by Max Barry

Latest Forum Topics

Advertisement

5

DispatchMetaReference

by Chief justice of the high court. . 1,922 reads.

Constitution of Thaecia



CONSTITUTION OF THAECIA

Article I - The Executive Branch
  • Section I - The Executive branch of government, also known as the Cabinet, shall be composed of the Prime Minister, and its Ministers, as decreed by law or as nominated by the Prime Minister and appointed by a confirmation vote by the Senate; the Cabinet shall at least be composed of a Minister tasked with Foreign Affairs, a Minister tasked with Domestic Affairs, and a Minister tasked with Legal Affairs.

  • Section II - A Minister can be dismissed through unilateral dismissal by the Prime Minister, or through a vote of no confidence by the Senate. The Prime Minister shall also have all regional government powers: Appearance, Border Control, Communications, Embassies and Polls. They shall be able to veto legislation which has not received a two thirds majority and has not been enshrined in law for fifteen days.

  • Section III - The President shall serve as elected WA delegate representing the Region in the World Assembly. The president shall be the Head of State of Thaecia, observing only the Powers of the Prime Minister, when the office of the Prime Minister is vacant. If the President is a WA-waivered nation, they must select a WA citizen to act as Vice President for them, who will assume their role of representing the Region in the World Assembly.

    • Sub-section I - A hopeful WA-Waivered Citizen running for President must select a WA Vice President alongside them to run on a ticket with them. If they do not select a Vice President by the election, they will be disqualified.

    • Sub-section II - The President or nominated Vice President has the authority to represent the region as a whole for matters relating to the World Assembly.

    • Sub-section III - If a citizen acquires more endorsements than the President or selected Vice President, they may be ejected to preserve the power of the President or selected Vice President to be the WA Delegate.

    • Sub-section IV - The President, as WA delegate, has the power to sponsor and propose World Assembly legislation.

    • Sub-section V- If the nominated Vice President resigns, the President must then select a new Vice President. Once the President has selected a new Vice President, they must go to a regional confirmation vote. If they achieve a simple majority, they will become the Vice President, if not, the President must select a new Vice President.

    • Sub-section VI - If the WA-Waivered President fails to select a new Vice President within 5 days, this will be grounds for impeachment, and if the WA-Waivered President's choice of Vice President is rejected three times consecutively, this will trigger an immediate snap election for the position of President.

  • Section IV - The President may call for a snap election in the Upper or Lower Chambers of Congress with the consensus of Cabinet Ministers. Should no majority be found 10 days after an election, the President shall also be allowed to extend the deadline for the formation of a majority coalition in the Senate or House of Commons by up to a maximum of 10 days if no coalition can be formed in time. When this deadline is reached, a snap election shall be held.

    • Sub-section I - A snap election cannot be held when a blocking majority overrides the President and Cabinet decision in a two third majority in both chambers of Congress.

  • Section V - The President and Prime Minister have the legal power to ban in the event of a regional emergency. The Cabinet must give its consent to the President or Prime Minister before this action is taken. The Court has the power to overturn this decision, provided there was no regional emergency.

    • Sub-section I - A “regional emergency” is defined as any situation in which urgent action must be taken to prevent or end a violation of Thaecia’s regional sovereignty.

  • Section VI - The Roleplay Secretary shall serve as Head of Roleplay and run the Roleplay. They shall be exempt from the cabinet. The Prime Minister reserves the right to appoint and fire the Roleplay Secretary. After appointed the Roleplay Secretary shall then go to a confirmation vote within the Thaecian Roleplay, organised by the Electoral Commissioner. Only thaecian citizens who have been officially roleplayers as per the procedures of the Roleplay Secretary shall be allowed to vote on this confirmation vote. Should a Roleplay Secretary confirmation vote occur during an RP reset, those who were in the Roleplay at the point of reset shall have the right to vote.

  • Section VII - The Prime Minister and any other ministers the Prime Minister delegates the power to have the power to sign inter-regional pacts and treaties and the Prime Minister has the power to withdraw from inter-regional pacts and treaties once they've been ratified. Both these actions require Congressional approval in the form of a simple majority vote in the Senate.

  • Section VIII - The following individuals may be impeached with the procedures listed below.

    • Sub-Section I - The President can be impeached when the House of Commons acknowledges an impeachable offense as decreed by law or by a violation of the Constitution. This can be done with a two thirds majority vote in the House of Commons, followed by a two thirds majority vote in the Senate. Following the votes in Congress, the President shall then be sent to an official trial before the High Court. The House of Commons may also hold a vote to send it's own representative to argue in favour of the impeachment before the court, with the representative not needing to be a Member of Parliament himself. If the House of Commons does not choose a representative, it shall be the duty of the Justice Ministry to provide for a state attorney to argue in favour of the impeachment before the court. If the court rules in favour of the impeachment, a snap election is to be held for the Presidency, while there is no official President in office the Prime Minister shall observe the duties of the President.

    • Sub-Section II - The Prime Minister can be impeached when the House of Commons acknowledges an impeachable offense as decreed by law or by a violation of the Constitution. This can be done with a two thirds majority vote in the House of Commons, followed by a two thirds majority vote in the Senate. Following the votes in Congress, the Prime Minister shall then be sent to an official trial before the High Court. The House of Commons may also hold a vote to send it's own representative to argue in favour of the impeachment before the court, with the representative not needing to be a MP themselves. If the House of Commons does not choose a representative, it shall be the duty of the Justice Ministry to provide for a state attorney to argue in favour of the impeachment before the court. If the court rules in favour of the impeachment, a snap election is to be held, and while there is no official Prime Minister in office the President shall observe the duties of the Prime Minister. In the event of the impeachment of the Prime Minister, the Justice Minister will be given a grace period. The grace period shall begin as soon as the Senate begins debating the Prime Minister's impeachment, and ends at the conclusion of the impeachment. During this grace period, the Prime Minister is expressly prohibited from unilaterally firing the Justice Minister, as per their power laid out in Article I Section II.

    • Sub-Section III - A Justice can be impeached when the House of Commons acknowledges an impeachable offense as decreed by law or by a violation of the Constitution. This can be done with a two thirds majority vote in the House of Commons, followed by a two thirds majority vote in the Senate. Following the votes in Congress, the Justice shall then be sent to an official trial before the High Court, in which the Deputy Justice shall take his place as a Justice during his trial. The House of Commons may also hold a vote to send it's own representative to argue in favour of the impeachment before the court, with the representative not needing to be a MP themselves. If the House of Commons does not choose a representative, it shall be the duty of the Justice Ministry to provide for a state attorney to argue in favour of the impeachment before the court. If the court rules in favour of the impeachment, the Justice shall be removed from office and won't be allowed to be appointed to the court again in the future.

    • Sub-Section IV - The Vice President can be impeached when the House of Commons acknowledges an impeachable offense as decreed by law or by a violation of the Constitution. This can be done with a two thirds majority vote in the House of Commons, followed by a two thirds majority vote in the Senate. Following the votes in Congress, the Vice President shall then be sent to an official trial before the High Court. The House of Commons may also hold a vote to send it's own representative to argue in favour of the impeachment before the court, with the representative not needing to be a MP themselves. If the House of Commons does not choose a representative, it shall be the duty of the Justice Ministry to provide for a state attorney to argue in favour of the impeachment before the court. If the court rules in favour of the impeachment, the President shall be required to either join the World Assembly and become the new WA Delegate, or to nominate a new Vice President to serve as WA Delegate.

Article II - The Legislative Branch

  • Section I - The Legislative branch of government, also known as congress, shall be a bicameral legislature. The lower chamber shall be called the House of Commons (also known as the Commons or simply the House) and shall consist of at least seven members of parliament (MPs). The upper chamber shall be called the Senate and shall consist of at least five senators. In order to expand or reduce the number of seats in either chamber of Congress, a motion, requiring two-thirds approval in each individual Chamber of Congress, is required. Following the passage of the motion through both Chambers of Congress, the motion shall be sent to citizens and voted on through a region-wide referendum, requiring three fifths support of voting citizens in order to pass. The expansion or reduction must always result in an odd number of seats in a chamber.

  • Section II - Any bill drafted and proposed by one of the Chambers of Congress must achieve a majority of the chamber's support, before it can go to the other chamber of Congress where it needs to reach the same majority. If it fails to reach a majority in the second chamber, it may be sent back to the first chamber to be amended or scrapped. If it does command support of the second chamber, it will become law.

    • Sub-Section I - A majority shall be defined as:

      1. a simple majority: a majority of at least 50%+1 votes in favour, where abstention will not be counted as a vote.

      2. a two third majority: a majority of at least two thirds of votes in favour, where abstention will not be counted as a vote.

  • Section III -Each chamber will be led by one Senator/Member of Parliament as determined by a vote amongst the chamber representatives. The intern election to determine the chamber leader(s) shall be hosted by the Electoral Commission after the inauguration of the Congress representatives upon the conclusion of a general election and midterm election for the House of Commons. The Speaker of the House and the Chairman of the Senate shall have the power to determine their chamber's agenda. Both roles are chosen by a simple majority vote by the members of the respective chambers.

    In the event in which no candidates are tied for first place, but no candidate has received more than 50% of the votes, a run-off will be held between the candidate who received the most votes and any candidates who received the second-most votes. In an event of a tie for first place between two or more candidates, a runoff will be held between all candidates that are tied, and the Speaker/Chairperson will be chosen by a plurality of votes. In the event in which no candidate has received a plurality of the votes in the runoff, the Electoral Commission shall organize another runoff to elect the Speaker/Chairperson from among the tied candidates. This procedure will be repeated until one candidate has received a plurality of the votes.

  • Section IV - The Leadership of one of the Chambers of Congress can be changed by a 'vote of no confidence' in the Speaker or Chairperson. A motion can be initiated with the support of at least one third of members of a chamber. The debate and voting on the motion shall be presided by the electoral commissioner. The motion must receive a simple majority of the chamber's support. A vote of no-confidence shall be capped at one every 30 days for the Senate, and one every 15 days for the House of Commons.

    • Sub-section I - a constructive vote of no confidence can also be used in the event that a coalition (change) is found to replace a ruling coalition which has lost the majority in congress.

    • Sub-section II - in the event when no majority of the total number of seats is found after at least two rounds of elections for leader of a chamber, the chamber will be dissolved and elections for all of the chamber's seats will be re-organised.

  • Article III - The Judicial Branch
    • Section I - The Judicial Branch will be composed of the High Court, which itself will be composed of three justices: the chief justice and two associate justices.

      • Sub-section I - Justices shall be nominated by the President following a Confirmation vote in the House of Commons with a majority vote. Amongst themselves they shall elect one Chief Justice in Conclave.

      • Sub-section II - The court is under no obligation to accept every case which is filed before it, however must provide reasoning for rejection of a case when announcing the decision.

      • Sub-section III - The court can review criminal charges - where a law has been violated, civil lawsuits - where one resident sues another, or constitutional challenges - where a law or action violates a portion of this document. The court is the only body which can approve a revocation of citizenship.

      • Sub-section IV - The justices on the court shall give their opinions on a case, and the opinion (for example, whether a bill is constitutional or not) with the most votes from the justices shall be the ruling. The opinion considered of the highest quality by the justices will be the majority opinion, and the justices which support it will be listed as assenting justices; the justices who disagree shall be listed as dissenting justices.

      • Sub-section V - Justices have no term limits and their tenures end when they are impeached or resign.

      • Sub-section VI - The Court has the power to unban someone.

    • Section II - If a Justice ceases to exist, they lose their Justice position. If they are revived, they may be nominated again, but do not automatically regain their position as Justice.

    • Section III - The Legislature shall be entitled to create more judicial courts or chambers, these courts created by law shall be lower courts, of which the High Court shall be deemed as the supreme judicial authority.

    Article IV - Constitutional Amendments
    • Section I - The Constitution can be amended by a bill originating in the Senate or the House. The legislation must receive two thirds support in each chamber. Afterwards, the amendment shall go to a regional vote where 3/5ths approval must be achieved.

    Article V - Supremacy
    • Section I - The Constitution is bears the greatest legal authority in the region - all legislation, treaties, et cetera shall be considered less powerful and if they violate this constitution, they should be struck down by the High Court.

    Article VI - Citizenship
    • To be a citizen, residents must be in the World Assembly (WA). This requirement may be bypassed by sending the Prime Minister, President or Home Affairs Minister a telegram from a nation in the WA confirming the non-WA resident is a puppet of the WA nation elsewhere. The waiver may also be revoked by the Justice Ministry, which can be challenged in court if the person whose waiver was revoked feels it was wrong or unjust. One person may have no more than 1 nation as a citizen in this region. If a nation gains their citizenship in the midst of a voting period of an election or referendum, said nation may not vote in said election or referendum.

    Article VII - Rights
    • Section I - All residents are guaranteed the following liberties without government interference:

      • The right to speak their mind, provided this does not breach NS rules.

      • The right to form or join a political party.

      • The right to challenge the government, by means such as no confidence votes and court cases.

      • The right to run for public office and run in elections, provided they are citizens.

      • The right to a due process and a fair and free trial.

      • The right to be a part of regional media.

      • The right to vote in elections, provided that they are a citizen and did not gain their citizenship in the midst of the same election they wish to vote in.

      • The right to personal privacy.

    Article VIII - Elections
    • Section I - Elections shall be held for the Senate, the House and the Prime Ministry and the Presidency.

    • Section II - Elections for the House shall be every two months; elections for the Senate, Prime Ministry and Presidency shall be scheduled for every four months, regardless of if a snap election takes place.

    • Section III - Voting for President and Prime Minister shall be held using the Immediate Runoff Voting (Alternate Vote) system. Voting for the House of Commons and Senate shall be held using the Singular Transferable Vote system. Each political party with 5 or more registered members who are Thaecian citizens shall be allowed to register to be added to the ballot. Independents who are Thaecian citizens shall be allowed to register to be added to the ballot. The Electoral Commissioner shall be given the task of organising this process. The Senate and the House of Commons shall have the authority to call a Congressional snap election, with two thirds of the chamber's support. Snap elections called by the House of Commons do not require the approval of the Senate, and vice versa. A chamber can refuse to have the snap election called upon it, if two thirds of the chamber support a motion to refuse the election.

    • Section IV - If there is no clear successor (e.g. a deputy), an snap election shall be held for elected posts.

    • Section V - Should a Congressperson be recalled or resign, a Snap Election shall be held to fill the vacant seat.

    Chief justice of the high court

    Edited:

    RawReport