Xanthal
04-07-2005, 09:33
The new Xanthalian Constitution, which was formulated in the infamous Council impounding of former Alphin Wazuka Isayama, was ratified by Kasalan today, the sixty-seventh province to ratify the document, making it the new Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Xanthal. The new Constitution's provincial ratification was initially doubtful, but thanks to strong support from national leaders in most major parties and the backing of Alphin Frederich Dahy it passed its final hurdle just under a year after its passage in the national legislature.
The new Constitution calls for a number of changes to the division of powers and adds new checks on the executive, dividing authority in that branch among three Alphini rather than a single Alphin, and adding several superficial changes to help ensure social equality in formation of Xanthalian law. Most evident in the new Constitution is an added article granting the national legislature power to enforce no confidence votes in either of the two other branches of government, and referendum procedures for such votes. National elections to fill the two new Alphin positions were tentatively scheduled for the end of this and next month.
The new Constitution of Xanthal:
Article I.
Section 1.
Clause 1: The legislative power shall be vested in a representative Council of Xanthal, which shall be composed of five hundred Councilors chosen by direct election every fifth year by the citizens of Xanthal residing in their provincial district.
Clause 2: No person shall be a Councilor who shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years, and been ten years a citizen of Xanthal, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of the provincial district in which chosen.
Clause 3: Five hundred Councilors shall be apportioned among the provinces according to their respective citizen populations. The actual enumeration shall be made within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. Every province is entitled to at least one seat in the Council. Provinces having more than one seat apportioned to them will define provincial districts in which each Councilor shall be elected, with citizen populations as equal as may be.
Clause 4: When vacancies happen in the Council from any province, the executive authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such vacancies until the next election.
Clause 5: The Council shall choose their own officers, including the Speaker, who shall preside over Council proceedings.
Clause 6: Councilors shall be divided as equally as may be into five classes, each of which shall be elected on a different year.
Section 2.
Clause 1: All citizens of Xanthal shall vote for their provincial district’s Councilor, the method which shall be prescribed by law.
Clause 2: The Council shall be in session for no less than one third of each year, the exact hours and dates which shall be prescribed by law.
Section 3.
Clause 1: The Council shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members. Three quarters of Council members shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members.
Clause 2: The Council may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of three quarters, expel a member.
Clause 3: The Council shall keep an official record of its proceedings, and publish the same on a yearly basis, excepting such parts as two thirds may judge require secrecy. The votes of Councilors will be included in this record.
Section 4.
Clause 1: Councilors shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by Law and paid out of the Treasury of Xanthal. No law varying the compensation for the services of the Councilors shall take effect until a full election cycle shall have intervened.
Clause 2: No Councilor shall accept any compensation outside of that which is allotted equally to all Councilors by law.
Clause 3: Councilors shall in all cases, except offenses of the first, second, or third class, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of the Council, and in going to and returning from the same. For any speech or debate in the Council session, they shall not be publicly charged.
Clause 4: The Council shall have the privilege of barring any outside oversight, governmental or otherwise, with the consent of two thirds of its members.
Section 5.
Each Councilor shall have one vote in the Council. No bill shall be passed in the Council if two thirds in its favor cannot be obtained in voting except for bills with the sole effect of repealing a past decision of the Alphini or the Council, which may pass with a majority vote.
Section 6.
Clause 1: The Council shall have the sole power to impose and collect any taxes deemed necessary to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of Xanthal;
Clause 2: To regulate commerce conducted within Xanthal or involving a party native to Xanthal;
Clause 3: To regulate citizenship;
Clause 4: To coin money and regulate the value of domestic and foreign currency, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
Clause 5: To determine actions that may be taken on those convicted by the judicial power;
Clause 6: To establish public organizations for the promotion of the general welfare;
Clause 7: To secure for limited times to developers the exclusive right to their respective works and discoveries;
Clause 8: To authorize offensive military action, and make any rules of warfare it deems necessary;
Clause 9: To raise, support, and call forth militaries;
Clause 10: To make rules for the government and regulation of military forces;
Clause 11: To exercise legislation over areas controlled by Xanthal or its citizens within and without the territorial boundaries of Xanthal;
Clause 12: To confirm all nominations and overturn all appointments made by the Alphini;
Clause 13: To initiate impeachment of government officials; and
Clause 14: 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 Xanthal, or in any department or officer thereof.
Section 7.
Clause 1: No legislation providing for judgment without trial or retroactive enforcement of laws shall be passed.
Clause 2: No law giving unfair preference between citizens shall be passed.
Clause 3: No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and an annual statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published.
Article II.
Section 1.
Clause 1: The executive power shall be vested in three Alphini of Xanthal, each of whom shall be elected every five years by popular vote of the citizens of Xanthal at large.
Clause 2: The Council may determine the time and day on which the votes for Alphini are held, which shall be the same throughout Xanthal. Elections shall be held every two, two, and one years in cycle.
Clause 3: No person shall be an Alphin who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty years, and been fifteen years a citizen of Xanthal.
Clause 4: No primary political group shall be allowed more than one member in the position of Alphin at any point in time.
Clause 5: In cases where an office of Alphin is vacated through conviction of impeachment charges, death, resignation, or Council-determined inability to discharge official powers, the Speaker of the Council shall assume the vote of the vacated office until a new Alphin shall be elected.
Clause 6: Each Alphin shall receive an equal annual compensation, and no law varying the compensation for the services of the Alphini shall take effect until a full election cycle shall have intervened. No Alphin shall accept any compensation outside of that which is allotted by law.
Section 2.
Each Alphin shall have one vote in executive decisions. All legal executive decisions must be ratified by two of the three Alphini. Certain exceptions can be made with the unanimous consent of the Alphini, but shall be repealed at the order of any one Alphin.
Section 3.
Clause 1: The Alphini shall be the chief commanding body of Xanthal’s military forces.
Clause 2: The Alphini shall have power to make treaties and nominate judges of the Daiho for Council confirmation.
Clause 2: The Alphini shall have power to nominate all officers of Xanthal whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for; but the Council may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper in the Alphini alone, in courts of law, or in heads of departments.
Clause 3: The Alphini shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Council by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of the Council’s next session.
Section 4.
The Alphini shall periodically give to the Council information on the nation’s international standing, and recommend to its members such measures judged necessary and expedient. The Alphini may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the Council, but cannot adjourn it and may be barred from ordering a convention by the Daiho. The Alphini shall also receive ambassadors and other foreign officials, and shall commission such officers on behalf of Xanthal.
Article III.
Section 1.
The judicial power of Xanthal shall be vested in one Daiho, which shall have nine member judges, and in such inferior courts as it may ordain and establish. Judges, both of the Daiho and inferior courts, shall hold their offices for life except in instances of resignation, conviction of impeachment charges, or inability to discharge official powers, and shall receive an annual compensation for their services, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.
Section 2.
In all judicial rulings, each participating judge shall have one vote. All legal executive decisions must be ratified by two of the three Alphini.
Section 3.
Clause 1: The judicial power shall extend to all legal issues arising under this Constitution, the laws of Xanthal and its entities, and treaties to which Xanthal is party occurring within the physical territory of Xanthal or involving a citizen or official representative of or to Xanthal.
Clause 2: In all cases affecting foreign representatives, and those in which a province shall be party, the Daiho shall have original jurisdiction; in all other cases the Daiho shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact. The Daiho is responsible for the faithful execution of the laws of Xanthal.
Clause 3: The trial of all crimes shall be decided by a panel of three or more judges for all but offenses of the lowest class as the Council may determine. Such trials shall be held by a court local to the legal level on which charges are brought wherein the supposed crimes shall have been committed; with jurisdiction falling to the highest court able to bring charges or elsewhere as the Daiho may by law direct.
Clause 4: The Daiho shall have the power to nullify any law or policy of Xanthal that it judges to be in explicit violation of this Constitution provided that three quarters of its members concur.
Clause 5: The courts of Xanthal shall have the power to order any evidence or testimony material to a case on trial delivered up in confidence to the trial court, regardless of circumstance.
Section 4.
Clause 1: The Daiho shall have the sole power to try all impeachments, and shall not convict without the concurrence of two thirds of its members.
Clause 2: Impeachment can only take place when one or more offenses of the first, second, or third class or a rule of this Constitution has been violated by the accused official.
Clause 3: Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office and disqualification to hold public office of Xanthal, but the party convicted shall, if convicted, be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law.
Section 5.
Clause 1: Treason against Xanthal shall consist only of a citizen or declared ally of Xanthal levying war against the nation or giving illegal aid to its declared enemies. No citizen shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or on confession in open court.
Clause 2: The Council shall have power to declare the actions that may be taken on those convicted of treason. Passive offenses cannot constitute treason.
Article IV.
Section 1.
Clause 1: Three fourths of the Council may affirm a vote of no confidence in the Alphini, at which point the Daiho will exercise all executive powers until three Alphini are elected and take office in the manner set forth in this Constitution.
Clause 2: When a vote of no confidence in the Alphini is affirmed, a new election must take place after four weeks and before six weeks have passed. The new executive panel must take office within one month of the original no confidence vote.
Section 2.
Clause 1: Three fourths of the Council may affirm a vote of no confidence in the Daiho, at which point the legislature will exercise all judicial powers until nine judges are appointed and confirmed in the manner set forth in this Constitution to form the new panel of the Daiho.
Clause 2: When a vote of no confidence in the Daiho is affirmed, the new judicial panel must take office within one month. If after five weeks following the no confidence vote have passed one or more positions in the Daiho remain unfilled, a majority of the Council may vote to suspend the Alphini’s power to nominate Daiho judges and elect them within the Council with a normal two thirds vote. If there are still unfilled positions nine weeks after the original no confidence vote, the Speaker of the Council will appoint the remaining judges.
Section 3.
Individual no confidence proceedings cannot be initiated within eleven weeks of each other.
Section 4.
Two Alphini and six judges of the Daiho may delay action on a vote of no confidence by registering official protest of the decision within one day of the vote. If this occurs, a referendum shall be held throughout Xanthal after four weeks and before six weeks have passed in which citizens shall be asked to confirm or deny the no confidence vote. A majority of voters are needed to confirm.
Article V.
Section 1.
Full faith and credit shall be given in each province to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other province. The Council may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.
Section 2.
Clause 1: The citizens of all provinces shall be entitled to equal treatment and protection under the law.
Clause 2: A party fleeing from judicial authority in one court’s jurisdiction, if found in another’s, shall on demand of the judicial authority of the jurisdiction fled be delivered to that jurisdiction to stand trial.
Section 3.
Clause 1: New provinces may be admitted by two thirds of the Council into the nation of Xanthal.
Clause 2: The Council shall have power to make and dispose of all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to Xanthal.
Section 4.
Xanthal shall guarantee to every province a three-branch republican form of government on the model of this Constitution, and shall protect each of them against invasion and domestic violence. All provincial constitutions are subordinate to this Constitution, and all laws of incorporated entities are subordinate to the laws of the entity in which they are incorporated.
Article VI.
Section 1.
In all elections ordained by this Constitution voting shall be carried out by providing a ballot listing five candidate choices, ordered by voter preference, for each position to be filled. In the counting process the first-choice votes for each candidate shall be totaled. If no candidate has a majority of the vote, the candidate with the least votes shall be eliminated, and ballots cast for that candidate counted towards the next non-eliminated choice. This process shall be repeated until the vote is divided between two candidates.
Section 2.
If no popular majority is reached through the process in Section 1, a new vote shall be held as soon as possible with only the top two candidates from the final count listed as choices for the vote, and whosoever of the two receives the majority of votes shall be the election's winner.
Section 3.
In the extraordinary event that no majority is reached in the process designated in sections 1 and 2, the official legislative body having most immediate relation to the disputed position shall select the winner.
Section 4.
Voters shall in all elections be provided with a complete list of all candidates and their political affiliations to aid in the voting process, but no candidates or parties may be represented on the ballot itself.
Article VII.
Section 1.
This Constitution shall be the supreme law of the land; and all other constitutions, doctrines, laws, and treaties shall be subordinate to it.
Section 2.
No preferential test shall be required as a qualification to any public or private position, nor any discrimination not directly relevant to the performance of the duties associated with that position tolerated.
Section 3.
The government of Xanthal shall not respect or restrict any establishment of religion over other religions or lack thereof, abridge freedom of speech or of the press, or infringe upon the right of the people to assemble peaceably or otherwise petition the government.
Section 4.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons and property, both tangible and intangible, from unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and warrants shall only be issued on probable cause that particularly describe the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
Section 5.
No person shall be tried more than once for the same offense; nor have judgment or sentence passed on them without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.
Section 6.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by impartial judges, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the prosecution's witnesses and evidence, to have compulsory process for obtaining defense witnesses and evidence, and to have the assistance of qualified legal counsel.
Section 7.
The right of any person to a judicial review of any judgment passed or sentence imposed on them by a public or private authority shall not be suspended.
Section 8.
All disputes heard before the courts of Xanthal and its provinces shall be subject to the same rules and regulations, and no bias shall be accepted on the part of ruling judges.
Section 9.
In all cases the actions taken on a criminal must fit the crime committed as well as possible, and all such judgments given equally. No sentence may include transfer of any money or items unless measurable financial damage was caused to one or more parties as a direct result of another party, in which case the damaging party must give restitution equal to the damage caused, as determined by the court. Torture, both physical and psychological, shall be in all cases forbidden.
Section 10.
The powers not delegated to Xanthal or prohibited to it or its parties in this Constitution are reserved to the provinces respectively, or to the people.
Section 11.
No involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been convicted in a court of the Daiho, shall be permitted.
Section 13.
The right to vote shall not be denied to any citizen, and no individual vote shall be counted or valued differently than any other.
Section 14.
The migration of persons into, out of, or within Xanthal shall not be prohibited.
Section 15.
In cases of fundamental inequalities, equal application of the law is to be interpreted on a party or individual basis. This weighting shall be permissible only in cases where a precipitating fundamental inequality can be proved and accepted by three fourths of the Daiho, and then must be legislated in the most fair and equal manner possible.
Section 16.
All citizens shall receive a general education and further education as they may request, as determined by law, to prepare them for employment in their area of their choice. This education shall be individually equal, universal, and gratis.
Article VIII.
The Council, whenever two thirds shall deem it necessary, may propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the 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 three fourths of the Council and two thirds of the provincial legislatures; provided that no party shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Council.
The new Constitution calls for a number of changes to the division of powers and adds new checks on the executive, dividing authority in that branch among three Alphini rather than a single Alphin, and adding several superficial changes to help ensure social equality in formation of Xanthalian law. Most evident in the new Constitution is an added article granting the national legislature power to enforce no confidence votes in either of the two other branches of government, and referendum procedures for such votes. National elections to fill the two new Alphin positions were tentatively scheduled for the end of this and next month.
The new Constitution of Xanthal:
Article I.
Section 1.
Clause 1: The legislative power shall be vested in a representative Council of Xanthal, which shall be composed of five hundred Councilors chosen by direct election every fifth year by the citizens of Xanthal residing in their provincial district.
Clause 2: No person shall be a Councilor who shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years, and been ten years a citizen of Xanthal, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of the provincial district in which chosen.
Clause 3: Five hundred Councilors shall be apportioned among the provinces according to their respective citizen populations. The actual enumeration shall be made within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. Every province is entitled to at least one seat in the Council. Provinces having more than one seat apportioned to them will define provincial districts in which each Councilor shall be elected, with citizen populations as equal as may be.
Clause 4: When vacancies happen in the Council from any province, the executive authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such vacancies until the next election.
Clause 5: The Council shall choose their own officers, including the Speaker, who shall preside over Council proceedings.
Clause 6: Councilors shall be divided as equally as may be into five classes, each of which shall be elected on a different year.
Section 2.
Clause 1: All citizens of Xanthal shall vote for their provincial district’s Councilor, the method which shall be prescribed by law.
Clause 2: The Council shall be in session for no less than one third of each year, the exact hours and dates which shall be prescribed by law.
Section 3.
Clause 1: The Council shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members. Three quarters of Council members shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members.
Clause 2: The Council may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of three quarters, expel a member.
Clause 3: The Council shall keep an official record of its proceedings, and publish the same on a yearly basis, excepting such parts as two thirds may judge require secrecy. The votes of Councilors will be included in this record.
Section 4.
Clause 1: Councilors shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by Law and paid out of the Treasury of Xanthal. No law varying the compensation for the services of the Councilors shall take effect until a full election cycle shall have intervened.
Clause 2: No Councilor shall accept any compensation outside of that which is allotted equally to all Councilors by law.
Clause 3: Councilors shall in all cases, except offenses of the first, second, or third class, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of the Council, and in going to and returning from the same. For any speech or debate in the Council session, they shall not be publicly charged.
Clause 4: The Council shall have the privilege of barring any outside oversight, governmental or otherwise, with the consent of two thirds of its members.
Section 5.
Each Councilor shall have one vote in the Council. No bill shall be passed in the Council if two thirds in its favor cannot be obtained in voting except for bills with the sole effect of repealing a past decision of the Alphini or the Council, which may pass with a majority vote.
Section 6.
Clause 1: The Council shall have the sole power to impose and collect any taxes deemed necessary to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of Xanthal;
Clause 2: To regulate commerce conducted within Xanthal or involving a party native to Xanthal;
Clause 3: To regulate citizenship;
Clause 4: To coin money and regulate the value of domestic and foreign currency, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
Clause 5: To determine actions that may be taken on those convicted by the judicial power;
Clause 6: To establish public organizations for the promotion of the general welfare;
Clause 7: To secure for limited times to developers the exclusive right to their respective works and discoveries;
Clause 8: To authorize offensive military action, and make any rules of warfare it deems necessary;
Clause 9: To raise, support, and call forth militaries;
Clause 10: To make rules for the government and regulation of military forces;
Clause 11: To exercise legislation over areas controlled by Xanthal or its citizens within and without the territorial boundaries of Xanthal;
Clause 12: To confirm all nominations and overturn all appointments made by the Alphini;
Clause 13: To initiate impeachment of government officials; and
Clause 14: 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 Xanthal, or in any department or officer thereof.
Section 7.
Clause 1: No legislation providing for judgment without trial or retroactive enforcement of laws shall be passed.
Clause 2: No law giving unfair preference between citizens shall be passed.
Clause 3: No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and an annual statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published.
Article II.
Section 1.
Clause 1: The executive power shall be vested in three Alphini of Xanthal, each of whom shall be elected every five years by popular vote of the citizens of Xanthal at large.
Clause 2: The Council may determine the time and day on which the votes for Alphini are held, which shall be the same throughout Xanthal. Elections shall be held every two, two, and one years in cycle.
Clause 3: No person shall be an Alphin who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty years, and been fifteen years a citizen of Xanthal.
Clause 4: No primary political group shall be allowed more than one member in the position of Alphin at any point in time.
Clause 5: In cases where an office of Alphin is vacated through conviction of impeachment charges, death, resignation, or Council-determined inability to discharge official powers, the Speaker of the Council shall assume the vote of the vacated office until a new Alphin shall be elected.
Clause 6: Each Alphin shall receive an equal annual compensation, and no law varying the compensation for the services of the Alphini shall take effect until a full election cycle shall have intervened. No Alphin shall accept any compensation outside of that which is allotted by law.
Section 2.
Each Alphin shall have one vote in executive decisions. All legal executive decisions must be ratified by two of the three Alphini. Certain exceptions can be made with the unanimous consent of the Alphini, but shall be repealed at the order of any one Alphin.
Section 3.
Clause 1: The Alphini shall be the chief commanding body of Xanthal’s military forces.
Clause 2: The Alphini shall have power to make treaties and nominate judges of the Daiho for Council confirmation.
Clause 2: The Alphini shall have power to nominate all officers of Xanthal whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for; but the Council may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper in the Alphini alone, in courts of law, or in heads of departments.
Clause 3: The Alphini shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Council by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of the Council’s next session.
Section 4.
The Alphini shall periodically give to the Council information on the nation’s international standing, and recommend to its members such measures judged necessary and expedient. The Alphini may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the Council, but cannot adjourn it and may be barred from ordering a convention by the Daiho. The Alphini shall also receive ambassadors and other foreign officials, and shall commission such officers on behalf of Xanthal.
Article III.
Section 1.
The judicial power of Xanthal shall be vested in one Daiho, which shall have nine member judges, and in such inferior courts as it may ordain and establish. Judges, both of the Daiho and inferior courts, shall hold their offices for life except in instances of resignation, conviction of impeachment charges, or inability to discharge official powers, and shall receive an annual compensation for their services, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.
Section 2.
In all judicial rulings, each participating judge shall have one vote. All legal executive decisions must be ratified by two of the three Alphini.
Section 3.
Clause 1: The judicial power shall extend to all legal issues arising under this Constitution, the laws of Xanthal and its entities, and treaties to which Xanthal is party occurring within the physical territory of Xanthal or involving a citizen or official representative of or to Xanthal.
Clause 2: In all cases affecting foreign representatives, and those in which a province shall be party, the Daiho shall have original jurisdiction; in all other cases the Daiho shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact. The Daiho is responsible for the faithful execution of the laws of Xanthal.
Clause 3: The trial of all crimes shall be decided by a panel of three or more judges for all but offenses of the lowest class as the Council may determine. Such trials shall be held by a court local to the legal level on which charges are brought wherein the supposed crimes shall have been committed; with jurisdiction falling to the highest court able to bring charges or elsewhere as the Daiho may by law direct.
Clause 4: The Daiho shall have the power to nullify any law or policy of Xanthal that it judges to be in explicit violation of this Constitution provided that three quarters of its members concur.
Clause 5: The courts of Xanthal shall have the power to order any evidence or testimony material to a case on trial delivered up in confidence to the trial court, regardless of circumstance.
Section 4.
Clause 1: The Daiho shall have the sole power to try all impeachments, and shall not convict without the concurrence of two thirds of its members.
Clause 2: Impeachment can only take place when one or more offenses of the first, second, or third class or a rule of this Constitution has been violated by the accused official.
Clause 3: Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office and disqualification to hold public office of Xanthal, but the party convicted shall, if convicted, be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law.
Section 5.
Clause 1: Treason against Xanthal shall consist only of a citizen or declared ally of Xanthal levying war against the nation or giving illegal aid to its declared enemies. No citizen shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or on confession in open court.
Clause 2: The Council shall have power to declare the actions that may be taken on those convicted of treason. Passive offenses cannot constitute treason.
Article IV.
Section 1.
Clause 1: Three fourths of the Council may affirm a vote of no confidence in the Alphini, at which point the Daiho will exercise all executive powers until three Alphini are elected and take office in the manner set forth in this Constitution.
Clause 2: When a vote of no confidence in the Alphini is affirmed, a new election must take place after four weeks and before six weeks have passed. The new executive panel must take office within one month of the original no confidence vote.
Section 2.
Clause 1: Three fourths of the Council may affirm a vote of no confidence in the Daiho, at which point the legislature will exercise all judicial powers until nine judges are appointed and confirmed in the manner set forth in this Constitution to form the new panel of the Daiho.
Clause 2: When a vote of no confidence in the Daiho is affirmed, the new judicial panel must take office within one month. If after five weeks following the no confidence vote have passed one or more positions in the Daiho remain unfilled, a majority of the Council may vote to suspend the Alphini’s power to nominate Daiho judges and elect them within the Council with a normal two thirds vote. If there are still unfilled positions nine weeks after the original no confidence vote, the Speaker of the Council will appoint the remaining judges.
Section 3.
Individual no confidence proceedings cannot be initiated within eleven weeks of each other.
Section 4.
Two Alphini and six judges of the Daiho may delay action on a vote of no confidence by registering official protest of the decision within one day of the vote. If this occurs, a referendum shall be held throughout Xanthal after four weeks and before six weeks have passed in which citizens shall be asked to confirm or deny the no confidence vote. A majority of voters are needed to confirm.
Article V.
Section 1.
Full faith and credit shall be given in each province to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other province. The Council may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.
Section 2.
Clause 1: The citizens of all provinces shall be entitled to equal treatment and protection under the law.
Clause 2: A party fleeing from judicial authority in one court’s jurisdiction, if found in another’s, shall on demand of the judicial authority of the jurisdiction fled be delivered to that jurisdiction to stand trial.
Section 3.
Clause 1: New provinces may be admitted by two thirds of the Council into the nation of Xanthal.
Clause 2: The Council shall have power to make and dispose of all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to Xanthal.
Section 4.
Xanthal shall guarantee to every province a three-branch republican form of government on the model of this Constitution, and shall protect each of them against invasion and domestic violence. All provincial constitutions are subordinate to this Constitution, and all laws of incorporated entities are subordinate to the laws of the entity in which they are incorporated.
Article VI.
Section 1.
In all elections ordained by this Constitution voting shall be carried out by providing a ballot listing five candidate choices, ordered by voter preference, for each position to be filled. In the counting process the first-choice votes for each candidate shall be totaled. If no candidate has a majority of the vote, the candidate with the least votes shall be eliminated, and ballots cast for that candidate counted towards the next non-eliminated choice. This process shall be repeated until the vote is divided between two candidates.
Section 2.
If no popular majority is reached through the process in Section 1, a new vote shall be held as soon as possible with only the top two candidates from the final count listed as choices for the vote, and whosoever of the two receives the majority of votes shall be the election's winner.
Section 3.
In the extraordinary event that no majority is reached in the process designated in sections 1 and 2, the official legislative body having most immediate relation to the disputed position shall select the winner.
Section 4.
Voters shall in all elections be provided with a complete list of all candidates and their political affiliations to aid in the voting process, but no candidates or parties may be represented on the ballot itself.
Article VII.
Section 1.
This Constitution shall be the supreme law of the land; and all other constitutions, doctrines, laws, and treaties shall be subordinate to it.
Section 2.
No preferential test shall be required as a qualification to any public or private position, nor any discrimination not directly relevant to the performance of the duties associated with that position tolerated.
Section 3.
The government of Xanthal shall not respect or restrict any establishment of religion over other religions or lack thereof, abridge freedom of speech or of the press, or infringe upon the right of the people to assemble peaceably or otherwise petition the government.
Section 4.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons and property, both tangible and intangible, from unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and warrants shall only be issued on probable cause that particularly describe the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
Section 5.
No person shall be tried more than once for the same offense; nor have judgment or sentence passed on them without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.
Section 6.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by impartial judges, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the prosecution's witnesses and evidence, to have compulsory process for obtaining defense witnesses and evidence, and to have the assistance of qualified legal counsel.
Section 7.
The right of any person to a judicial review of any judgment passed or sentence imposed on them by a public or private authority shall not be suspended.
Section 8.
All disputes heard before the courts of Xanthal and its provinces shall be subject to the same rules and regulations, and no bias shall be accepted on the part of ruling judges.
Section 9.
In all cases the actions taken on a criminal must fit the crime committed as well as possible, and all such judgments given equally. No sentence may include transfer of any money or items unless measurable financial damage was caused to one or more parties as a direct result of another party, in which case the damaging party must give restitution equal to the damage caused, as determined by the court. Torture, both physical and psychological, shall be in all cases forbidden.
Section 10.
The powers not delegated to Xanthal or prohibited to it or its parties in this Constitution are reserved to the provinces respectively, or to the people.
Section 11.
No involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been convicted in a court of the Daiho, shall be permitted.
Section 13.
The right to vote shall not be denied to any citizen, and no individual vote shall be counted or valued differently than any other.
Section 14.
The migration of persons into, out of, or within Xanthal shall not be prohibited.
Section 15.
In cases of fundamental inequalities, equal application of the law is to be interpreted on a party or individual basis. This weighting shall be permissible only in cases where a precipitating fundamental inequality can be proved and accepted by three fourths of the Daiho, and then must be legislated in the most fair and equal manner possible.
Section 16.
All citizens shall receive a general education and further education as they may request, as determined by law, to prepare them for employment in their area of their choice. This education shall be individually equal, universal, and gratis.
Article VIII.
The Council, whenever two thirds shall deem it necessary, may propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the 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 three fourths of the Council and two thirds of the provincial legislatures; provided that no party shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Council.