Third Constitution of The League
| Third Constitution of The League[1] | |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | The League |
| Ratified | 12 September 2017 |
| System | Democratic Republic |
| Author(s) | Neo polisophos |
The Third Constitution of The League, contemporarily known as the Third LCN Constitution or the Neo polisophos Constitution was the foundational document for The League's third government. The constitution was ratified on September 12th, 2017 after a regional referendum, in which it was ratified 18 to 2.[2]
Contents
Preface
The people of The League of Conservative Nations, wishing to replace their second constitution, which is, at many points, vague, unclear and badly thought, hereby decides to establish a third, new constitution, which shall fix most, if not all of the mistakes left behind in the second constitution.
This constitution seeks to establish the ideal conservative ambiance in The League of Conservative Nations. We despise revolutionaries and reactionaries, for they attempt to destroy all current social structures instead of improving the ones we currently have. The conservatism this constitution defends is mainly the English model of conservatism, also known as classical liberalism. By promoting a wide extension of civil liberties and political freedoms, we strive for the development of a region where any respectful subject can stay, to further develop conservatism via constructive debates on various social matters.
This document reigns supreme, and although it can be altered (a process which is discussed later in this document), the people of this region must abide by its laws.
Heading I - Fundamental Principles
Article I - Citizen Rights
§ 1º Defines citizen as a member of the region who has received the approval from the Department of Defense or its extensions to permanently stay in the region.
§ 2º Defines resident as a member of the region who resided, resides or wishes to reside in the region without a citizenship.
§ 3º All citizens of The League of Conservative Nations have the rights to stay in the region for as long as they desire and to express their opinions regarding anything they have the desire to talk about, as long as abide by NationStates rules and by all applicable LCN laws while doing so.
§ 4º All citizens have the right to vote, run and work in a governmental position.
§ 5º Citizens may participate in whatever group they desire, public or private, as long as said group does not promote terrorism, defamation of other citizens or conspiracies. The group must also not violate NationStates rules.
§ 6º Citizens may communicate with whomever they desire through whatever means of communication they have.
§ 7º Citizens are above their representatives, and shall not be censored by members of the government and its affiliates unless an effective need to do so is presented.
§ 8º Citizens have the right to fair trials and, unless proven guilty for some sort of crime or deemed a threat to the region's stability, their citizenship may not be revoked without due process.
§ 9º Citizens may freely request the government to rescind their citizenship, in which case they may be treated not as citizens anymore, but rather as residents.
§ 10º Citizens have the right to privacy, which is limited by what they keep private, unless a warrant is issued by an applicable party. All public declarations from a citizen, in this or in other regions, are therefore out of their privacy scope.
Article II - Resident Rights
§ 1º Residents have the same rights as citizens defined in sections 5º, 6º and 10º of Heading I, Article I.
§ 2º Residents may remain in the region unless deemed a threat to the region's stability.
§ 3º Residents may not participate in elections, neither voting nor running for a position, nor serving the region as a bureaucrat or a bureaucrat's auxiliary.
§ 4º Residents are under the government and the citizens of the region, having no power over neither of these classes.
§ 5º A resident's promotion to citizen depends on both his request to become a citizen and the government's initiative to approve or reject his request.
§ 6º The government may decide what is required for a resident to become a citizen, as long as the parameters to approve a resident's requests are not discriminating the resident's race, nationality, gender, sexual preference or religion.
§ 7º The Chief Justice may overrule a decision to positively grant a resident citizenship, as long as due justification is presented to do so.
Heading II - Governmental Structure
Article I - Legislative Branch
§ 1º The Legislative Branch is composed of the Regional Senate.
§ 2º The Regional Senate is composed of all citizens who wish to participate in it.
§ 3º All citizens have the right to vote one time in referendums, and decisions are made based on the simple majority.
§ 4º Citizens have the right to create bills, with the exception of Constitutional changes, which have specific procedures. These bills must be submitted to the Speaker of the Senate, who may put them to vote.
§ 5º A citizen has the right to abstain from voting in referendums.
§ 6º All referendums must be open to vote for at least one day, to ensure a majority of the Regional Senate has the opportunity to vote.
§ 7º Any citizen may propose the impeachment of any member of any branch of the government, as long as they present evidence indicating reasonable suspicion that said member has committed a crime.
§ 8º If ⅔ of an impeachment referendum's votes are pro-impeachment, the target officer must be removed from office.
§ 9º If a proposal is unconstitutional or contradicts a law which has already been approved, it is the Chief Justice's obligation to invalidate said proposal.
§ 10º No resident, citizen, bureaucrat or group has the right to force members of the Regional Senate to vote or abstain in a referendum.
§ 11º Citizens are allowed to divulge their projects and opinions through anything except government-specific means of communication, such as region-wide telegrams.
§ 12º Citizens may overturn a President's executive action bill by having the simple majority of favorable votes in a referendum.
§ 13º Citizens have the right to change their votes while a poll is open.
§ 14º The Speaker of The Senate organizes the Legislative, registering proposals, results of polls, political parties, legislative history and documents.
§ 15º To The Speaker of The Senate shall be given the power to create polls to serve the purpose of putting legislation to vote.
§ 16º The Speaker of The Senate serves a Four-Month term, being elected by the Senate itself one month after the latest Presidential Election.
§ 17º New Speakers of The Senate should receive a copy of the anterior Speaker's documents.
§ 18º Amendments to the Constitution shall only be approved if ⅔ of the Senate's votes are in favor of them.
Article II - Judiciary Branch
§ 1º The Judiciary Branch is composed by the Chief Justice and a Regional Attorney.
§ 2º The Chief Justice commands the Judiciary Branch. His functions vary and are presented in Heading I, Article II, Section 7º, Heading II, Article I, Section 9º and Heading II, Article II, Section 16º of the constitution.
§ 3º The Chief Justice must be impartial in his decisions.
§ 4º The Chief Justice is appointed by the President and serves a four-month term. Before officially becoming the Chief Justice, the chosen nation needs the approval of the simple majority of the Senate, in a legislative poll made by the Speaker of the Senate within one day of the appointment. The poll shall last one day. If there are more negative votes than positive votes, the President must choose a new, different Chief Justice immediately and repeat the aforementioned process.
§ 5º The Regional Attorney's job is to defend the regional government and prosecute suspects in court.
§ 6º The Regional Attorney is the default attorney of the regional government, and the government can't select another attorney to represent itself, unless he recuses himself, whereupon a special attorney shall be appointed.
§ 7º The Regional Attorney is appointed by the President in all circumstances.
§ 8º The Regional Attorney may not be chosen as a Defense Attorney under any circumstance.
§ 9º The Chief Justice is the arbiter of judicial cases, the ultimate decision of trials being up to him.
§ 10º The Judicial Branch may be further expanded in documents to establish regional law and judicial procedures.
Article III - Executive Branch
§ 1º The Executive Branch is composed of the President, the Vice-President and the Founder.
§ 2º The President is the region's main figure, commanding his cabinet and guaranteeing the success of the region.
§ 3º The President is the region's chief diplomat.
§ 4º The President can create and destroy cabinet positions, the only exception being the Department of Defense.
§ 5º The President may enact Executive Orders, which are quick decisions to alter the region in some way. Executive Orders must be approved by a simple majority of the members of the President's Cabinet. These Executive Orders must be justified and constitutional. If they aren't, the Chief Justice may strike them down.
§ 6º Executive Orders must not be unconstitutional or contradict already existing law. They must also not alter the constitution. Abuse of this power may result in suspension of this power by the Chief Justice.
§ 7º An Executive Order can be overturned by the Regional Senate with ⅔ of the votes.
§ 8º Presidential terms are 2 months long.
§ 9º A President may serve a maximum of 2 consecutive terms.
§ 10º A President may serve an unlimited amount of terms.
§ 11º The Vice-President is a placeholder who must assume the presidency in case the President is unable to do his job.
§ 12º The Vice-President may optionally supervise cabinet members, aiding the President while he's still able to do his job.
§ 13º The Vice-President may be impeached just like the President.
§ 14º The Founder holds unlimited, unrestricted powers, but is not exempt from this constitution.
§ 15º The Founder may run for a government position and become a bureaucrat, as long as he makes use of the powers granted to the position he was elected to represent only.
§ 16º The Founder has the responsibility to stay active to keep the region safe from invaders.
§ 17º The Founder must not make use of his powers unless he's needed as a last resort to avoid the region's, its government's and its democracy's destruction.
Article IV - Presidential Cabinet
§ 1º The Presidential Cabinet is an extension of the Executive Branch, serving as the President's council.
§ 2º The structure of the Presidential Cabinet is entirely up to the President of the region, with the only exception being the Department of Defense, which must exist to guarantee the region's security.
§ 3º Each part of the Presidential Cabinet must have a Leader, who must command his department and represents his sector when voting Executive Orders.
§ 4º The line of succession is as follows: President, Vice-President and Leader of the Department of Defense.
§ 5º If the President, the Vice-President and the Department of Defense's leaders have been impeached, the Founder must call a new Presidential election, which shall work like normal elections.
§ 6º Leaders of the Presidential Cabinet may be impeached or removed from their roles by the President. In that case, the President must find a new Leader for the Department or simply destroy the Department as a whole.
Article V - Department of Defense
§ 1º The Department of Defense must ensure the security of the region both internally and externally.
§ 2º The Department of Defense is indestructible and must conduct military and investigative operations necessary to make the region safe.
§ 3º The actions of the Secretary of Defense in response to a security threat may be reviewed by the Chief Justice, who may decide whether the actions are justified or not.
Article VI - Impeachment
§ 1º Putting the region in direct danger, involving himself in corruption or abusing his Executive Order powers are impeachment offenses by the President.
§ 2º The process of impeaching the President can be started if the Chief Justice sends a petition to the Speaker of the Senate, presenting legal justification for their request. After that, the Speaker shall make a poll which must last 2 days. If the simple majority of voters is pro-impeachment, then the process shall be fulfilled, with the President being impeached.
§ 3º After the President's impeachment, the events described in Article IV shall be fulfilled.
§ 4º Inactivity, misbehavior and corruption are impeachment offenses by the Speaker of the Senate.
§ 5º The process of impeaching the Speaker of the Senate can be started if the Chief Justice, following legal reasoning, identifies an impeachable offense in the Speaker's conduct. The Chief Justice shall then make a poll that shall last two days. If the simple majority of voters is pro-impeachment, then the process shall be fulfilled, with the Speaker of the Senate being impeached.
§ 6º After the Speaker's impeachment, the President shall elect a temporary new Speaker, whom shall serve until the next normal Speaker of the Senate election.
§ 7º Inactivity, misbehavior and corruption are impeachment offenses by the Chief Justice.
§ 8º The process of impeaching the Chief Justice can be started after the President, petitioned by at least one Senator with legal arguments, creates a poll that shall last 2 days. If the simple majority of voters is pro-impeachment, then the process shall be fulfilled, with the Chief Justice being impeached.
§ 9º After the Chief Justice's impeachment, the President shall elect a temporary new Chief Justice, whom shall serve until the next normal Chief Justice nomination.
Article VII - Code of Law
§ 1º The Code of Law is the region's secondary legislative source.
§ 2º It is the Speaker of the Senate's responsibility to maintain the Code of Law and update it.
§ 3º All legislations made for the Code of Law need not to contradict the Constitution.
§ 4º Bills for the Code of Law shall be passed via a simple majority of voters' approval.
§ 5º The Code of Law's legislation shall have as much effect as the Constitution's norms.
Amendments
Amendment I
Executive Orders can be used to cancel former Executive Orders. That cancellation must be explicitly declared in the proposed document.
Ratified September the 17th
Amendment II
In the event that one Executive Order unconsciously cancels another, the most recently passed Executive Order shall be nullified by the Chief Justice.
Ratified September the 17th
Amendment III
In any case the Speaker of The Senate vacates the office, not by impeachment, the sitting President shall appoint an Acting Speaker of The Senate, who shall serve until the next Speaker of The Senate election.
Ratified October the 25th
Amendment IV
The Department of Defense may be further expanded in documents to establish defense policy, said document must be approved by the President and Chief Justice.
Ratified December the 18th
Reception
I proposed this Constitution myself. My initial intention wasn't to really replace the Second Constitution, but to present a what-if to other residents. The idea was that the previous document was too flawed, verging obsolescence in some aspects (such as the judiciary system, whose People's Attorney was removed in the Third Constitution entirely). The idea was very well-received, and thus began the League's most peaceful Constitutional Convention. According to Icaris' dispatch, this convention took almost three months to conclude its activities, and there's no mystery behind this wait: the Third Constitution was the product of stable times, made possible by the struggles of the Second. With a strong preamble backed by rather explicit ideas and intentions, this Constitution was mainly responsible for putting an end to historically-problematic concepts, such as that of impeachment, which it has an entire article dedicated to, with nine clauses. The stability of the League is confirmed by the article regarding the Department of Defense: with only three clauses, that are mostly repetition from previous documents, this Constitution meant practically no change to the already well-established army — whose leader, Andrew Du, was very important to the Constitutional Convention. Other institutions suffered small tweaks, which could have been passed as amendments to the previous Constitution. But the Third Constitution was a much more symbolic achievement: it was the culmination of the unifying factor that prevailed after months and years of disputes, the confirmation of the changes that the region earnestly desired, the most conservative of the Constitutions.
