General Assembly Proposals

The World Assembly finds as follows:

It is unnecessarily cruel for member nations to sentence children to life imprisonment without parole.

1. Children have undeveloped brains which are not yet capable of adequately comprehending the long term effects of their actions, they cannot internalise the extremely long-term impacts of crime.

2. Children are capable of reforming with the right support, a fact which life imprisonment without parole implicitly denies.

3. It is broadly unjust to imprison people who have genuinely repented for their crimes and are extremely unlikely to commit them again.

The option of parole ought to be open to child offenders which meet such criteria.

The provision in section 4 of GA 299 "Legal Competence" which allows member nations to "set reasonable thresholds of maturity [or] mental capability for people to hold any other rights or responsibilities within their jurisdictions" does not contradict this proposal. It is not a right or responsibility to be subject to life imprisonment without parole; it would be the opposite of a right and, because being so subject would be a thing done to a person rather than something that person must do, not a responsibility.

Now, therefore, be it enacted as follows:

1. In this resolution, the term "life sentence" refers both to prison sentences issued for the period of a person's life as well as prison sentences issued, in total or otherwise, for a period equal to or exceeding the expected natural life of that person.

2. No member nation may sentence a person to a life sentence without parole, or possibility thereof, for crimes committed while that person is under the age of majority.

3. All sentences contravening this resolution, including those given prior to this resolution's enactment that would have been prohibited had this resolution been in force, must be commuted forthwith under procedures not inconsistent with World Assembly law.

The World Assembly,

Believing that restrictions which tie work visas to the consent of a worker's current employer serve a profoundly anti-competitive effect by tying workers to the grace of their supervisors and

Concerned of the effect, both for domestic and foreign workers, this has on the ability for member nations to enforce workplace safety when possible whistleblowers are so dependent on their employers for legal status, therefore enacts as follows:

1. A "covered worker" is a worker in a member nation who is legally present and permitted to be employed due to a work visa.

2. Covered workers must be permitted to change employment and employers or otherwise leave that member nation, without regard to the approval of a current or previous employer.

3. No work visa may be revoked because a covered worker has a frictional break in employment. A break in employment is frictional when it is shorter than or equal to the time it would take a similarly situated native worker to find new and comparable employment in the same industry.

General Assembly Resolution #279 “Right of Emigration” (Category: Civil Rights; Strength: Significant) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

The World Assembly (WA),

Affirming that it is a fundamental right for individuals to freely exit from a nation without hinderance;

Noting that the target resolution allows individuals to be prevented from leaving a WA state, subject to certain conditions, but these conditions contain several loopholes that can be exploited by others to deliberately impede someone from leaving a WA state, such as:

1. Exemption “b” permitting anyone “undergoing legal proceedings” to be prevented from leaving a WA state fails to:

   1. distinguish between civil and criminal proceedings, nor the parties involved;

   2. consider the severity of any legal proceedings, or whether they are frivolous in nature;

2. Exemption “d” for probable cause to commit a crime does not account for the scenario of certain actions by an individual being a crime in one WA states but not another, and require a more nuanced solution that accounts for, for example, the severity of the crime or any appeals;

Horrified that as a result of these loopholes, well-resourced malicious actors, government-affiliated or otherwise, can effectively prevent anyone from leaving a country through vexatious litigation, or a potential emigrant can be beholden to an inefficient court system or entangled in endless legal proceedings due to engaging in a profession that is prone to civil litigation;

Looking forward to the WA passing future resolutions that affirm the right to exit a WA state without the said flaws;

Hereby repeals the target resolution, Right of Emigration.

The World Assembly,

Cognizant of the rich biodiversity that resides within reefs and related ecosystems,

Believing that the efforts to preserve and restore such biodiversity falls firmly within the World Assembly's jurisdiction, and indeed duty in order to create a more beautiful world,

Lauding previous efforts from member nations to preserve these unique environments, and hoping to bolster these previous protections with further international regulations and requirements,

Hereby,

1. Requires all member nations to designate reefs as protected marine ecosystems, and prohibits fishing, anchoring, diving, and other related activities that is reliant on the exploitation of the habitat and the biodiversity thereof, unless those activities are noninvasive to the point of minimal ecological impact without compromising the integrity of the reef structure, habitat, or biodiversity;

2. Requires all member nations to regularly monitor the health of the reefs within their territories, including information concerning the biodiversity of the habitat, condition of the reef structure, and local and surrounding water quality, among other relevant factors;

3. Forbids agricultural runoff, sewage discharge, plastic waste, and other pollutants harmful to reef ecosystem from being discharged into reefs or the waters surrounding reefs, except in cases where (a) the environmental impact of such pollutant discharge would be so minimized such that there are no discernible consequences, or (b) the economic impact would negatively impact the surrounding communities to such an extent that it would be difficult to otherwise recover, and the environmental impact is minimized to the greatest extent possible before incurring this economic impact;

4. For reefs that fall under the jurisdictions of multiple nations, requires any World Assembly nations involved to attempt to cooperate in good-faith to protect the reefs in all nations in which it falls under, and find mutual regulations to promote the preservation of said reefs;

5. Requires nations to promote the restoration of damaged reefs or sections of reefs within their jurisdiction, through actions such as:

   1. Funding or incentivizing the repair of previously damaged reefs, via proven techniques including coral gardening, micro-fragmentation, assisted evolution, and other techniques as deemed relevant or as discovered;

   2. Actively researching and developing new methods to restore reefs and make them more resilient to harmful conditions;

   3. Propagating coral species that are more resilient to bleaching and other stressors;

   4. Sharing innovations in the area of reef restoration with other member nations, for them to put towards the provisions put forward in this resolution and other further restrictions surrounding reef health;

   5. Funding or incentivizing reef construction in the same or new locations to replace previously destroyed reefs of similar composition and ecological value;

6. Encourages collaboration with local communities surrounding reef ecosystems, bringing them into the fold in specific decisions and policies related to reef preservation and restoration;

7. Requires for member nations to submit biennial reports on the status of reef health, as well as status of current preservation and restoration efforts to the Waterbody Health and Mitigation Management Organization, who shall evaluate these reports, give suggestions where necessary and, in the case of inconsistency, trigger an investigation and take appropriate legal action through the proper avenues as set out by the World Assembly.

8. Requires member nations to impose trade sanctions on any non-member nation whose actions, whether or not they would violate this resolution if that nation were in the World Assembly, would pollute a member nation to the point of bringing them into violation of this resolution, and these trade sanctions much have sufficient economic force to (a) have the target discontinue or minimize the relevant actions such that the pollution they are causing in the member-nation returns to legal levels, or (b) create proper punitive measures for the actions taken.

The World Assembly (WA),

Noting the WA’s desire to protect the rights of borrowers, such as via GARs 476, 515, and 623;

Anxious that legitimate enforcement of overdue debts is not overshadowed by obnoxious behaviour by debt collectors;

The WA hereby enacts as follows:

1. Definitions.

   1. "Associate" means an immediate member of the family of, or anyone who resides in the same address as, the debtor, guarantor or guardian (defined below).

   2. "Creditor" means who owns the debt due from a debtor (defined below), such as a bank.

   3. "Debtor" means anyone owing debts to a creditor and who is under the jurisdiction of a WA state.

2. Debt collector.

   1. A debt collector ("collector") means any entity who endeavours to enforce overdue debts on behalf of a creditor. This includes relevant employees, contractors or agents ("personnel") of that entity engaging in such endeavours.

   2. This definition excludes anyone acting as an attorney for a debtor or a law enforcement officer.

   3. This resolution covers all debt collectors enforcing debts legally recognised as valid by a WA state, regardless of whether the creditor is from a WA state.

3. Authorisation.

   1. Anyone who wants to conduct business as a collector must be duly authorised by a WA state (or by its sub-national authorities).

   2. A WA state shall promulgate standards for competence, professionalism and skills for a collector.

   3. A collector must maintain professional indemnity insurance deemed adequate by a WA state.

   4. This clause (3) covers the entity acting as a collector, including sole proprietorships as well as any personnel as defined in clause (2)(a).

   5. A collector needs to be separately authorised to work in each WA state (or in each sub-national division) and to comply separately with the provisions of this clause (3).

   6. Each WA state shall maintain a database of authorised collectors for verification. The said database shall be publicly available through convenient means.

4. Behaviour. Collectors are banned from using the following means to enforce overdue debts, subject to standards set by each WA state and due process of law:

   1. take vastly disproportionate action against a debtor relative to the debts outstanding;

   2. harass or threaten the debtor or associates of a debtor, with demands for payment through such means which are likely to subject the said individuals to deep anxiety, distress, or humiliation;

   3. misrepresent themselves to be authorised in some government or WA capacity to claim or enforce payment;

   4. attempt to enforce debts that are known to the collector to be (i) not (or no longer) legally valid, or (ii) not yet overdue.

5. Associates. For the purpose of debt collection, a collector may not contact:

   1. Anyone that agreed to act merely as a referee for the debtor.

   2. Anyone that is an associate of the debtor except to try to establish contact with the debtor.

   3. Anyone who is merely acquainted with the debtor, such as neighbours.

   4. An employer of the debtor (or any other known income source of the debtor) unless (i) the other parties can act as a garnishee according to local laws, and (ii) the debt collector has obtained all legal permission for garnishment.

6. Recovery.

   1. A collector may not enforce a debt if the creditor's own expected recovery is less than the estimated cost of enforcement.

   2. A collector may not attempt to enforce debts against anyone after such debts are discharged, such as via bankruptcy.

7. Guarantors.

   1. A collector may only attempt to recover debts from a guarantor of a debt only if it has exhausted all available means of collecting the debt from the debtor, unless the guarantor has explicitly consented to acting as a primary obligor and not merely as a surety.

   2. The protections under clauses (4) and (5) also applies to a guarantor or their associates.

8. Legal competence.

   1. If a debtor is deemed legally incompetent after drawing down the loan as a result of ill health, accidents or other misfortune, no enforcement of debts may take place until a legal guardian is appointed, and the finances of the debtor has been organised pursuant to local laws.

   2. The protections under clauses (4) and (5) also applies to a legal guardian or their associates.

9. Jurisdiction.

   1. Clauses (4) to (9) also apply to creditors who enforce overdue debts themselves.

   2. Each WA state is responsible for interpretation and enforcement of this resolution, including any penalties enforced.

   3. This resolution does not govern anything owed directly to the WA, WA organs, or a WA state.