Article 1 of the Alliance Charter

Article 1 of the Alliance Charter (abbreviated A1) is the first official article of the Alliance Charter.

Section 1.	Membership Levels and Applications
P1.01	All members, who have been approved membership, except honorary members, shall be of equal membership level. P1.02	Every application shall meet all seven of the following criteria before existing members are allowed to vote on it. These criteria are referred to as the ‘checklist’ and shall be posted in the Application Requirements topic: P1.03	All applications shall undergo the following process: P1.04	Member states have the right to do any and all of the following:
 * C1.01(a)	Applicants may be granted membership if they satisfy all application criteria, and pass a vote of existing members.
 * C1.01(b)	The Application Requirement topic shall include all of the membership requirements described in this paragraph, as well as the rights member states have once approved.
 * C1.02(a)	A unique and realistic national flag, along with an equally unique and realistic national emblem;
 * C1.02(b)	A copy of the AIN world map edited to include the nation's location, so that the nation does not overlap with any existing member state(s);
 * C1.02(c)	A realistic geographical size, national population, and government;
 * C1.02(d)	A gross domestic product per capita which satisfies the relevant limits contained in Article 3 of the Charter;
 * C1.02(e)	A description of the nation's economy;
 * C1.02(f)	A summary of the nation's history proportional to its age; and
 * C1.02(g)	At least 5 images, displaying the style of your nation, appropriate to its location. This can be in the form of a simulated city, unique drawings or renderings, or any other custom content. Real life images may suffice so long as the remainder of the application is of high enough quality, as determined by the membership.
 * C1.03(a)	All member states, may comment on the application, providing critique and compliments. The applicant should then respond to the critique, adjusting their application if needed.
 * C1.03(b)	Member states shall either vote for or against the application, or abstain from the vote.
 * C1.03(c)	All applications shall require a simple majority in favour out of at least 12 votes by existing members in order to be accepted as a member state of the AIN. If there are fewer than 12 active member states when an application goes to vote, that application shall require a simple majority out of the total votes cast. Voting shall end once 12 votes, or the majority stated, has been achieved.
 * C1.03(d)	An application which is not approved shall be allowed to be edited again by the applicant, and then voted on again once significant or needed changes have been made.
 * C1.03(e)	If the applicant does not respond to the application thread sent by the member(s) for fourteen (14) consecutive days, their application shall be considered abandoned, and it shall be removed from consideration.
 * C1.04(a)	To run for elected office (however, only member states who have been members of the AIN continuously for at least six (6) months prior to taking office may run or apply for executive office, i.e. President, Vice President, or Speaker of the Alliance).
 * C1.04(b)	To host and participate in Alliance and roleplay events;
 * C1.04(c)	To vote in Alliance elections, on membership applications, and on actions in the Senate;
 * C1.04(d)	To maintain threads in their national sub-forums, as well as any number of media topics,

Section 2.	Temporary Leave from the Alliance
P2.01	Members can request to go on leave if they expect to be inactive for longer than five (5) weeks by posting a request in the Leave Announcements topic, or by communicating to a member via alternative means. Members who are on leave are exempt from all of the following activity requirements.

P2.02	The Alliance staff shall conduct reviews of each member who is not on leave to determine whether to revoke any member's membership. P2.03	Members shall not remain on leave for more than twelve (12) consecutive months.
 * C2.02(a)	Membership in the AIN shall be revoked by the Alliance staff in a public statement if the member in question has entered a period of inactivity without requesting to go on leave.
 * C2.02(b)	For the purposes of this Section, inactivity is defined as a period of at least 60 days in which the member has failed to either (i) post on the AIN forums, or (ii) be active on the AIN Wiki.
 * C2.03(a)	For the purposes of this Charter, the start of leave is defined as either (i) the date on which a member requests to go on leave, or (ii) the date on which they last posted on the AIN forums, whichever comes last.
 * C2.03(b)	Members whose leave lasts more than twelve (12) months shall have their leave terminated and be given no more than 60 days to return to normal activity.
 * C2.03(c)	Any member whose leave is terminated, and requests to go back on leave in the 60 days allotted, shall not remain on leave for more than six (6) consecutive months thereafter. If, after those six (6) new months of leave end, said member requests a third period of leave within 60 days of last going off leave, a majority of the Executive Council must approve before said member shall be allowed to begin their third period of leave.
 * C2.03(d)	The above restrictions shall not apply when a member is required to go on leave due to special circumstances, including (but not limited to) military or civil service. No upper limit shall be imposed on the duration of leave in these cases.

Section 3.	Secondary and Replacement Nations
P3.01	Members of the Alliance of Independent Nations are each allowed two (2) member states within the Alliance.

P3.02	Members are also allowed one (1) Side nation as a secondary nation, in addition to their primary nation. Side nations are permitted to roleplay with member states, as well as participate in Alliance events, but no roleplay can be carried out between the member state and side nation,which are from the same author, and they shall be restricted from increasing a member's voice in any elections, polls, or other forms of voting within the Alliance. P3.03	Member states may not completely replace a nation that exists in the real world, in its same form.
 * C3.02(a)	SNs are subject to the same application requirements as member states, as well as the same application procedures, as described in Section 1 of this Article, however, should at least 3 members of the Executive Council publish concerns in the application thread, then the progress of the application is halted until the published concerns are addressed.
 * C3.02(b)	Members may apply for an SN after holding their current member state for no less than twelve (12) months, provided that said member has been active with their primary nation within the previous four (4) months.

Section 5.	Permanent Denial of Membership
P5.01	The staff of the Alliance reserve the right to blacklist specific former members of the Alliance for any of the reasons given in paragraph 2. P5.02	A former member may only be added to the blacklist for one or more of the following reasons: P5.03	The Alliance staff reserve the right to decide whether a former member's behaviour meets any of the conditions listed above.
 * C5.01(a)	Any member who has been blacklisted may never resume their membership in the Alliance under any circumstances, except under the circumstances given in paragraph 4.
 * C5.01(b)	If a blacklisted former member posts an application for membership, a staff member shall decline said application without posting a checklist, stating that said former member is blacklisted under the terms of this Section, and shall lock said application immediately afterwards.
 * C5.02(a)	Criminal damage to any of the Alliance's property, as defined in the Forum Rules
 * C5.02(b)	Abuse of a position of trust or authority while in office
 * C5.02(c)	Exhibiting a pattern of poor behaviour/judgment during membership, including (but not limited to): repeated acts of serious rudeness toward one or more members, repeatedly violating common sense notions regarding various aspects of roleplay, and ignorant violations of the Alliance's rules and/or laws

P5.04	A blacklisted former member may be removed from the blacklist with the Executive Council's permission under the following conditions: P5.05	The Executive Council may, at its discretion, impose less severe restrictions on former members when deciding to remove them from the blacklist.
 * C5.04(a)	The former member has promised to abide by all the rules and laws of the Alliance without failure, with any future violation considered grounds for immediate and permanent expulsion and/or banning from the Alliance; and
 * C5.04(b)	The former member has promised not to seek any elected office or other position of responsibility within the Alliance during their new period of membership.
 * C5.05(a)	The Executive Council shall consider the former member's conduct and duration of previous membership in the Alliance when deciding whether to impose less severe restrictions, as well as the exact restrictions to impose.
 * C5.05(b)	Examples of less severe restrictions which may be imposed include, but are not limited to: time limits before running for executive or staff positions (provided that this time limit is not less than 12 months after reinstatement of membership); allowing a member to run for director offices, either immediately or after a specified time period; and leniency in regards to negotiable and/or Class C offenses.
 * C5.05(c)	 The Executive Council shall not change the restrictions imposed on all former blacklistees simultaneously, but may consider changing the restrictions imposed on a subset of former blacklistees who were blacklisted for substantially the same reasons at the same time.
 * C5.05(d)	Former blacklistees may not request changes to their restrictions more than once every 12 months.

Section 6.	Honorary Membership
P6.01	Members who resign from the AIN may be granted honorary membership by the President of the Alliance on the advice of the Executive Council. P6.02	Honorary members shall have the right to return to membership at any time they choose, without first submitting a new application. P6.03	NPCs shall be listed separately on the AINWiki, and on all forms of documentation, making clear they are Honorary members, ideally using italics and removing them from ranking numbers. No role-play may be conducted between NPCs and member states (including SNs)
 * C6.01(a)	 Members shall be eligible for honorary membership if they made at least three (3) significant contributions to the Alliance, or if they acted above and beyond their normal responsibilities and roles at the time.
 * C6.01(b)	The Executive Council shall decide whether a member’s contributions to the Alliance are significant enough to merit honorary membership.
 * C6.02(a)	Honorary members’ nations shall become non-player countries (NPCs) upon bestowal of honorary membership, and shall remain on the Alliance map to facilitate their return. Their territory shall not be available for use by current or future member states.

Source
Article 1 of the Alliance Charter