United Nations of Kobol

The United States of Kobol Organization, also referred to by its acronym USKO, is an intergovernmental organisation established to promote international cooperation and the rule of law on the planet of Kobol. It acts as the primary representative responsible for presenting a common face to other Eleutherian Union planets for the purposes of intra-EU diplomacy, security, and trade.

Contrary to the terminology used by the Organization (such as "Government of Kobol"), the USKO is not a global government; rather, the Organization is a facilitator for global governance, which it establishes through the proposing and sponsoring of various multilateral treaties between the various USKO member States.

Politics
The USKO's political system is based on three principal organs: the bicameral General Court (legislative), consisting of the multifunctional Council and the Assembly; the Government of Kobol (executive), consisting of the President-General, the various USKO departments and agencies and the civil service; and the courts (judicial).

The General Court of Kobol consists of two houses, equal partners in the legislative process: the Council which sits in different roles depending on the issue at hand, and is composed of ? Councillors (one from each sovereign State, and are chosen by each sovereign State pursuant to their constitution and laws); and the Assembly, which consists of ? delegates that are elected in and from each State under an open-list mixed-member proportional representation system, with the delegation from each State reckoned according to their respective populations.

Council and the Assembly are equal partners in the legislative process — in all cases whatsoever, legislation cannot be enacted without the consent of both chambers.

The Government of Kobol is the executive body of the United States of Kobol Organization and is responsible for submitting to the General Court a budget, ensuring that the laws enacted by the General Court are executed by the member States and generally oversees the day-to-day running of the USKO. The government is lead by the President-General of the USKO who appoints, by and with the advice and consent of Council, the members of the Cabinet and such other officers as provided by law, who ensure that USKO laws and policies are duly and diligently carried out by the several member States. The President-General is appointed by Council, subject to the approval of the Assembly, and serves a two-year term or until s/he loses the confidence of the Council (whichever occurs soonest). As per convention, the positions and policies espoused by the Presidency-General of the day is generally reflective of those espoused by the Government of whatever State from which the President-General is chosen. Traditionally, the Presidency-General of the USKO operates within the framework of unity and consensus governance. Possibly due, at least in part, to this long-standing tradition of an overall adherence to unity and consensus models of governance, the USKO has had a long history of stability since its founding in YYYY, and overall has been among the most stable governmental entities –planetary, national, or otherwise– in the Eleutherian Union.

In addition to its role as a legislative upper house, Council is also charged with the maintaining international peace and security, whereby in addition to its legislative powers, Council is also vested with security-related powers, including the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment and enforcememt of international sanctions, and through the issuance of Security Directives the authorization of military action against a member State or States —and upon the request of the Legislature of a member State (or of its Executive when the Legislature cannot be convened) Council can authorize military action to assist the reqesting State in putting down domestic violence (rebellion, major unrest, etc.) and restoring order, but only upon such request. Council's Security Directives are typically enforced by USKO peacekeepers which are funded as part of the USKO's general budget, or in special situations by the USKO's Global Defense Initiative (GDI is a multinational security force composed of various servicemembers of the militaries of the various member States volunteered by the respective Governments thereof for up to two consecutive years' service in GDI, and the forces so contributed by each State are biennially rotated with replacement forces therefrom; in addition, GDI is funded by its own budget, completely separate from the USKO's general budget).

Of the various judicial Courts of the USKO, the Kobol Court of Justice is the primary Court in the United States of Kobol Organization. Its main functions are to settle legal disputes submitted to it by States and to provide advisory opinions on various legal questions submitted to it by duly authorized USKO institutions, including the USKO General Court. The KCJ has juristiction over two types of cases and controversies: the first being contentious issues between States in which the Court produces binding rulings between States that consent, or have previously consented, to be bound by the ruling of the Court; and advisory opinions, which provide reasoned, but non-binding, decisions on properly submitted questions of international law, usually at the request of the USKO General Court. Advisory opinions do not have to concern particular cases or controversies between States, however they often do.