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The Constitution of Jordia; Assembly Approval needed.
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Topic Started: Jun 16 2009, 08:20 PM (445 Views)
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Julian II
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Jun 16 2009, 08:20 PM
Post #1
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Constitution of the Kingdom of JordiaPreambleAll the sovereign Nations of Jordia assembled, valuing peace, liberty, justice, and equality, recognizing the necessity of law, do hereby declare this Constitution the supreme law of the Kingdom of Jordia, reflecting the wills, voices, and determinations of the Nations of Jordia and their People. Article I – LegislativeSection I. Parliament
- All legislative power of Jordia and its territories shall be held by the Parliament.
- Parliament shall be composed of a lower House of Representatives and a higher House of Consuls.
Section II. House of Representatives
- The House of Representatives shall be composed of several representatives elected to serve the people for a term of one month.
- The ratio of Representatives to the nations and territories of Jordia shall not exceed one Representative for every ten nations or territories.
- Should the number of nations and territories not fit in to this ratio, then the ratio shall be adjusted to the nearest possible amount.
- Should any vacancy occur within the House of Representatives, a by-election shall be called upon by the Elections Commissioner for the vacant seat.
- Representatives from territories, colonies, or other entities under the direct control of the government of Jordia
- are permitted to propose and discuss legislation, but may not vote on such legislation.
Section III. Speaker of the House -
- The House of Representatives shall elect a Speaker from their House.
- The Speaker of the House
- shall be responsible for the various tasks assigned to them by the monarch and the House of Representatives
- shall have the authority to bring legislation to vote, pass legislation to the Prime Minister, call for special assemblies, and organize committees.
Section IV. House of Consuls
- The House of Consuls shall be composed of various peoples appointed by the Monarch.
- The House of Consuls shall be lead by the Crown Prince.
- The House of Consuls shall not consist of more than five members, including the Crown Prince.
- Members of the House of Consuls shall serve for life or until removal or resignation.
- Should any vacancy occur within the House of Consuls, the Monarch shall appoint a new Consul.
Article II – ExecutiveSection I. Cabinet
- The Cabinet shall consist of the Minister of Interior, Minister of Culture, the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
- Ministers shall advise the Prime Minister and Monarch in every decision it makes.
- Ministries shall be created upon necessity, and given only the amount of authority needed to pursue its purposes.
- Ministers will head various Ministries created by Royal Decrees or Acts of Parliament by two-thirds majority.
- Should no Ministerial Candidate receive a simple majority, the House of Representatives shall vote in by simple majority the Minister.
Section II. Prime Minister -
- A Prime Minister shall be elected by Parliament to serve as the head of the executive branch of government.
- The Prime Minister shall serve for a term of two months.
- The Prime Minister shall have the authority to
- advise the Monarch on any matter concerning Jordia
- appoint the members of Cabinet as well as the Civil Judge.
- deliver legislation passed by Parliament to the Monarch or veto such legislation
- make executive orders that do not contradict this Constitution, any Royal Decrees, or any law passed by Parliament.
- remove Ministers who fail to carry out their duties effectively.
Article III – LawsSection I. Proposing Bills
- All bills must originate in the House of Representatives.
- Any member of the House of Representatives and the House of Consuls may propose bills.
- The proposed law will be debated on by Parliament for a period of 48 hours.
- The writer of the proposed law may withdraw the proposal at any time.
Section II. Voting on Bills
- All proposals will pass with a simple majority vote.
- Tied votes shall be considered as a failure.
- After 48 hours of debate, the proposal shall be voted on by members of the House of Representatives for a period of 36 hours.
- Bills passed by the House of Representatives must then be voted on by members of the House of Consuls for a period of 18 hours.
- Should either House defeat legislation during a session of Parliament, then the bill may not be proposed for a period of two weeks.
Section III. Signing Bills into Law
- No legislation shall be signed in to law without passing through each House.
- Legislation that passes both Houses will be sent to the Prime Minister for signing or vetoing.
- A veto of any legislation by the Prime Minister may be overridden only by a two-thirds majority vote of both Houses of Parliament.
- Should any legislation be vetoed by the Prime Minister for more than two sessions of Parliament, then Parliament may bypass the Prime Minister and deliver to the legislation directly to the Monarch.
- Legislation signed by the Prime Minister shall be sent to the Monarch for signing or vetoing.
- A veto of any legislation by the Monarch may be overridden only by further discussion by the Monarch in Council with both Houses of Parliament. A final vote will be held and the vetoed legislation shall pass with a three-fourths majority vote.
- Legislation signed by the Monarch will become law upon Royal Assent.
Article IV – Judiciary Section I. Civil Court
- Judicial powers of the government of Jordia shall be exercised by the Civil Court.
- The Civil Court shall be composed of a Civil Judge appointed by the Prime Minister.
- The Civil Court Judge shall serve for a term of two months.
- The Civil Court shall have to authority to
- hear all cases between
- separate nations of Jordia
- citizens of separate nations of Jordia
- separate government agencies and citizens within Jordia
- issue injunctions
- rule on constitutional issues that arises during cases.
Section II. Queen’s Court
- The Queen’s Court (Supreme Court) is the highest court in Jordia and the last court of appeal in all cases.
- The Queen’s Court shall be composed of a Queen’s Judge appointed by the Monarch.
- The Queen’s Judge shall serve for life or until removal or resignation.
- All cases forwarded by the Civil Court, shall be under the jurisdiction of the Queen’s Court of Jordia.
- The Queen’s Judge shall have the authority to
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- agree or deny to hear cases and appeals
- rule on cases between agencies as well as issues of high importance as determined by the Queen’s Judge
- issue judicial precedents and injunctions
- preside over impeachment trials in which they are not the defendant
- compile Supreme Court decisions and laws passed by Parliament in to a Public Record of Law.
- The Queen’s Court shall also have the authority to declare null and void any lower court decisions, executive orders, laws passed by Parliament, and treaties or agreements that are contradictory to Jordinian Laws or Constitution.
Section III. High Judge
- The Monarch shall be the High Judge of Jordia.
- The High Judge shall be the highest judge in Jordia and may approach the bench if called upon by the Queen’s Judge to rule on any case brought before the Queen’s Court.
- Any nation may petition the High Judge for
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- a non-binding ruling on a constitutional issue associated with a proposal that is currently going through the Parliament.
- a binding ruling on a Constitutional issue associated with an existing law.
Article V – ElectionsSection I. Eligibility
- In order to be eligible to run for public office one must be a citizen of Jordia or one of her territories.
Section II. House of Representatives
- Elections for the House of Representatives shall be held on the last Thursday of every month; the end of the Representatives term in office.
- During this period all Legislative activity will be brought to a standstill and the House of Representatives dissolved.
- Campaigning and election registrations will begin 48 hours before the Elections are started.
- The Elections will last for 48 hours at the end of which the Elections Commissioner shall announce the winning seats.
- In case of a tie, a by-election will be called for by the Elections Commissioner for all tied candidates.
Section III. Prime Minister
- The procedures for Prime Minister Elections, registrations and campaigning shall be the same as that of the House of Representatives’.
- This procedure will be exercised every two months; the end of the Prime Minister’s term in office.
- A simple majority constitutes a win of the office.
- The Elections Commissioner shall oversee the counting of each vote for the office, and declare the winner of the office.
- The winner of the election for the office shall be inaugurated and sworn in to office by the Queen’s Judge or the Queen.
- All Executive office incumbents shall enjoy the powers of their offices until the new Prime Minister is sworn in.
Section IV. Emergency Elections
- If a vacancy arises in the office of Prime Minister or in the House of Representatives, whether by resignation, removal or inactivity, then Emergency Elections will be called.
- Nominations and Elections will last for a period of 24 hours each.
- All other Government activity will continue during Emergency Elections.
Article VI – Rights and LibertiesSection I. Residents
- A resident shall be defined as a member of Jordia who has not been granted citizenship.
Section II. Residents’ Rights
- All residents of the Kingdom of Jordia shall be granted the freedoms of thought, speech, religion, expression, and belief.
- All residents shall have the right to apply for citizenship.
- All residents shall have to right to peaceful assembly with whomever they wish.
Section III. Citizens
- A citizen shall be defined as a member of Jordia who has been granted citizenship.
Section IV. Citizens’ Rights
- All citizens of the Kingdom of Jordia shall be granted the freedoms of thought, speech, religion, expression, belief, press, petition, and peaceful assembly.
- Any citizen of the Kingdom of Jordia shall have the right to join or create political parties.
- All nations of the Kingdom of Jordia shall have the right to bear arms and form a military for the public defence.
- All citizens of the Kingdom of Jordia shall have the right to own property, and all nations within the Kingdom of Jordia shall the right to establish territories and colonies, without the forceful seizure of their property from the government.
- All citizens shall have the right to adopt, be adopted and to deny a request for the same.
- All citizens of the Kingdom of Jordia shall not be subject to harassment or excessive fines.
- All citizens shall have the right to a fair trial.
- All citizens of the Kingdom of Jordia shall not be subject to torture.
- No citizen of the Kingdom of Jordia shall be forced to quarter military or government officials, neither shall any nation be forced to quarter foreign military or government officials.
- All rights guaranteed to the citizens of the Kingdom of Jordia under this Constitution shall not be nullified by any act of Parliament, executive order, or dissolution of government.
Article VII – MonarchySection I. Constitutionality
- The Monarchy shall be derived from the royal line of the House of Supeveiz, its authority given by only the will of all the People of the Kingdom of Jordia.
- Its authority declared by this constitution can be limited, as seen fit, by unanimous vote of Parliament and majority vote of each Head of State of the Nations of Jordia.
Section II. Royalty
- The Monarch shall be the head of the Royalty.
- Members can be added to the Royalty by the Monarch.
Section III. Powers of the Monarch
- The Monarch has the authority to appoint
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- members of a Privy Council and the House of Consuls.
- the Supreme Court Judge of the Queen’s Court
- Governors of various Colonies when necessary
- the Elections Commissioner
- the Minister of Defence
- The Monarch has the authority to issue titles of nobility, in which such titles are not granted governmental authorities.
- The Monarch has the authority to grant or deny citizenship.
- The Monarch has the authority to grant pardons and reprieves, except in cases of impeachment.
- The Monarch has the authority to call for special sessions of Parliament and to dissolve the House of Representatives, with a special election immediately following.
- The Monarch has the authority to dissolve any Ministry created by Royal Decree, or remove any Minister from a Ministry.
- The Monarch has the authority to propose legislation to Parliament and offer other advice.
- The Monarch has the authority to grant Royal Assent to legislation, or veto legislation.
- The Monarch shall be the Commander in Chief of the Jordinian Military and oversee the Ministry of Defence.
Section IV. Powers of the Royalty
- The members of Royalty shall be Administrators on the forum.
- The members of Royalty have the authority to address all matters on concerning Jordia.
Section V. Royal Decrees
- The Monarch shall have the authority to make Royal Decrees within Jordia.
- Royal Decrees shall be considered equivalent to law.
- Royal Decrees may be overridden by a unanimous vote of both Houses of Parliament.
- Royal Decrees may function outside the Constitution, but such instances must be made clear by the Monarch.
- The Monarch has the authority to withdraw Royal Decrees at any time.
Section VI. Succession
- Royal succession shall be determined independently, without the interference of Parliament or other entities, by the House of Supeveiz, however they deem necessary and acceptable.
Article VIII – The Assembly of NationsSection I. Membership and Representation
- The Assembly of Nations shall be the organization through which national leaders participate with each other and within a simulated government of the Kingdom of Jordia.
- All nations of the Kingdom of Jordia shall be granted membership in the Assembly of Nations.
- The executive leader of each nation shall be appointed as their nation's representative within the Assembly of Nations.
Section II. Assembly Council
- The Assembly Council shall consist of the President, Vice President and General Secretary who shall be the leaders of the Assembly.
- The duties of the President shall be as follows.
- To lead and motivate the Assembly of Nations to achieve its objectives.
- To be the Speaker of the Assembly.
- To represent the Assembly throughout all Jordia.
- The Council and Assembly shall be expected to define Council Procedures and to suggest legislation that they would like to see enacted in Jordia.
- Proposal that achieve at least 15 votes, exempting those of Parliament members, shall be sent to the Parliament for debate and voting.
- The Assembly of Nations is granted only those rights enumerated by this Constitution.
- No act of Parliament, executive order may grant additional rights, or limit the rights of the Assembly of Nations.
Article IX – AmendmentsSection I. Procedure -
- Either through petition of the nations of Jordia of more than ten signatures, or through the prerogative of Parliament or the Monarch, any amendment to this Constitution that receives a simple majority through Parliament and through the Assembly of Nations, and is granted Royal Assent, shall be effective in all the nations of Jordia.
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Her Royal Majesty Julian II, Queen of Jordia
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Glen-Rhodes
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Jun 17 2009, 09:45 AM
Post #2
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I'm a little bit peeved, to be honest. I agree with some of the amendments, but not others. But, we have to either vote for all of them, or vote against all of them.
Namely, I disagree with the amendments to Articles VII and VIII. To be specific, royal decrees should never "function outside the Constitution". This is a ridiculous violation of democratic principles, and there's absolutely no need for it. With this, there's the possibility of a royal decree absolving the Constitution altogether.
I also disagree with Section II of the amendment to Article VIII. The Assembly of Nations, as an essentially sovereign body, should be deciding its own procedures and composition.
Unless the Assembly of Nations is given a vote on each separate amendment, I'm forced to vote against all of them...
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Vanzef
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Jun 17 2009, 06:14 PM
Post #3
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- Glen-Rhodes
- Jun 17 2009, 09:45 AM
I'm a little bit peeved, to be honest. I agree with some of the amendments, but not others. But, we have to either vote for all of them, or vote against all of them. Namely, I disagree with the amendments to Articles VII and VIII. To be specific, royal decrees should never "function outside the Constitution". This is a ridiculous violation of democratic principles, and there's absolutely no need for it. With this, there's the possibility of a royal decree absolving the Constitution altogether. I agree with you on this part.
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"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." - Benjamin Franklin
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Julian II
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Jun 17 2009, 07:49 PM
Post #4
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I understand where you're coming from Glen-Rhodes, which is why I agreed to endorse the earlier Constitution in the first place. But to be quite honest, occasions arise where the safety, and I'm talking literal safety, of the region requires the people to act outside the constraints of law.
The procedures for ammending legislation and the Constitution can take several days as you can see, by which time something detrimental could have happened to/in our region/board. We need to be able to act quickly and decisively at any point in time. Which other office can one expect to trust with such an ability than the Monarch, whose very purpose is to protect the region and it's people? Perhaps the issue here is that I trust monarchs to much? Me in particular..
In any case, I believe that only after you've seen what I've seen and been in the situations that I've been in(in other regions) will you be able to understand how crucial such an ability is. Also, if you didn't notice, decrees can be overridden by Parliament.
As for the Assembly, I didn't want to have no set organisational structure, but I'd be amenable to sending this back to Parliament if there's a great need. But the Assembly can always move to remove it at any time.
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Her Royal Majesty Julian II, Queen of Jordia
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States United as One
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Jun 17 2009, 08:32 PM
Post #5
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Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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Glen, I know how much you want just legislation as the only branch, but the Queen is right, who is to protect the region, and her people? She has limited her powers, and the future Monarchs powers, the older Constitution gave her allot of power.
It did take a long time for the Parliament to pass legislation, that's why it didn't work well in Jordia, but now, this will help laws and bills, and acts to pass much faster.
Your Majesty, we all trust you, we kinda do put to much pressure in you at times, and now I see why you gave up powers, since you also do run many other regions, trust is a big thing to me, and you really do have it, and all the Citizens here, have your trust, and are willing to help.
I think that the Govt. should help the Assembly for a short while, just until the Assembly can get a hold of things, then we can back off from them, and they can do what they want.
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Glen-Rhodes
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Jun 18 2009, 09:34 AM
Post #6
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- Julian II
- Jun 17 2009, 07:49 PM
I understand where you're coming from Glen-Rhodes, which is why I agreed to endorse the earlier Constitution in the first place. But to be quite honest, occasions arise where the safety, and I'm talking literal safety, of the region requires the people to act outside the constraints of law. ... Any imperative powers could have been granted easily through an act of parliament. If a Constitutional amendment was absolutely necessary, the powers could have been clearly written. This kind of sweeping amendment allows you to do anything, including abolishing the Parliament altogether, or even dissolving the Constitution, without so much as a reason why.
Even if you promise that wouldn't do it, the Constitution still shouldn't grant you any such sweeping authority. It goes against the fundamental values of democracy. I don't know what kind of actions you would need to take, but I would bet a considerable amount of money that the pre-amended Constitution allowed it through the use of Royal Decrees.
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Julian II
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Jun 18 2009, 10:38 AM
Post #7
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- Glen-Rhodes
- Jun 18 2009, 09:34 AM
If a Constitutional amendment was absolutely necessary, the powers could have been clearly written. This kind of sweeping amendment allows you to do anything, including abolishing the Parliament altogether, or even dissolving the Constitution, without so much as a reason why.
Even if you promise that wouldn't do it, the Constitution still shouldn't grant you any such sweeping authority. It goes against the fundamental values of democracy. I don't know what kind of actions you would need to take, but I would bet a considerable amount of money that the pre-amended Constitution allowed it through the use of Royal Decrees.
- "Gen-Rhodes"
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If a Constitutional amendment was absolutely necessary, the powers could have been clearly written. This kind of sweeping amendment allows you to do anything, including abolishing the Parliament altogether, or even dissolving the Constitution, without so much as a reason why.
Yes, but take a look at the Procedures for moving a law through Parliament. It can take up to an entire week. The Monarch is afforded the ability to act quicker than that. In case that a Monarch is trying to do something.. shady, for lack of a better word, the Parliament has the power override the decree. If you think this could be better written, please go on.
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Her Royal Majesty Julian II, Queen of Jordia
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Julian II
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Jun 18 2009, 08:02 PM
Post #8
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The 48 hours are now over. The Assemby has approved the Constitution and it is now the official constitution of Jordia.
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Her Royal Majesty Julian II, Queen of Jordia
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