty of the Governor to ensure that Inter Alia shall have two editores at all times.

Should the Governor fail to call an election in the event of a vacancy or at the end of a editor’s term of office, a simple petition signed by at least two people, who must be assidui and citizens of Provincia Britannia, is enough to include an election in the agenda of any provincial meeting.

In the event of the resignation of one or both the editores, or for any other reason leading to the vacancy of the office, the Legati Britanniae, or any equivalent provincial officials (first rank official as defined by the laws of Nova Roma), will act as interim editors until such time as new editores are appointed.

III.b.3 Removal of Editores

The Governor must call for a vote of no confidence against one or both Editores if he / she receives a petition of ten cives or ten per cent of cives (whichever is smaller) registered as assidui in Britannia. The Governor him / herself can be included in the quorum necessary for the petition to be valid. A minimum of two cives is required for such a petition.

If the vote of no confidence is succesful the editor(es) is (are) removed from office and (a) new one(s) must be appointed, after a new election has taken place, no later than ninety (90) days after the removal. A provincial meeting must therefore be organised to provide the frame within which the elections can take place. In the interim between the removal of a editor and the appointment of a new one, the Legati Britanniae, or any equivalent provincial officials (first rank official as defined by the laws of Nova Roma), have the duty to treat Inter Alia as an on-going concern and take charge of the editing when and if necessary.

A vote of no confidence is successful if a simple majority of votes is expressed against the editor(es).

Only cives who are assidui in Britannia Provincia may vote on a vote of no confidence.

No proxy votes are allowed. Capite Censi and Soccii are not allowed to take part in a vote of no confidence.

If no candidate steps forward after the removal of one or both of the editores, the Legati Britanniae, or any equivalent provincial officials (first rank official as defined by the laws of Nova Roma), will act as interim editors until such time as new editores are appointed.

IV. EDITORIAL POLICIES

IV.a. Content of Inter Alia

Anybody registered as a civis of Nova Roma may send an article to the editores.

As a community project and communication tool, Inter Alia will reflect the ideas and qualities of the people who contribute to it. The editores shall not edit in any way the content of the articles sent to them without the permission of the author but may decide the priority of publication according to the amount of contributions received and their relevance to Nova Roma and Roman Culture.

As a rule the editores will do their utmost to publish any publication in the issue of Inter Alia that follows the date of receipt.

However, the editores, as representatives of the people’s will, are empowered to check the content of any article published in Inter Alia on behalf of the people and they must ensure that no discriminatory article referring to race, religion or gender appears in Inter Alia.

IV.b. Right of appeal

Cives have a right to reply to any article and a have a right to complain about the content of a publication.

In the event of a complaint about the content of an article published in Inter Alia, the Governor must act as an "appeal judge" and, in concert with the Editores, may remove the right of the author of the article to write in Inter Alia for any length of time. The Governor together with both editores must act collegially for this action to take effect. If one of those three officers is in disagreement the action can not take effect.

If, because of the proviso expressed above, no action is taken against the author of an incriminated article, a vote of no confidence against the Editores as described in II.b.3 may be called.

V. FUNDING

The funding of Inter Alia is directly linked to the medium chosen to distribute it.

When Inter Alia will move from an electronic to a paper-based publication, only tax-paying citizens (Assidui) will be able to receive it.

The Editores will prepare a yearly budget which, upon presentation to the Governor, must be included in the agenda of the last provincial meeting of the year preceding the implementation of the budget.

A simple majority of the present members, Capite Censi and Assidui but not Socii, including proxy votes, is enough for the budget to pass.

Note: Proxy votes. A public announcement on the provincial list, whereby a citizen declares he empowers another to vote in his/her place, is enough to act as a proxy declaration. It is the duty of the proxy to keep a paper trail of this declaration (paper copy of the public announcement) and to bring such documentation to the provincial meeting where the voting happens. Should no paper trail be produced the proxy vote is then null and void

VI. PUBLICATION

It is expected that Inter Alia will be published quarterly each year, starting in 2008.

A paper version will be produced as soon as the cost implications have been investigated.

VII. IMPLEMENTATION AND REVISION

VII.a. This Charter will be the object of a vote on the 18th of March 2006.

A simple majority of the present members, Capite Censi and Assidui but not Socii, including proxy votes, is enough for the charter to accepted.

Note: Proxy votes. A public announcement on the provincial list, whereby a citizen declares he empowers another to vote in his/her place, is enough to act as a proxy declaration. It is the duty of the proxy to keep a paper trail of this declaration (paper copy of the public announcement) and to bring such documentation to the provincial meeting where the voting happens. Should no paper trail be produced the proxy vote is then null and void.

VII.b. If this charter carries a favourable vote, it will come into effect on Jan 1st 2008.

VII.c. If this charter carries a favourable vote, the current Editores, C. Moravius Laureatus Armoricus and C. Flavia Aureliana, will be prorogued for another two (2) years from Jan 1st 2008.

VII.d. This charter can be revised on a proposal of the Governor or either of the Editores.

VII.e. Any revision proposal must be included on the agenda of the next due provincial meeting, and must be put to the vote then.

A simple majority of the present members, Capite Censi and Assidui but not Socii, including proxy votes, is enough for the proposed revision to take effect.

Note: Proxy votes. A public announcement on the provincial list, whereby a citizen declares he empowers another to vote in his/her place, is enough to act as a proxy declaration. It is the duty of the proxy to keep a paper trail of this declaration (paper copy of the public announcement) and to bring such documentation to the provincial meeting where the voting happens. Should no paper trail be produced the proxy vote is then null and void.