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Constitutional Amendment #1; An amendment to Article III of the Constitution.
Topic Started: Jun 29 2018, 02:34 AM (428 Views)
Caesar
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Deputy Grand Councillor
Constitutional Amendment #1

An amendment to Article III of the Constitution.

Authored by:
Assembly Member Caesar
Emperor Emeritus Cognat I D'Vhakk

Proposed by:
Assembly Member Caesar



Foreword

The purpose of this proposal to the members of the Assembly is to amend and re-enact the sections and provisions under Article III of the Constitution currently titled "The Citizens' Assembly". All additions and subtractions from the original sections and provisions of this Article are subject to change if given a legitimate reason on the Assembly Floor.


Article III of the Constitution of The Ragerian Imperium shall be amended to read as such, be it enacted by the legislature of the region:




ARTICLE III - THE CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLY THE LEGISLATURE

  1. The legislative authority of the Ragerian Imperium shall be vested in the Citizens' Assembly, henceforth referred to as the Citizens' Assembly. The legislative authority of The Ragerian Imperium shall be equally divided among two houses defined here as the Assembly and the Senate.

  2. The Citizens' Assembly shall have the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalisation. The Assembly shall be the citizenry of The Ragerian Imperium, with the exception of Senators.


    1. This assembly shall have the power to compose legislation.

    2. This assembly shall have the power to vote on Senate bills.

  3. The Citizens' Assembly shall have the power to define crimes and their punishments. The Senate shall be a group of officials elected by the citizenry.


    1. This assembly shall have the power to compose legislation.

    2. This assembly shall have the power to vote on bills by the Assembly.

    3. The number of Senators shall be composed of three, five, or seven citizens, subject to legal regulation.

    4. The establishment of the Senate must be validated by Standing Orders and Electoral laws that do not conflict with the provisions of this Article.

  4. The Citizens' Assembly shall have the power to declare war through a majority vote. Each house shall act as a check and balance for the other.


    1. For a bill to be brought to assent, it must be approved by the house(s) that stand(s).

  5. The Citizens' Assembly shall have the power to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of The Ragerian Imperium, or in any Department or Officer thereof. The Assembly and the Senate shall both have an elected Speaker.


    1. The Speaker of the Assembly, shall have the responsibility of sending laws to the Senate upon a bill’s passing.

    2. The Speaker of the Senate shall have the responsibility of sending laws to the Assembly upon a bill’s passing.

  6. No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.

  7. The Citizens' Assembly shall have the power to regulate the regional currency.

  8. The Citizens' Assembly and the Senate shall have the power to impeach the Grand Councillor, the Deputy Grand Councillor, the Councillor of Internal Affairs, the Councillor of External Affairs, any other Councillor, the Chief Justiciar, and any of the associate justiciars, and Senators with a ¾ majority vote.


    1. Impeachments of justiciars and councillors an office is are subject to the consent of the Sovereign.

    2. Office seats that are left vacant from an impeachment shall be refilled as established in electoral law that does not conflict with the provisions of this Article.

  9. Impeachments of justiciars and councillors are subject to the consent of the Sovereign.

  10. All Citizens serve as member of the Citizens’ Assembly.

  11. Unless specified otherwise, the Citizens’ Assembly and the Senate shall require a simple majority majority vote to pass legislation.


    1. Should a bill fail a vote in either house, the house that created it shall take it back and begin revisions followed by another vote.

  12. Legislation proposed by a citizen or Senator on the floor of the a Assembly or the Senate may shall be motioned for a vote after being on the floor for forty-eight hours.

  13. The Citizens and the Senators shall elect a Speaker every 8 weeks two months to preside over the Assembly and the Senate.


    1. The Speaker of the Assembly shall be elected from the Assembly.

    2. The Speaker of the Senate shall be elected by the Senate.

    3. Notwithstanding the provisions laid out in Section 8 of this Article, the Assembly and the Senate shall possess the power to impeach their elected Speakers with a ⅔ majority vote.

  14. The Speakers of the Citizens’ Assembly or the Senate shall then bring the bill to vote for 48 forty-eight hours at the ballot box Voting Desk.

  15. All bills passed by the Assembly must then be delivered by the speaker of the aforementioned Assembly to the visitor’s hall of the Sovereign's residence, where the Sovereign will provide assent to the bill if they so choose. All bills that pass the vote of the Assembly and the Senate shall be delivered by the Speaker of the second vote to the Visitor’s Hall of the Sovereign’s Residence for assent.


    1. If assent is denied by the Sovereign, the bill returns to the house of its origins for revisions and voting. The bill shall proceed through the same legislative process before being presented again.

    2. Laws may be enacted granting a bill an exact number of attempts for assent before becoming null and void.





Additional Information

Under current law, the Legislature is too specified in what sorts of legislation they are deemed to propose as evident in Sections 2 through 5. New law enacts that the Legislature, both Assembly and Senate, will have the power to legislate whatever they will be it acts of war, crimes and punishments, citizenship regulations, etc.

Under current law, the Assembly is the only legislative body in the region. New law enacts that there shall now be an elected body of citizens known as the Senate. The system intended to be created through the Senate is one of checks and balances instead of legislative hierarchy. Instead of a bill going in a linear direction from Assembly to Senate to Sovereign, or from Senate to Sovereign, the bill will go in an nonlinear direction.
New Law enacts the system that if the Assembly passes a bill, it then goes to the Senate who then vote on it and deliver it to the Sovereign among passing. New law also enacts that if a bill is started in the Senate, it is to pass a vote in the Assembly in the same manner as previously stated.

Under current law, there is no set system determining the fate of a bill that fails assent. New law enacts that if a bill is denied assent, it is sent back to the house that delivered it, be it the Assembly or the Senate, for revisions and another vote. This does not conflict with the provisions of Section 5 in Article 1 of the Constitution which states that bills that fail assent can be "either" thrown away "or" rewritten. New law establishes the way legislation is to be rewritten so as to save potential bills that could prove useful in the future.

Under current law, there are standard electoral procedures determining the election of Speakers for the Assembly and the Senate. New law enacts and upholds this standard procedure and leaves open any additional form of electoral procedure and regulation such as special elections, sudden resignations, impeachment procedure, and term lengths for Senators to be passed in laws separate of the Constitution.

Under current law, votes require 3/4 percent of total votes of impeachment to pass. New law enacts that the required percentage will be 2/3 for an impeachment vote to pass so as to assure a reasonable chance that an official who should be removed from office is removed.

Under current law, votes for standard bills and legislation require a "simple majority" of "50% plus 1" in order to pass. New law amends and enacts the reduction of the "simple" majority to the majority vote. For a bill to pass or fail, either side simply needs more than 50% of the total votes, be it 51%, 52%, etc.

The Additional Information section is not a part of the proposed bill and, if made into law, shall not be included in the revisions.




Edited by Caesar, Jul 3 2018, 10:32 PM.
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His Imperial Highness, Scottie
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I give my full support for this.

Note: If the Roman-esque names aren't liked we can easily change them to be generic but the reason for them was that the Ragerian Imperium was meant to be kinda like a roman sci-fi but also not totally roman. So I like them and I think they work!
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The Honorable Aav Verinhall
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I am fully against this in its current form. It seems like we could accomplish this with a bill rather than a constitutional amendment. I believe that while this is a step in the right direction, it is not quite there yet. I think instead of rushing this, as I have seen in the discord(or as it is apparent to me, at least), that we should give this the thought and careful attention that such a matter deserves. I also suggest that we poll the citizenry on how they like the idea of passing this amendment prior to bringing it to vote. I also have some minor quibbles with changing the standards for impeachment and the like, as the 3/4 measure was, I presume, put in to defend against so-called "lemming" voting. I also believe that we should set up a proper impeachment process and write standards for impeachment, but that is neither here nor there. Other than that, I believe that it is a relatively solid piece of legislation, again, my only issue besides minor changes is the steamrolling of it through, which to me appears to be a way to use momentum to your advantage here to push it through without people giving it the careful attention it deserves.

Other than that, I haven't noticed any conflicts with other constitutional articles as of yet, but I'll probably pore over it a bit more tomorrow when I'm not so tired.
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Eli Hesial
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Why remove the CA's power to make laws on citizenship, declare wars, and such?
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Madeline
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If you read it has simply been put into one category: legislation. It doesn’t remove their powers, just broadens it so we don’t need individual sections outlining what can and cannot be done. If you can make it an act/Bill, it’s legislationable and can be done.
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Madeline
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Aav Verinhall
Jun 29 2018, 05:37 AM
I am fully against this in its current form. It seems like we could accomplish this with a bill rather than a constitutional amendment. I believe that while this is a step in the right direction, it is not quite there yet. I think instead of rushing this, as I have seen in the discord(or as it is apparent to me, at least), that we should give this the thought and careful attention that such a matter deserves. I also suggest that we poll the citizenry on how they like the idea of passing this amendment prior to bringing it to vote. I also have some minor quibbles with changing the standards for impeachment and the like, as the 3/4 measure was, I presume, put in to defend against so-called "lemming" voting. I also believe that we should set up a proper impeachment process and write standards for impeachment, but that is neither here nor there. Other than that, I believe that it is a relatively solid piece of legislation, again, my only issue besides minor changes is the steamrolling of it through, which to me appears to be a way to use momentum to your advantage here to push it through without people giving it the careful attention it deserves.

Other than that, I haven't noticed any conflicts with other constitutional articles as of yet, but I'll probably pore over it a bit more tomorrow when I'm not so tired.
There still is the check of the sovereign to deny impeachments and avoid the “lemming vote”.

And luckily I’m sure plenty of discussion will occur on this bill before voting. I agree a great deal with most of what is written, but I am in no rush to vote on it now.
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Eli Hesial
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Madeline
Jun 29 2018, 01:01 PM
If you read it has simply been put into one category: legislation. It doesn’t remove their powers, just broadens it so we don’t need individual sections outlining what can and cannot be done. If you can make it an act/Bill, it’s legislationable and can be done.
Ah, as it looks like it removes the power to do so.
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The Honorable Aav Verinhall
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Yes it does appear to do so. We need constitutional law that is clear as crystal, not mud, which this appears to be as of now.
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Caesar
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Deputy Grand Councillor
Constitutional law is not meant to be crystal clear. I left plenty of room for other members of the assembly to create legislations of their own to fill the gaps.
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Madeline
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And it is clear, I’m sure a judge can make the legal affirmation that declaring war, making treaties, or making legislation regarding citizenship are all acts of legislation, if we have to be specific for everything the legislature can do, you’re better off putting what they can’t legislate.
And that should be a bill separated from the constitution by the way.
Edited by Madeline, Jun 29 2018, 06:12 PM.
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