Honouring the Premier Commissioner's new tradition of verbosity, I propose the following Amendments:
Amendment 1
DEFINITIONS
1. “Medical aircraft” shall refer to aircraft exclusively employed for the removal of wounded and sick and for the transport of medical personnel and equipment
1. "Conflict" shall refer to armed clashes between at least two States, sub-state actors, or other groups, involving the use of weapons of warfare.
2. "Parties to a conflict" shall refer to any belligerent or co-belligerent State, sub-state actor, or other group involved to any extent with any conflict, or supplying or providing by any means and to any extent, any belligerents or co-belligerents with means, materials, manpower, or other resources.
2. 3. “Shipwrecked” shall refer to anyone who is adrift for any reason, including those forced to land at sea or to parachute from damaged aircraft.
3 4. "Wounded" and "Sick" shall refer to military or civilian persons in need of medical care and who are unable or refrain from any act of hostility.
5. "Medical Services" shall refer to persons, organisations, or authorities engaged in the science or practice of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease or injury.
Amendment 2
Remove Article 1
Amendment 3
Renumber Article 2 as Article 1
Article 2 (Article 1 in amended numbering):
Section 1: Members of the armed forces and other persons mentioned in the following Article who are at sea and who are wounded, sick or shipwrecked, shall be respected and protected in all circumstances.
Section 2: Such persons shall be treated humanely and cared for by the any Parties to the any conflict. in whose power they may be, without any adverse distinction founded on sex, race, nationality, religion, political opinions, or any other similar criteria. Any attempts upon their lives, or violence to their persons, shall be strictly prohibited; in particular, they shall not be murdered or exterminated, subjected to torture or to biological experiments; they shall not wilfully be left without medical assistance and care, nor shall conditions exposing them to contagion or infection be created.
Remove Sections, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27.
Section 7 3: Subject to the provisions of Section 1 to 3 of this Article, t The wounded, sick and shipwrecked of a belligerent who fall into enemy hands shall be considered prisoners of war, and the any provisions of national or international law concerning prisoners of war shall apply to them. The captor may decide, according to circumstances, whether it is expedient to hold them, or to convey them to a port in the captor’s own country, to a neutral port or even to a port in enemy territory. In the last case, prisoners of war thus returned to their home country may not serve for the duration of the war.
Section 11 4: After each engagement, any Partiesy to the any conflict shall, without delay, take all possible measures to search for and collect the shipwrecked, wounded and sick, to protect them against pillage and ill-treatment, to ensure their adequate care, and to search for the dead and prevent their being despoiled.
Section 12 6: Whenever circumstances permit, the Parties to the a conflict shall conclude local arrangements for the removal of the wounded and sick by sea from a besieged or encircled area and for the passage of medical and religious personnel and equipment on their way to that area.
Section 14 5: The Any Parties to the any conflict shall record as soon as possible, in respect of each shipwrecked, wounded, sick or dead person of the an adverse Party falling into their hands, any particulars which may assist in his their identification. These records should if possible include:
a. designation of the Power on which he depends;
b. service branch, regimental, personal or serial number;
c. surname;
d. first name or names;
e. date of birth;
f. any other particulars shown on his identity card or disc;
g. date and place of capture or death;
h. particulars concerning wounds or illness, or cause of death.
Section 28 6: The provisions of the present Article do not relieve the occupying Power of its obligation to give both physical and moral care to the wounded and sick.
Amendment 4
Renumber Article 3 as Article 2
Article 3 (Article 2 in amended numbering)
Section 1. Fixed establishments and mobile medical units of the any Medical Services may in no circumstances be attacked, but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict.
Section 3. The provisions of the Hospital Ship Classification and Protection Act of 2020 shall not be superseded by the provisions of this act in case of conflicting ideas.
Remove Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Amendment 5
Remove Article 4
Amendment 6
Renumber Article 5 to Article 3
Article 5 (Article 3 in amended numbering)
Remove Sections 2, 4, 5
Renumber Section 3 as Section 2
Amendment 7
Remove Articles 6 and 7
Amendment 8
*Renumber Article 8 as Article 4
Now, I am aware that this leaves virtually nothing of the Commissioner's hard work. Sadly, this bare bones structure of what he proposes is quite literally all the Empire of Inimicus finds acceptable. His proposal's extensive focus on defining the Red Cross emblem was hugely problematic for such a diverse region as ours, and has therefore been scrapped. I also want to point out that nowhere in his proposals is there mention of the right of prisoners of war, even though this is a cornerstone of the Commissioner's intentions. This would be a good starting point.
As a side note, however, although I wholly appreciate what a nasty business the wrting of legislation is, I find it slightly odd for Commissioner Biden to draft up a pile of nitty-gritty rules, dump them on the Council's table, and tell us to work out for ourselves what to keep and what not to. That is not the way business is done in Europolis and it never has been. Commissioners come to the table with detailed, specific proposals with a clear purpose behind them, and then work with the Council, co-operatively, to achieve their goal. They should not refuse to engage with critical comments from Councillors and expect us to save a bill we do not see fit for purpose. There is no better way to achieve nothing.
Nicholas Benfield
Empire of Inimicus
The Kingdom of Spain