BF Regulations Wiki/BF Constitution

The following is the Bravo Fleet Constitution; it and by-laws passed under its authority serve as a guide to Bravo Fleet's players and adminstrators in carrying out our game.

=Article I - Mission Statement=

To provide all of our members with a positive setting in which to write creatively about the Star Trek universe. We agree with the spirit of Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future and strive to provide an environment free of any form of discrimination or harassment, where our members are encouraged to work together to think imaginatively and harness their potential. We strive for excellence in simulation gaming and endeavor to provide a high quality service and resources to our members, so that they may develop their creative writing and character development skills. We strive to be ambassadors to others in the Star Trek community and, above all else, we aim to have fun and to boldly go where no one has gone before.

=Article II - The Constitution=

This Constitution details the systems and proceedings within Bravo Fleet. It serves to guide the membership in knowledge of our basic structure and show them the way to our policies and procedures. The Constitution is the written authority that establishes the basic organization, the powers and limits of the leaders, and the rights of the membership.

Section 1 - Amending the Constitution

 * 1) Any part of the constitution, unless otherwise specified below, may be amended by a 2/3s vote of the BFA.
 * 2) Article I and Article II can only be amended with unanimous support of the BFA.
 * 3) The quorum for amending the constitution shall be one of the Bravo Fleet Commanding Officer, Bravo Fleet Executive Officer, or Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff, at least 50% of the Task Force Commanders, and at least 50% of the Affliate Commanding Officers.
 * 4) All amendments made to the Constitution must be documented and announced to the membership.

Section 2 - Voting

 * 1) Any vote required by this Constitution must be preceded by a 48-hour discussion period. During the discussion period, the voting members are free to ask any questions they may have and state any concerns or opinions.
 * 2) Unfilled positions are not tallied in the voting totals in any fashion. If a position is empty, the total number of votes needed to pass a measure is reduced by one.
 * 3) Members are free to abstain from voting. Should a member abstain from voting, the required number of votes needed to pass a measure is reduced by one.
 * 4) The provisions of this section do not apply to any of the voting procedures used within the Judge Advocate General, its juries or the appeals panel.

Section 3 - By-Laws

 * 1) By-laws may be created from time-to-time by the BFA to assist in the administration of their duties or as required by the constitution.
 * 2) If there is any conflict between a by-law and a section of the constitution, the constitution shall be considered correct and the by-law considered void.
 * 3) By-laws have the same force as provisions in the constitution.
 * 4) By-laws may be created by the BFA by a simple majority (a vote of >50% in favour).
 * 5) The quorum for creating by-laws shall be the same as for amending the Constitution.
 * 6) By-laws must be documented and announced to the membership in the listing of Bravo Fleet By-laws.

=Article III - Structure of the Fleet=

Section 1 - Simms

 * 1) At the core of Bravo Fleet is individual role-playing simulation groups known as "simms".
 * 2) Each simm is led by a Commanding Officer ("CO"), who is defined as the group manager ("GM") for the simm, and each simm is comprised of players whom write together to form a cohesive storyline.
 * 3) Every member of the simm, upon joining, must agree to follow the rules and guidelines outlined by this document.
 * 4) In addition, the simm CO must agree to follow the rules and guidelines outlined by this document for both players and for simm COs.
 * 5) Bravo Fleet reserves the right to reissue or reuse the name of any simm that has been a part of Bravo Fleet regardless of its status outside our organization.
 * 6) Any simm that joins Bravo Fleet agrees to let Bravo Fleet use the name of the simm, as the simm then becomes part of Bravo Fleet history.
 * 7) A simulation's goal is to have a group of players join with the CO to form a storyline, and as such requires a minimum amount of players to become active, as defined by by-law. A simulation which does not meet the minimum required player standard should concentrate on looking for additional players to meet this standard.
 * 8) Simms shall be conducted as either a play-by-forum or a play-by-email platform.
 * 9) Other platforms may be authorized on a probationary basis by the relevant TFCO and the Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff for a period of six months, during which time the TFCO, TFXO and BFCoS shall all closely follow and monitor the progress of the simm. Should the platform be successful, the BFA may allow it as an option for Simm COs by by-law. The by-law may impose additional restrictions with respect to the circumstances under which the platform may be permitted. The six month probation period shall be extended if a by-law to allow the platform is under consideration until the completion of discussion on the proposed by-law and may also be extended by up to an additional six months by the relevant TFCO and BFCoS if the trial has been inconclusive.
 * 10) In order to make the operation of a large fleet feasible and as efficient as possible, each simm will be assigned to a Task Force.

Section 2 - Task Forces

 * 1) Every simm in the fleet will be assigned to a group of simms known as a Task Force.
 * 2) No Task Force in Bravo Fleet shall exceed 15 simulations, including simulation types defined by by-law.
 * 3) A simulation that is host to a member of the Bravo Fleet Senior Staff or Staff JAG may not be counted as part of a Task Force's limit.
 * 4) No Task Force shall have a ship marked open if it has the maximum number of simms, or more than two simms that are below "Active" status concurrently.
 * 5) Notwithstanding the above, an exception can be granted by the Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff.
 * 6) A Bravo Fleet Task Force must be arranged as follows:
 * 7) A command group consisting only of staff holding the position of Task Force Second Executive Officer or above.
 * 8) No more than three additional groups known as Task Groups, consisting of no more than four simulations each.
 * 9) The TFCO can appoint both simm COs and players to staff positions within the Task Force in order to better manage the responsibilities granted to a task force as outlined within this document.
 * 10) The Task Force structure must consist of:
 * 11) A deputy known as the Task Force Executive Officer.
 * 12) A Task Force Second Executive Officer for the Task Force, which may be placed in the command group or be filled by the senior TGCO at the TFCO's discretion.
 * 13) A leader for each Task Group known as a Task Group Commanding Officer.
 * 14) The Task Force Commanding Officer can at their discretion create additional staff positions on an as-needed basis for the purpose of management of the overall Task Force or liaising with service administrators of Bravo Fleet. These are defined as operational or auxiliary staff, used to better manage task force affairs and should not be included in the Command group as outlined by Article II.(whatever).3.
 * 15) Each Bravo Fleet Task Force must be chartered via a singular by-law. The by-law must clearly outline the following:
 * 16) The Task Force number
 * 17) A link to the official symbol for the task force

Section 3 - Affiliates

 * 1) Affiliates shall be semi-autonomous sister fleets within Bravo Fleet that exist in other Star Trek time lines than that of BF main.
 * 2) Members of affiliates, in general, shall have the same rights and responsibilities as BF players as laid out in Article III.1.
 * 3) An affiliate's establishing by-law may indicate which player rights do not apply or apply differently due to the semi-autonomous nature of the affiliate from Bravo Fleet.
 * 4) The commanding officer of an Affiliate shall be considered to have the rank of a Task Force Commanding Officer for the purposes of this constitution.
 * 5) Affiliates shall be created by means of by-law. Such a by-law shall indicate the commanding officer of the Affiliate and whether or not the Affiliate is subject to rulings of the committee known as the Judge Advocate General. A by-law relating to an Affiliate shall be passed or changed in the manner laid out in this Constitution, however, notwithstanding any section of this document, such by-laws shall be subject to a veto by the relevant Affiliate CO.

Section 4 - Sister Fleets

 * 1) Sister Fleets are defined as fleets wish to ally with and have an official close working relationship with Bravo Fleet yet still remain an independent agency from Bravo Fleet.
 * 2) Members of Sister Fleets do not fall under the scope of the Bravo Fleet Constitution.
 * 3) A Sister Fleet is free to set their own rules and regulations pertaining to their members. The BFA shall have no authority over operations of a Sister Fleet.
 * 4) The commanding officer of a Sister Fleet does not have any standing within the body known as the Bravo Fleet Admiralty.
 * 5) Not withstanding the above, members of Sister Fleets will be expected to abide by Bravo Fleet guidelines when making use of Bravo Fleet resources. (Such as forums, etc)
 * 6) Sister Fleets shall be managed by means of one bylaw for all that are officially recognized as Sister Fleets, listing the name of their fleet and the URL of their website. In this listing, the Sister Fleet can define the nature of their relationship with Bravo Fleet, including, but not limited to, exchanging links, joint missions, character exchanges, and use of fleet resources.
 * 7) The status of Sister Fleet is a non-binding agreement and may be dissolved by either party at any time.
 * 8) The Sister Fleet's Commander may do so by informing the Bravo Fleet CO and the BFA would then update the aforementioned by-law.
 * 9) Bravo Fleet may dissolve a Sister Fleet arrangement through a vote to update said by-law as directed by Article VII, Section 4.

Section 5 - Bravo Fleet Timeline

 * 1) The fictional timeline of Bravo Fleet operates at a 1:2 ratio of fictional time to real time. This means for every one fictional year that passes, two real life calendar years pass. This policy was first enacted at the beginning of fictional year 2386 on January 1st, 2010. Further timeline advancement follows from that point at the 1:2 progression ratio.
 * 2) The current fictional year as defined above is: 
 * 3) As there are members of Bravo Fleet interested in other eras of Star Trek, Affiliates may be created for gaming in other time periods as outlined in Section 3 above.

=Article IV - Rights and Responsibilities=

Bravo Fleet recognizes and acknowledges that, first and foremost, the organization is an amalgamation of its members. The most important aspect, as well as the most valuable resource is the membership. The first goal of the fleet’s leadership should always be to protect and serve the members, followed closely by a drive to meet their needs and wants as much as possible.

Section 1 - The Members

 * 1) Every member is valuable, and has a right to be treated as such, free of undue bias and disregard. So long as they desire to remain a valuable addition to the organization and do not abuse the right, then every member has the right to be here.
 * 2) All members regardless of rank or position shall be held accountable under the same standards of conduct. All indictments, trials and subsequent punishments will make no distinction between members based on rank, position or tenure within Bravo Fleet.
 * 3) All players have the right to own their own characters, the right to have their characters respected by others, and the right to not have those characters used without their approval.
 * 4) All players have the right to take a leave of absence from their game(s) and/or position(s), without fear of loss of rank, when they have real life commitments to which they must attend.
 * 5) All players have the responsibility to follow the chain of command; questions surrounding the interpretation of rules or any proposals to introduce new aspects to BF canon should be addressed from which ever level in the chain of command a player occupies to the next level and through that following level to the next level and so forth. The chain of command is outlined in Article X.
 * 6) All players have the responsibility of creating original characters which are not established Star Trek characters or relatives thereof, nor already created Bravo Fleet characters or relatives thereof without the permission of the creator of the Bravo Fleet character.
 * 7) All players shall post to any simm in which they are a member at least once per week unless they are on a leave of absence or the simm CO has made other arrangements.
 * 8) All players will refrain from the unsolicited recruitment of other Bravo Fleet members to play on their BF simm or any simm outside of BF.
 * 9) All players will recognize the restraints of Star Trek and BF canon and will not create unusual and atypical classes of ships, types of weapons and alien creatures without the approval of the BFA.
 * 10) A player in BF is allowed to be an active member of no more than 6 simms across BF. Anyone who posts to the simm at least once every 3 weeks is considered an active member of that simm and should be reported in the CO's monthly report. At the discretion of the CO, a player may control or 'own' secondary characters or NPCs on the simm but the player must designate which is his primary character for purposes of promotions, awards, and simm reports.
 * 11) All players who wish to resign their character or position will do so by informing the next person in the chain of command, they will not announce their resignation by posting to a public forum such as the simm mailing list, the BF COs list, the BF Forums and so on.
 * 12) All players will try to resolve any disputes with other players in a respectful manner and will try to resolve them first with the other player and their with the next person in the chain of command before taking action with the committee known as the Judge Advocate General.
 * 13) All players will refrain from starting petitions or spamming mailing lists or other means of communication in order to advance their position on a particular issue. In order to make things manageable for those players who volunteer their time to help run the fleet, all concerns and proposals should be directed through the chain of command.
 * 14) All Bravo Fleet players are entitled to a harassment-free environment, where they are not discriminated against in any out of character environment due to religion, skin color, nation, gender, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, marital status or any other characteristic.
 * 15) All members must agree to the terms of the Bravo Fleet Constitution and as such shall play in any Bravo Fleet simms within the restrictions laid out in this document and shall also enjoy the rights laid out in this document.

Section 2 - Simm Commanding Officers

 * 1) A Simm CO shall be required to complete and pass command academy, develop a website for his or her simm and obtain a crew of 5, in addition to the CO, making a total of 6, before the simm can be declared 'active'. If, after being declared active, any of these conditions cease to be met, the simm shall be declared inactive until such time as the conditions are again met.
 * 2) Simm COs have the right to administer their games as they see fit so long as they do not violate the terms of this constitution and its by-laws. These rights are detailed as follows:
 * 3) The right to set the ranks of their crew up to and including the rank of Lieutenant Commander (or its equivalent in marine or alien rank), further promotions shall be approved by the TFCO.
 * 4) A Simm CO shall not lower the rank of a player's character when that player is directly transferring from one BF simm to another without the consent of the player or for just cause.
 * 5) The right to demote or remove players from his or her simm and to set the scope and nature of the plot of their simm.
 * 6) The demotion or removal of a player shall be reported to the committee known as the Judge Advocate General.
 * 7) The right to create an award their players with special citations created by the CO.
 * 8) The sole right to start new missions or significantly alter the plot of the simm unless the CO specifically grants that right to another.
 * 9) The right to set the rating for their simm.
 * 10) The right to determine the gaming environment on their simm. To that end, any effect on one simm taking place in the gaming environment of another shall only occur with the consent of all effected Simm COs.
 * 11) Simm COs shall not permanently damage, destroy, change the class of or provide a change in the specifications of the class, as defined by Bravo Fleet, of their in character ship or starbase without the approval of their TFCO.
 * 12) Simm COs shall not destroy or otherwise do anything to effect any base, ship or other simm that currently exists in Bravo Fleet, including mothballs.
 * 13) Simm COs shall have the final responsibility for recruiting members of their simm and shall do so within the restrictions set by this constitution.
 * 14) Simm COs shall direct any applications to their simm or existing players on their simm which do not attain quality posting standards to an Academy established for training purposes under this constitution or remove them from their simm.
 * 15) No CO shall command more than one simulation in any part (defined below) of Bravo Fleet.
 * 16) Notwithstanding the above, a CO may command a non-Starfleet simulation in addition to their Starfleet command, or vice versa, in each part (defined below) of Bravo Fleet. The following condition(s) must be met:
 * 17) Twelve months of active command experience.
 * 18) Active growth and steady mission progression in current (Starfleet or non-Starfleet) simulation.
 * 19) Bravo Fleet main and each affiliate are defined as distinct "parts" of Bravo Fleet.
 * 20) No player shall command more than three simulations Bravo Fleet wide (defined below).
 * 21) Bravo Fleet wide is defined as Bravo Fleet main and all of its affiliates, as a single unit.
 * 22) Simm COs shall file a monthly report to their TFCO, in the form prescribed by their TFCO, no later than the 4th of each month.
 * 23) A Simm CO that resigns from his or her position(s) shall be barred from taking a new command in BF for 90 days in order to allow for a "cooling off" period during which the player can re-evaluate his or her ability to command. Should a Simm CO resign in a public area, as is prohibited by the constitution, an additional 6 months shall be added to the cooling off period. Affiliate COs will add players to the ban list in the event that a CO resigns a command in an Affiliate. If the CO in question has two commands at that time and retains his/her BF main command, the second existing command is not effected, however the restrictions would apply to any attempts to obtain a new command.
 * 24) Notwithstanding the above, a Simm CO may rescind his or her resignation within 24 hours and face no penalty.
 * 25) Notwithstanding any provisions in the by-laws restricting the command of certain types of vessels, a TFCO may award command of a simm to the XO or another crew member when a CO resigns or is removed. Such a CO will be required to complete any requirements laid out in this section, if they are not already completed, immediately after his/her assuming the role of CO.

Section 3 - Task Force staff members

 * 1) Task Force staff members shall assist the TFCO in the administration of the Task Force as defined by this constitution in Article 2, Section 1, its by-laws and the TFCO himself or herself.
 * 2) Notwithstanding any other role a member of a TF staff may have in Bravo Fleet, he or she will be primarily charged with his or her TF staff role and will be subject to his or her TFCO for the purposes of the chain of command.

Summary of TFCO responsibilities
In general, the Task Force Commanding Officer (TFCO) is the in character and administrative or OOC leader of their task force. The COs of the Task Force can look to their TFCO for guidance and advice, and expect from their CO a person who will listen to them with all matters concerning their individual simms

Specific TFCO responsibiilites

 * 1) TFCOs shall be a member of the BFA and shall not occupy any other BFA-level position except on an acting or emergency basis until a qualified person for the position can be found.
 * 2) TFCOs have the right to reject any applications for players or COs coming to his or her TF. Any rejected applications will be forwarded to the Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff to determine whether or not to wholly reject them, pass them to another Task Force, or to send them to the BF Academy.
 * 3) TFCOs have the right to administer their Task Force as they see fit, including the right to chose their own TF staff, within the confines of this constitution and its by-laws.
 * 4) TFCOs have the right to vote on all matters that come before the Bravo Fleet Admiralty, in casting these votes a TFCO shall take into account not only his or her opinion on the matter but also the interests of his or her Task Force which he or she represents on the BFA.
 * 5) TFCOs may create an operational plan for their Task Force which shall be approved by their staff and ratified by the Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff.
 * 6) TFCOs have the responsibility to work closely with their TFXO (and, if applicable TF2XO) who should be treated as a TFCO-in-waiting and trained and educated as such.
 * 7) TFCOs have the responsibility to build and maintain a website for their Task Force.
 * 8) TFCOs have the responsibility to advertise for their Task Force, and to assist in the recruiting of new players for simms within the Task Force.
 * 9) TFCOs have the responsibility to bring to the attention of the BFCoS any and all suggestions and ideas made by members of their Task Force that have been approved by the TFCO, for possibility of becoming BF canon.
 * 10) TFCOs have the right to give initial approval for major changes to simms (including ships/starbases, technology, and specification alterations) while waiting for final approval from the Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff.
 * 11) TFCOs have the responsibility to attend any Fleet Staff meetings when held, unless other arrangements are made.
 * 12) TFCOs have the responsibility to encourage COs to participate in Bravo Fleet by setting a good example. This includes sending news articles, HoH submissions, IRC, MBs, and voting for BF.
 * 13) TFCOs have the responsibility to participate on the Fleet Staff mailing list and in the Fleet Staff forums to the best of their ability.
 * 14) TFCOs have the responsibility to keep the BFCoS and the Fleet CnC updated on any simm changes in their Task Force.
 * 15) TFCOs have the responsibility to ensure that training is provided for all new Simm COs within their Task Force.
 * 16) TFCOs have the responsibility to add COs they have removed or who have resigned to the CO probation list and note the circumstances of their depature. A TFCO also has the right to refer a CO who has resigned to JAG if he/she feels the circumstances of the departure merits a longer probation than the standard defined in the constitution.

Section 5 - Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff

 * 1) The Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff shall be a member of the BFA and shall not occupy any other BFA-level position except on an acting or emergency basis until a qualified person for the position can be found.
 * 2) The Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff shall maintain regular contact with and shall be easily accessible to the TFCOs within the Fleet to provide guidance or advice.
 * 3) The Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff is responsible for keeping up-to-date on matters within the Task Forces.
 * 4) The Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff has the right to take authoritative action in the task forces on an as needed basis in exceptional circumstances. In general, these circumstances are defaulted to major changes in task force canon, major changes to Bravo Fleet canon, or changes to the entirety of the task force with which the player base disagrees. In all these matters, however, the BFCO will have the final decision.
 * 5) The Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff shall provide training and mentoring to the TFCOs under their command as required.
 * 6) The Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff shall receive any requests brought to them by a TFCO whether these are request from the TFCO for changes in the Task Force or a request passed to the TFCO through the chain of command that the TFCO is unable to resolve. These requests shall be addressed in the following matters:
 * 7) Approve
 * 8) Reject with reason
 * 9) Refer to the BFCO or BFXO for approval or rejection
 * 10) Refer to the BFA or a committee of the BFA for further review
 * 11) The Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff shall attend Fleet Staff meetings when held.
 * 12) Encourage COs to participate in Bravo Fleet by setting a good example. This includes sending news articles, HoH submissions, IRC, MBs, and voting for BF.
 * 13) Keep BFCO updated on any matters as required.
 * 14) The Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff shall perform other such duties as delegated to them by the BFCO, the BFXO, or the BFA by by-law.

Section 6 - Bravo Fleet XO

 * 1) The Bravo Fleet Executive Officer (BFXO) shall be a member of the BFA and serve as its vice-chair and shall not occupy any other BFA-level position except on an acting or emergency basis until a qualified person for the position can be found.
 * 2) The BFXO will act, on an "as needed" basis, as mediator upon any disputes on transfer requests within the fleet.
 * 3) The BFXO will coordinate with the Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff on keeping the Bravo Fleet Management System and fleet mothballs lists up to date, in order to make ship requests and transfers smooth and coordinated. This will also maintain an accurate list of simm locations.
 * 4) In the event of an LOA or unexplained absence of the BFCO during which the BFCO cannot be reached, the BFXO shall act as BFCO until such time as the BFCO returns, resigns or is removed from office. In the event of the absence of the BFXO, the person(s) eligible to act for the BFCO in these circumstances shall be determined by by-law. Anyone acting in the capacity of BFCO shall have the full powers of the BFCO, except for the power of executive order.
 * 5) The BFXO shall act as chair fo the BFA when the BFCO is unavailble for routine matters such as calling for a vote on an issue before the BFA.
 * 6) The BFXO shall perform other such duties as delegated to him or her by the BFCO or the BFA by by-law.

Section 7 - Bravo Fleet CO

 * 1) The Bravo Fleet Commanding Officer (BFCO) shall be the chief executive of Bravo Fleet and shall serve as chair of the BFA and shall not occupy any other BFA-level position except on an acting or emergency basis until a qualified person for the position can be found.
 * 2) The BFCO shall have a deciding vote in the case of a tie for matters before the BFA even if he or she has already cast a vote.
 * 3) The BFCO has the final say in all matters brought up the chain of command that do not require a decision of the BFA.
 * 4) The BFCO shall nominate persons to occupy all BFA-level positions, subject to approval of the BFA. The BFCO, when nominating someone in a TF chain of command, is advised to consult with the TFCO to determine the suitability of a person prior to nominating him or her for the BFA.
 * 5) The BFCO may delegate any of his or her powers, save those surrounding executive orders, to other members of the BFA.
 * 6) In the event of an LOA or unexplained absence of the BFCO during which the BFCO cannot be reached, the BFXO shall act as BFCO until such time as the BFCO returns, resigns or is removed from office. In the event of the absence of the BFXO, the person(s) eligible to act for the BFCO in these circumstances shall be determined by by-law. Anyone acting in the capacity of BFCO shall have the full powers of the BFCO, except for the power of executive order.
 * 7) The same procedure shall be used to determine the person who shall become BFCO in the event of the resigination or removal of the BFCO. Persons in line to become BFCO may opt to decline the position in which case the next available and willing person shall become BFCO.

Section 8 - Other roles

 * 1) A Bravo Fleet Operations Coordinator shall be a voting member of the BFA. This position will entail the following duties: Coordinating all Out of Character Operations of the Bravo Fleet Community this means working with the positions deemed necessary by the BFA (see By-Law #24). Those members will make up the BF Operations Staff. BF JAG remains a separate independent body of the fleet.
 * 2) While the Operations Officer is a member of the Senior Staff, it falls outside of the chain of command and succession. The Operations Officer shall have no direct authority over non-OPS personnel.
 * 3) The Operations Officer will be charged with the direct oversight of the activities of the various divisions of the Operations department. The OPS will appoint or remove, as needed, responsible Bravo Fleet Members to the positions above after conferring with the Bravo Fleet CO and Bravo Fleet XO.
 * 4) Members of the Bravo Fleet Operations Staff will submit monthly reports of progress to the Bravo Fleet Operations Officer. In turn, the Bravo Fleet Operations Officer will seek opinions, suggestions, and advice from  the Operations Staff and bring them before the full BFA as needed. Bravo Fleet Ops will make progress reports to the BFA at least once every three months.
 * 5) All new BF Operations staff positions will be voted on by the BFA, and require a 50% majority in order to pass. The position will then be filled by the BF Operations Officer.
 * 6) By by-law, the BFA may create other such positions as necessary for the administration of the fleet and may designate any such individuals as non-voting members of the BFA.

=Article V - Bravo Fleet Admiralty=

Section 1 - Membership

 * For a complete list of current members, please see Bravo Fleet Admiralty


 * 1) The Bravo Fleet Commanding Officer (BFCO) shall be the chair of the Bravo Fleet Admiralty and will have full voting rights.
 * 2) The Bravo Fleet Executive Officer (BFXO) shall be the vice-chair of the Bravo Fleet Admiralty and will have full voting rights.
 * 3) The Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff (BFCoS) shall directly oversee both divisions as a member of the Bravo Fleet Admiralty and will have full voting rights.
 * 4) Each commanding officer of a Task Force established by by-law shall be a member of the Bravo Fleet Admiralty and will have full voting rights.
 * 5) Each commanding officer of an Affiliate established by by-law shall be a member of the Bravo Fleet Admiralty and will have the right to vote on matters affecting his or her Affiliate or the Affiliates in general.
 * 6) Any other person designated a member of the Bravo Fleet Admiralty by by-law shall be a member but will not have the right to vote.
 * 7) Membership on the BFA does not automatically grant the member any moderator/administrator powers on the BF Forums, BF Wiki or elsewhere in the fleet unless it is required or where it is applicable.

Section 2 - Powers

 * 1) The BFA shall have sole authority to permanently pass and amend the by-laws and amend the constitution of Bravo Fleet.
 * 2) All matters before the BFA will be decided by a simple majority (>50%) vote, except as defined elsewhere in this constitution or by by-law.
 * 3) The BFA shall determine what constitutes BF canon.
 * 4) The BFA shall have the power to remove any of its members from office.
 * 5) The removal of the BFCO shall be determined by a 75% majority vote of the rest of the BFA.
 * 6) The removal of any other member of the BFA shall be determined by a 66% majority vote of the rest of the BFA.
 * 7) Any vote to remove a member of the BFA shall be deemed to be null and void if the BFA member affected is on an authorized LOA.
 * 8) The BFA may delegate any of its powers to a committee by by-law.
 * 9) A BFA member does not cast a ballot in any other non-removal vote directly involving themselves. (Such as position appointments)

=Article VI - Judge Advocate General=

Section 1 - The Judge Advocate General Corps

 * 1) The Staff Judge Advocate General, or JAGCO, shall be chair of the JAG Corps. The position is a partial voting member of the Bravo Fleet Admiralty, able to vote on constitutional changes and any other matters directly relating to JAG.
 * 2) The Staff Judge Advocate General appoints to the Corps members as he sees fit to assist in the work of the court. Two JAG Advisors, one serving as Investigator and the other serving as Defender, will be appointed by the Staff JAG for six-month terms.
 * 3) The Staff JAG shall choose either the investigator or the defender to serve as Acting Staff Judge Advocate General in the case of a leave of absence by the Staff JAG. The Acting Staff JAG shall have all powers of the Staff JAG except the power to appoint permanent staff; any staff appointed by the Acting Staff JAG may be removed at will by the Staff JAG on his return.
 * 4) The Judge Advocate General Corps convenes to determine the guilt or innocence and appropriate punishment of a member accused of misconduct by his superiors.
 * 5) Any member may issue a complaint to the Judge Advocate General requesting an investigation. All investigations will be conducted by the Judge Advocate General Corps unless otherwise decreed by the Bravo Fleet Commanding Officer or Staff JAG.
 * 6) The Judge Advocate General Corps is dependent on the timely administration of all aspects of every case. The Staff JAG must be available on a regular basis. Provisions for his absence must provide for alternative methods of contact and the use of the JAGs to administrate the Corps. The Staff JAG must be aware of his important role in the Fleet and should resign if time constraints keep the court on a constant delay.
 * 7) The rules within the UCMJ exclusively govern all JAG proceedings. No reference made to any outside rule of law will be honored.

Section 2 - Rights of the Accused

 * 1) Members accused of a violation of these articles shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty, and no right granted by the UCMJ may be revoked without due process.
 * 2) All members shall have the right to remain silent, and not offer incriminating evidence against themselves.
 * 3) All members shall be offered the right to assistance from members of the Fleet in assisting to defend them. The choice by default is the Defese JAG Advisor, though the defendant possesses the right to seek aid from any parties willing to assist in their defense.
 * 4) All members are guaranteed freedom from punishments ex post facto.
 * 5) All members are afforded the right to choose between a Trial by JAG or a Trial by Jury in their case as detailed in the following sections. The court shall not choose for them, unless the defendant refuses to select for themselves.
 * 6) All members are afforded the right to use the appropriate appeals process as described in the following sections.
 * 7) Members may not be convicted on evidence presented through hearsay testimony. Prosecution may only be based on emails, logs and other documents detailing the infringement as it occurred.
 * 8) All members shall have the right to know what charges are being laid against them, in addition to what penalties the prosecution is seeking to have placed against the defendant in the case of a conviction.

Section 3 - Process of Adjudication

 * 1) To begin the process of adjudication, a member must submit a formal complaint to the JAG. The complaint must indicate the parties to the action, must give a brief statement of the facts, and must clearly delineate that the member requires formal action from the Judge Advocate General Corps rather than other action such as mediation. Sufficient for the last requirement are phrases such as "I present a formal complaint," "I officially request action be taken," or an email subject of "Formal Complaint against XXXXX."
 * 2) Once a complaint is submitted, the member's rights in that complaint shall not expire until a full conclusion of the case through trial, settlement or dismissal. The Staff JAG must give the complaining member notice of the finality of the case.
 * 3) The JAG has its own investigatory and complaint powers. The JAG may proceed with its own investigation and complaint at its own discretion without the need for a member submission.
 * 4) After receiving a complaint, the Judge Advocate General Corps investigates the merit of the accusation and informs the Bravo Fleet Admiralty of the commencement of an investigation.
 * 5) The Staff JAG, the Bravo Fleet CO, or a JAG officer, upon receiving a formal complaint, may attempt to mediate the dispute to arrive at a settlement. Attempted mediation does not bar the member from continuing the adjudication under their complaint if mediation fails. At the end of a successful mediation, the Staff JAG may ask for a withdrawal of the complaint or, if three months have passed since the end of mediation without any further inquiries by the complaining member, the JAG may dismiss the complaint himself.
 * 6) If the Judge Advocate General Corps finds merit to the claim, the case will be pursued. The Staff JAG or the Investigator will prepare the slate of charges against the accused. Prior to giving his final approval, the Staff JAG will present the charges to the complaining party, if applicable, and the BFCO for comments. Once a final slate of charges is approved by the Staff JAG, it will be sent to the appropriate parties to the case.
 * 7) The Judge Advocate General Corpse must issue a summary of charges to the accused, and offers the accused the opportunity to enter a plea of innocence or guilt. If they plead innocent, the JAG Corps initiates either Trial by JAG or Trial by Jury, as outlined in the following sections. If they plead guilty, the JAG imposes a sentence. If the member fails or refuses to enter a plea within the stipulated timeframe, the case will automatically move to a trial. A member failing or refusing to enter a plea waives his right to submit evidence on his behalf.
 * 8) For all trials, the accused shall choose between Trial by JAG or Trial by Jury to weigh evidence and determine guilt or innocence.
 * 9) For trials where the accused requests a Trial by JAG, the Staff JAG, with the advice of the JAG officers, will determine the guilt or innocence of the accused.
 * 10) The Staff JAG shall impose sentences with the advice of the JAG officers.
 * 11) No offense in the past will have any bearing on the guilt or innocence of a member in any subsequent case. However, the Staff JAG, in determining the punishment for a guilty member, may consider the prior record of the accused to include convictions. No acquittal shall be used in the consideration of punishment for current offenses.
 * 12) Upon conclusion of the trial, the Staff JAG shall post the results in a JAG Corps Communique. This Communique shall contain a summary of the trial, the result, and the Staff JAG's opinion. For cases decided by Staff JAG, this opinion shall contain official explanation for the JAG staff's decision. For cases decided by jury, it will contain the reasons for the specific sentence and any other comments the JAG wishes to include.
 * 13) If the member is acquitted of all charges, the accused member may not be retried for the offense that was acquitted, even upon the revelation of new evidence, unless the verdict was delivered through a miscarriage or defamation of the judicial process as determined by the Appeals Panel. This does not apply to admissions of guilt. Any member that admits guilt post-trial may be re-tried and sentenced per that admission.
 * 14) The Judge Advocate General Corps shall keep records on the members for use in cases of repeat offenses. In addition, the Staff JAG is responsible for archiving and protecting all JAG Corps information for future reference.
 * 15) Statute of Limitations: All complaints must be received within three months of the discovery of the underlying event or else they will be dismissed as time-barred. If the complaint is derived from a series of events, the three month time period will begin tolling from the last known event
 * 16) The Staff JAG, with approval from the BFCO, may summarily dismiss charges regardless of the stage in the proceedings. Charged that have been so dismissed are not barred from retrial through double-jeopardy.

Section 4 - Juries

 * 1) The Jury consists of one member of the Bravo Fleet Admiralty and four other random members with at least 9 months of service in the fleet. In addition, two alternates will be selected in case a juror recuses himself or is absent without leave. The BFCO shall independently verify that the jury was selected at random.
 * 2) No Member may sit on a Jury deciding his own case.
 * 3) Jury members should recuse themselves from the trial if they feel they cannot judge the action impartially
 * 4) The burden of the Jury will be to reach an majority decision on the innocence or guilt, supported by a preponderance of the evidence, of the accused on each charge presented.
 * 5) The accused may waive his right to review by the Jury, choosing deliberation by the JAG instead.
 * 6) The Jury will vote on the guilt or innocence of the member only. The punishment is determined by the Staff JAG as based on the laws of the Fleet and previous precedent. However, in cases where expulsion is a possibility, the Staff JAG will convene a new Jury (consisting of the same make-up of five members) to vote on whether the charges warrant expulsion. A unanimous vote will result in expulsion.
 * 7) All Juries must give logs and emails of all deliberations on the decision to the Staff JAG for archiving

Section 5 - Appeals Panel

 * 1) An Appeals Panel will exist to examine all issues brought by appellants. The Panel consists of three active members selected from amongst the Fleet, each with at least 1 year of service in the fleet. The Staff JAG will have a brief application and investigation period to obtain members who wish to participate and will be positive additions to the Panel. After the selections are made, the three Panel members will serve non-consecutive six month terms.
 * 2) If the defendant or prosecution feels that an error has been made, he can write an appeal and present it to the Staff JAG, who will in turn bring it before the Appeals Panel. Appeals cannot be trivial in nature, and must specifically point to the error(s) made. The appellant must find either an issue arising from Bravo Fleet documents (the Constitution, By-Laws, Executive Orders, or UCMJ) or judicial process error.
 * 3) If a defendant or the Defender (acting as defense counsel) finds fault with a procedural or documentary issue while the trial is on-going, they may either bring that issue to the immediate attention of the Appeals Panel, who will expedite a ruling on that single issue, or (if that is not possible) they may make note of the issue during the case so it will automatically be brought before the Appeals Panel post-decision.
 * 4) Once an appeal is accepted, the Panel will examine the case and debate the points brought by the appellant. The Panel will only examine the written appeal to make its decision taking into account the deliberation logs and emails, the original case statements and any other document relating to the case. The Panel must reach a unanimous decision to overturn the original court’s decision, any stalemate or lack of unanimous vote will cause the decision to stand.
 * 5) If the panel finds in favor of the appellant, a new jury is assembled and the case is re-tried, being sure to instruct the new jury of the appealed issues to ensure they are not repeated. If the defendant is found guilty in the second trial, he/she does not have a right to an appeal; they are immediately put before the JAG for sentencing.

Section 6 - Specific Articles of Conduct and Reprimand

 * 1) These articles of conduct and reprimand do not limit the authority of the JAG. The term “Fleet proceeding,” as used in this section refers to actions taken under the documents of the fleet (the Constitution, By-Laws, Executive Orders, or UCMJ), including, but not limited to, any executive action by the Bravo Fleet CO, any action by the Bravo Fleet Admiralty, or any judicial action by the Judge Advocate General Corps.
 * 2) Discrimination: No member shall discriminate against another member in regards to promotions, medal awards, praise and acknowledgement, or positions on the basis of real-life political affiliation, gender, race, color, age, disability, creed, heritage, nationality or sexual orientation.
 * 3) Crude Behavior: No member shall engage in crude behavior in any mode of communication. Crude behavior includes, but is not limited to: the excessive use of swear words; provocative speech; excessive sexual discussions; and unabated insults toward another’s real-life political affiliation, nationality, gender, race, color, age, disability, creed, heritage, or sexual orientation.
 * 4) Abuse of Power: No member shall use their position, rank, tenure or any other membership status to unfairly benefit themselves or others with rewards or promotions; or to unfairly influence any Bravo Fleet proceeding.
 * 5) Verbal Abuse: No member shall engage in the excessive verbal abuse of another, including, but not limited to: insults regarding a member’s real-life political affiliation, gender, race, creed, heritage, nationality or sexual orientation; character assassination; or unjust use of Bravo Fleet resources to attack another through defamatory statements.
 * 6) Disreputable Behavior: No member shall partake in any action that brings disrepute onto themselves, the Fleet as a whole, or any Task Force, Simm, or individual member. Actions include those done by a member, either within or outside traditional Bravo Fleet activities and communication channels, that reflect on the above parties, such as: treason, acts to sabotage, stealing of property, or any conduct forbidden by these articles.
 * 7) Plagiarism: No member shall submit any plagiarized work as his own or fail to give appropriate credit to the author of any work.
 * 8) Tampering with Evidence: No member shall forge, alter or otherwise tamper with evidence to be used in any Bravo Fleet proceeding.
 * 9) False Statements: No member shall make false statements with the intent to change the outcome of a Bravo Fleet proceeding.
 * 10) Harassment: No member shall engage in persistent harassment or torment, or outrageous attacks on any other member. This includes statements and actions taken to attack a member’s real-life political affiliation, family or significant other, gender, race, color, age, disability, creed, heritage, nationality or sexual orientation. This article extends to cover harassment through the distribution of personal information, the creation of groups or modes of communication for the purpose of attacking the member, and unwanted contact with the member through non-internet means of communication. Harassment punished under this article must be to the extent and of the form that would injure a reasonable person of normal sensibilities; mere mocking does not suffice.
 * 11) Hacking: No member shall access, modify or delete content of a Bravo Fleet website without authorization.
 * 12) Mutiny and Sedition: Willful intent to override, overthrow or disrupt the effective operation of parts of Bravo Fleet, either alone or with other parties.

Section 7 - Penalties

 * 1) Penalties may only be administered within the processes outlined in the Constitution.
 * 2) The JAG has the authority to issue public and private Official Letters of Reprimand.
 * 3) The JAG has the authority to impose upon the members a specific period of probation. During a probationary period, the member can not receive promotions above the rank of Lieutenant Commander, appointment to position, or any citation or honor of merit without the explicit permission of the Staff JAG.
 * 4) The JAG has the authority to rescind access to any or all official BF communications mediums including the main forums, TF forums, and the BF IRC channel.
 * 5) The JAG has the authority to revoke medals and citations awarded to the member in whole or in part.
 * 6) The JAG has the authority to impose any demotion of rank.
 * 7) The JAG has the authority to recommend removal from any in character or out of character position.
 * 8) The JAG has the authority to impose suspension or expulsion from the Fleet.

Section 8 - Order of Advanced Incarceration

 * 1) The Bravo Fleet CO or Staff JAG is entitled to special executive powers in times of crisis, when the security of the Fleet is at risk, or when a member has become an immediate threat to themselves or other members. The BFCO or Staff JAG may enact an Order of Advanced Incarceration pending the trial of the accused which allows him to suspend the accused from all positions within the Fleet, deactivate the accused member’s accounts and remove access to any databases, ban the accused from all Fleet IRC Channels or other related communications media, or enact other forms of control not listed here to ensure the security of the Fleet.
 * 2) Because an Order of Advanced Incarceration can immediately assign assumed guilt to the member, it should be used with caution and as a last resort.
 * 3) Upon such an order, the Appeals Panel must immediately convene and determine the order’s necessity. Should the panel deem such an order inappropriate by a unanimous vote, they may override the Bravo Fleet CO or Staff JAG and nullify the order. Otherwise, the order will stand until the end of the trial or until the threat has passed as determined by the Bravo Fleet CO or Staff JAG.
 * 4) In cases of otherwise unavoidable, immediate grave danger; any other member of the Bravo Fleet Admiralty may impose such measures for a non-extendable period of a maximum of 24 hours. He must immediately inform the BFCO and Staff JAG of this action and will be held accountable by the JAG Corps for any abuse of this power.

=Article VII - Executive Orders=


 * Please see Bravo Fleet Executive Orders for currently enacted Executive Orders


 * 1) The BFCO, or the acting BFCO (who was placed into that position by the BFCO), may make temporary changes to the constitution and by-laws by means of executive order when urgent action is required.
 * 2) Any executive order shall be referred immediately to the BFA for consideration as a permanent change.
 * 3) All executive orders shall expire under whichever of the following conditions comes first: the BFCO revokes the executive order, the BFA adopts the executive order as a positive change or 90 days have elapsed.
 * 4) Should a matter be dealt with by executive order and later be rejected by the BFA, such a matter cannot be dealt with again by executive order.