New Constitution

[Хahar 🤔]

CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF ANTILLIA

Article 1: Parliament
I.   Chief legislative authority in the Republic of Antillia shall be vested in Parliament.
II.   Parliament shall be composed of at least one member from each province, and additional members elected through the mixed-member proportional system.
III.   Parliament shall make no law that is inconsistent with the Constitution.
IV.   Parliament shall elect from among its members a Speaker, who shall only vote if the body is tied.
V.   Any Antillian citizen qualified to vote may be elected to Parliament.
VI.   Parliament shall have the authority to determine the qualifications of its members, and may censure or expel any member with due cause and a two-thirds majority.
VII.   Parliament cannot carry out its duties without a quorum of two-third of all members.
VIII.   Any Parliament that has sat for at least one month may dissolve itself by a majority vote.
IX.   If a Parliament sits for five months, it shall be automatically dissolved.
X.   When Parliament is dissolved, new elections must be held within two weeks of the dissolution.
Article 2: Executive
I.   The head of state of the Republic of Antillia shall be the Speaker of Parliament.
II.   The head of government of the Republic of Antillia shall be the Prime Minister.
III.   The Prime Minister shall be elected by a majority vote of Parliament.
IV.   The Prime Minister must be a Member of Parliament other than the Speaker.
V.   The Prime Minister shall stay in office until a Measure of No Confidence passed by Parliament takes effect.
VI.   A Measure of No Confidence passed by Parliament shall not take effect until Parliament elects a new Prime Minister.
VII.   The Prime Minister shall appoint a Cabinet.
VIII.   One member of the Cabinet shall be appointed Deputy Prime Minister.
IX.   Any Antillian citizen qualified to vote may be part of the Cabinet, except for the Speaker of Parliament and judges in the court system.
X.   The Prime Minister and Cabinet shall execute laws passed by Parliament.
XI.   If the Prime Ministership becomes vacant, the Deputy Prime Minister shall become Prime Minister.
Article 3: Judiciary
I.   The highest court in Antillia shall be the High Court.
II.   High Court members shall be appointed by the Prime Minister.
III.   High Court members shall serve until death, resignation, or removal by a four-fifths vote of Parliament.
IV.   Parliament shall have the authority to designate further courts by law.
Article 4: Bill of Rights
I.   The right to free speech shall not be abridged.
II.   The right to a free press shall not be abridged.
III.   The right to freedom of assembly shall not be abridged.
IV.   The right to petition elected officials shall not be abridged.
V.   The right to freedom of religion shall not be abridged.
VI.   The right to use any language shall not be abridged.
VII.   The right to equality shall not be abridged.
VIII.   The right to a fair, public, and speedy trial shall not be abridged.
IX.   The right to remain silent shall not be abridged.
X.   The right to privacy shall not be abridged.
XI.   The right to freedom of association shall not be abridged.
XII.   The right to vote shall not be abridged.
XIII.   The right to freedom of movement shall not be abridged.
XIV.   The right of workers to organize collectively shall not be abridged.
XV.   The right to freedom from cruel and unusual punishment shall not be abridged.
XVI.   The right to freedom from servitude shall not be abridged.
XVII.   The right to freedom shall not be abridged.
Article 5: Ratification and Amendment
I.   To take effect, this document must be ratified by the Antillian Constitutional Convention.
II.   This document may be amended.
III.   To amend this document, Parliament must approve the prospective amendment, after which a referendum on the amendment will be held.
IV.   The amendment shall pass only if agreed upon by two-thirds of voters and one-third of the population of Antillia.
V.   Amendments shall consist of direct revisions to the text, rather than sections added to the end.

S.A. Khan
April 13, 1991

The process now will be to vote changes to this before it gets ratified. After debate and revision is done, we can move to a final vote; if it passes, we'll finally have a Constitution.

You can add a preamble if you want; I'm not good with soaring phrases.

[Хahar 🤔]

Strike XV.

Otherwise good work.

I really should've worded that better. I meant it as a prohibition of torture and the like.

[Хahar 🤔]

Strike XV.

Otherwise good work.

I really should've worded that better. I meant it as a prohibition of torture and the like.

How about, for want of a better phrase 'cruel or unusual punishment'

Sure.

[Хahar 🤔]

A good skeleton. My first suggestion is to scrap the bill of rights;

We need to have some limits on our power, no? Just because Australia doesn't have one doesn't mean that we shouldn't.

my second to reform the method of appointing justices:

Article 3 Section 2: Justices of the High Court shall be appointed by the Speaker on approval by 2/3 of the parliament

The confirmation process may be a good idea, but 2/3 is too much. 3/5, maybe? And, IMO, having the Speaker formally appoint the Justices is simply a pointless and needlessly complicated ceremony.

Also, Article 2 Section 5: ...or until parliament is dissolved prior to an election.

I like the idea of having the term of Parliament and that of the Prime Minister stay separate. I think they do that in Italy (but don't quote me on it). Under your proposal, who would be Prime Minister during an election campaign?

Article 2 Section 7: The Speaker shall be responsible for the selection of cabinet upon advice from the Prime Minister
Article 2 Section 9: The Speaker shall execute laws as determined by Parliament
Article 2 Section 10: The Speaker may only refuse to execute a law if the Speaker resigns from the post or following a disollution of Parliament

My previous comments on the role of the Speaker stand.

Just some ideas. I'll come up with some more, i'm sure.

Great! I appreciated them, even if I didn't really agree with...any...of...them. But that's up to everybody, not just me.

[Хahar 🤔]

Sounds interesting, though "Parliament of the Republic" is fairly wordy.

[Хahar 🤔]

Call it the National Assembly.

But then this game would be called "Mock National Assembly".

[Хahar 🤔]

Sounds interesting, though "Parliament of the Republic" is fairly wordy.

it is to seperate it from provincial parliaments.

You could have a definitions clause which lists 'Parliament' as the Parliament of the Republic of Antillia, along with some other stuff.

The provinces are only administrative boundaries; as the Constitution provides no limits to its power other than the Constitution itself, it basically establishes Antillia as a unitary state. This can, of course, be amended, but we should wait until we have enough people for meaningful provincial governments (which will probably be never).

[Хahar 🤔]

I like the idea of provinces having real power and parliaments, but those parliaments and their membership being determined by the GM---who should be in the constitution somewhere, actually.

GM=Chief (and probably only) Justice of the High Court.

[Хahar 🤔]

I like the idea of provinces having real power and parliaments, but those parliaments and their membership being determined by the GM---who should be in the constitution somewhere, actually.

GM=Chief (and probably only) Justice of the High Court.

We'll need to put more GM-related stuff in the constitution then.

As for ratification of the constitution, I would suggest this process:

1. Anyone can submit a constitutional plan
-----------submissions close May 12
2. The constitutional convention selects three plans for revision
-----------determined by May 20th
3. Each of the three plans is discussed, debated and modified until all three are returned to the constitutional convention
-----------process finishes by July 1st
4. Constitutional convetion votes on preffered plan
-----------detrmined by July 9th
5. Final amendments made to constitution before ratification
-----------process finished by August 1st

so our baby'll take 9 months to come into reality from conception

basically, i want the process to be as open as possible to as many people as possible, but to have set benchmarks for the completion of each task.

May 12 seems a bit much, how about May 1? Unfortunately, the baby'll have to be premature. I haven't seen any sort of interest from anone else in creating a constitution from scratch.

[Хahar 🤔]

it doesnt have to be from scratch, it could be exactly the same as yours but with the title of Speaker changed. It's fairly clear you'll have a big role to play n the creaion of our constitution.

I don't think we need a month for little changes, then.

[Хahar 🤔]

We need more members...

I've been doing some recruiting. Help out.

[Хahar 🤔]

I like the idea of provinces having real power and parliaments, but those parliaments and their membership being determined by the GM---

^^^

We can extend the principle to local government.

Well, I've done my part. If somebody wants to bang out a separation of powers between the federal and provincial governments, that's fine by me, but I'm not doing it.

[Хahar 🤔]

What should be under the jurisdiction of what?

[Хahar 🤔]

I'd also want a type of local government with national parties involved (ala UK, France etc) not non-partisan ones like in Canada.

That'd be a lot easier for the GM, too.

[Хahar 🤔]

I declare this Constitution approved.

[Хahar 🤔]

I declare this Constitution approved.

Which constitution, with which bits?

If Antillia is to exist, we need a constitution, we do not have one. I'm going to pretty much copy-paste the separation of powers in Australia here, with a few tweaks, and then we can work on them. Eventually, we'll go through everything and come up with a final draft. Your initial draft has been the impetus, but it's not the Constitution.

I know. I was just getting this up again. I'll work on a merger of all the drafts now.

[Хahar 🤔]

CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF ANTILLIA

Article 1: Parliament
I.   Chief legislative authority in the Republic of Antillia shall be vested in Parliament.
II.   Parliament shall be composed of at least one member from each province, and additional members elected through the mixed-member proportional system.
III.   Parliament shall make no law that is inconsistent with the Constitution.
IV.   Parliament shall elect from among its members a Speaker, who shall only vote if the body is tied.
V.   Any Antillian citizen qualified to vote may be elected to Parliament.
VI.   Parliament shall have the authority to determine the qualifications of its members, and may censure or expel any member with due cause and a two-thirds majority.
VII.   Parliament cannot carry out its duties without a quorum of two-third of all members.
VIII.   Any Parliament that has sat for at least one month may dissolve itself by a majority vote.
IX.   If a Parliament sits for five months, it shall be automatically dissolved.
X.   When Parliament is dissolved, new elections must be held within two weeks of the dissolution.
Article 2: Executive
I.   The head of state of the Republic of Antillia shall be the Speaker of Parliament.
II.   The head of government of the Republic of Antillia shall be the Prime Minister.
III.   The Prime Minister shall be elected by a majority vote of Parliament.
IV.   The Prime Minister must be a Member of Parliament other than the Speaker.
V.   The Prime Minister shall stay in office until a Measure of No Confidence passed by Parliament takes effect.
VI.   A Measure of No Confidence passed by Parliament shall not take effect until Parliament elects a new Prime Minister.
VII.   The Prime Minister shall appoint a Cabinet.
VIII.   One member of the Cabinet shall be appointed Deputy Prime Minister.
IX.   Any Antillian citizen qualified to vote may be part of the Cabinet, except for the Speaker of Parliament and judges in the court system.
X.   The Prime Minister and Cabinet shall execute laws passed by Parliament.
XI.   If the Prime Ministership becomes vacant, the Deputy Prime Minister shall become Prime Minister.
Article 3: Judiciary
I.   The highest court in Antillia shall be the High Court.
II.   High Court members shall be appointed by the Prime Minister.
III.   High Court members shall serve until death, resignation, or removal by a four-fifths vote of Parliament.
IV.   Parliament shall have the authority to designate further courts by law.
Article 4: Powers of the Parliament
I.   Incidental powers shall be considered those of the Parliament of the Republic, should those incidental powers be directly relevant to the intention of that bodies' powers, with the advancement of time; those powers not given to the Parliament of the Republic shall remain powers of the provinces.
II.   The Parliament of the Republic shall have the power to pass and enact legislation in the following areas, for the progress of the peaceful and well-intentioned governance, as do Provincial Parliaments; and shall supercede all Provincial Laws should a Legal Disagreement occur:
a.   Trade and Commerce within the Republic and with Foreign Lands, including Tariffs;
b.   Taxation, but not the ability to discriminate between Province in Taxation Affairs;
c.   Borrowing Monies on the Public Credit of the Republic and all Monetary Reserves;
d.   Communications: Postal, Telephonic, of the Internet or other like services;
e.   The Defence of the Provinces and the Control of Military Services;
f.   Shipping, Fisheries and Ports;
g.   Quarantine, Customs, Borders and Immigration;
h.   Census, National Statistics, the running of Free and Fair Elections and Meteorology;
i.   Currency, Coinage and Legal Tender, both in Issuance and Certification;
j.   Units of Measurement;
k.   Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks;
l.   Familial Partnerships and Child Welfare;
m.   Governmental Welfare Support, not to the exclusion of Provincial Parliaments;
n.   The Service and Execution of the Civil and Criminal Process of the Courts and their judgments throughout the Republic and where appropriate, Internationally;
o.   The Recognition, throughout the Republic, of the Laws, Public Acts and Judgments of the Republic and the Provinces;
p.   Colonies, Overseas Territories, and Antillian-administered lands not within the Provinces;
q.   Construction and Maintenance of Inter-Provincial Transport Links, with the Permission of all Relevant Provinces;
r.   Construction and Maintenance of Inter-Provincial Transport Links, with the Permission of all Relevant Provinces;
s.   The Acquisition, on Just terms, of Property, and the Maintenance of Public Lands;
t.   Matters Referred to the the Parliament of the Republic by the Provinces; but not over Provinces that do not Refer to the Parliament of the Republic;
u.   Matters Incidental to the Execution of any Power vested by this Constitution in the Parliament of the Republic, or in the Government of the Republic, or in the Judicature, or in Any Department or Officer of the Republic.
III.   Any other power declared by this Constitution as that of the Parliament of the Republic is an Exclusive Power of the Republic.
IV.   The Parliament of the Republic shall have the exclusive right to make rules and orders with respect to:
a.   The mode in which its powers, privileges and immunities may be executed and upheld, in accordance with all other Articles of this Constitution;
b.             The order and conduct of its business and proceedings.

[Хahar 🤔]

Article 5: Powers Denied to the Parliament
I.   Parliament shall pass no law abridging the right to peaceably hold or express opinions.
II.   Parliament shall pass no law abridging the freedom of the media.
III.   Parliament shall pass no law abridging the right of peaceable assembly.
IV.   Parliament shall pass no law providing or denying support to private institutions on the basis of a religious affiliation.
V.   Parliament shall pass no law requiring an individual to join any organization.
VI.   Parliament shall pass no law discriminating between individuals on the basis of their gender.
VII.   Parliament shall pass no law discriminating between individuals on the basis of their ethnicity.
VIII.   Parliament shall pass no law discriminating between individuals on the basis of their religion.
IX.   Parliament shall pass no ex post facto law.
X.   Parliament shall pass no bill of attainder.
XI.   Parliament shall pass no law requiring defendants to provide evidence at trial.
XII.   Parliament shall pass no law requiring defendants to prove their innocence.
XIII.   Parliament shall pass no law imposing cruel or unusual punishment.
XIV.   Parliament shall pass no law allowing the involuntary servitude of any person to another person or a private entity.
XV.   Parliament shall pass no law restricting habeas corpus, save in time of war or insurrection.
XVI.   Parliament shall pass no law impairing contracts lawfully entered into.
XVII.   Parliament shall pass no law providing for the use of eminent domain, save for a public use and upon payment of fair compensation.
Article 6: Rights of the Citizenry
All persons born in Antillia of lawful residents, all persons who are citizens of Antillia at the adoption of this Constitution, and such other persons naturalized in accordance with the laws of Parliament shall be citizens of Antillia and, subject to such restrictions as are necessary for those not yet of full age or otherwise not fully competent to handle their own affairs, shall have the following rights:
I.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to petition public officials.
II.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to their own culture and language.
III.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to an impartial, speedy, and public trial.
IV.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to trial by jury in all criminal or civil cases except where the maximum penalty or judgment is less than one-tenth of the annual wages of a person employed full time at a job paying the minimum wage.
V.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to be secure in their persons, papers, and places, save in case of imminent danger or upon a warrant issued for probable cause specifying each person, paper, or place to be searched or secured.
VI.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to competent counsel of their choice in any criminal proceeding.
VII.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to vote by secret ballot.
VIII.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to collectively organize for any peaceable purpose.
IX.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to travel to or reside in any place, whether domestic or foreign.
X.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to own property, both real and personal, on an individual, family, or corporate basis.
XI.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work, and to protection against unemployment.
XII.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to equal pay for equal work.
XIII.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for themselves and their families an existence worthy of human dignity, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and supplemented by other means of social protection in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, death of a spouse, old age, or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond their control.
XIV.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to equal opportunity to employment in the public service in any capacity for which they are qualified to serve.
XV.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of their interests.
XVI.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
XVII.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to marry and to found a family, but only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
XVIII.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to education, which shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
XIX.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
XX.   Citizens of Antillia shall have the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which they are the author.
Article 7: Ratification and Amendment
I.   To take effect, this document must be ratified by the Antillian Constitutional Convention.
II.   To amend this document, Parliament must approve the prospective amendment, after which a referendum on the amendment will be held.
III.   The amendment shall pass only if agreed upon by two-thirds of voters and one-third of the population of Antillia.
IV.   Amendments shall consist of direct revisions to the text, rather than sections added to the end.

August 11, 1991

[Хahar 🤔]

I don't like Article 3, Section II, Clause P; all land should belong to a province. I'd also like a safeguard of the rights of non-citizens, if at all possible.

[Хahar 🤔]

High Court membership needs a specific number I think.  Also I think that the Parlimentary terms should be shortened to either 3 or 4 months to make things a bit more interesting a fluid.  Five months seems a bit long for a term in this game.

Eh, not really. Parliament should be able to determine how big it is, just as the U.S. Congress is to the Supreme Court.

Remember that in a parliamentary system, parliaments rarely finish their full term.

[Хahar 🤔]

High Court membership needs a specific number I think.  Also I think that the Parlimentary terms should be shortened to either 3 or 4 months to make things a bit more interesting a fluid.  Five months seems a bit long for a term in this game.

Eh, not really. Parliament should be able to determine how big it is, just as the U.S. Congress is to the Supreme Court.

Remember that in a parliamentary system, parliaments rarely finish their full term.

On the second thing yea thats true but what do you mean the congress can determine the size of the supreme court?  It has been for a very long time at a steady nine members, the last time someone tried to change it was FDR with his infamous "court packing" episode.

But it steadily grew before that as the nation expanded.

[Хahar 🤔]

High Court membership needs a specific number I think.  Also I think that the Parlimentary terms should be shortened to either 3 or 4 months to make things a bit more interesting a fluid.  Five months seems a bit long for a term in this game.

Eh, not really. Parliament should be able to determine how big it is, just as the U.S. Congress is to the Supreme Court.

Remember that in a parliamentary system, parliaments rarely finish their full term.

On the second thing yea thats true but what do you mean the congress can determine the size of the supreme court?  It has been for a very long time at a steady nine members, the last time someone tried to change it was FDR with his infamous "court packing" episode.

But it steadily grew before that as the nation expanded.

True, I was just thinking to ensure continuity it would be best to have a set number

At the moment, we can't possibly have more than one. That'll change if/when Antillia grows.

[Хahar 🤔]

I don't like Article 3, Section II, Clause P; all land should belong to a province. I'd also like a safeguard of the rights of non-citizens, if at all possible.

Basically, the last part is areas that don't count as overseas territories (nor colonies) such as overseas military bases, embassies, etc.

That sounds fine. But I'm against colonies.

[Хahar 🤔]

We need to start sending out PMs to everyone to try and get everyone involved again.

Very true.

[Хahar 🤔]

Well, the dictatorship was a right-wing one, so I don't really know where you're coming from.