la garēā malpadert
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(last post: March 13, 2008 - 16:29)
Citizen #22:
Miestrā Schivā | Azul, Committeemembers and others:
Here is the draft which I have cobbled together from our more than five months of discussions. It is probably something of a hodgepodge. It contains at least two somewhat conflicting ideas of what a constitution should look like - mine and Chris's - and a billion other ideas besides. But I think that the ideas contained in it express a broad consensus of opinion in the Republic at this time.
So, the procedure is, I want Committeemembers only to look through this constitution, read how it flows, and nitpick the hell out of it. I would like to warn any member of the public that attempting to interfere in the Committee's work at this stage will incur a spanking.
When this draft is tidy to our satisfaction - in two weeks time, unless I hear any different - then we will open the doors of this Convention to the whole nation and offer the resulting Corrected Draft to them. At that stage, all bets are off and, if anyone wants to start trying to renegotiate the basic ideas contained herein, that will be allowed.
So, Andy, Chris, Jonathan, Michael... get nitpicking.
===
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF TALOSSA (first complete draft)
It is the right of Talossans everywhere to keep and preserve their peace, their liberty, their freedom, and, as such, we Talossans hereby stand together as one, united in our assertion that Talossa is a great community, much greater than the sum of its parts; a community wrought not by one man, but by all Talossans everywhere, throughout her history; a community that will survive on the blood, sweat, and tears of her people for-ever. We Talossans hereby declare that we are a free people and a free community and, above all, a free nation dedicated to Talossan ideals.
THEREFORE the sovereign and right government of the Republic of Talossa enacts as follows:
ARTICLE ONE. PROCEDURE FOR THE ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION
1. This Constitution shall require the approval of at least two-thirds of the Provisional Governing Council. It shall come into force the next day, thus overriding all previous constitutions and organic laws.
2. Upon enactment of this Constitution, the Provisional Governing Council shall immediately do the following, in this order:
a) Enact legislation to assign citizens to Provinces as provided in Article Seven of this Constitution.
b) Enact legislation to provide for election of a President and Parlamīnt.
c) Call elections for a President and a Parliament. Until these positions are filled, the Council shall exercise their powers under this Constitution.
3. Until the positions of Secretary of State and Chief Justice of the High Court are filled, their provisional counterparts shall exercise their powers under this Constitution.
4. Until they are overriden, repealed, or found to violate the new constitution, all laws passed by the Provisional Governing Council shall remain in place.
ARTICLE TWO. THE PRESIDENT
1. The President of the Republic (in Talossan: el Prüm Citaxhien) is the Head of State of the Republic and the defender of the Constitution.
Election of the President:
2. The President is chosen by the whole Talossan people, by secret preferential ballot. Details of the conduct of such elections shall be established by law.
3. Every Talossan who has fulfilled one or more of the following criteria is eligible for election:
a) He or she must have been a Talossan citizen for three years, or:
b) He or she must have served as a Member of either house of Parlamīnt for two years, or:
c) He or she must have served for one year as a member of the Government, or Justice of the High Cort.
4. The President may not be a member of Parlamīnt or of the High Court.
5. The office of the President of the Republic shall become vacant on the first day of July every year. The election for a new President shall take place no earlier than a month before the office is due to fall vacant.
6. A sitting President may not be re-elected to a consecutive term.
7. If the President is prevented from exercising his or her powers or if his or her office falls prematurely vacant, his or her powers shall be exercised by the Menēéi for the remainder of the term of office.
Powers of the President (Countersignature):
8. The following powers may be exercised by the President only on the advice of his government; and in token of this advice, the Seneschal shall countersign any orders made by the President under this paragraph.
a) The President represents the Republic in matters of international law. In the name of the Republic he or she concludes alliances and other treaties with foreign powers. He or she accredits and receives ambassadors.
b) War is declared and peace concluded with the consent (being a two-thirds majority) of the whole Parliament. Alliances and treaties with foreign states require the consent of Parlamint.
c) The President has supreme command over the defense of the Republic in time of war.
d) The President appoints and dismisses the Republic's judges, officers and other civil officials, unless otherwise provided for by law or in this Constitution.
e) The President shall make a "State of the Republic" speech to both houses of Parlamint, at the first meeting of Parlamint after the President's election.
f) The President shall issue Executive Orders on behalf of the Government.
g) The President of the Republic may be accorded other powers under this section by law.
Powers of the President (No Countersignature):
9. The following powers may be exercised by the President at his own discretion:
a) The President has the power to pardon those convicted by a Court of a crime, on behalf of the Republic.
b) The President shall dissolve either or both Houses of Parlamint at the times specified in Article 4 and then immediately ask the Secretary of State to conduct a general election.
c) The President may dissolve both Houses of Parlamint at any other time, and then immediately ask the Secretary of State to conduct a by-election.
d) The President nominates the Secretary of State and the justices of the High Court.
e) The President shall formally appoint the Seneschįl elected by the Chamber of Deputies, and the Ministers appointed by the Seneschįl.
Impeachment
10. The Chamber of Deputies or the Senäts may impeach the President before the High Court for willful violation of the law. At least one-fourth of the Deputies or one-fourth of the Senators must bring the motion for impeachment forward. The decision to impeach requires a majority of two-thirds of the Deputies or of two-thirds of the Senators. A person appointed by the impeachment conducts the prosecution.
11. If the High Court finds the President guilty of a willful violation of any law, it may declare him or her to have forfeited his or her office. After impeachment, it may issue a temporary order barring the President from exercising the powers of his or her office, or from being re-elected to public office for a period no greater than one year.
ARTICLE FOUR. THE PARLAMĪNT
1. The legislative power of the Republic of Talossa shall be exercised by a Parliament (in the national language, el Parlamīnt).
2. The Parlamīnt consists of a Chamber of Deputies (in the national language, la Camera dels Deputats), and a Senate (in the national language, el Senäts.)
3. A) Members of the Chamber of Deputies shall be known as Deputies (in the national language, Deputats). Members of the Senäts shall be known as Senators (in the national language, Senatōrs).
b) No Deputy shall at the same time be a Senator.
The Chamber of Deputies:
4. The Chamber of Deputies shall be elected by the whole population voting as a single electorate, by a method of proportional representation.
5. The President of the Republic shall dissolve the Chamber of Deputies on the first day of March and the first day of September each year.
6. Any citizen of the Republic not otherwise disqualified by this Constitution can be elected to the Chamber of Deputies.
7. Until Parlamīnt otherwise decides, the size of the Chamber of Deputies shall be twice the number of members of the Senäts, plus one.
8. The quorum of the Chamber of Deputies shall be no less than one-half of its membership.
The Senäts:
9. For the purposes of Senats elections, the population shall be divided into Electorates, each of which will elect an equal number of Senators by means of a preferential ballot.
10. a) Each Province with five or more citizens qualified to vote shall comprise one Electorate.
b) Provinces with less than five citizens qualified to vote may be grouped by act of Parliament into temporary Electorates, lasting as long as each province in the Electorate does not qualify for a single Senator of its own.
11. The President of the Republic shall dissolve the Senäts on the first day of December each year.
12. The qualifications of Senators shall be the same as those required of Deputies, in addition to the fulfillment of one of the following additional qualifications:-
a) He or she must have been a Talossan citizen for more than two years, or:
b) He or she must have served continuously as a Member of the Chamber of Deputies for one year, or:
c) He or she must have served for six months as either Seneschįl, Secretary of State, or Justice of the Uppermost Cort
13. Until Parlamīnt otherwise decides, the size of the Senats shall be one member from every Electorate.
14. The quorum of the Senäts shall be three members.
Both Houses:
15. All Parlamīnt elections shall be by universal, direct, free, equal, and secret elections, and the details of their conduct shall be established by law.
16. The Secretary of State shall begin a general election or a by-election whenever the Chamber of Deputies and/or the Senats are dissolved. By-elections shall be conducted in the same way as general elections.
17. No seat in Parlamint shall be filled by a candidate who has not been directly chosen by the voters, either individually or as a named member of a party list.
18. The President of the Republic shall summon either House of Parlamint to meet no more than a week after its election.
19. The Chamber of Deputies and the Senäts shall each elect a Chair (called the Tśischac'h and Menēeļ respectively) who will organise the business of that house and enforce the Standing Orders of each House. Neither Chair shall be a member of the Government.
20. The Chamber of Deputies and the Senäts may discuss their business in person, by mail, by telephone, by electronic messaging, or by any combination of the above.
21. The Standing Orders of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senäts shall be adopted by majority vote of that House and made public.
22) The meetings of both Houses of Parlamīnt, and the votes cast by all members in those Houses, are public. Decisions of each House require a majority of votes cast unless this Constitution provides otherwise.
23) Factual and precise reports of the public meetings of the Houses of Parlamīnt and of its committees shall not give rise to any liability.
24) The Chamber of Deputies and Senäts and their committees can require the presence of the Seneschįl and any minister of the Government. The Seneschįl, the ministers, and commissioners designated by them have the right to be present at the sittings of the Chamber of Deputies and Senäts and their committees.
Joint Sessions:
25. The Tuischac'h and Menēei may by agreement call a Joint Session of Parlamint for those purposes set out elsewhere in this Constitution, and for any other purpose. Members of both Houses shall be provided with one week's notice of any Joint Session.
26. a) The Joint Session may elect a Chair Pro Tempore. Unless and until a Chair Pro Tempore is elected, the Joint Session shall be chaired by the Tuischac'h and Menēei together.
b) Unless Parlamīnt otherwise decides, Joint Sessions shall be held under the Standing Orders of the Chamber of Deputies.
27. The quorum of a Joint Session shall be half of the Deputies, and three Senators.
Legislation:
28. (a) A proposal for legislation shall pass both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senäts by simple majority vote, except for constitutional amendments, which shall be dealt with as below.
(b) The Constitution can be amended only by a law that expressly amends or supplements the text thereof. The amending bill must specify which portion or portions of the Constitution it is amending. Such law requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of the Chamber of Deputies and two-thirds of the votes of the Senäts.
29. If a bill is adopted by one house but fails in the other, then the two Houses may form a Joint Committee for Deliberation of Bills, composed of members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senäts. This committee may decide to set aside the bill; or to offer a new draft to both houses.
30. If the two Houses still disagree over a Bill submitted by a joint committee as set out above, they may agree to set aside the bill; or to sit as a Joint Session of Parlamīnt to debate the bill. The decision of a Joint Session shall be final.
31. A bill adopted by Parlamīnt shall be submitted by the Chairs of both houses to the President of the Republic for promulgation (that is, its putting into force as a law of the Republic).
32. The President shall sign the bill in token of approval of its promulgation, and pass it to the Secretary of State for publication as law.
33. If the President thinks a bill is badly written (that is, it will not have the effect that Parlamīnt desires) or unconstitutional, he or she shall submit it to the High Court for a legal opinion. If the High Court concurs with the President's opinion, it shall be passed back to Parlamīnt for amendment.
34. If the President refuses to sign a bill for any other reason, the Secretary of State shall present that bill to the people in a referendum. All legislation to amend the Constitution shall be put to referendum.
35. If the President takes no action over a bill within seven days, it shall be deemed to have been signed.
36. Legislation approved in a referendum shall be deemed to have been promulgated without need for the President's signature, and shall be published as law by the Secretary of State.
37. The Seneschįl may from time to time instruct the Secretary of State to publish texts of the Constitution and Laws, updated with all amendments.
ARTICLE FIVE. THE GOVERNMENT AND THE SECRETARY OF STATE
The Government:
1. The executive power of the Republic shall be exercised by the Government (in the national language, el Governmaķntsch).
2. The Government consists of the President, a Prime Minister (in the national language, el Seneschįl) and a number of Ministers. The Seneschįl and Ministers together shall be known as the Cabinet.
3. The Seneschįl shall have been a Talossan citizen for at least a year, or a member of Parlamīnt for at least six months.
4. The Seneschįl shall be elected by a majority of the Chamber of Deputies, after every election of a new Chamber and whenever else the position becomes vacant.
5. a) The Seneschįl appoints and dismisses the Ministers at his or her pleasure. He or she also determines the general course of Government policy as a whole, approves the text of all Government-sponsored bills, and assumes responsibility to the Chamber of Deputies.
b) 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 Chamber of Deputies and to the Seneschįl.
6. The Seneschįl and Ministers may be removed at any time, singly or jointly, by a majority vote of the Chamber of Deputies. The motion to remove the Seneschįl shall name a replacement Seneschįl.
7. a) The roles, powers and functions of Ministers not specified in this article shall be defined by law, subject to this Constitution.
b) One Minister shall be an Attorney-General, who shall keep an updated archive of the Constitution and Laws of the Republic; represent the Government in any suits before the High Cort; and exercise any other functions that the Secretary may delegate to him/her.
8. a) The Seneschįl and the other ministers may recommend and appoint deputies to their positions. Outgoing ministers may recommend their successors.
b) If any Minister leaves office and no Deputy has been appointed to that office, the Seneschįl shall carry out the functions of that Minister until a new Minister is appointed.
c) Every newly elected Seneschįl must either reconfirm or replace the existing Cabinet.
9. Executive Orders must be co-signed by both President and Seneschįl. They may be overturned by a majority vote of the Government. They shall have no force of law unless adopted by Parlamīnt as legislation.
10. The Government shall regularly confer in person, by mail, by telephone, by electronic messaging, or by any combination of the above. Meetings of the Government are chaired by the President.
11. A) The Government makes its decisions by majority vote. In case of a tie, the vote of the President of the Republic shall be decisive.
B) The Ministers of the Republic shall submit to the Government for prior deliberation and resolution all drafts of any bills determining or affecting Government policy which they wish to propose to Parlamīnt.
12. Every new Sensechįl shall, within a week of assuming office, give an "Address from the Incoming Government" to both houses of Parlamint.
13. Parlamīnt may give the Government or any members thereof additional powers by law.
The Secretary of State:
14. The Secretary of State is a civil official of the Republic. The Secretary of State shall be nominated by the President and confirmed in office by a 2/3 majority of a joint session of Parlamint. He shall not be a member of Parlamīnt, the Government or the High Cort.
15. The President shall nominate a new Secretary of State on the first business day of January every year, and also whenever the office becomes vacant. A sitting Secretary of State may be re-nominated.
16. The Secretary of State conducts Presidential and Parliamentary elections; keeps a register of all citizens of the Republic; and archives and publishes the decisions of the Government, and the proceedings and decisions of Parlamīnt.
17. The Secretary of State may be impeached and thereby removed from office in the same manner as the President of the Republic.
ARTICLE SIX: THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
1) The judicial power of the Republic shall be exercised by a High Court, and by any other courts of the Republic which shall be established as provided for in this Constitution.
2) All Courts shall decide cases by majority vote.
3) Every Court established under this Constitution shall nominate a Clerk. The Clerk shall publish and archive the decisions of that Court, the reasons for those decisions, and any minority opinions.
THE HIGH COURT:
4) The High Court of the Talossan Republic shall consist of one, two or three Justices, as Parlamīnt may decide. Until Parlamīnt otherwise decides, it shall consist of one Justice.
5) Every High Court Justice shall have been a Talossan citizen for at least a year. No High Court Justice shall at the same time be a member of Parlamīnt or of the Government.
6) If more than one Justice is named to the High Court, the President shall choose (or: the Court shall nominate) a Chief Justice from among the members of the Court, being the justice with the most experience on the High Court. The Chief Justice shall sit and preside over any cases held by the Court and serves as the main representative of the Court.
7) The Justices of the High Cort shall serve until they resign, unless removed from office. They shall only be removed from office by a motion supported by no less than two thirds of the Deputies and two thirds of the Senators, impeaching them for failure to uphold the Constitution and laws of the Republic.
8) 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 Republic law or provincial law with this Constitution;
c) In cases of differences of opinion on the rights and duties of the Republic and the provinces;
d) In the other cases provided for in this Constitution.
9) The High Court also decides cases in which the decision is of basic value for the consistency of the management of justice by the higher Republic courts.
OTHER COURTS:
10) Other courts may be established by law for the areas of ordinary, administrative, finance, labor, and social jurisdiction. Decisions of these courts may be appealed to the High Court.
11) The judges of other Courts 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.
12) Extraordinary courts are prohibited. No one may be removed from the authority of his or her lawful judge. Only a law may establish courts for special areas of jurisdiction.
13) No Court shall decree any punishment more severe than expulsion from the Republic. The High Court alone may decree explusion from the Republic
ARTICLE SEVEN. THE PROVINCES
Territory and assignment of citizens
1. The Republic of Talossa shall be composed of those provinces, whose territorial boundaries are set out in Article Nine of this Constitution.
2. a) Every citizen of the Republic who lives outside the territory of any Province shall be assigned to a Province by act of Parlamint.
b) The "citizens of a Province" shall include all citizens resident in the territory of that province, as well as any non-resident citizen assigned to that Province.
3. Parlamint shall assign non-resident citizens to provinces on the basis of geographical residence at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, or at time of naturalisation, whichever comes first. A non-resident citizen's provincial assignment can only be changed by act of Parlamint and with the consent of that citizen.
4. Each Province's executive, legislative and judicial powers shall be exercised in accordance with a Provincial constitution, adopted by a majority in referendum of no less than two-thirds of the citizens assigned to that Province.
5. New provinces may be formed by Parlamīnt from any territory which may be claimed in future by the Republic under Article Nine of this constitution.
6. New provinces may be formed out of the territory of existing provinces by Parlamīnt, with the consent of the legislature of those existing Provinces.
THE POWERS OF THE PROVINCES
7. a) The provinces have the power to legislate or take executive decisions on any subject concerning which this Constitution does not bestow exclusive legislative powers on the Republic.
b) If the Republic does not exercise its executive or legislative authority in an area which this Constitution entitles it to do so, the right of authority remains with the provinces. This does not apply in cases where the Republic is granted exclusive authority.
8. Each Province shall have the exclusive authority over:
a) its forms of government;
b) its cultural, social and linguistic identity.
9. THE REPUBLIC HAS THE EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY OVER:
a) Foreign affairs as well as defense;
b) Citizenship;
c) Freedom of movement, immigration and emigration, and extradition;
d) Currency, money, and coinage;
e) Postal and telecommunication services;
f) The employment of those in Republic organizations;
g) Industrial and intellectual property rights.
10. In all other matters, decisions of the Federal Government and Parlamint shall take precedence over decisions of the Provinces. The High Court shall arbitrate in any dispute between Federal and Provincial governments or legislatures, and its decision shall be
final.
11. The officers directly charged with the administration of Republic affairs in any province shall, as a rule, be citizens of that province.
ARTICLE EIGHT: CITIZENSHIP
1. As at the ratification of this Constitution, the citizens of the Republic of Talossa shall be the signers of the Declaration of Independence; as well as all those individuals who have been granted citizenship under the jurisdiction of the Provisional Governing Council.
2. Hereinafter, citizenship shall be determined by law.
3. No member of the former royal family of Talossa, the House of Rouergue, shall be admitted as a citizen of the Republic.
4. Throughout this Constitution, the words "Talossan citizen" shall include any Talossan citizenship prior to the passing of this Constitution.
ARTICLE NINE: POINTS OF STATE
1. The name of the State, in the national language, is la Repśblicā Talossįn. In English, the name of the State is The Republic of Talossa.
2. The Republic of Talossa is a democratic, secular and social federal state. All state authority emanates from the people. The population, by means of elections, exercises this authority.
3. a) The Republic of Talossa shall be composed of those provinces of the Kingdom of Talossa known as Cézembre, Florenciā, Maricopa, Maritiimi, and Pórt Maxhestic.
b) The Republic of Talossa hereby claims as a part of her territory the villages of Shorewood and Whitefish Bay, both formerly of the State of Wisconsin in the United States of America and formerly claimed by the Kingdom of Talossa as well as the entirety of the census tracts of the United States of America which encompass those parts of the City of Milwaukee west of points equidistant between the banks of the Milwaukee River, east of points equidistant between the curbs of United States Interstates 43 and 94, north of points equidistant between the banks of the Menomonee Rover, all portions of the City of Milwaukee south of the village of Glendale, the village of Glendale itself, the campus of Cardinal Stritch College, and the campus of Marquette University.
c) The Republic of Talossa lays no claim to those provinces of the Kingdom of Talossa known as Atatürk, Mussolini, and Vuode as well as the Territory of Pengöpäts.
4. The National Flag of Talossa is the green and red vertical bicolour with four stars arranged in a diamond in the center of the flag. The green stands for democracy and its virtue; the red for the people and their tenacity. The four stars stand for the four provinces which seceded from the Kingdom of Talossa on 1 June, 2004/I/xxv"?
5. The Coat of Arms of Talossa shall exist in two forms: the Lesser State Arms and the Greater State Arms. The Lesser State Arms is an oval shield, long axis vertical, divided vertically in green and red halves, bearing four stars arranged in a diamond in the center. The Greater State Arms consists of the Lesser State Arms with two squirrels as supporters, and as base a scroll bearing the legend "AUDE ALIQUID DIGNUM." Either form of the Coat of Arms of Talossa
may be used for official and patriotic purposes.
6. The official motto of the Republic shall be Aude Aliquid Dignum"; in the national language, "Defisetz Qualse'cosā Denā"; in English, "Dare Something Worthy".
7. The national language shall be the Talossan language. English shall be permissible as a useful second language.
8. The capital of the Republic is the Mitchell Building, Pórt Maxhestic Province.
9. The political parties of the Republic participate in the formation of the political spirit of the people. Their internal organization must conform to democratic ethics. They must openly report their finances.
10. Parties that seek to harm or destroy the free democratic basic order or to imperil the survival of the Republic are unconstitutional.
11. The civil officials are servants of the whole community. To all civil officials freedom of political opinion and of association are assured.
12. 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, the accountability is assumed by the province or public corporation in whose service the official is.
13. The general regulations of public international law form part of Republic law. They take priority over the laws of the Republic. Actions undertaken with the aim of disturbing peaceful associations between nations are unconstitutional.
14. Colonial policy is exclusively a function of the federal government.
15. This Constitution shall be the supreme law of the Republic. All laws which contradict this Constitution are invalid to the extent of that contradiction.
TOPIC TEN: DECLARATION OF FREEDOMS AND PROTECTIONS
Introduction
1. The rights granted by this Article shall apply to all citizens of the Republic, and also to all those who register with the Government as prospective citizens according to law.
2. No decision of the Government, or of any Minister or government official, may override these rights. These rights form part of the Constitution of the Republic.
3. Any citizen may seek redress in the Courts against the Government, or any citizen or corporation of the Republic, for violation of these rights.
Equality
4. All persons are equal before the law. This is the right of individual value.
5. No one may be prejudiced or favored due to sex, parentage, race, language, homeland or origin, faith, religious or political opinions, or sexual orientation.
Open Freedoms
6. Everyone has the right to the free progress of his or her person insofar he or she does not violate the rights of others or violate any law within the Republic.
7. Everyone has the right to life and to the sanctity of his or her person. The right of individual value is sacred.
Freedom of Expression
8. Everyone has the right freely to express and to propagate his or her belief by speech, writing, and pictures and freely to inform him or herself from publicly available sources.
9. Freedom of the press and of reporting by electronic communications is guaranteed. There shall be no censorship. Secrecy of all communications is sacred. Restrictions may be ordered only pursuant to a law.
Freedom of Belief
10. Freedoms of faith and of conscience, and freedom of creed, religious or ideological, are sacred. The undisturbed practice of religion is guaranteed.
11. The government shall neither endorse or support any organized religious group, nor make any practice that may be seen as an endorsement.
Freedom of Association
12. All Talossans have the right to form associations and societies.
13. 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.
14. The right to form labor associations is guaranteed to everyone and to all trades and professions. Agreements that confine or seek to obstruct this right are null and void.
15. All Talossans have the right to assemble peacefully without prior notification or permission.
Freedom to Voice Opinion
16. Every Talossan has the right to petition the suitable authorities or to their representatives. This right may be exercised by individuals as well as by several persons together.
17. It shall be the right of all citizens to vote on or after their fourteenth birthday.
Inviolability of Privacy and Property
18. The home is sacred. Searches may be ordered only by a judge and may be carried out only in the mode set by law. Otherwise, this sacredness may be encroached upon or limited only to avoid a common danger to individuals.
19. The right to ownership of and the protection of property is guaranteed but implies duties.
Intellectual Property
20. Intellectual labor, the rights of the author, the inventor, the composer, and the artist enjoy the special protection and care of the Republic.
21. The products of Talossan scholarship, art, and technical science shall also be recognized and protected abroad through international agreement.
Application of Rights
22. 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.
23. In no case may a basic right be infringed upon in its essential content.
24. The basic rights apply also to corporations established under Talossan public law to the extent that the nature of such rights permits.
Restrictions
25. The freedom of the individual may be restricted only in accord with the formal law and only with appropriate regard to the law.
26. Any person charged with an offense must be brought before a judge the day following the charge. From there, the detainee shall be informed of the reasons for the charge. and be given an opportunity to raise objection.
Right to Fair Hearing
27. In the courts everyone is entitled to a hearing in accord with the law.
28. An act can be punished only if it was a punishable offense by law prior to the act.
29 . No one may be punished for the same act more than once in pursuance of general penal legislation.
30. Bills of attainder are illegal. A bill of attainder is a legislative act which inflicts punishment without judicial trial and includes any legislative act which takes away the rights of a particular named or easily ascertainable person or group of persons without due process before the Courts.
Miestrā Schivā
"Now I'm liberal, but to a degree; I think everybody should be free, but if you think I'm going to let Barry Goldwater move in next door or marry my daughter, you must think I'm crazy! I wouldn't let him do it for all the farms in Cuba!"
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