Preamble
Bill of Rights
Bill of Due Process
Notes
Separation of Powers
Separation of Powers
Composition of Legislature; Composition
of Executive; Composition of Judiciary; Powers
of Legislature; Tribunician Power of Executive and Overriding
Power of Legislature; Powers of Executive; Powers
of Judiciary; Amendments to the Constitution; Local
Government; Affirmation and Compensation
Introduction
No member of the executive, legislature, or judiciary shall simultaneously be a member of any of the other two branches of government; but a member of executive, legislature or judiciary may be nominated or stand for election to be a member of any of the other two branches of government.
Section 1 - Composition of Legislature
1(1) All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in the Senate of the Republic.
1(2) The Senate shall be composed of 60 Senators directly chosen by the people:
a) every third year;
b) using the First Past the Post system; and
c) who are registered voters and each Senator shall have one vote.
1(3) Each Senate electorate shall represent an aggregate of long-standing geographical localities and shall consist of an equal number of registered voters, plus or minus two and one half percentage points.
1(4) The Senate shall appoint a Representation Commission to establish the boundaries of each electorate.
1(5) When vacancies occur in the representation from any Senate electorate, the executive authority thereof shall issue forthwith writs of election, conducted according to the First Past the Post system, to fill such vacancies.
1(6) A registered voter is any eligible voter who registers to vote. Resident eligible voters shall register in the Senate electorate in which they reside. Non-resident eligible voters shall register either in the Senate electorate in which they last resided or in the Senate electorate in which is located their last point of departure from the Republic.
1(7) An eligible voter is any Citizen or Permanent Resident of the Republic worldwide who has reached the age of independence, and who is not:
a) lawfully incarcerated or
b) legally and medically insane.
1(8) Any individual, eligible voter or non-eligible voter, in the universe may stand for election as a Senator; but no individual may stand for election as a Senator, if he has been thrice elected a Senator.
1(9) The Senate shall choose their President and other officers.
1(10) The times, places, and manner of holding elections for Senators shall be prescribed by the Senate.
1(11) The Senate shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the Ides of March, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 2 - Composition of Executive
2(1) To prevent the establishment of a privileged executive presidency, accumulating and monopolising power and ruling by decree and executive orders, all executive powers herein granted shall be vested in the Triumvirate of the Republic, which shall consist of three Tribunes, who shall each be a Protector of the rights and liberties eternally enshrined in the Bill of Rights and Bill of Due Process.
2(2) The Tribunes shall be directly chosen by the people:
a) every third year, in the year coincident to the election of the Senate
b) using the Single Transferable Vote system comprising one national Triumvirate electorate
c) who are registered voters.
2(3) The Senate may determine the time of choosing the Triumvirate, which day shall be the same throughout the Republic.
2(4) In case of the removal of a Tribune from office, or of his death, resignation or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the Senate may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, declaring what officer shall then act as Tribune, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a writ of election shall forthwith be issued to fill the vacancy.
2(5) Any individual, eligible voter or non-eligible voter, in the universe may stand for election as a Tribune; but no individual may stand for election as Tribune if he has been thrice elected, whether by the Senate or by the people, a Tribune.
2(6) Each Tribune shall nominate all public ministers of the Cabinet of the Triumvirate, all ambassadors, all judges and commissioners, and all other officers of the Republic whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for and which shall be established by law; but the Senate shall only consent to one of the three nominees being appointed for a particular appointment, or shall reject all nominees in which case each Tribune shall nominate a new individual to be nominee.
2(7) The Senate may, following a three-quarters vote in the affirmative, for the term of the Triumvirate vest the appointment of such inferior officers excepting judges, as they think proper, in a particular Tribune, in the Triumvirate alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the heads of departments.
2(8) The eleven Cabinet portfolios to be appointed shall comprise a Secretary and Under-Secretary for:
a) Treasury;
b) Foreign Affairs;
c) Defence;
d) Police;
e) Justice;
and an Attorney-General, and no other.
2(9) Responsibility for internal intelligence and the protection of government officials shall lie solely with the Ministry of Police; responsibility for external intelligence shall lie solely with the Ministry of Defence.
2(10) A Tribune may, by and with the consent of the Senate, remove public ministers of the Cabinet of the Triumvirate, ambassadors, and other officers of the Republic whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for and which shall be established by law, excepting judges.
2(11) Any individual in the universe, excepting a Tribune, may be nominated a public minister, ambassador, judge or other officer of the Republic.
Section 3 - Composition of Judiciary
3(1) All judicial powers herein granted shall be vested in the Constitutional Court of the Republic, in such inferior courts in descending order of seniority as a Court of Appeal, High Court, District Court, and Disputes Tribunal, and in such Commissions of Inquiry as the Senate may from time to time ordain and establish.
3(2) The Constitutional Court shall be composed of nine judges each nominated by the Tribunes and appointed by the Senate for a term of nine years, such that three judges are appointed every third year. At the inception of the Constitutional Court, three judges shall be appointed for a term of nine years, three judges shall be appointed for a term of six years, and three judges shall be appointed for a term of three years.
3(3) Nine judges of the Constitutional Court must be present at all hearings. In the event of a temporary vacancy in the Constitutional Court, the vacancy shall be filled according to the aforementioned process for nominating and appointing judges; but if the Constitutional Court is hearing a case regarding a decision of the Attorney-General to stay or to return to the Senate a bill or amendment, or regarding a bill or amendment or treaty that has become law at the most sixty days before the commencement of the case, then it shall fill such vacancy with a judge of the Court of Appeal.
Section 4 - Powers of Legislature
4(1) Any Tribune, Judge, or other senior executive or judicial officer of the Republic who acts or fails to act in such a manner as to jeopardise the rights and liberties eternally enshrined in the Bill of Rights and Bill of Due Process shall be liable to a charge of impeachment.
4(2) Any individual shall have the power of impeachment.
4(3) The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When a Tribune of the Triumvirate of the Republic is tried, the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court shall preside: and no individual shall be convicted without the concurrence of three-quarters of the Members.
4(4) The Senate shall, consistent with the rights and liberties eternally enshrined in the Bill of Rights and Bill of Due Process, be the judge of the elections, returns, qualifications of its own Members, and a majority shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorised to compel the attendance of absent Members, in such manner, and under such penalties as the Senate may provide.
4(5) The Senate may determine the rules of their proceedings, punish their Members for disorderly behaviour, and, with the concurrence of three-quarters of those present, suspend or eject a Member.
4(6) The Senate shall keep a journal of their proceedings, and from time to time publish the same; and ayes and noes of the Members on any order, resolution, or vote shall, at the request of any Member present, be entered on the journal.
4(7) All bills and amendments shall originate in the Senate and shall be introduced in that place.
4(8) Every introduced bill or amendment shall first go to the Attorney-General, who shall decide whether a bill or amendment is in accordance with the rights and liberties eternally enshrined in the Bill of Rights and Bill of Due Process. If it shall not be in accordance, he shall stay the bill or amendment and it shall proceed no further in that or any session of the Senate, but if it shall be in accordance, he shall return the bill or amendment to the Senate for their consideration; but any individual may appeal his decision directly to the Constitutional Court.
4(9) Every bill or amendment which shall have passed the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the Triumvirate of the Republic.
4(10) The Senate shall have the sole power:
a) to collect and administer voluntary contributions;
b) to deem the age of independence;
c) to establish a uniform rule of naturalisation;
d) to secure for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective compositions and discoveries;
e) to establish Commissions of Inquiry;
f) to make or declare war, and make rules concerning captures on and under land and water, and in air and space;
g) to provide and maintain the Armed Forces of the Republic and police;
h) to make rules for the government and regulation of the Armed Forces of the Republic and police;
i) to provide for calling forth individuals, including private militia, to voluntarily assist the Armed Forces of the Republic or police;
and to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers.
4(11) No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time at intervals of no more than one calendar Earth year.
Section 5 - Tribunician Power of Executive and Overriding Power of Legislature
5(1) Upon presentment of a bill or amendment, if any Tribune approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall exercise his Tribunician power and return it, with his objections, to the Senate, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal and proceed to reconsider it.
5(2) If after such reconsideration, and if only one Tribune has exercised his Tribunician power, three-fifths of the Senate shall agree to pass the bill or amendment, it shall become law.
If after such reconsideration, and if two Tribunes have exercised their Tribunician power, two-thirds of the Senate shall agree to pass the bill or amendment, it shall become law.
If after such reconsideration, and if all three Tribunes have exercised their Tribunician power, three-quarters of the Senate shall agree to pass the bill or amendment, it shall become law.
But in all cases the votes of the Senate shall be determined by ayes and noes, and the names of the individuals voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of the Senate.
5(3) If any bill or amendment shall not be returned by a Tribune of the Republic within thirty days after it shall have been presented to him, he shall be deemed to have approved and signed it, unless the Senate by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case he shall not be deemed to have approved and signed it.
5(4) In the event of the removal of a Tribune from office, or of his death, resignation or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the immediately preceding provision shall not apply until an officer shall be declared to act as Tribune or a Tribune shall be elected.
5(5) Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate may be necessary, except on:
a) a question of adjournment;
b) appointment of Representation Commission;
c) choosing of the President and other officers of the Senate;
d) declaration of an officer to act as Tribune;
e) appointment and, excepting judges, removal of public ministers of the Cabinet of the Triumvirate, ambassadors, judges, and other officers of the Republic whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for and which shall be established by law;
f) trial of impeachment;
g) determination of rules for the proceedings and punishment of the Members of the Senate;
h) establishment of Commission of Inquiry;
i) appointment of War Tribune;
j) making and declaration of war; or
k) rejecting, nulling and voiding a Tribunician Order
shall be presented to the Triumvirate of the Republic; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by all Tribunes, or being disapproved by one, two or three Tribunes, shall be repassed by three-fifths, two-thirds or three-quarters respectively of the Senate, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
Section 6 - Powers of Executive
6(1) The Tribunes of the Triumvirate of the Republic shall be Commanders-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic and may act in unison; upon a declaration of war by the Senate, one Tribune, with the advice and consent of three-quarters of the Senate, may be appointed War Tribune and shall be sole Commander-in-Chief for the term of the war or the Triumvirate, whichever is the shorter.
6(2) Any Tribune may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have the power to grant reprieves.
6(3) A Tribune shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties which shall have the effect of law, provided two-thirds of the Senators concur; but any individual may appeal this effect directly to the Constitutional Court.
6(4) The Triumvirate shall from time to time give to the Senate information of the state of the Republic, and recommend to their consideration such measures as it shall judge necessary and expedient; a Tribune may, on extraordinary occasions, including requesting that the Senate establish a Commission of Inquiry, convene the Senate.
6(5) The Triumvirate shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers.
6(6) The Triumvirate shall take care that the laws passed by the Senate be faithfully executed, shall commission all the officers of the Republic, and shall issue any requisite Tribunician Order thereupon arising. In any conflict between Tribunes, the decision of the relevant Secretary shall have precedence (but a Tribune may request that the Senate appoint him War Tribune or consent to the removal of the Secretary).
6(7) Any Tribunician Order that infringes upon the rights and liberties eternally enshrined in the Bill of Rights and Bill of Due Process or infringes upon the powers and duties of the Senate or requires the use of public funds not specifically appropriated for the purpose of the aforementioned Tribunician Order shall be advisory only and shall have no legal effect; and the Senate shall within ten business days reject, null and void such Tribunician Order.
6(8) The Attorney-General, Secretary of the relevant department, and head of the relevant department shall certify that any regulation emanating pursuant to any bill or amendment, or any regulation or guideline emanating from a government department and affecting a private individual, does comply with the rights and liberties eternally enshrined in the Bill of Rights and Bill of Due Process.
6(9) The Tribunes, and all civil officers of the Republic, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, any imprisonable offence.
Section 7 - Powers of Judiciary
7(1) The judicial power shall extend: a) to all cases, including cases in what may be referred to as common law, equity and admiralty law, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the Republic, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under her authority; b) to controversies to which the Republic shall be a party; and c) between the Citizens or Permanent Residents, and foreign states, citizens or subjects.
7(2) A Commission of Inquiry may have the power to grant pardons or investigate errors of law, fact, evidence or procedure which have effected wrongful convictions.
7(3) All verdicts of a jury, excepting a trial of impeachment, shall be unanimous.
7(4) A judge, commissioner, justice of the peace, and all judicial officers of the Republic, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, any imprisonable offence.
Section 8 - Amendments to the Constitution
8(1) The Articles of the Bill of Rights, Articles of the bill of Due Process, and Notes to the Articles of the Bill of Rights and Bill of Due Process shall never be amended by any bill of the Senate or exercise of power by the Triumvirate.
8(2) The Senate, whenever three-quarters of Members shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to the Separation of Powers, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by three-quarters of registered voters in each Senate electorate within six months of the Senate first proposing.
9(1) There shall be no local government.
Section 10 - Affirmation and Compensation
10(1) Before he enters on the execution of his office, a Tribune, Senator, Judge and all executive, legislative and judicial officers of the Republic shall take the following affirmation: "I do solemnly affirm that I will faithfully execute the office of [Tribune of the Triumvirate or Senator of the Senate or Judge of the Court, etc.] of the Republic and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the rights and liberties eternally enshrined in the Bill of Rights and Bill of Due Process."
10(2) All new citizens and permanent residents shall take the following affirmation: "I do solemnly affirm that I will to the best of my ability observe the rights and liberties eternally enshrined in the Bill of Rights and Bill of Due Process of the Republic of New Freeland."
10(3) All jury members, including Senators sitting on a trial of impeachment, shall take the following affirmation: "I do solemnly affirm that I will to the best of my ability objectively apply the relevant law to the proven facts in the matter before the court, in the spirit of the Bill of Rights and pursuant to the procedure of the Bill of Due Process."
10(4) The Tribunes, Senators, Judges, and all senior executive, legislative and judicial officers of the Republic, shall receive an appropriate compensation for their services, to be ascertained by independent Compensation Panel, and paid out of the Treasury of the Republic.
10(5) A Tribune shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the Republic.
10(6) The Judges, Commissioners and Justices of the Peace, of the Constitutional Court and inferior courts and commissions, shall hold their offices during good behaviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.
10(7) The independent Compensation Panel shall be composed of nine Members directly chosen from the people by random lot every year from the list of registered voters, and their decisions shall not be appealed.
