Constitution of the Kingdom of Normark [1664]

Kaiser Ayreon IV · Post by **Kaiser Ayreon IV** » Thu Sep 27, 2018 9:17 am

We, Vidar Ayreon, King of Normark, make it publicly known: that the decision of the Congress and the House of Lords of 6 Regnmåne 1664 has been laid before Us:

Constitution of the Kingdom of Normark

Article 1: Executive Power

The Kingdom of Normark is a free, independent, indivisible and inalienable Realm. Its form of government is a limited and hereditary monarchy. The Kingdom of Normark consists of the demesnes of Normark Proper and Elijah’s Rest. [Amended 1665]

The Executive Power is vested in the King, or in the Queen if she has succeeded to the Crown. When the Executive Power is thus vested in the Queen, she has all the rights and obligations which pursuant to this Constitution and the Law of the Land are possessed by the King.

The King's person is sacred; he cannot be censured or accused. The responsibility rests with his Council.

The throne of Normark is vested in Our Lord the Radiant Sun Vidar Salim Livarson Ayreon-Kalirion ibn al-Majeed al-Osman bin Sathrati of Waffel-Paine, reigning as King of Normark, and his heirs and successors.

The order of succession corresponds to that of Article III, Section A, Subsection 3 of the Imperial Charter for the Governance of Shireroth, as of the last day of 1658.

If there is no Princess or Prince entitled to the succession, the King may propose his successor to the Nordisketing, which has the right to make the choice if the King's proposal is not accepted.

The King himself chooses a Council from among Natopian citizens resident in Normark who are entitled to vote. This Council shall consist of a Prime Minister and at least seven other Members.

The King apportions the business among the Members of the Council of State, as he deems appropriate. Under extraordinary circumstances, besides the ordinary Members of the Council of State, the King may summon other Natopian citizens resident in Normark, although no Members of the Nordisketing, to take a seat in the Council of State.

Husband and wife, parent and child or two siblings may never sit at the same time in the Council of State.

During his travels within the Realm, the King may delegate the administration of the Realm to the Council of State. The Council of State shall conduct the government in the King's name and on his behalf. It shall scrupulously observe the provisions of this Constitution, as well as such particular directives in conformity therewith as the King may instruct.

The matters of business shall be decided by voting, where in the event of the votes being equal, the Prime Minister, or in his absence the highest-ranking Member of the Council of State who is present, shall have two votes.

The Council of State shall make a report to the King on matters of business which it thus decides.

The King may appoint State Secretaries to assist Members of the Council of State with their duties outside the Council of State. Each State Secretary shall act on behalf of the Member of the Council of State to whom he is attached to the extent determined by that Member.

Any person who holds a seat in the Council of State has the duty to submit his application to resign once the Nordisketing has passed a vote of no confidence against that Member of the Council of State or against the Council of State as a whole.

The King is bound to grant such an application to resign.

Once the Nordisketing has passed a vote of no confidence, only such business may be conducted as is required for the proper discharge of duties.

The King ordains all public church services and public worship, all meetings and assemblies dealing with religious matters, and ensures that public teachers of religion follow the norms prescribed for them.

The King may issue and repeal ordinances relating to commerce, customs, all livelihoods and the police, although these must not conflict with the Constitution or with the laws passed by the Nordisketing

As a general rule the King shall provide for the collection of the taxes and duties imposed by the Nordisketing.

The King shall ensure that the properties and prerogatives of the State are utilized and administered in the manner determined by the Nordisketing and in the best interests of the general public.

The King shall have the right in the Council of State to pardon criminals after sentence has been passed. The criminal shall have the choice of accepting the King's pardon or submitting to the penalty imposed.

In proceedings which the Nordisketing causes to be brought before the Court of Impeachment, no pardon other than deliverance from the death penalty may be granted, unless the Nordisketing has given its consent thereto.

The Prime Minister and the other Members of the Council of State, together with the State Secretaries, may be dismissed by the King without any prior court judgment, after he has heard the opinion of the Council of State on the subject. The same applies to senior officials employed in government offices or in the diplomatic or consular service, to the highest-ranking civil and ecclesiastical officials, commanders of regiments and other military formations, commandants of forts and officers commanding warships. Whether pensions should be granted to senior officials thus dismissed shall be determined by the next Nordisketing. In the interval they shall receive two thirds of their previous pay.

Other senior officials may only be suspended by the King, and must then without delay be charged before the Courts, but they may not, except by court judgment, be dismissed nor, against their will, transferred. All senior officials may, without a prior court judgment, be discharged from office upon attaining the statutory age limit.

The King may bestow orders upon whomever he pleases, as a reward for distinguished services, and such orders must be publicly announced, but no rank or title other than that attached to any office.

The order exempts no one from the common duties and burdens of citizens, nor does it carry with it any preferential admission to senior official posts in the State. Senior officials honourably discharged from office retain the title and rank of their office. This does not apply, however, to Members of the Council of State or the State Secretaries.

No personal, or mixed, hereditary privileges may henceforth be granted to anyone.

The King chooses and dismisses, at his own discretion, his Royal Household and Court Officials.

All Members of the Council of State shall, unless lawfully absent, attend the Council of State and no decision may be adopted there unless more than half the number of members are present.

Proposals regarding appointments to senior official posts and other matters of importance shall be presented in the Council of State by the Member under whose department they come, and such matters shall be dealt with by him in accordance with the decision adopted in the Council of State. However, matters strictly relating to military command may, to the extent determined by the King, be excepted from proceedings in the Council of State.

All decisions drawn up by the King shall, in order to become valid, be countersigned. The decisions relating to military command are countersigned by the person who has presented the matter, while other decisions are countersigned by the Prime Minister or, if he has not been present, by the highest-ranking Member of the Council of State present.

The decisions adopted by the Government during the King's absence shall be drawn up in the King's name and be signed by the Council of State.

The King shall make provisions concerning titles for those who are entitled to succeed to the Crown.

As soon as the heir to the Throne has completed her or his eighteenth year, she or he is entitled to take a seat in the Council of State, although without a vote or responsibility.

A Princess or Prince entitled to succeed to the Crown of Normark may not marry without the consent of the King. Nor may she or he accept any other crown or government without the consent of the King.

If she or he acts contrary to this rule, they and their descendants forfeit their right to the Throne of Normark.

The Royal Princes and Princesses shall not personally be answerable to anyone other than the King, or whomever he decrees to sit in judgment on them.

If the King dies and the heir to the Throne is still under age, the Council of State shall immediately summon the Nordisketing.

Until the Nordisketing has assembled and made provisions for the government during the minority of the King, the Council of State shall be responsible for the administration of the Realm in accordance with the Constitution.

If the King is absent from the Realm unless commanding in the field, or if he is so ill that he cannot attend to the government, the person next entitled to succeed to the Throne shall, provided that he has attained the age stipulated for the King's majority, conduct the government as the temporary executor of the Royal Powers. If this is not the case, the Council of State will conduct the administration of the Realm.

The choice of trustees to conduct the government on behalf of the King during his minority shall be undertaken by the Nordisketing.

Article 2: Legislative Power

The people exercise the Legislative Power through the Nordisketing.

Those entitled to vote in elections to the Nordisketing are Natopian citizens resident in Normark, men and women, who, at the latest in the year when the election is held, have completed their eighteenth year.

The extent, however, to which Natopian citizens resident in Normark who on Election Day are resident outside the Realm but who satisfy the aforementioned conditions are entitled to vote shall be determined by law.

Rules may be laid down by law concerning the right to vote of persons otherwise entitled to vote who on Election Day are manifestly suffering from a seriously weakened mental state or a reduced level of consciousness.

The rules on the keeping of the electoral register and on the registration in the register of persons entitled to vote shall be determined by law.

The polls shall be held every fourth year.

The polls shall be conducted in the manner prescribed by law. Disputes regarding the right to vote shall be settled by the poll officials, whose decision may be appealed to the Nordisketing.

The number of representatives to be elected to the Nordisketing shall be two hundred and sixty-nine.

The Realm is divided into a number constituencies as decided by the King.

The number of representatives to the Nordisketing to be chosen from each constituency is determined by proportional representation.

Specific provisions on the division of the Realm into constituencies and on the allotment of seats in the Nordisketing to the constituencies shall be determined by the King’s decree.

The Nordisketing nominates a President, five Vice-Presidents and two Secretaries. The Nordisketing may not hold a meeting unless at least half of its Members are present. However, Bills concerning amendments to the Constitution may not be dealt with unless at least two thirds of the Members of the Nordisketing are present.

As soon as the Nordisketing is constituted, the King, or whoever he appoints for the purpose, shall open its proceedings with a speech, in which he shall inform it of the state of the Realm and of the issues to which he particularly desires to call the attention of the Nordisketing. No deliberations may take place in the presence of the King.

When the proceedings of the Nordisketing have been opened, the Prime Minister and the Members of the Council of State have the right to attend the Nordisketing and, like its Members, although without voting, to take part in any proceedings conducted in open session, while in matters discussed in closed session only insofar as permitted by the Nordisketing.

It devolves upon the Nordisketing:
to enact and repeal laws; to impose taxes, duties, customs and other public charges, which shall not, however, remain operative beyond 31 December of the succeeding year, unless they are expressly renewed by a new Nordisketing;

to raise loans in the name of the Realm;

to supervise the economic affairs of the Realm;

to appropriate the moneys necessary to meet government expenditure;

to decide how much shall be paid annually to the King for the Royal Household, and to determine the Royal Family's appanage which may not, however, consist of real property;

to have submitted to it the records of the Council of State, and all public reports and documents;

to have communicated to it the treaties which the King, on behalf of the State, has concluded with foreign powers;

to have the right to require anyone, the King and the Royal Family excepted, to appear before it on matters of State; the exception does not, however, apply to the Royal Princes if they hold any public office;

to review the provisional lists of salaries and pensions and to make therein such alterations as it deems necessary;

Every Bill shall first be proposed in the Nordisketing, either by one of its own Members, or by the Government through a Member of the Council of State.

Once the Bill is passed there, a new deliberation is to take place in the Nordisketing, which either approves or rejects it. In the latter case the Bill, with the comments appended by the Nordisketing, shall again be taken into consideration by the Nordisketing, which either shelves the Bill or approves it with the said comments.

Between each such deliberation there shall be an interval of at least three days.

When a Bill has been approved by the Nordisketing in two consecutive meetings, it is sent to the King with a request that it may receive the Royal Assent.

If the King assents to the Bill, he appends his signature, whereby it becomes law.

If he does not assent to it, he returns it to the Nordisketing with a statement that he does not for the time being find it expedient to give his assent. In that case the Bill must not again be submitted to the King by the Nordisketing then assembled.

If a Bill has been passed unaltered by two sessions of the Nordisketing, constituted after two separate successive elections and separated from each other by at least two intervening sessions of the Nordisketing, without a divergent Bill having been passed by any Nordisketing in the period between the first and last adoption, and it is then submitted to the King with a petition that His Majesty shall not refuse his assent to a Bill which, after the most mature deliberation, the Nordisketing considers to be beneficial, it shall become law even if the Royal Assent is not accorded before the Nordisketing goes into recess.

The Nordisketing shall remain in session as long as it deems it necessary and shall terminate its proceedings when it has concluded its business.

Within this time the King shall communicate his decision with regard to the Bills that have not already been decided, by either confirming or rejecting them. All those which he does not expressly accept are deemed to have been rejected by him.

All Acts are drawn up in the name of the King, under the seal of the Realm of Normark, and in the following terms; «We, X, make it publicly known: that the decision of the Nordisketing of the date stated has been laid before Us: (here follows the decision). In consequence whereof We have assented to and confirmed, as We hereby do assent to and confirm the same as Law under Our Hand and the Seal of the Realm.»

The Nordisketing may obtain the opinion of the Supreme Court on points of law.

The Nordisketing shall meet in open session, and its proceedings shall be published in print, except in those cases where a majority decides to the contrary.

Any person who obeys an order, the purpose of which is to disturb the liberty and security of the Nordisketing, is thereby guilty of treason against the Country.

The Court of Impeachment pronounces judgment in the first and last instance in such proceedings as are brought by the Nordisketing against Members of the Council of State or of the Supreme Court or of the Nordisketing for criminal or other unlawful conduct in cases where they have breached their constitutional obligations.

The specific rules concerning indictment by the Nordisketing in accordance with this Article shall be determined by law. However, the limitation period for the institution of indictment proceedings before the Court of Impeachment may not be set at less than 15 years.

The judges of the Court of Impeachment comprise six Members elected by the Nordisketing and the five longest-serving, permanently appointed Members of the Supreme Court, including the President of the Supreme Court. The Nordisketing elects the Members and their deputies for a period of six years. A Member of the Council of State or of the Nordisketing may not be elected as a Member of the Court of Impeachment. In the Court of Impeachment the President of the Supreme Court shall preside.

Any person sitting in the Court of Impeachment who has been elected by the Nordisketing shall not lose his seat in the Court if the period for which he is elected expires before the Court of Impeachment has concluded the proceedings in the case. Nor shall a Justice of the Supreme Court who is a Member of the Court of Impeachment lose his seat in the Court, even if he resigns as a Member of the Supreme Court.

Specific provisions as to the composition of the Court of Impeachment and its procedures shall be laid down by law.

Article 3: Judicial Power

The Supreme Court pronounces judgment in the final instance. Nevertheless, limitations on the right to bring a case before the Supreme Court may be prescribed by law.

The Supreme Court shall consist of a President and at least four other Members.

The judgments of the Supreme Court may in no case be appealed.

No one may be appointed a member of the Supreme Court before reaching 30 years of age.

The Nordisketing shall make provision for the publication of a new general civil and criminal code. However the currently applicable laws of the State shall remain in force, provided they do not conflict with this Constitution or with such provisional ordinances as may be issued in the meantime.

No dispensations, protection from civil arrest, moratoriums or redresses may be granted after the new general code has entered into force.

No one may be convicted except according to law, or be punished except after a court judgment. Interrogation by torture must not take place.

No law must be given retroactive effect.

When special fees are paid to officials of the Courts of Justice, no further payment shall be made to the Treasury in respect of the same matter.

No one may be taken into custody except in the cases determined by law and in the manner prescribed by law. For unwarranted arrest, or illegal detention, the officer concerned is accountable to the person imprisoned.

The Government is not entitled to employ military force against citizens of the State, except in accordance with the forms prescribed by law, unless any assembly disturbs the public peace and does not immediately disperse after the Articles of the Statute Book relating to riots have been read out clearly three times by the civil authority.

There shall be freedom of expression.

No person may be held liable in law for having imparted or received information, ideas or messages unless this can be justified in relation to the grounds for freedom of expression, which are the seeking of truth, the promotion of democracy and the individual's freedom to form opinions. Such legal liability shall be prescribed by law.

Everyone shall be free to speak his mind frankly on the administration of the State and on any other subject whatsoever. Clearly defined limitations to this right may only be imposed when particularly weighty considerations so justify in relation to the grounds for freedom of expression.

Prior censorship and other preventive measures may not be applied unless so required in order to protect children and young persons from the harmful influence of moving pictures.

Censorship of letters may only be imposed in institutions.

Everyone has a right of access to documents of the State and municipal administration and a right to follow the proceedings of the courts and democratically elected bodies. Limitations to this right may be prescribed by law to protect the privacy of the individual or for other weighty reasons.

It is the responsibility of the authorities of the State to create conditions that facilitate open and enlightened public discourse.

New and permanent privileges implying restrictions on the freedom of trade and industry must not in future be granted to anyone.

Search of private homes shall not be made except in criminal cases.

Asylum for the protection of debtors shall not be granted to such persons as hereafter become bankrupt.

Land and goods may in no case be made subject to forfeiture.

If the welfare of the State requires that any person shall surrender his movable or immovable property for the public use, he shall receive full compensation from the Treasury.

As a general rule every resident of the State is equally bound to serve in the defence of the Country for a specific period, irrespective of birth or fortune.

The application of this principle, and the restrictions to which it shall be subject, shall be determined by law.

It is the responsibility of the authoritiexs of the State to create conditions enabling every person capable of work to earn a living by his work.

Specific provisions concerning the right of employees to co-determination at their work place shall be laid down by law.

It is the responsibility of the authorities of the State to create conditions enabling the Reindeer Herder people to preserve and develop their language, culture and way of life.

It is the responsibility of the authorities of the State to create conditions enabling the autonomy of Elijah’s Rest in accordance with law. [Amended 1665]

Every person has a right to an environment that is conducive to health and to natural surroundings whose productivity and diversity are preserved. Natural resources should be made use of on the basis of comprehensive long-term considerations whereby this right will be safeguarded for future generations as well.

In order to safeguard their right in accordance with the foregoing paragraph, citizens are entitled to be informed of the state of the natural environment and of the effects of any encroachments on nature that are planned or commenced.

The State authorities shall issue further provisions for the implementation of these principles.

It is the responsibility of the authorities of the State to respect and ensure human rights. Specific provisions for the implementation of treaties hereof shall be determined by law.

The form and colours of the Norse Flag shall be determined by law.

If experience shows that any part of this Constitution of the Kingdom of Normark ought to be amended, such amendment requires that two thirds of the Nordisketing agree thereto.

An amendment to the Constitution adopted in the manner aforesaid shall be signed by the President and the Secretary of the Nordisketing, and shall be sent to the King for public announcement in print, as an applicable provision of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Normark.

Upon adoption of this Constitution the assembly known as the Congress or the People’s Assembly shall form the Nordisketing, the prime minister appointed by the Congress remain Prime Minister and his government remain intact, and the constitution of the Demesne of Normark Proper voided.
In consequence whereof We have assented to and confirmed, as We hereby do assent to and confirm the same as Law under Our Hand and the Seal of the Realm.

Done at Nordiskehjem, this 6 Regnmåne 1664.

Vidar Ayreon