[At Vote] [ga]: Consular Protection Protocols

[Lenlyvit]

General Assembly Resolution

Consular Protection Protocols

A resolution to improve worldwide human and civil rights.

Category: Civil Rights

Strength: Mild

Proposed by: Simone Republic

The World Assembly (WA);
Noting the WA's interest in freedom of movement;
Noting further that travelers abroad may sometimes need assistance due to unforeseen issues;

1. Defines:

a. Citizen(s) to mean individual(s) of their home state holding valid citizenship, and, for this resolution, include(s) a home state's citizens plus anyone subject to its jurisdiction;

b. Home state to mean the WA state where the citizen has citizenship;

c. Host state to mean the WA state where the home state's citizen is physically located at the time the citizen seeks assistance;

d. Mission to mean an official mission of a WA state and mission staff to mean accredited representatives of that WA state;

2. Requires a mission to:

a. Maintain a voluntary list of citizens in that host state;

b. Prepare arrangements for emergency evacuations from the host state to the home state, if deemed feasible by the mission;

3. Requires a home state to, if it receives a request from a citizen, promptly render the following assistance:

a. Facilitate any adoptions by a citizen;

b. Facilitate the regular issuance of identity documents;

c. Provide financial or other assistance to a citizen who:

1. is the victim (or alleged victim) of a violent crime, or

2. suffers a serious accident, or

3. suffers acute critical illness, or

4. suffers other misfortunes;

d. Provide prompt assistance if a citizen abroad needs to be repatriated in an emergency, including:

1. Providing temporary travel documents and assisting in any exit arrangements applicable to the host state, if required;

2. Arranging for transportation to return to the home state, if needed;

3. Repatriating a citizen to the home state if that citizen dies in the host state, if a prior wish for repatriation had been expressed or at the request of the deceased's immediate next of kin;

4. Requires, if a citizen is accused of a criminal offence in a host state, to promptly render the following assistance:

a. Provide guidance on the legal process of the host state;

b. Provide directly (if applicable) or make referrals for competent legal advice and/or representation for the citizen;

c. Attend the judicial proceedings of the citizen to the maximum extent permitted;

d. Provide assistance in psychological and mental health services, if such services are not provided by the host state;

e. Provide translation and interpreting services, if needed;

f. Render reasonable financial assistance for legal representation if the home state deems fit;

g. From time to time have its mission staff meet with the citizen in a setting with sufficient levels of privacy, in order to offer or to render support;

5. Requires, if a citizen is detained by the authorities of the host state, or is convicted of an criminal offence and incarcerated, to render the following assistance, in addition to the assistance rendered in the preceding clause:

a. Provide guidance on means for appeal or seek other such judicial relief;

b. Facilitate visits by family members of the citizens to the host state to visit the detained citizen;

c. Increase mental, visitation and other support to and for the citizen as the mission deems fit;

d. Seek the repatriation of citizen(s) to serve their sentences in the home state rather than in the host state, if permitted;

6. Requires that the home state, if it has no mission(s) in a host state, to:

a. Request the help of another WA state ("assisting state") that has a mission in the host state in rendering the said assistance and any other assistance it may request;

b. Require that the assisting state not decline such requests from the originating state, so long as

i. the home state fully indemnifies the assisting state all costs incurred in rendering such assistance; and

ii. the assisting state deems itself capable of rendering such assistance;

7. Requires the host state to fully cooperate with the home state(s) in the rendering of such assistance as defined in this resolution;

8. Clarifies:

a. If an individual holds citizenship in more than one WA state the said individual may seek assistance from any and all of the states where the individual holds citizenship;

b. If an individual is both a citizen of one or more home state(s) as well as being a citizen of the host state, so long as the host state recognizes dual citizenship, all assistance may be rendered by the home state(s) and the host state must comply with the above clauses;

c. All references to the "rendering of assistance" shall be to the fullest extent deemed feasible by the home state and its mission given the resources and capabilities of the home state;

d. All clauses in this resolution shall be subject to WA resolutions then in-force;

e. This resolution do not apply to any individual who enters the host state and subsequently seeks asylum and/or refugee status with the host state.1.

This is the discussion thread. To cast your vote, go HERE

[spratlyislands]

My opinion is that if a person is traveling to another nation and have a medical emergency, they can be taken to the closest hospital in that country; and not risk their life even more by taking a long time to be transported to their home country. It seems very unnecessary, I vote against

[Pantso]

Against as well, it seems like the goal of the resolution got away from the author. Is it to protect consulates, or to protect movement? What does adoption have to do with those topics? What is the point of the list of citizens in 2a?

[icethousand]

Against. The exclusion of refugees is nonsense. Home states should not be allowed to withhold repatriation support, financial aid, and even identity documents because someone applied for refugee status. The entirety of Sections 4 and 5 are also nugatory as they fail to specify any subject (NB: "Requires [if condition is true] to promptly render the following assistance" is a grammatically incorrect construction due to the omission of a subject).

[Jabberwocky]

Convoluted, confusing, and entirely superfluous. Against.