Constitution of the Republic of Mercury
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Constitution of the Republic of Mercury
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 The Constitution of the Republic of Mercury The people of Mercury, having taken upon themselves the historical duty to institute a sound political order within its community, seeking to ensure justice, equality, respect in its political, economic, and social affairs, and committed to preserving the dignity and pride of the Republic, do hereby adopt and enact this Constitution of the Republic of Mercury.
Chapter I. The Republic
Article 1. Style a) For the avoidance of doubt, Republic of Mercury refers to the four constituent countries combined. b) Mercury refers to the country of Mercury. c) State of Mercury refers to the state of Mercury. d) City of Mercury refers to the city of Mercury. Article 2. Constituents a) The Republic of Mercury is comprised of subdivisions as set out in Schedule A of this Constitution. ) The city of Mercury shall be the capital and seat of the Government and Parliament. Article 3. Admission of Territories a) New territories shall apply to the Constitution Committee for admission into the Republic. b) The Committee shall have the power to reject the application or refer it to Parliament. c) To be incorporated as a constituent country, the application must be approved in Parliament by a simple majority of over 50% of voting members. Article 4. Form of government a) The Republic of Mercury is a parliamentary republic. b) The powers of the State are embodied in the President and the People, who shall exercise it solely through the institutions created under this Constitution and subsequent law. Article 5. National symbols a) The national flag of the Republic is a three vertical bands of gold, white and gold. Article 6. Official languages English is the national and official language. Other languages are approved for use within Mercurian territories, as set out in Schedule A.
Chapter II. The President
Article 7. Term of Office The President shall serve a term of three years, after which time, he is entitled to seek re-election. There is no limit to the number of terms for which a President may serve. Article 8. Election a) The President is a serving member of Parliament, elected by the Members of Parliament at the commencement of their term. b) Each Parliamentary party shall be entitled to nominate one candidate. c) If a candidate achieves a majority of over 50%, he shall be elected immediately. d) If no candidate achieves a majority, then the candidate with the fewest number of votes is eliminated and another ballot is held. Article 9. Diplomatic capacity a) The President shall appoint a minister to conduct the diplomatic affairs of the State. b) No treaty or other diplomatic instrument shall bind the State and People unless it has been ratified by either the President or the Foreign Minister. c) The Republic shall be officially recognised as neutral in all conflicts. Article 10. Command of the Armed Forces a) The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of all of the Republic’s armed forces. b) The armed forces shall not operate from any permanent base outside of the Republic for any period exceeding twenty-eight days without the consent of Parliament. Article 11. Removal from Office The President may be removed from office by a Resolution of Parliament passed with a 2/3 majority, stating that he has lost the confidence of the House. An election shall be held no later than thirty days after the Resolution is passed.
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Chapter III. Responsibilities of the State
Article 12. General welfare The highest and most fundamental duty of the State shall be to promote the social, political, and economic welfare of the Mercurian People, for which purpose it shall establish laws and protect public order. Article 13. National defence The State shall have a responsibility to establish and maintain an adequate military force, for the defence of the People from foreign aggression, the aid of allied nations, and the protection of peace and international harmony on Micras. Article 14. Economic stability In the interests of maintaining the highest feasible level of production, employment, and economic growth, the State shall regulate the national currency and the system of public credit. Article 15. Provision of public services The State shall take responsibility for providing free and universal access to healthcare and basic education among residents of the Republic, and to eliminate significant regional or socio-economic inequalities in quality and access, either by public provision of such services or by regulated private provision. Article 16. Public funding The State shall obtain necessary public funds for carrying out its responsibilities through an equitable system of taxation, which shall in general exempt citizens earning only a subsistence income, and provide disincentives for undesirable social and financial activities.
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Chapter IV. Rights of the People
Article 17. Basic human rights a) Every person has the right to life, liberty, and personal security, and shall only be deprived of these rights in the execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for which this penalty is provided by law. b) Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, freedom of expression through a free press and other means of communication, and to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. c) The State shall secure the rights set out in this Article to everyone within its jurisdiction, subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be justified in a free and democratic society. Article 18. Political rights a) Every citizen has the right to participate in his own governance by electing representatives, organizing in political parties and interest groups, and accessing public government information. b) The law may provide for deprivation of the ability to hold public offices in sentencing upon conviction for treason, espionage, fraud, corruption, and other grave crimes against the People and public order. Article 19. Legal rights a) Everyone has the right to be secure from arbitrary searches and seizures of property. b) No person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. c) The use of capital punishment for any offence in times of peace or of war is abolished. Article 20. Procedural rights a) No person shall be arrested or detained without being informed of a reasonable cause, and no person shall be detained for more than two days without being charged with an offence against the law. b) Upon arrest or detention, everyone has the right to receive legal counsel, and to be informed of that right. c) Any person charged with an offence has the right to be informed of the detailed charges against him, to a trial within a reasonable period of time, and to be presumed innocent until proven guilty through a fair trial in accordance with the law. d) No person shall be compelled to confess an offence or otherwise give testimony against himself. e) No person shall be tried for an offence of which he has already been acquitted or convicted in accordance with the law, except in the event of newly-discovered facts, or where there was a fundamental defect in the previous proceedings. f) No person shall be found guilty of any act or omission which did not, at the time of that act or omission, constitute an offence under the law. Article 21. Mobility and nationality rights a) Every citizen has the right to enter, remain in, and leave the Republic, or to take up residence in any constituent country, within such reasonable limitations and restrictions as may be provided by law. b) No citizen shall lose or be deprived of his Mercurian nationality and citizenship, except by his own request, or by such other procedures as the law may provide. Article 22. Equality before the law Everyone is equal before the law, and shall have the equal right to enjoy the benefit and protection of the law without discrimination based on gender, race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, age, or disability.
Chapter V. The Parliament
Article 23. Legislative power a) The highest law-making body in the Republic shall be the Parliament. b) No law shall enter into effect without the consent of the President and the Parliament. c) Particular laws may authorize Ministers to issue orders on their implementation by the Government. d) Orders issued under Section c) of this Article may be entirely or partially nullified at any time by a resolution of Parliament. Article 24. Qualifications and election of Members a) Parliament shall be composed of Members representing the electoral districts set out in the Schedule to this Constitution; additional districts may be established by law. b) Any citizen may serve as a Member of Parliament, unless lawfully deprived of the right to hold political offices in the Republic. c) In the event of multiple citizens declaring their candidacy as Member for a single district, an election shall be held to determine who will represent it in Parliament. d) Elections shall be supervised by the Electoral Commission, and shall be regulated by law. Article 25. Length of sessions a) In each year, Parliament shall sit for two sessions of five months each. b) The session shall commence at 9am on the third Monday of June and January. c) The Session shall end at 6pm on the third Friday of November, and the last Friday of May. d) Parliament may be recalled at any time between sessions by the President. Article 26. The Prime Minister At the beginning of each session, the President shall appoint a Prime Minister, who shall preside over proceedings impartially. Article 27. Orders of the House Parliament may issue temporary or standing orders concerning procedures, the election of officers, rules of order and conduct, and the location of meetings.
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Chapter VI. The Executive Government
Article 28. Executive power The executive powers of the State, shall be vested in a Government legally established by President, and responsible to both the President and the Parliament. Article 29. Establishment of Ministries a) Parliament shall enact laws to create and empower ministerial positions. b) Ministers appointed under this Article shall be appointed by the President with the confirmation of the Parliament. c) Ministers shall have only those powers which have been granted to them by law. d) Each Minister may appoint deputies and assistants without reference to the President or Parliament. Article 30. Independence of Ministers a) All Ministers shall be considered equal members and representatives of the Government. b) No Minister shall have authority over the appointment and dismissal of other Ministers, or other the conduct of Government policy in other ministries. c) Ministers shall not be obliged to resign at the same time, or to be members of the same political party. Article 31. Parliamentary responsibility a) All Ministers shall have a right to be heard in Parliament, and a duty to answer questions put to them by Members in a timely manner. b) Parliament may dismiss a Minister appointed under Article 29 of this Constitution at any time by means of a Resolution of the House, stating therein the reason for such dismissal.
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Chapter VII. The Judiciary
Article 32. Judicial power The judicial power of the Kingdom shall be vested in the Supreme Court of Justice, and such lower Courts as may hereafter be established by law. Article 33. The Judges a) Subject to the confirmation of Parliament, the judges and other judicial officers shall be appointed by the Government. b) A judge shall be dismissed from his office only upon conviction for a grave offence against the laws of the Republic, or for failure to uphold the judicial impartiality expected of him. c) Except as may be expressly permitted by law, all judges shall remain politically impartial during their terms, and therefore shall not hold any other government office, or be a member of any political party or organization with explicitly political goals. Article 34. The Supreme Court a) The Supreme Court of Justice shall be the highest court of the Republic, and in addition to hearing such matters on appeal as shall be referred to it by lower courts, shall have original jurisdiction over cases involving— (1) Ambassadors, diplomats, or foreign governments; (2) the Republic, the President, constituent countries, or judges; (3) treason or crimes against constitutional government; (4) the interpretation of this Constitution; and (5) until the establishment of lower courts, all other matters. b) The Supreme Court shall be composed of— (1) a Chief Justice; and (2) two Associate Justices. c) If a case should come before the Supreme Court when there are no Justices, or when the only Justice is a party to the case, Parliament shall as soon as possible appoint a Temporary Justice to try the case, who need not be a Mercurian citizen. d) All decisions of the Supreme Court shall be made by a majority vote of the Justices. A Justice dissenting from the majority shall have the right to publish a separate opinion for posterity.
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Chapter VIII. General Provisions
Article 35. The Rule of Law a) The laws and this Constitution shall be binding on all persons residing or otherwise present within the Republic and its constituent countries. b) The provisions of this Constitution shall have supremacy over all other laws. c) No law shall have binding force unless it is displayed in a public place accessible by all citizens. Article 36. Validity of prior legislation The laws, decrees, orders, and official acts promulgated prior to the passage of this Constitution shall remain in effect, except where they conflict with the provisions of this Constitution. Article 37. Amendment of the Constitution This Constitution may be amended, modified, or abrogated only by means of a Resolution passed by a 2/3 majority in Parliament and ratified by the President.
Schedule A: States and territories of Mercury
States 1) Ambiane 2) Deacon 3) East Moorshire 4) Lalorne 5) Lothia 6) Mandowey 7) May 8) (State of) Mercury 9) Midmoor 10) North Moorshire 11) Taylor 12) Tow Law 13) Vimie 14) West Moorshire Territories 1) Castilona (Martino language approved) 2) Lusa (Lusana language approved) 3) Nova English Korea (Taesongean language approved) 4) Qavaqaqqaqqaniitqeqertaq (Qavaqaqqaqqaniitqeqertaquit language approved) Non-incorporated regions 1) Franklin Islands 2) Osktrava (Osktravan language approved) Other subdivisions 1) New Sussex [Condominium with Nova England] |
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