Constitution of Valania
From Scandia
The Constitution of Valania was created by the founders of the Democratic Republic of Valania after the end of the Civil War. This document serves as the framework for Valania's republican system of government. The Constitution was ratified on January 3rd, 1536.
The full text (translated into Ingallish) follows:
Contents |
Preamble
We the People of the Democratic Republic of Valania, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Democratic Republic of Valania.
Article I
Section 1
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Senate.
Section 2
The Senate shall be composed of Members chosen every fourth Year by the People of the several Provinces. When vacancies happen in the representation of any Province in the Senate, the executive authority of each Province shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct. No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the Republic, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that Province in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several Provinces of the Republic, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Senate of the Republic, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Senators shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each Province shall have at Least one Representative;.
When vacancies happen in the Senate from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
The Senate shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
Section 3
The Second Consul of Valania shall be Leader of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall choose their other Officers, and also a Consul pro tempore of the Senate, in the absence of the Second Consul, or when he shall exercise the Office of Proconsul of the Republic.
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the Proconsul of the Republic is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the Republic: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
Section 4
The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Senate may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Place of choosing Senators.
The Senate shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.
Section 5
The Senate shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and 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 authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as the Senate may provide.
The Senate may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member.
The Senate shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of the Senate on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.
Section 6
The Senators shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the Republic. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Senate, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in the Senate, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
No Senator shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the Democratic Republic which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the Republic, shall be a Member of the Senate during his Continuance in Office.
Section 7
All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the Senate; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.
Every Bill which shall have passed the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the Proconsul of the Republic; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections, to the Senate, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of the Senate shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of the Senate shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of the Senate. If any Bill shall not be returned by the Proconsul within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Senate by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.
Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the Proconsul of the Republic; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.
Section 8
The Senate shall have power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the Republic; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the Republic;
To borrow money on the credit of the Republic;
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several Provinces, and with the Indian Tribes;
To establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the Republic;
To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the Republic;
To establish Post Offices and Post Roads;
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
To constitute Tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;
To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies in addition to the Legions, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for the continuing support of the Legions, that they may continue to execute the Laws of the Republic, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the Republic, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by the Senate;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular Provinces, and the acceptance of Senate, become the Seat of the Government of the Republic, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; And
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the Republic, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
Section 9
The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the Provinces now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Senate prior to the Year one thousand five hundred and forty, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten denarii for each Person.
The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.
No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
No capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.
No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any Province.
No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one Province over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one Province, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.
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.
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the Republic: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Senate, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.
The Senate shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Section 10
No Province shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.
Article II
Section 1
The executive Power shall be vested in a Proconsul of the Democratic Republic of Valania. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Second Consul chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:
Each Province shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators to which the Province may be entitled in the Senate: but no Senator, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the Republic, shall be appointed an Elector.
The Electors shall meet in their respective Provinces, and vote by Ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same Province with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the Republic, directed to the Proconsul of the Republic. The Proconsul shall, in the Presence of the Senate, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the Proconsul, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the Senate shall immediately choose by Ballot one of them for Proconsul; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the Senate shall in like Manner choose the Proconsul. But in choosing the Proconsul, the Votes shall be taken by Provinces, the Representation from each Province having one Vote; a quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two-thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the Proconsul, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Second Consul. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall choose from them by Ballot the Second Consul.
The Senate may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the Republic.
No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the Republic, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of Proconsul; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the Republic.
In Case of the Removal of the Proconsul from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Second Consul, and the Senate may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the Proconsul and Second Consul, declaring what Officer shall then act as Proconsul, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a Proconsul shall be elected.
The Proconsul 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, or any of them.
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of Proconsul of the Democratic Republic of Valania, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Republic."
Section 2
The Proconsul shall be Commander in Chief of the Legions of the Republic, and of the Militia of the several Provinces, when called into the actual Service of the Republic; he 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 power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the Republic, except in Cases of Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, 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 may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the Proconsul alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The Proconsul shall have power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
Section 3
He shall from time to time give to the Senate Information of the State of the Republic, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the Republic.
Section 4
The Proconsul, Second Consul and all civil Officers of the Republic, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Article III
Section 1
The judicial Power of the Republic, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Senate may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.
Section 2
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the Republic, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority; to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; to Controversies to which the Republic shall be a Party; to Controversies between two or more States; between a State and Citizens of another State; between Citizens of different States; between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.
In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Senate shall make.
Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Senate may by Law have directed.
Section 3
Treason against the Republic, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
The Senate shall have power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
Section 4
No Person may be put to Death by Command of the Senate, the Proconsul, Second Consul, or any Representative thereof, unless convicted of the charge of Treason against the Republic.
Article IV
Section 1
The Citizens of each Province shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several Provinces.
A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another Province, shall on demand of the executive Authority of the Province from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the Province having Jurisdiction of the Crime.
No Person held to Service or Labour in one Province, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, But shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.
Section 3
New Provinces may be admitted by the Senate into this Union; but no new Provinces shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other Province; nor any Province be formed by the Junction of two or more Provinces, or parts of Provinces, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the Provinces concerned as well as of the Senate.
The Senate shall have power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the Republic; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the Republic, or of any particular State.
Section 4
The Republic shall guarantee to the People of every Province a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
Article V
The Senate, whenever two thirds of Members shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several Provinces, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Senate; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand fifteen hundred and forty-five shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no Province, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.
Article VI
All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the Republic under this Constitution.
This Constitution, and the Laws of the Republic which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the Republic, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the Republic and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the Republic.
Article VII
The Ratification of the Conventions of fifteen Provinces, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution.
Signatures
Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the Provisional Leaders of the Republic present the First Day of January in the Year of the Cruisian Era One thousand five hundred and thirty-six. In Witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names.
Iniquus Flavius
Lucius Metellus
Gaius Vornsson
Quintilius Pompeius
Gnaeus Magnus
Filius Magnus
Decius Magnus
Julius Liberalis
Salvius Trigintis
Sextus Brutus
Quintus Aurelius
