Septentrion League

The Septentrion League is a regional organization based in Septentrion which seeks to maintain the sovereign status of Septentrion states and the security of the region as a whole. Nations of all political and economic affiliations are permitted to join and one of the League's main goals is to promote, if not friendly, favorable relations between member states regardless of differences in politics.

History

The Septentrion League was established in 1948, after the end of the Pan-Septentrion War.

Structure

The SL consists of four main bodies, with differing duties and responsibilities. The League is headquartered in Veldeburg, which, though legally part of Westervelde, is considered international territory in certain respects for the duration of SL General Assembly meetings. In all other cases, only the grounds of the SL complex are considered international territory.

General Assembly

The General Assembly, consisting varying numbers of representatives from each SL nation, functions as the League's primary deliberative body in addition to an open forum in which national leaders can address the whole of the SL. The General Assembly is responsible furthermore for suggesting and passing through simple majority pieces of legislation considered "non-binding", in that member-states are encouraged but not required to implement them. The Assembly holds the power to suggest locations for peacekeeping forces to be deployed through simple majority – the suggestion then passes to the League's second body, the League Council.

Each nation represented in the Septentrion League is allowed at least three representatives, but exact numbers are dependent on the state's population. For every five million citizens, the member-state is allowed one additional voting representative in the General Assembly, with observers permitted to the point where they do not interrupt proceedings. These representatives are expected to be voted on by the entirety of the member-state's citizenry, so they can adequately represent the interests of the general populace. In practice, some member states directly appoint their representatives, or derive a mixed system of election and appointments.

The General Assembly is the body responsible for various "day-to-day" responsibilities of the SL. These responsibilities include honoring various individuals and issuing condemnations for actions, suspension and expulsion of members, and budgetary matters. The primary roll of the General Assembly is in overseeing the various League institutions; it has the authority to set their agenda by outlining the direction and principles of said institutions, granting them funding, and confirming or vetoing nominees for their Director-General positions.

Security Council

The Security Council of the Septrion League, or SLSC, is responsible for maintaining peace between member states. It is the sole SL body capable of passing binding resolutions that member states are required to carry out. As part of this power, it is charged with monitoring and enforcing many of Septentrion's international arms control treaties, including the Septentrion Treaty Against The Proliferation of Nuclear Armaments. The Council can, by simple majority vote, expel, sanction, or censure a member state, block a candidate state from joining, or authorize peacekeeping missions. The issues it covers include genocide and crimes against humanity, human trafficking, regional development, and, in the case of sanctions, trade.

When the Septentrion League was founded, the Security Council consisted of the four main Allied powers at the close of the Pan-Septentrion War, as well as Letnia and Fyrland, which were neutral. These founding members, who enjoy permanent seats on the Security Council, are:

• Anglia and Lechernt
• Fyrland
• Hallia
• Letnia
• Sieuxerr
• Tír Glas

Most Security Council resolutions, such as the imposition or lifting of sanctions under the STAND agreement, can be passed with a 2/3 majority of all permanent members voting yes. Decisions involving the use of armed force, however, require a 2/3 majority of yes votes and additionally require that no members vote no. Abstentions are not counted into either the yes or no totals. This means that all permanent members have veto power on decisions involving the deployment of peacekeepers or the authorization of military interventions.

Office of Peacekeeping and Regional Development

See also: List of Septentrion League peacekeeping operations

The Office of Peacekeeping and Regional Development (OPRD) has jurisdiction over matters of regional security. This power extends solely to the management of peacekeepers once deployed, and the filing of requests from member-states for personnel. The OPRD does not have the power to sanction a peacekeeping action, that power resting solely with the General Assembly and Council. The OPRD furthermore is responsible for subsequent rebuilding of nations where peacekeepers have been deployed, and operates on a mix of volunteer funding from member-states, individual donations, and taxes levied from the membership base.

Septentrion International Criminal Court

The final organ of the SL, the International Criminal Court (SICC), is the body responsible for prosecution and subsequent sentencing of criminals considered by the court to have committed gross abuses of human rights. Though it requires the initial consent of the League Council and General Assembly to pursue an investigation, the SICC operates under its own auspices once the investigation is underway. Sentencing is the responsibility of a panel of judges in a tribunal; these judges are selected at random from a pool of available SL-salaried individuals. Their identities are not known prior to the beginning of the trial.

The General Assembly is responsible for approving the start of investigations, though the League Council may overturn this power with a majority vote. Once an investigation is underway, it is the duty of the Office of the Prosecutor to gather evidence and bring the case to trial; it is the responsibility of the law enforcement agencies of Septentrion member-states to apprehend (if necessary) the accused and physically bring him or her to trial.

The panel of ten judges may not contain more than one judge from any one nation, and may not have their identities as future judges compromised. If they are, they may be replaced, with another judge chosen randomly. The accused is always represented by a legal counsel of their choosing, and the SICC itself has one of the most extensive lists of due process guarantees in Septentrion.

Office of Territorial Affairs

The Office of Territorial Affairs (OTA) is the body responsible for the oversight and, in the cases of some islands or territories which had no preexisting indigenous population or administration, ecological development or protection of the territories. The OTA assures that these regions remain, for all intents and purposes, unclaimed.

Institutions

Septentrion League constituent institutions are specialized intergovernmental organizations fulfilling specific mandates, which are either granted to them by ML charters, or, in the case of certain precursor organizations which are considered to have been subsumed into the SL system (but which may have full members which are not full League members; for example, the Septentrion Commission for Air Navigation), by separate preexisting treaty.

Septentrion League institutions operate as a sort of intergovernmental civil service within the legislation of the League General Assembly, which oversees their operations. The Directors-General of the organizations may be nominated by any individual member of the General Assembly and approved or blocked by a simple majority vote in the GA.

Agencies of the Septentrion League
No.	Agency	Acronym	Headquarters	Established
1	Septentrion Health Organization	SHO	Santo André, Sylva	1973
2	Septentrion League International Children's Education Fund	SLICEF	Template:Country data Organized States Fairford, Organized States	1973
3	Septentrion International Food Organization	SIFO	Template:Country data Westervelde Snook, Westervelde	1973
4	Septentrion Labor Organization	SLO	Template:Country data Erquin Cap-Métis, Erquin	1973
5	Septentrion International Pharmaceuticals Agency	SIPA	Template:Country data Organized States Fairford, Organized States	1974
6	Septentrion Universal Postal Organization	SUPO	Santo André, Sylva	1973
7	Septentrion League International Bank	SLIB	Template:Country data Lendol Gênes, Lendol	1981
8	Septentrion Maritime Organization	SMO	Template:Country data Lendol Sétif, Lendol	1983
9	Trans-Septentrion Transport Organization	TSTO	Template:Country data Westervelde Martigues, Westervelde	1997
10	Septentrion Tourism Agency	STA	San Sebastian, Sylva	1997
11	Septentrion Organization for Culture, Education and Science	SOCES	Merida, Sylva	1985
12	Septentrion Organisation for Human Rights, Refugees and Development	SOHRRD	Alicante, Sylva	1973
13	Septentrion Trade Organization	STO	Template:Country data Westervelde Lenešice, Westervelde	1975
14	Septentrion Environmental Organization	SEO	Imperium,	1973