Proposed amendments to the Constitution

[Deimos Jasonides]

Senators,

I move that you pass this resolution:

First amendment to the Constitution

The Senate resolves to proposes the first amendment to the Constitution:

PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION

In the Constitution,

a) Article 3 shall be amended to read:

Article 3: The Legislature

The legislating powers of Elwynn are held by the Prince, the Senate and the Congress. They shall together have supreme legislative power in Elwynn.

b) Article 4:1 shall be amended to read:

1. The Prince appoints the members of the Senate, called Senators, and presides over the Senate.

b) Article 4:3 shall be amended to insert ", or" after "resignation from the Senate"

c) Article 4:5 shall be amended to read:

5. The Senate adopts Statutes with the consent of the Congress and the Prince.

d) insert under Article 4, subarticle 7:

7. The Senate may declare the Prince incapacitated after the Prince’s being abroad for more than two weeks, in which case the Steward governs. The Steward shall govern Elwynn in the vacancy of a Prince until the Senate has elected a new Prince.

e) Article 6:1 is amended to read:

1. All legislative, judicial, military and executive powers of Elwynn are entrusted to the Prince who exercises them with advice of the Senate. Legal instruments or decrees of the Prince with the force of law may be nullified by joint resolution of Senate and Congress.

f) Article 6:2 shall be amended by removing the sentence "Can no Steward be accounted for, the remainder of the Council of Eliria shall temporarily assume the government";

g) Article 6:3 shall be repealed;

h) Article 7 shall be repealed;

i) Article 9:1 shall be amended by removing the words "or the President of the Senate";

j) Article 9:3 shall be amended by substituting "Council of Eliria" for "Prince";

k) Article 10 shall be amended by substituting "Council of Eliria" for "Prince".

This would make the following changes to the Constitution:

CONSTITUTION OF ELWYNN

Article 1: The Nation

1. The Elwynnese Nation, finally united, establishes for itself a free and sovereign imperial state under the name of Elwynn.

2. Elwynn declares its affirmation of the Charter of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth.

3. Provisions for the acquisition and loss of Elwynnese citizenship shall be laid down in law.

Article 2: The State

1. The sovereignty, law, administration and jurisdiction of Elwynn extend to the whole of its territory.

2. Elwynn consists of counties, the number, autonomy and borders of which are determined by law.

3. Elwynnese common law shall remain intact inasmuch it conforms to the present Constitution and the law established under the Constitution.

4. Elwynnese law, as adopted by the Union Senate, shall apply to the whole of Elwynn inasmuch it conforms to the present Constitution and the law established under the Constitution.

5. This Constitution shall remain the supreme law of the land. Items of legislation, government policies and administrative acts and orders that are repugnant to it are null and void.

Article 3: The Legislature

The legislating powers of Elwynn are jointly held by the Prince, the Senate and the Congress. They shall together have supreme legislative power in Elwynn, except as delegated elsewhere by this Constitution.

Article 4: The Senate

1. The Prince appoints the members of the Senate, called Senators, and presides over the Senate.

2. All Senators must be citizens of Elwynn and hold no citizenship or allegiance to any other Shirerithian state.

3. A Senator loses his or her membership in the Senate upon:

a) death
b) resignation from the Senate, or
c) loss of Elwynnese citizenship

4. The Senate elects the Prince in a manner it decides, and may remove the Prince in any manner it decides.

5. The Senate adopts its own rules of procedure and elects its president according to these Statutes with the consent of the Congress and the Prince.

6. The Prince may appoint, among the Senators, a President pro tempore of the Senate to preside over the Senate in the absence or unwillingness of the Prince.

7. The Senate may declare the Prince incapacitated after the Prince’s being abroad for more than two weeks, in which case the Steward governs. The Steward shall govern Elwynn in the vacancy of a Prince until the Senate has elected a new Prince.

Article 5: The Congress

1. The Congress is the elected chamber of the legislature, consisting of 677 seats. Elections are held every six Elw years, and are managed by the Prince.

2. Each county constitutes a congressional constituency. Seats afforded each county shall be proportional its population of citizens of Elwynn. The Prince attests to the apportionment of seats and shall finalize it before each election.

3. Elections are held within each county with a system of party-list proportional representation.

Article 6: The Prince

1. The All legislative, judicial, military and executive powers of Elwynn are entrusted to the Prince who exercises them with advice of the Council of Eliria Senate. The Prince answers to the Senate. Legal instruments or decrees of the Prince with the force of law may be nullified by joint resolution of Senate and Congress.

2. The Prince shall appoint among the Senators a Steward. The Steward shall take on the reins of government should the Prince be abroad, be ill or otherwise unable to attend to government. Can no Steward be accounted for, the remainder of the Council of Eliria shall temporarily assume the government.

3. The Prince has the power of decree in matters of military affairs, policing, imperial and foreign affairs, communications, census and statistics, immigration, border security, energy, asylum, citizenship or in other matters delegated to him by the Senate. [repealed]

4. The Prince shall be deemed to have been removed from the office upon death, loss of Elwynnese citizenship resignation from office, removal from office by the Senate or failure to assume office within 72 hours from election.

Article 7: The Council of Eliria

1. The Council of Eliria holds powers of final instance in the judiciary and interprets the Constitution.

2. The Council of Eliria shall, if necessary, meet in private to advise the Prince on matters of executive authority.

3. The Council of Eliria shall give its assent to all constitutional amendments, changes of the internal and external borders of Elwynn.

4. The Prince, the Steward and the President of the Senate are ex officio members of the Council. The President of the Senate may appoint a fourth member of the Council, who must be a Senator and who shall sit at the Council at the President’s pleasure.

5. The Council of Eliria may declare the Prince incapacitated after the Prince’s being abroad for more than two weeks, in which case the Steward governs. After a further two weeks of the Prince being abroad, the Council may declare the Prince removed from office. The Steward will then govern Elwynn until the Senate has elected a new Prince.
[Repealed]

Article 8: The Rights and Freedoms of the People

1. Everyone has the right to life. No one shall be condemned to the death penalty or be executed.

2. Everyone has the right of respect for his or her physical and mental integrity.

3. No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

4. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude, or be required to perform forced or compulsory labour.

5. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person.

6. Everyone has the right to respect for his or private and family life.

7. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

8. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by any authority and regardless of any frontiers.

9. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly.

10. The arts, academia and scientific research shall be free of constraint.

11. Everyone has the right to education. All education sanctioned by law, whether compulsory or voluntary, including examinations, shall be free of charge.

12. Everyone has the right to engage in work and to pursue a freely chosen or accepted occupation.

13. Everyone has the right to conduct a business in accordance with law.

14. Everyone has the right to own, use, dispose of and bequeath or or her lawfully acquired possessions. No one may be depreived of his or her possessions, except in the public interest and in cases and under the conditions provided for by law, subject to fair compensation paid in good time for their loss. The use of property may be regulated by law in so far as is necessary for the general interest.

15. Refugees have a right of asylum.

16. Collective expulsions or punishments or other collective ill-treatment are prohibited.

17. Everyone is equal before the law.

18. Any discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race or sentient species, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation shall be prohibited.

19. Everyone has the right to social security and assistance in cases such as illness, accidents, dependency or old age and loss of employment.

20. Everyone has the right to a decent standard of living.

21. Everyone has the right of access to preventive health care and the right to benefit from medical treatment. Care and treatment shall be free of charge.

22. Everyone has the right to a fair and public hearing or trial. Everyone shall have the possibility of being advised, defended and represented.

23. Everyone who has been charged with an offence shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.

24. Limitations of these rights and freedoms may be imposed by the Legislature on non-citizens of Elwynn or persons not resident within Elwynn. Such limitations must be proportional to the public welfare and security of the State and shall as much as possible respect these rights and freedoms.

Article 9: Contingencies

1. Should Elwynn find itself involved in war, external conflict, natural disaster or civil emergency, or exposed to the danger of such, the Prince or the President of the Senate may convene the Senate and the Congress via special notice outwith the Capital.

2. If Elwynn is involved in war, external conflict, natural disaster or civil emergency, and consequently the Senate and the Congress are unable to meet, whether in the capital or outwith it, the Prince may, by decree, declare the Council of Eliria themself temporarily the sole legislature for Elwynn for as long as the Senate and the Congress are unable to meet.

3. If Elwynn is involved in war, external conflict, natural disaster or civil emergency, and consequently either both the Prince and the Steward or the Council of Eliria are prevented from carrying out their duties, the Senate may elect a temporary Council of Eliria or Steward as necessary.

4. If Elwynn is involved in war, external conflict, natural disaster or civil emergency, the Prince may conclude a ceasefire agreement or arrange mitigating actions, as appropriate, without seeking the approval of the Senate, if deferment of such an agreement would otherwise imperil Elwynn.

5. Each public authority in occupied or otherwise compromised areas shall act in a manner that best serves defence efforts, or appropriate mitigating actions, as well as the protection of the population and the Elwynnese interests at large. In the event of an area being occupied by a foreign power, under no circumstances may any public authority take any action which imposes upon a citizen of Elwynn the duty of rendering assistance to such a power. Neither may elections may be held in such occupied areas.

Article 10: Final Provisions

This Constitution may be amended by resolution of the Senate, provided that the Congress and the Council of Eliria Prince grant their consent to such amendments.

[Verion]

I only disagree with the changes in 9.3, could the prince explain this?

[Deimos Jasonides]

Senators,

Mr Lewis asks me for the reason of the amendment of 9:3. Since by the whole amendment package, the Council of Eliria will cease to exist, the issue becomes moot. Instead, should the Prince and the Steward both be unavailable to defend the State, the Senate can elect a temporary Steward until the Prince and Steward have been liberated.

[Verion]

Thank the Prince for this explanation, I think I read it the wrong way.

[Soreaa Isurui]

Colleagues,

Let us continue debate the proposed amendments by His Serene Highness. Should any of you wish to offer any further amendments to the Constitution, now would be the time.

[Luix Rakira]

I am late to this discussion and I apologize. I do, however, agree with all such proposals and look forward to voting in favor.

[Soreaa Isurui]

Honourable Senators,

Voting on the proposed amendments begins now.

[Verion]

Aye

[Soreaa Isurui]

With all votes cast being in favour, none against, I declare the proposed amendments passed as approved by the Senate, the matter will now be referred to the Council of Eliria.