[Greater Sanctum]

Here's my draft proposal that I'll put here first for IDU members to have a look at and suggest improvements before I submit it to the GA. All suggestions are welcome
(BTW, it's my first proposal)

--------------------------------

Category: Moral Decency
Strength: Mild
Proposed By: Greater Sanctum


The World Assembly,

Recognising every child?s right to live in a carefree and loving environment for the comfort and safety of his or herself.

Understanding that international adoption may be a child?s only chance at achieving the rights stated above.

Realising that some individuals and/or parties may take advantage of desperate situations by requiring payment to ensure that a child be either put up for adoption or for the child to be adopted by would-be parents.

Convinced that to ensure international adoptions are made with regard to the rights and interests of the child, which are paramount to those of any other party involved in the process, and that no illegal dealings are made during the adoption every Member State must create an accredited Authority to handle the international adoption process in their nation.

Acknowledging that in the interests of cultural preservation, the child has a right to knowledge of his or her country of origin and the cultures contained therein.

Declaring that a child adopted as the result of an international adoption has, when reaching an age of mature understanding, the right to return to his or her country of origin if he or she so wishes.

Defining for the purposes of this resolution:

- Member State: any nation which is a member of the World Assembly.

- International adoption: the process in which a child from one Member State is adopted by parents from another Member State.

- Accredited Authority: a central agency created by a Member State that handles all of that nations international adoptions and ensures that the adoptions adhere to the terms of the resolution.

Declaring the terms of the resolution to be:

(1) Member States shall ensure that any child entering their sovereignty as the result of an international adoption is doing so on their own free will, without being pressured to do so by any other party.

(2) Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that no adoption is the result of the abduction, sale or traffic of a child.

(3) Member States shall ensure that no party involved in the adoption has received financial or compensatory incentive to pursue the adoption.

(4) Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that the child has a legitimate need to be adopted and that international adoption is the best option.

(5) Member States shall ensure that all mature aged parties involved are mentally competent to proceed with the adoption.

(6) Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that all parties involved in the adoption understand (with the exception of infants and small children not yet at an age of understanding) what the process will entail, and that all parties involved expressly give their consent to the adoption in writing.

(7) Member States shall create an accredited Authority which shall oversee all adoptions taking place in their own nation and adhere to the terms of this resolution.

(8) A Member State shall immediately cease all adoption processes with another Member Sate if there is doubt as to whether they are adhering to the terms of this resolution. The Member State shall then:

(a) Begin a formal investigation into the adoption process of the questioned Member State.

(b) If any violation is found during the course of the investigation, all Member States are required to cease all adoption procedures with that Member State until the violations are recognised to be rectified by an independent investigation.


UPDATED

[Bears Armed]

That looks fairly solid. I'm not sure whether my own nation's government would support it (partly because of the shortage of other ursine nations amongst the WA's current members, which means that any inter-country adoptions involving our people would probably have to be with humans instead...), but I'll give you some OOC advice anyway.


A/ The clauses about mental competency & signatures should probably be specified as applying only to "all adults" involved, rather than to "everybody involved", because otherwise you'd be ruling out inter-country adoption of babies & toddlers.

B/ The fact that compliance with passed resolutions is mandatory for all member nations (compliance to the letter of resolutions, anyway, although not necessarily to their spirit) means that the clauses about halting adoptions in cases where the other nation involved is suspected of not obeying these rules are probably superfluous.

C/ Should a child who's been adopted into a foreign land & culture have the right to have their original native culture's language & "adequate" information about that culture (& nation) included in their education, so that they can understand these well enough to fit in if they choose to return to that home once they become an adult? Indeed, should such a 'right of return' itself be stipulated?

[Greater Sanctum]

I put in an "acknowledgement" and a "declaration" to cover the "right to return" and the right to know ones culture and country of origin. I didn't, however, remove the clause stating what Member States must do in the event of a situation as explained because I thought it was needed to explain what MS should do in that event, and how to deal with it.
Anyways, how do you think the edits came along?
PS. Should I call them "inter-country adoptions" or "international adoptions"?

[Bears Armed]

I'd say "international".


Now, for the ?important? questions: ?Category? and ?Strength? _
As this proposal is laying down rules that restrict people?s actions concerning the matter in question I personally would suggest ?Moral Decency? rather than Human Rights' as you're currently saying ? although, as it seems decidedly unlikely to have any direct effects on more than a tiny fraction of any particular nation?s population, I agree with you about it only being ?Mild? in strength. If you want to submit it as a ?Human Rights? proposal then, in my opinion, that would require a significant change of emphasis in the wording in order to fit?

Oh, and we also need to check the draft?s length_ Anything over 3?500 characters, including spaces, simply won?t fit into the Submissions box and would automatically be rejected.
*(Checks)"
On this computer it's currently 3'502 characters, from the first "Recognising" onwards, but different computer-systems may count some factors differently so that leaving a margin of error (of say 50-100 characters) would probably be advisable... and it would probably be advisable for you to precede that first line with one that says
Quote: The World Assembly,

[/quote] too.

[Greater Sanctum]

Ok, the changes have been made. Do you think it needs anything after the last line? Or is it fine the way it is?
BTW, thanks for the help. Can I credit you as a Co-Author?

EDIT: I'll see what I can do about the number of characters...

[Greater Sanctum]

So when submitting a proposal, do you post the text of the proposal into the box labeled "description"?
Don't worry, I'm not submitting now, just need to know beforehand.

[Enn]

Yep, proposal text goes in the 'Description' box. The category/strength/proposed by are autogenerated from the drop-down menus.

[Jade Tigers]

Greater SanctumDec 30 2009, 01:04 PM Recognising every child?s right to live in a carefree and loving environment for the comfort and safety of his or herself. [/quote]
This is the only part that I have any serious issues with as it dictates what is best for a child to nations who's cultures may not have the same ideals. Instead I would suggest something like:

Recognising every child?s right to live in a beneficially supportive environment for the successful developement of his or herself.