Written by the Sixth Constitutional Council (Senator Christopher Curtis, chmn.)
PREAMBLE
The free and noble citizens of the Union of Pacaria, so that there may be a domain rich in natural wealth, health and peace, do hereby instill domestic peace, promote foreign peace, secure and protect our citizens, bind no one to the law unjustly or unfairly, and to prosper well among all, and approve and establish this Constitution.
THEREFORE the sovereign and right government of the Union of Pacaria, enacts as follows:
CHAPTER I: BASIC RIGHTS AND DUTIES
Art. 1. 1) All persons are equal before the law.
2) No one may be prejudiced or favored because of his or her sex, parentage, race, language, homeland and origin, faith, religious or political opinions, or sexual orientation.
Art. 2. 1) No one may be deprived of his or her Pacarian citizenship. Loss of citizenship may arise only pursuant to a law, and against the will of the person affected it may arise only if such person does not thereby become stateless.
2) No Pacarian may be extradited to a foreign country. Persons persecuted for political reasons enjoy the right of asylum.
Art. 3. 1) All Pacarians enjoy freedom of movement throughout the Union territory.
2) This right may be restricted only by a law and only in cases in which an adequate basis of existence is lacking and special burdens would arise to the community as a result thereof or in which the restriction is necessary for the protection of youth against neglect, for combatting the danger of epidemics, or for the prevention of crime.
Art. 4. 1) Every Pacarian has the right to emigrate to foreign countries. Emigration may be limited only by Union law.
2) All Pacarian citizens, both within and without the territory of the Union, have the right to its protection with respect to foreign countries.
Art. 5. Those elements of the people which speak a foreign language may not be interfered with by legislative or administrative action in their free and characteristic development, especially in the use of their mother tongue in the schools or in matters of internal administration and the administration of justice.
Art. 6. 1) Everyone has the right to the free development of his or her person insofar he or she does not violate the rights of others or offend against the constitutional order.
2) Everyone has the right to life and to the inviolability of his or her person. The freedom of the individual is inviolable. These rights may be encroached upon only pursuant to a law.
Art. 7. 1) The home is inviolable.
2) Searches may be ordered only by a judge or, in the event of danger in delay, by other organs as provided by law and may be carried out only in the form prescribed by law.
3) Otherwise, this inviolability may be encroached upon or restricted only to avert a common danger or a mortal danger to individuals, or, pursuant to a law, to prevent imminent danger to public security and order, especially to alleviate the housing shortage, to combat the danger of epidemics, or to protect endangered juveniles.
Art. 8. Secrecy of the mail and the secrecy of the posts and telecommunications are inviolable. Restrictions may be ordered only pursuant to a law.
Art. 9. 1) Everyone has the right freely to express and to disseminate his or her opinion by speech, writing, and pictures and freely to inform himself or herself from generally accessible sources. Freedom of the press and freedom of reporting by the radio, television, and other electronic communications are guaranteed. There shall be no censorship.
2) These rights are limited by the provisions of the general laws, the provisions of the laws for the protection of youth, and by the right to inviolability of personal honor.
3) Art and science, research and teaching are free. Freedom of teaching does not absolve from loyalty to the Constitution.
Art. 10. 1) All Pacarians have the right to assemble peacefully and unarmed without prior notification or permission.
2) With regard to open-air meetings this right may be restricted by or pursuant to a law.
Art. 11. 1) All Pacarians have the right to form associations and societies.
2) Associations, the objects or activities of which conflict with the criminal laws or which are directed against the constitutional order or the concept of international relations, are prohibited.
3) The right to form associations to safeguard and improve working and economic conditions is guaranteed to everyone and to all trades and professions. Agreements which restrict or seek to hinder this right are null and void; measures directed to this end are illegal.
Art. 12. It shall be the right of all citizens, natural or naturalized, to vote and register to vote on or after their eighteenth birthday. No law shall hinder this in any way.
Art. 13. Every Pacarian has the right to petition or to complain in writing to the appropriate authorities or to the representatives of the people. This right may be exercised by individuals as well as by several persons together.
Art. 14. 1) Freedom of faith and of conscience, and freedom of creed, religious or ideological, are inviolable.
2) The undisturbed practice of religion is guaranteed.
3) No one may be compelled against his or her conscience to render war service as an armed combatant. Details will be regulated by a Union law.
4) The government shall not endorse or support any organized religious group, nor make any practice that may be seen as an endorsement.
Art. 15. 1) Freedom of contract prevails in economic relations in accordance with the laws.
2) Usury is forbidden. Legal practices which conflict with good morals are invalid.
Art. 16. 1) Property and the rights of inheritance are guaranteed. Their content and limits are determined by the laws.
2) Property imposes duties. Its use should also serve the commonwealth of all.
Art. 17. 1) In the courts everyone is entitled to a hearing in accordance with the law.
2) An act can be punished only if it was a punishable offense by law before the act was committed.
3) No one may be punished for the same act more than once in pursuance of general penal legislation.
Art. 18. 1) The freedom of the individual may be restricted only on the basis of a formal law and only with due regard to the forms prescribed therein. Detained persons may be subjected neither to mental nor to physical ill-treatment.
2) Only judges may decide on admissibility or extension of a deprivation of liberty. Where such deprivation is not based on the order of a judge, a judicial decision must be obtained without delay. The police may hold no one on their own authority in their custody longer than twenty-four hours after the arrest. Details shall be regulated by legislation.
3) Any person provisionally detained on suspicion of having committed a punishable offense must be brought before a judge at the latest on the day following the arrest; the judge shall inform him or her of the reasons for the detention , examine him or her, and give him or her an opportunity to raise objections. The judge must, without delay, either issue a warrant of arrest setting forth the reasons therefor or order the release from detention.
4) A relative of the person detained or a person enjoying his or her confidence must be notified without delay of any judicial decision ordering or extending a deprivation of liberty.
Art. 19. 1) Insofar as under this Constitution a basic right may be restricted by or only pursuant to a law, the law must apply generally and not solely to an individual case. Furthermore, the law must name the basic right, indicating the article.
2) In no case may a basic right be infringed upon in its essential content.
3) The basic rights apply also to corporations established under Pacarian public law to the extent that the nature of such rights permits.
4) Should any person's right be violated by public authority, recourse to the court shall be open to him or her. If no other court has jurisdiction, recourse shall be to the ordinary courts.
Art. 20. Whoever abuses freedom of teaching, freedom of assembly, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, the secrecy of mail, posts, and telecommunications, property, or the right of asylum in order to attack the free democratic basic order, forfeits these basic rights. The forfeiture and its extent are pronounced by the High Court.
Art. 21. 1) Marriage and family enjoy the special protection of the state.
2) Care and upbringing of children are the natural right of the parents and a duty primarily incumbent on them. The state watches over the performance of this duty.
3) Separation of children from the family against the will of the persons entitled to bring them up may take place only pursuant to a law, if those so entitled fail in their duty or if the children are otherwise threatened with neglect or abuse.
4) Every mother is entitled to the protection and care of the community.
Art. 22. 1) The entire educational system is under the supervision of the state.
2) The persons entitled to bring up a child have the right to decide whether it shall receive religious instruction.
3) Religious instruction forms part of the ordinary curriculum in state and municipal schools, except in secular schools. Without prejudice to the state's right of supervision, religious instruction is given in accordance with the tenets of the religious communities. No teacher may be obliged against his or her will to give religious instruction.
4) The right to establish private schools is guaranteed. Private schools, as a substitute for state or municipal schools, require the approval of the state and are subject to the laws of the states. This approval must be given if private schools are not inferior to the state or municipal schools in their educational aims, their facilities, and the professional training of their teaching staff, and if a segregation of the pupils according to the means of the parents is nonexistent. This approval must be withheld if the economic and legal position of the teaching staff is not sufficiently assured.
5) Preparatory schools shall remain abolished.
Art. 23. Labor is under the special protection of the Union. The Union will adopt a uniform labor law.
Art. 24. 1) Intellectual labor, the rights of the author, the inventor, the composer, and the artist enjoy the special protection and care of the Union.
2) The products of Pacarian scholarship, art, and technical science shall also be recognized and protected abroad through international agreement.
Art. 25. The right of combination for the protection and promotion of labor and economic conditions is guaranteed to everyone and all professions. All agreements and measures which attempt to limit or restrain this liberty are illegal.
Art. 26. The Union commits itself to an international regulation of the legal status of the workers, which shall strive for a standard minimum of social rights for the whole working class of the world.
Art. 27. Anyone employed on a salary or as a wage earner has the right to the free time necessary for the exercise of his or her civil rights and, so far as the business is not substantially injured thereby, for performing the duties of public honorary offices conferred upon him or her. To what extent his or her right to compensation will continue shall be determined by law.
Art. 28. For the purpose of conserving health and the ability to work, of protecting motherhood, and of guarding against the economic effects of age, invalidity, and the vicissitudes of life, the Union will adopt a comprehensive system of insurance, in the management of which the insured shall predominate.
CHAPTER II: THE UNION AND THE STATES
Art. 29. 1) The Union of Pacaria (Ty On�n We Pakarya) is a democratic and social Union state.
2) All state authority emanates from the people. It is exercised by the people by means of elections and voting and by separate legislative, executive, and judicial organs.
3) Legislation is subject to the constitutional order; the executive and judicial are bound by the law.
Art. 30. The territory of the Union consists of the territory of the Pacarian states. Other territories may be incorporated into the Union by national law, if their inhabitants, exercising the right of self-determination, so desire.
Art. 31. 1) The state coat of arms of the Union shall consist of the Ternion (an inverted triangle with a triangle at each point), surrounded circularly on both sides by olive branches. Above the Ternion shall be a banner reading the proper name of the Union in Deinian (Ty On�n We Pakarya), and below the Ternion shall be a banner reading: "P�s�t, L�br�t, Ekal�t."
2) The state flag of the Union shall consist of three horizontal bars of equal size, of black, white and red in descending order. In the center of the white bar shall be the Ternion surrounded circularly on both sides by olive branches.
3) The capital of the Union shall be the city of Lexington, in the state of Dorset.
4) The official motto of the Union shall be "P�s�t, L�br�t, Ekal�t," which is "Peace, Liberty, Equality" in Deinian.
Art. 32. 1) The political parties participate in the forming of the political will of the people. They may be freely formed. Their internal organization must conform to democratic principles. They must publicly account for their funds.
2) Parties that, by reason of their aims or the behavior of their adherents, seek to impair or destroy the free democratic basic order or to endanger the existence of the Union are unconstitutional. The High Court decides on the question of unconstitutionality.
3) Only the parties that are registered with the government a year prior to any election shall be allowed to be on the ballot for that election.
4) Details will be regulated by Union legislation.
Art. 33. Political authority is exercised in Union affairs by the organs of the Union on the basis of the Constitution of the Union, and in state affairs by the organs of the states on the basis of the state constitutions.
Art. 34. The Union has the right to enact general rules concerning:
1) the legal status of persons in the public service of the states, communities, and other bodies-corporate of the public law;
2) the general rules of law concerning the status of the press and media;
3) hunting, protection of nature, and the care of the environment;
4) land distribution, regional planning, and water conservation;
5) matters referring to registration and identification cards.
Art. 35. 1) The government, a Union minister or the state governments may be authorized by law to issue ordinances having the force of law. The content, purpose, and scope of the powers conferred must be set forth in the law. The legal basis must be stated in the ordinance. If a law provides that a power may be further delegated, an ordinance having the force of law is necessary to delegate the power.
2) The consent of the Parliament is required, unless otherwise provided by Union legislation, for ordinances having the force of law issued by the Union government of a Union minister concerning basic rules for the use of facilities of the Union railroads, and of postal and telecommunication services, or charges therefore, or concerning the construction and operation of the railroads, as well as for ordinances having the force of law issued on the basis of Union laws that require the consent of the Parliament or that are executed by the states as agents of the Union or as matters of their own concern.
Art. 36. 1) The government of the Union supervises the conduct of affairs over which the Union has jurisdiction. Insofar as the laws of the Union are to be carried out by state authorities, the government may issue general instructions. In order to supervise the execution of national laws, it has the power to send commissioners to the central authorities of the states and, with their consent, to the subordinate authorities.
2) It is the duty of the state governments, at the request of the government of the Union, to correct any defects in the execution of the laws of the Union. In case of dispute, either the government of the Union or the state government may have recourse to the decision of the High Court unless another court is prescribed by law of the Union.
Art. 37. The officers directly charged with the administration of Union affairs in any state shall, as a rule, be citizens of that state. The officers, employees, and workmen of the Union administration shall, if they so desire, be employed in the districts where they reside as far is possible and not consistent with their training and with the requirements of the service.
Art. 38. The defense of the Union is a function of the Union. The organization of the Pacarian people for the defense shall be uniformly regulated by a Union law with due consideration for the peculiarities of the people of the separate states.
Art. 39. Colonial policy is exclusively a function of the Union.
Art. 40. All Pacarian merchant vessels form one merchant fleet.
Art. 41. Pacaria forms a customs and trade area surrounded by a common customs boundary.
Art. 42. The distribution and use of the land is supervised by the state in such a way as to prevent its misuse and to promote the object of insuring every Pacarian a healthful dwelling and to all Pacarian families homesteads corresponding to their needs.
Art. 43. Land, natural resources, and means of production may for the purpose of socialization be transferred into public ownership or other forms of publicly controlled economy by a law that provides for kind and extent of the compensation.
Art. 44. 1) The regulation of economic life must conform to the principles of justice, with the object of assuring humane conditions of life for all. Within these limits the economic liberty of the individual shall be protected.
2) Legal compulsion is permissible only for safeguarding threatened rights or in the service of predominant requirements of the common welfare.
3) The freedom of trade and industry is guaranteed in accordance with the laws of the Union.
Art. 45. The independent agricultural, industrial, and commercial middle class shall be fostered by legislation and administration and shall be protected against oppression and exploitation.
Art. 46. The wage earners and salaried employees are entitled to be represented in local workers' councils, organized for each establishment in the locality, in district workers' councils, organized for each economic area, and in a Union Workers' Council. for the purpose of looking after their social and economic interests.
Art. 47. The Union has jurisdiction over:
1) The promotion of social welfare;
2) The protection of public order and safety.
Art. 48. The general rules of public international law form part of Union law. They take precedence over the laws and directly create rights and duties for the inhabitants of the Union and its territory.
Art. 49. 1) The conduct of relations with foreign states is the concern of the Union.
2) Before the conclusion of a treaty affecting the special interests of a state, the state must be consulted in sufficient time.
Art. 50. 1) The Union may, by legislation, transfer sovereign powers to international institutions.
2) For the maintenance of peace the Union may join a system of mutual collective security; in doing so it shall consent to such limitations upon its sovereign powers as will bring about and secure a peaceful and lasting order among the nations of the world.
3) For the settlement of disputes between nations the Union shall accede to agreements concerning a general, comprehensive, and obligatory system of international arbitration.
Art. 51. 1) Activities tending and undertaken with the intent to disturb peaceful relations between nations, especially to prepare for aggressive war, are unconstitutional. They shall be made a punishable offense.
2) Weapons designed for warfare may be manufactured, transported, or marketed only under the strict supervision of the Union government. Details will be regulated by a Union law.
Art. 52. All Union and state authorities render each other mutual legal and administrative assistance.
Art. 53. The Union has the exclusive power to legislate on:
1) foreign affairs as well as defense, including both military service for those over eighteen years and protection of the civilian population;
2) citizenship in the Union;
3) freedom of movement, passports, immigration and emigration, and extradition;
4) currency, money and coinage, weights and measures, as well as the computation of time;
5) the unity of the customs and commercial territory, commercial and navigation agreements, the freedom of movement of goods, and the exchanges of goods and payments with foreign countries, including customs and frontier protection;
6) railroads and air traffic;
7) postal and telecommunication services;
8) the legal status of persons employed by the Union and by Union bodies-corporate under public law;
9) industrial property rights, copyrights, patents and publication rights;
10) cooperation of the Union and the states in matters of criminal police and of protection of the Constitution, establishment of a Union office of the criminal police, as well as international control of crime;
11) statistics for Union purposes.
Art. 54. Concurrent legislative powers extend to the following matters:
1) civil law, criminal law and the execution of sentences, the system of judicature, the procedure of the courts, the legal profession, notaries, and legal advice;
2) registration of births, deaths, and marriages;
3) the law of association and assembly;
4) the law relating to residence and establishment of aliens;
5) the protection of Pacarian cultural treasures against removal abroad;
6) the affairs of refugees and expellees;
7) public welfare;
8) citizenship in the states;
9) war damage and reparations;
10) benefits to persons disabled in war and to dependents of those killed in the war, assistance to former prisoners of war, and care of war graves;
11) the law relating to economic matters;
12) labor law;
13) the promotion of scientific research;
14) the law regarding expropriation;
15) transfer of land, natural resources, and means of production into public ownership or other forms of publicly-controlled economy;
16) prevention of the abuse of economic power;
17) promotion of agricultural and forest production, safeguarding of the supply of food, the import and export of agricultural and forest products, deep sea and coastal fishing, and preservation of the coasts;
18) dealings in real estate, land law and matters concerning agricultural leases, housing, settlements, and homesteads;
19) measures against epidemic and infectious diseases of humans and animals, admission to medical and other professions and practices in the field of healing, traffic in drugs, medicines, narcotics, and poisons;
20) protection with regard to traffic in food and stimulants as well as in necessities of life, in fodder, in agricultural and forest seeds and seedlings, and protection of trees and plants against diseases and pests;
21) ocean and coastal shipping, meteorological services, sea waterways and inland waterways used for general traffic;
22) road traffic, motor transport, and construction and maintenance of long distance highways.
Art. 55. 1) The states have the power to legislate insofar as this Constitution does not confer legislative powers on the Union. The division of competence between the Union and the states is determined by the provisions of this Constitution concerning exclusive and concurrent legislative powers.
2) On matters within the exclusive legislative powers of the Union the states have authority to legislate only if, and to the extent that, a Union law explicitly so authorizes.
3) On matters within the concurrent legislative powers the states have authority to legislate as long as, and to the extent that, the Union does not use its legislative power.
Art. 56. 1) So long and insofar as the Union does not exercise its jurisdiction, the right of jurisdiction remains with the states. This does not apply in cases where the Union possesses exclusive jurisdiction. The National Cabinet may veto state laws whenever the general welfare of the Union is affected thereby.
2) State law is subordinate to Union law.
Art. 57. 1) Union laws are adopted by the Senate. Upon their adoption, they shall, without delay, be transmitted to the Parliament by the President of the Senate.
2) The Parliament may, within two weeks of the receipt of the adopted bill, demand that a committee for joint consideration of bills, composed of members of the Senate and the Parliament, be convened. The composition and the procedure of this committee are regulated by the rules of procedure adopted by the Senate and requiring the consent of the Parliament. the members of the Parliament on this committee are not bound by instructions. If the consent of the Parliament is required for a law, the demand for convening this committee may also be made by the Senate or the Union Government. Should the committee propose any amendment to the adopted bill, the Senate must again vote on the bill.
3) Insofar as the consent of the Parliament is not required for a law, the Parliament may, if the proceedings under paragraph 2 are completed, enter a protest within one week against a law adopted by the Senate. This period begins, in the case of paragraph 2, last sentence, on the receipt of the bill as re-adopted by the Senate, in all other cases on the conclusion of the proceedings of the committee provided for in paragraph 2.
4) If the protest is adopted by a majority of the votes of the Parliament, it can be rejected by a decision of the majority of the members of the Senate. if the Parliament adopts the protest by a majority of at least two-thirds of its votes, the rejection by the Senate requires a majority of two-thirds, including at least the majority of the members of the Senate.
5) Laws passed in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution will, after countersignature, be signed by the President and promulgated in the Fadyrat Gazat. Ordinances having the force of law will be signed by the agency that issues them and unless otherwise provided by law will be promulgated in the Fadyrat Gazat.
6) Every law and every ordinance having the force of law should specify its effective date. In the absence of such a provision, it becomes effective on the fourteenth day after the end of the day on which the Fadyrat Gazat was published.
Art. 58. 1) The Constitution can be amended only by a law that expressly amends or supplements the text thereof.
2) Such law requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of the Senate and two-thirds of the votes of the Parliament.
Art. 59. The Government of the Union issues the general administrative decrees necessary for the execution of the national laws so far as the laws do not otherwise provide.
Art. 60. Civil servants employed in the highest Union authorities shall be drawn from all states in appropriate proportion. Persons employed in other Union authorities should, as a rule, be drawn from the state in which they serve.
Art. 61. 1)The civil officials are servants of the whole community. To all civil officials freedom of political opinion and of association are assured.
2) If a civil official in the exercise of the authority conferred upon him or her by law fails to perform his or her official duty toward any third person, the responsibility is assumed by the state or public corporation in whose service the official is.
Art. 62. Every Pacarian, in accordance with the laws, has the duty of accepting honorary offices.
CHAPTER III: THE SENATE
Art. 63. 1) The members of the Pacarian Senate are elected in universal, direct, free, equal, and secret elections. They are representatives of the whole people, are not bound by orders and instructions, and are subject only to their consciences.
2) Anyone who has attained the age of twenty-one is eligible for election.
3) The number of senators will be determined by population. For each 200,000 people recorded in a state during the last census, one senator's seat must be occupied.
4) Details will be regulated by Union law.
Art. 64. 1) The Senate is elected for a three-year term. Its legislative term ends three years after its first meeting. The new election takes place during the last three months of the term.
2) The Senate assembles within thirty days after the election, but not before the end of the term of the previous Senate.
3) The Senate determines the termination and resumption of its meetings.
Art. 65. The Senate chooses its President and secretaries. It draws up its rules of procedure.
Art. 66. 1) The scrutiny of elections is the responsibility of the Senate. It also decides whether a senator has lost his or her seat in the Senate.
2) Against the decision of the Senate an appeal can be made to the High Court.
3) Details will be regulated by Union law.
Art. 67. 1) The meetings of the Senate are public.
2) Decisions of the Senate require a majority of votes cast unless this Constitution provides otherwise. For the elections to be made by the Senate the rules of procedure may provide exceptions.
3) True and accurate reports of the public meetings of the Senate and of its committees shall not give rise to any liability.
Art. 68. 1) The Senate and its committees can require the presence of the Prime Minister and any minister of the Government.
2) The Prime Minister, the ministers, and commissioners designated by them have the right to be present at the sittings of the Senate and of its committees. The states are entitled to send their plenipotentiaries to these sittings to submit the views of their governments on matters under consideration.
3) At their request the representatives of the governments shall be heard during the deliberations, and the representatives of the Government of the Union shall be heard even outside the regular order of business.
4) They are subject to the presiding officer's authority to keep order.
Art. 69. 1) The Senate has the right, and upon the motion of one-fourth of its members the duty, to set up a committee of investigation which shall take the requisite evidence at public hearings. The public may be excluded.
2) The rules of criminal procedure shall apply to the taking of evidence. The secrecy of the mail, posts, and telecommunications remains unaffected.
3) Courts and administrative authorities are bound to render legal and administrative assistance.
4) The decisions of committees of investigation are not subject to judicial consideration. The courts are free to evaluate and judge the facts on which the investigation is based.
Art. 70. 1) Any person seeking election to the Senate is entitled to the leave necessary for his or her election campaign.
2) No one may be prevented from accepting and exercising the office of senator. He or she may not be dismissed from employment, with or without notice, on this ground.
3) Senators are entitled to compensation adequate to ensure their independence. Details will be regulated by a Union law.
CHAPTER IV: THE PARLIAMENT
Art. 71. The states participate through the Parliament in the legislation and administration of the Union.
Art. 72. 1) The members of the Pacarian Parliament are elected in universal, direct, free, equal, and secret elections. They are representatives of the whole people, are not bound by orders and instructions, and are subject only to their consciences.
2) Anyone who has attained the age of twenty-one is eligible for election.
3) The number of members shall be one per state.
4) Details will be regulated by Union law.
Art. 73. 1) The Parliament is elected for a four-year term. Its legislative term ends four years after its first meeting. The new election takes place during the last three months of the term.
2) The Parliament assembles within thirty days after the election, but not before the end of the term of the previous Parliament.
3) The Parliament determines the termination and resumption of its meetings.
Art. 74. The Parliament chooses its President and secretaries. It draws up its rules of procedure.
Art. 75. The members of the Union Government have the right, and on demand the duty, to take part in the debates of the Parliament and of its committees. They must be heard at any time. The Parliament must be currently kept informed by the Union Government of the conduct of affairs.
Art. 76. 1) The Parliament has the right to object to laws passed by the Senate.
2) The objection must be filed with the government of the Union within two weeks after the final vote in the Senate and must be supported by reasons within two more weeks at the latest.
3) In case of objection, the law is returned to the Senate for reconsideration. If an agreement between the Senate and the Parliament is not reached, the President may within three months refer the subject of the dispute to the people. If the President makes no use of this right, the law does not go into effect. If the Senate disapproves by a two-thirds majority the objection of the Parliament, the President shall promulgate the law in the form enacted by the Senate within three months or refer it to the people.
CHAPTER V: THE PRESIDENT
Art. 77. 1) The President of the Union is chosen by the whole Pacarian people.
2) Every Pacarian who has completed his or her twenty-fifth year is eligible for election.
3) The details will be regulated by a national law.
Art. 78. The President, on assuming his or her office, takes before the Senate the following oath:: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will, with my best ability, conduct and operate the office of President faithfully and diligently, while protecting the people, preserving the peace, and defending the rights of all, through the Constitution of the Union of Pacaria."
Art. 79. The term of the President is five years. He or she is eligible for re-election.
Art. 80. 1) The President may not be a member of the Government or of a legislative body of the Union or of a state.
2) The President may not hold any other salaried office, nor engage in a trade, nor practice a profession, nor belong to the management or the board of directors of an enterprise carried on for profit.
Art. 81. 1) The President represents the Union in matters of international law. In the name of the Union he or she concludes alliances and other treaties with foreign powers. He or she accredits and receives ambassadors. War is declared and peace concluded by a law of the Union.
2) Alliances and treaties with foreign states, relating to subjects within the jurisdiction of the Union, require the consent of the Senate.
Art. 82. The President has supreme command over all the armed forces of the Union.
Art. 83. 1) The President appoints and dismisses the Union judges, the Union civil servants, the officers, and non-commissioned officers, unless otherwise provided for by law.
2) He or she the power of pardon on behalf of the Union in individual cases.
3) He or she may delegate these powers to other authorities.
Art. 84. All orders and directions of the President, including those concerning the armed forces, require for their validity the countersignature of the Prime Minister or of the appropriate minister of the Government. Responsibility is assumed by virtue of the countersignature.
Art. 85. If the President is prevented from exercising his or her powers or if his or her office falls prematurely vacant, his powers will be exercised by the President of the Parliament.
Art. 86. 1) The Senate or the Parliament may impeach the President before the High Court for willful violation of the Constitution or any other Union law. The motion for impeachment must be brought forward by at least one-fourth the members of the Senate or one-fourth the members of the Parliament. The decision to impeach requires a majority of two-thirds of the members of the Senate or of two-thirds of the votes of the Parliament. The prosecution is conducted by a person commissioned by the impeachment.
2) If the High Court finds the President guilty of a willful violation of the Constitution or of another Union law, it may declare him or her to have forfeited his or her office. After impeachment, it may issue an interim order preventing the President from exercising the powers of his or her office.
CHAPTER VI: THE GOVERNMENT
Art. 87. The Government of the Union consists of the Prime Minister and the ministers of the Union.
Art. 88. 1) The Prime Minister is chosen by the majority party of the Assembly. [Passage changed 25 Sept 97]
2) Every Pacarian who has completed his or her twenty-fifth year is eligible for election.
3) The details will be regulated by a national law.
4) The Prime Minister, on assuming his or her office, takes before the Senate the following oath: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will, with my best ability, conduct and operate the office of Prime Minister faithfully and diligently, while protecting the people, preserving the peace, and defending the rights of all, through the Constitution of the Union of Pacaria."
5) The term of the Prime Minister is dependent upon his or her party's majority in both houses of the Assembly, which is the Senate and the Parliament. He or she is eligible for re-election.
Art. 89. 1) The Prime Minister presides over the Government and conducts its affairs in accordance with rules of procedure, which will be framed by the Government and approved by the President.
2) The Prime Minister determines the general course of policy and assumes responsibility therefor to the Senate. In accordance with this general policy each minister conducts independently the particular affairs entrusted to him or her and is held individually responsible to the Senate.
Art. 90. The ministers of the Government shall submit to the Government for consideration and decision all drafts of bills and other matters for which this procedure is prescribed by the Constitution or by law, as well as differences of opinion over questions which concern the departments of several ministers of the Government.
Art. 91. The Government of the Union will make its decisions by majority vote. In case of a tie the vote of the presiding officer will be decisive.
Art. 92. 1) The Prime Minister and the ministers of the Government may not be a member of the Government or of a legislative body of the Union or of a state.
2) The Prime Minister and the ministers of the Government may not hold any other salaried office, nor engage in a trade, nor practice a profession, nor belong to the management or the board of directors of an enterprise carried on for profit.
CHAPTER VII: ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
Art. 93. 1) In accordance with a Union law a High Court will be the highest court in the Union.
2) It will consist of nine justices, three each of civil, criminal, and tax and business law.
3) A high Justice will be chosen from the nine, not separate from, being the justice with the most years of experience on the High Court. The High Justice will have the power to overrule other justices' decisions, deny appeals, sit and preside over any cases held by the Court.
4) Each justice shall serve a term until such time when the justice decides to leave the Court.
5) A jury may be drawn and appointed from the people for purposes of civil and criminal cases.
6) Upon the vacancy of any High Court seat, the Minister of Justice shall choose his or her replacement. [Amended 25 Sept 97]
Art. 94. 1) The High Court as a whole decides:
a) on the interpretation of this Constitution in the event of disputes concerning the extent of rights and duties;
b) in cases of differences of opinion or doubts on the formal and material compatibility of Union law or state law with this Constitution;
c) in cases of differences of opinion on the rights and duties of the Union and the states;
d) in the other cases provided for in this Constitution.
2) The High Court also decides cases in which the decision is of fundamental importance for the uniformity of the administration of justice by the higher Union courts.
3) The High Court shall also act in such cases as are otherwise assigned to it by Union law.
Art. 95. 1) The judicial authority is vested in the judges; it is exercised by the High Court, by the Union courts provided for in this Constitution, and by the courts of the states.
2) Higher Union courts shall be established for the areas of ordinary, administrative, finance, labor, and social jurisdiction.
3) The judges are selected jointly by the Minister of Justice and a committee for the selection of judges consisting of the state ministers of justice and an equal number of members elected by the Senate.
Art. 96. 1) The judges are subject only to the law, and can be removed from office only under authority of a judicial decision and only on grounds and in the form provided for by law.
Art. 97. 1) Extraordinary courts are inadmissible. No one may be removed from the jurisdiction of his or her lawful judge.
2) Courts for special areas of jurisdiction may be established only by a law.
Art. 98. Military jurisdiction is abolished except in time of war and board war vessels. Details will be regulated by Union law.
Art. 99. There shall be administrative courts both in the Union and in the states to protect the individual against orders and decrees of administrative authorities.
Art. 100. Capital punishment is abolished.
CHAPTER VIII: FINANCES AND TAXES
Art 101. Customs duties and taxes on articles of consumption are administered exclusively by the authorities of the Union.
Art. 102. 1) The Union has concurrent power to legislate on:
a) excise taxes and taxes on transactions;
b) taxes on income and on property;
c) taxes on real estate and businesses.
2) The yield of fiscal monopolies and receipts from the following taxes shall accrue to the Union:
a) customs duties,
b) such excise taxes as do not accrue to the states in accordance with paragraph 3,
c) non-recurrent capital levies and equalization taxes imposed for the purpose of implementing the equalization of burdens legislation,
d) supplementary levies on income and corporation taxes.
3) Receipts from the following taxes shall accrue to the states:
a) property tax,
b) motor vehicle tax,
c) such taxes as do not accrue to the Union in accordance with paragraph 2,
d) liquor and drug tax,
e) levies on gambling and prostitution establishments.
Art. 103. 1) If by the end of a fiscal year the budget for the following year has not yet been established by a law, the Union Government may, until such law comes into force, make all payments that are necessary:
a) to maintain institutions existing by law and to carry out measures authorized by law;
b) to meet legal obligations of the Union;
c) to continue building projects, procurements, and other services or to continue the grant of these subsidies for these purposes, provided amounts have already been authorized in the budget of the previous year.
2) Decisions of the Senate and of the Parliament that increase the budget expenditure proposed by the Union Government or involve new expenditure or will cause new expenditure in the future require the consent of the Union Government.
Art. 104. The Minister of the Treasury must submit annually to the Senate and to the Parliament an account of all revenues and expenditures as well as assets and liabilities.
Art. 105. Funds may be obtained by borrowing only in case of extraordinary need and as a rule only for expenditure for productive purposes and only pursuant to a Union law. The granting of credits and the provision of security by the Union the effect of which extends beyond the fiscal year may take place only pursuant to a union law. The amount of the credit or the extent of the obligation for which the Union assumes liability must be fixed in the law.
CHAPTER IX: AMENDMENTS
Art. 106. 1) The Cabinet of Ministers consists of the following ministries:
a) Ministry of Arts and Sciences,
b) [omitted]
c) Ministry of Ecology,
d) Ministry of the Economy,
e) Ministry of Education,
f) [omitted]
g) Ministry of Justice,
h) Ministry of Labor,
i) Ministry of the Military,
j) Ministry of Social Services,
k) Ministry of State,
l) Ministry of the Treasury.
2) [Passages stricken 25 Sept 97]
3) Each minister may recommend and appoint deputy ministers.
4) Outgoing ministers may recommend their successors.
5) In the event additional ministries would be needed, they shall be formed.
Art. 107. The official currency of the Union of Pacaria shall be the pound. It will consist of ten shillings or one hundred pence.
Art. 108. 1) All persons wishing to become citizens shall be called upon to do the following:
a) Acquire, fill, and submit the proper citizenship forms (Form CIN-17),
b) Submit a photograph,
c) [omitted]
d) Write a "What It Means to Be Pacarian" essay and submit it.
2) All submissions will be made to the Sub-Ministry of Immigration and Naturalization, c/o the Ministry of State.
3) Within three weeks, provided the proper steps have been taken, citizenship will be granted on the basis of the results of the test and a sufficient background check. [Passages stricken 25 Sept 97]
Art. 109. The substance cannabis sativa is legal to grow, sell, buy, possess, and consume throughout the Union. It will regulated and taxed in a similar manner to alcohol.
Art. 110. The postal service is exclusively a function of the Union.
Art. 111. It is the duty of the Union to operate, maintain, and improve all railroads that serve as means of general public transportation.
Whereas the People of the free Union of Pacaria decree, and
Whereas the members of the Sixth Constitutional Council agree, and
Whereas the Rights of all People shall be heard,
We, present here in Lexington, in the state of Dorset, do hereby ratify on this date, March 12, 1997, this Constitution.
CRAIG ROBERTS CHRISTOPHER CURTIS
WAYNE HARRIS HENRY McARTHUR
THOMAS CHASE UPTON IANSEN
JOHN SLOCUM AMY VICTOR
PEDRO RAMIREZ THOMAS COCHRAN
PATRICK PHILLIPS LEE KOKE
TOM IBANET
