OWL recommends voting $AGAINST$ the at-vote resolution, Repeal: "Concerning Financial Fraud". The Delegate has been asked to cast their vote accordingly.

Please find below the Office's Analysis for an examination of the resolution and the reasons for the final recommendation.

The instant proposal, Repeal "Concerning Financial Fraud", aims to repeal a resolution by Connopolis (better known as Sciongrad) to address the issue of fraud across the World Assembly, by requiring member nations to act to duly prevent fraud and, notably, to compensate victims of fraud with such compensation paid for by the relevant fraudster. The repeal argues that the latter mandate is overly burdensome as it would ostensibly "incentivis[e] fraudsters to retain no material assets before they are caught", and overrides other obligations from the fraudster such as spousal and child support payments. The repeal then argues that the topic is already covered by national law, and that a replacement may therefore be unnecessary.
We find that the proposal nonetheless fails to present a compelling or, frankly, coherent argument for repeal of the target. The possibility of a fraudster spending their money before being forced to pay damages not only ignores that civil damages are widely accepted as a means to address fraud - with the repeal author failing to present a practical alternative other than leaving it up to member nations whether they choose to act against fraud - but is also largely irrelevant: a fraudster who does this will now be burdened by a heavy financial obligation going forward, which may possibly involve them being forced to give up the assets they purchased using the fraudulently earned money. Likewise, we find the point that paying damages may override other obligations unconvincing; nothing in the repeal target specifies that the fraudster's assets are the sole source of such compensation even if none remain after other obligations are paid.
On top of all this, the lack of any replacement, with the repeal in fact seemingly arguing that a replacement is unnecessary as member nations may already address fraud in themselves, makes this repeal difficult to support. We do not wish to inadvertently cause yet another situation similar to what has happened with The Charter of Civil Rights or Rights of Sapient Species, where a repeal passes with a landslide and yet a silence remains with regards to a replacement.

All in all, the Office of WA Legislation cannot in good conscience support this repeal, and therefore recommends a vote AGAINST the current GA resolution, Repeal "Concerning Financial Fraud".

Analysis by The Southern Ice States