I’ve been tempted to do this for some time, but decided to finally sit down and write a model constitution based on my own considered judgment about what the best form institutions could take would be. As I have written elsewhere, I do not believe that constitutions should be used chiefly to addressing matters of substantive policy, but for agreeing on a form of government. Since I would be focusing on structure, I thought, how hard could it be to write? The answer is that it is rather time consuming just to get down even the bare bones details you need in order to offer something resembling a form of government at all. I borrowed liberally from the German Basic Law and the US Constitution, sprinkling a bit from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the end, editing what I borrowed to make sense in context, as well as adding a great deal of my own. The purpose of The End of Safety is to engage in all sorts of writing, and a Constitution is a sort of writing, right?
Given this isn’t the sort of thing that subscribers are paying for, I’m publishing this one publicly, and will not interrupt the usual schedule of paid pieces. I hope those of you with an interest in political science and law will give it a look and let me know what you think.
Preamble
We the people, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution.
This Constitution will establish a Federation divided into several Provinces. The Provinces will have unicameral Parliaments which elect Minister-Presidents, who will choose the members of their Province’s Cabinet. Members of the Province Cabinets will participate in the Federal Legislature through the Senate. Most of the business of Federal legislation will be conducted by the House of Representatives. A Prime Minister elected by the House of Representatives will serve as Head of Government and select a Cabinet with the confirmation of the President. The President will be elected by a Presidential Convention consisting of members of the House of Representatives and some members of the Province Provinces, and will serve as Head of State. There will be a Judiciary specialized by subject among the highest as well as the lowest courts.
Article 1 - Legislative Supremacy
Section 1 - The Supremacy of the Federal Legislature
The Federal Legislature is the supreme elected branch. Its authority derives from the status of its members as representatives of the people and their many interests. The legal order will therefore adhere to the principle of Legislative Supremacy. Any disagreement among the branches of government or between the Federation Government and the Province Governments can be resolved in principle through the Federal legislative process.
Section 2 - The Constitution as Supermajoritarian Legislation
This Constitution may be amended by a vote of two-thirds of both chambers of the Federal Legislature. Its authority is therefore not in conflict with the principle of Legislative Supremacy; the specific legislative process requires a greater degree of consensus among the representatives of the people and their many interests.
Section 3 - Interpretation of the Constitution
Legislation which elaborates the meaning and exceptions to the provisions of this Constitution hold greater authority than Constitutional Court rulings which do the same. Constitutional Court rulings hold greater authority than administrative rules and other forms of Executive interpretation and implementation of this Constitution or Federal law.
Section 4 - The Federation and the Province Parliaments
The Federal Legislature will have two chambers, a directly elected House of Representatives which shall conduct the most of the business of Federal legislation, and a Senate in which members of the Province Cabinets may participate in a specific subset of legislative processes specified in this Constitution and in legislation. The Provinces will have directly elected unicameral Legislatures.
Law passed by the Federal Legislature will always have greater authority than law passed by Province Parliaments, and will supersede the latter where they conflict except when provisions are specifically made for it. Province Parliaments will have full authority to legislate in those areas where Federal law is silent.
Article 2 - The House of Representatives
Section 1 - Elections
Members of the House of Representatives shall be elected in general, direct, free, equal and secret elections every four years.
They shall be representatives of the whole people, not bound by orders or instructions and responsible only to their conscience. Voters will be given a constituency vote, in which they select a single individual for their district, and a party list vote, in which they choose from the parties who offer slates of candidates. The resulting distribution of party control shall be as strictly proportional to overall vote shares as is feasible, even if it should require expanding the total number of seats per session to do so. Additional seats will be used to seat candidates from the party lists. The details will be regulated by Federal law and by the Department of Elections.
Any citizen who has attained the age of eighteen shall be entitled to vote; any citizen who has attained the age of majority may be elected.
Section 2 - Organization
The House of Representatives will choose its own Speaker and other officers, and may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member. A majority of members physically present or participating remotely through communications technology will constitute a Quorum to do business.
Section 3 - The Taxing Power
The House of Representatives shall have the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the Federation.
Section 4 - The Ordinary Legislative Process
Any member of the House of Representatives may introduce a bill to be debated and passed by a simple majority vote. After a bill is passed, if the Senate is in session, it will be given thirty days to comment, but except where otherwise stipulated, their consent is not required to give the bill the force of law. The House of Representatives may also vote by simple majority to bypass the Senate, unless otherwise stipulated. Should the Senate provide comments, the bill will return to the House to determine whether revisions should be made and to hold a final vote. If the Senate is not in session, it need not convene to offer comment unless specifically requested by the House of Representatives.
Section 5 - Constituency Services
The members of the House of Representatives elected by constituency vote will be responsible for maintaining channels of communication and feedback with the residents of their districts, and providing assistance where appropriate. These members shall be empowered to intercede on behalf of constituents in administrative affairs, and may delegate this power to appropriate staff.
Article 3 - The Senate
Section 1 - Composition
The Senate shall consist of members of the Province Cabinets, who can be appointed or recalled by the Province Parliaments. Other members of those Cabinets may serve as alternates.
Each Province shall have at least three votes; Provinces with more than two million inhabitants shall have four, Provinces with more than five million inhabitants shall have five, Provinces with more than ten million inhabitants shall have six, and Provinces with more than twenty million inhabitants shall have seven.
Each Province may appoint as many members as it has votes. The votes of each Province may be cast only as a unit and only by Members present or their alternates.
Section 2 - Organization
The Senate will choose its own officers, and may determine the rules of its proceedings. If representatives from a majority of the provinces are physically present or participating remotely through communications technology, it will constitute a Quorum to do business.
Section 3 - Sessions
The Senate shall convene if the delegates of at least two Provinces so demand, or if the House of Representatives has passed a bill or amendment for which the Senate’s consent is required, or for which its comment is specifically requested.
Section 4 - Consent
Legislation passed in the House of Representatives shall require the consent of the Senate when 1) it makes any update to the standing system of Fiscal Federalism, 2) it is a proposal to add, divide, merge, or otherwise change the borders of a Province or Provinces, 3) it is an Amendment to this Constitution, 4) it is providing elaborations or exceptions to the rights that this Constitution promises will be safeguarded, 5) it is establishing a Federation Executive body that will supplant or oversee existing Province ones, 6) it is regulating the structure, procedures or conduct of Political Parties, and 7) It is updating the mandate, structure, and other details concerning the operation of the Department of Elections or the Central Bank.
Consent will also be provided for nomination to any of the Top Courts, and for the governing board of the Central Bank. Two members of the Department of Elections will be directly elected by the Senate.
Consent will be provided by simple majority vote in all cases but amending this Constitution, which will require at least two thirds of both chambers.
Requirements for consent may be expanded to additional areas through legislation passed by a simple majority of both chambers. Any requirements created through this method may be revoked by the same method, or by three-fifths vote of the House of Representatives unilaterally. Consent requirements stipulated by this Constitution may be revoked only by Amendment.
Article 4 - The President
Section 1 - Elections
The President shall be elected by the Presidential Convention every five years. Re-election for a consecutive term shall be permitted only once. All citizens entitled to vote are eligible for this office.
The Presidential Convention shall consist of the Members of the House of Representatives and an equal number of members elected by the Legislatures of the Provinces on the basis of proportional representation.
The person receiving the votes of a majority of the members of the Presidential Convention shall be elected. If, after two ballots, no candidate has obtained such a majority, the person who receives the largest number of votes on the next ballot shall be elected.
Section 2 - Conflicts of Interest
Once elected, the President can hold no other public office nor any other salaried office or engage in any trade or profession or belong to the management or supervisory board or any organization.
The President may not engage in any trading on financial markets while in office, and any wealth held in investments must be put into a trust until the end of the President’s term.
Section 3 - Head of State
The President is the Federation Head of State, and shall therefore represent the nation abroad and conclude treaties with foreign states. They shall accredit and receive envoys.
The President will confirm the Prime Minister elected by the House of Representatives, the members of the Cabinet nominated by the Prime Minister, as well as consent to the dissolution of that Cabinet should they no longer be supported by a majority of that chamber, and of the House of Representatives should they prove unable to elect a new Prime Minister.
The President shall confirm the appointments of Judges to Top Courts, Federation civil servants and commissioned and non-commissioned officers of the Armed Forces, except as may otherwise be provided by a law.
The President shall have the power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the nation, except in cases of impeachment or in cases where the President has a preexisting relationship to the offending party.
Section 4 - Impeachments
The House of Representatives or the Senate may impeach the President before the Constitutional Court for wilful violation of this Constitution or of any other Federal law. The motion of impeachment must be supported by at least one quarter of the members of the House of Representatives or one quarter of the votes of the Senate. The decision to impeach shall require a majority of two thirds of the Members of the House of Representatives or of two thirds of the votes of the Senate. The case for impeachment shall be presented before the Constitutional Court by a person commissioned by the impeaching body.
If the Constitutional Court finds the President guilty of a wilful violation of this Constitution or of any other law, it may declare that he has forfeited his office. After the President has been impeached, the Court may issue an interim order preventing him from exercising his functions.
Article 6 - The Federal Cabinet
Section 1 - Selection and Confirmation
The Federal Cabinet shall consist of the Prime Minister and the Ministers who lead the Federal Departments specified by law.
The Prime Minister will be elected by the House of Representatives and confirmed by the President.
If the President withholds confirmation, it may either be obtained from the Senate, or the House of Representatives may elect an alternative.
The remaining Ministers will be selected by the Prime Minister and confirmed by the President. If the President withholds confirmation, it may be obtained from the Senate, or the Prime Minister may offer alternatives.
Section 2 - Organization
The Prime Minister shall determine and be responsible for the general guidelines of policy. Within these limits each Minister shall conduct the affairs of their Department independently and on their own responsibility. The Cabinet shall resolve differences of opinion between Ministers. The Prime Minister shall conduct the proceedings of the Cabinet in accordance with rules of procedure adopted by the Cabinet and approved by the President.
Section 3 - Conflicts of Interest
No member of the Cabinet may hold any other public office nor any other salaried office or engage in any trade or profession or belong to the management or supervisory board or any organization. For the duration of their time on the Cabinet, their wealth held in investments must be put into a trust and they may not engage in any trading on financial markets.
Section 4 - Vote of Confidence
The Prime Minister or the Speaker of the House of Representatives may introduce a motion for a Vote of Confidence in the Cabinet. If it is not supported by a simple majority of the House of Representatives, the President, upon the proposal of the Prime Minister, may dissolve that body within twenty-one days. The right of dissolution will lapse as soon as the House of Representatives elects another Prime Minister by a vote of a majority of its members. If they should fail to do so in that time, the President, upon the proposal of the Prime Minister, may dissolve the House of Representatives and call a new election.
Article 6 - Political Parties
Section 1 - Role
Political Parties shall participate in the formation of the political will of the people by organizing the people’s representatives in the Federal and Province Parliaments and Cabinets.
Section 2 - Structure
They may be freely established. They have full discretion in devising their internal organization and the structure of their leadership. No Province government may regulate the structure or nomination process of the Political Parties competing for government in the Provinces. The House of Representatives, with the consent of the Senate, may regulate all aspects of political party structure and procedure.
Section 3 - Financial Transparency
Political Parties must publicly account for their assets and for the sources and use of their funds.
Section 4 - Anti-Democratic Parties
If a Party seeks to undermine or abolish free and fair elections, or otherwise undermine or abolish the basis of the free democratic order or the nation, it may be referred to the Constitutional Court for judgment by the House of Representatives, with the consent of the Senate and the President. If three-fifths of the Court finds it guilty of these charges, the party will be banned from participation in any election in the nation.
Details of this prohibition will be further determined by legislation from the House of Representatives, with the consent of the Senate.
Article 7 - Structure of the Executive Branch
Section 1 - Federation Departments
The Federation Executive branch will include Departments of the Treasury, Defense, Justice, Diplomacy, Intelligence, Health, Transportation, and Education, all headed by a member of the Cabinet. Unless modified by the legislative process, these Departments will be staffed on a civil service model, with a Permanent Secretary that is the highest civil service career rank which has the authority of hiring, firing, promotions and raises, and reports directly to the Minister.
The House of Representatives will further determine the structure and duties of these departments, and the consent of the Senate shall not be required. The House of Representatives may also delegate regulatory rule-making authority to Executive bodies, create new Cabinet-level Departments and new divisions within existing ones, and create Executive bodies independent of the Cabinet’s authority.
Section 2 - The Central Bank
A Central Bank will be established with authority over the Federation currency. Its governing board will be appointed by a majority of the House of Representatives with the consent of the Senate and the confirmation of the President. The details and the structure of the Central Bank will be subject to legislation from the House of Representatives with the consent of the Senate.
Section 3 - The Department of Elections
The Department of Elections will be structured on a civil service model, and its Chairman will be the highest position within the civil service career track. The parties in the governing coalition of the House of Representatives, defined as those who voted for the Prime Minister currently in office, will elect two members to the Department of Elections governing board. The parties outside of the governing coalition will elect two members, and the Senate will elect two members. All will be subject to confirmation by the President.
The Department of Elections will draw the districts for the House of Representative seats that are subject to constituency vote, as well as for the Province Parliament seats that are subject to constituency vote. It will maintain the apportionment formula which keeps the overall share of seats each party holds in the Legislatures proportional to the share of votes cast for that party, including constituency votes cast for candidates who lost, and publish that formula for public scrutiny.
It will facilitate the registration of eligible voters and produce the rules for casting ballots in person, by mail, or electronically if it is determined to be secure. It will count ballots and present the results to the House of Representatives for certification. Its governing board will adjudicate claims of fraud or voter suppression, and when positive examples of either are discovered, they shall be referred to the Department of Justice.
These details are subject to revision by legislation from the House of Representatives with the consent of the Senate.
Section 4 - The Principle of Democratic Consolidation
The Legislature will be the sole popularly elected branch, with the Executive branch subordinate to it. Neither in the Federation government, nor in any Province government, will an Executive position be held for popular election. No one in law enforcement, prosecution, education, or any other area of executing the democratically legislated law, will any actor be popularly elected and thereby allowed to create a separate base of interest.
The people will express themselves through their representatives in the Legislature, who will hold the highest authority over all other aspects of government. By focusing the connection between the people and their government into a single locus, the connection between that locus and its constituency will be stronger and more responsive. Prosecutors, police, educators, and administrators may focus on doing their jobs rather than campaigning for them, while the Cabinet and the Legislature will perform the important duty of holding Executive actors and whole government bodies accountable to the electorate.
Article 8 - The Judiciary
Section 1 - Organization
The Judiciary will be made up of subject-specialized courts arranged hierarchically. At the bottom shall be the courts of the Provinces, provisioned by the Province Parliaments with appropriate fiscal support from the Federation to ensure a baseline professional standard is met as well as an appropriate ratio of judges to residents.
If a case from a Province court is appealed, an appropriate Federation court may choose to hear it. The highest courts of the Federation hierarchy are the Top Courts. The Constitutional Court has authority over the interpretation of the provisions of this Constitution, to determine whether they have been honored in a particular case. Other Top Courts will have authority over their respective areas of law. To begin with, these will include a Justice Court, an Administrative Court, a Finance Court, a Labor Court, an Immigration Court, and a Commerce Court, as Top Courts of ordinary, administrative, financial, labor, immigration, and commercial jurisdiction.
These Top Courts will have nine judges each, who will be appointed by the House of Representatives with the consent of the Senate and the confirmation of the President, for a term of no more than twelve years. All courts below the Top Courts will be organized on a civil service model. The number of Top Courts, the topical areas that are covered and how they are defined, as well as the overall structure of the Judiciary, is subject to legislation from the House of Representatives, with the consent of the Senate.
Section 2 - Independence
The Judiciary will constitute a separate authority structure from the Executive branch; the Top Courts will not answer to the Cabinet, but both will answer to the Federal Legislature. Among its duties will be important supervisory functions over the Executive branch.
Section 3 - Rule of Law
In order to be lawful, law and the interpretations and implementations of it must be general, public, prospective, and coherent. The House of Representatives, with the consent of the Senate, may enact legislation to clarify these aspects of the rule of law. In the absence of that clarification, precedents set by the Constitutional Court will be the basis for the Judiciary overall to determine the lawfulness of legislation and of Executive regulations and actions. The Constitutional Court will have the authority to set and to overturn these precedents based on the considered judgment of its current members, but should legislation pass which conflicts with Court precedent, the legislation will hold higher authority.
All courts will interpret this Constitution and the laws of the Federation in a manner consistent with the principles of the rule of law, and will hold Executive bodies to internal standards consistent with it as well.
Section 4 - Impeachment
If a judge infringes the principles of this Constitution or is found in violation of any statutory law or regulation, the Constitutional Court, upon application of the House of Representatives, may by a two-thirds majority order that the judge be transferred or retired. In the case of an intentional infringement it may order his dismissal. If the judge is a member of the Constitutional Court, the case will be taken to the Justice Court.
Article 9 - Federalism
Section 1 - The Provinces
There will be one unicameral Parliament per Province, with no other elected offices at the Province level or below.
The division of the Federation territory into Provinces may be revised to ensure that each Province is of a size and capacity to perform its functions effectively. Due regard shall be given in this connection to regional, historical and cultural ties, economic efficiency and the requirements of local and regional planning. Due regard will also be given to the ability of the Province Parliament to be appropriately responsive to the population within their territory.
Provinces may be added, divided, merged, or have their borders otherwise changed by legislation in the House of Representatives with the consent of the Senate. If they are added, a plebiscite must be held in the territory with an internationally recognized free and fair vote, and majority assent by the voters.
Section 2 - Province Parliaments
Members of each Province Parliament shall be elected in general, direct, free, equal and secret elections every four years, in the same election cycle as the House of Representatives.
They shall be representatives of the whole people, not bound by orders or instructions and responsible only to their conscience. Voters will be given a constituency vote, in which they select a single individual for their district, and a party list vote, in which they choose from the parties who offer slates of candidates. The resulting distribution of party control shall be as strictly proportional to overall vote shares as is feasible, even if it should require expanding the total number of seats per session to do so. Additional seats will be used to seat candidates from the party lists. The details will be regulated by Federal law and by the Department of Elections.
Any citizen who has attained the age of eighteen shall be entitled to vote; any citizen who has attained the age of majority may be elected.
Province Parliaments have the authority to legislate where Federal law is silent, or where Federal law has carved out specific areas of discretion.
Province Parliaments may select their own officers, and may determine their rules of proceedings, except where rules have been specified by Federal law.
Section 3 - Province Cabinets
Province Cabinets shall consist of their Minister-President and the heads of each Province Ministry.
The Minister-President will be elected by the Province Parliament and will select the remaining Ministers upon election. The Minister-President shall determine and be responsible for the general guidelines of policy. Within these limits each Minister shall conduct the affairs of their department independently and on their own responsibility. The Cabinet shall resolve differences of opinion between Ministers. The Minister-President shall conduct the proceedings of the Cabinet in accordance with rules of procedure adopted by the Cabinet.
The Minister-President or the Speaker of the Province Parliament may introduce a motion for a Vote of Confidence in the Cabinet. If it is not supported by a simple majority of the Province Parliament, the Minister-President may dissolve that body within twenty-one days. If a new Minister-President is not elected, they may dissolve the Province Parliament and call a new election.
The duties of the Minister-President will combine the functions of Head of State and Head of Government for the Province, but the Federation President has the authority to oversee the formation of Cabinets if a new one has not formed within twenty-one days of a Vote of Confidence which failed to garner a simple majority from the Province Parliament, and the Minister-President has failed to call for the dissolution of the Province Parliament. The President will have a further twenty-one days to call for the dissolution of the Province Parliament at that stage, which will lapse as soon as a new Minister-President has been chosen. The President may also intervene on the direct request of the Minister-President at any time.
Section 4 - Conflicts of Interest
No member of the Province Parliaments or Province Cabinets, may hold any other public office nor any other salaried office or engage in any trade or profession or belong to the management or supervisory board or any organization. For the duration of their time in office, their wealth held in investments must be put into a trust and they may not engage in any trading on financial markets.
Section 5 - Principle of Administrative Subsidiarity
While Executive bodies will constitute integrated systems of authority at either the Federation or the Province level, decision making ought where possible to devolve to the most local unit that it can. Giving the leadership of an individual school more scope for making personnel and even curricular or extracurricular decisions, for example, allows that leadership to leverage their local knowledge to more effectively provide their services in a manner less likely to raise conflict in the community.
These local units will nevertheless be subject to the authority of the larger Executive bodies to which they belong, and must follow the regulations and guidelines issued by those bodies, as well as respect directives issued by higher authorities within those bodies. Both the local units and the Executive bodies overall must conform to this Constitution and to relevant laws of the Federation.
The House of Representatives, with the consent of the Senate, may opt to replace a Province administrative body with a Federation one, or limit the scope of its authority to work in tandem with a Federation one. Province Parliaments are otherwise authorized to create, fund, and delegate rulemaking authority to Executive bodies where Federal law is silent or explicit license has been given. Some Province Executive bodies will be run by members of the Cabinet, all will ultimately be answerable to their Province Parliament.
Section 6 - Accountability to the Federation
If a Province fails to comply with its obligations under this Constitution or other federal laws, the Federal Cabinet, with the consent of the Senate, may take the necessary steps to compel the Province to comply with its duties. The available means for compelling compliance may be regulated by legislation from the House of Representatives with the consent of the Senate, and the authority to develop enforcement procedures may be delegated to a Federal Executive body by the House of Representatives with the consent of the Senate.
Section 7 - Fiscal Federalism
The Federation and the Provinces shall separately finance the expenditures resulting from the discharge of their respective responsibilities insofar as this Constitution does not otherwise provide.
Where the Provinces act on federal commission, the Federation shall finance the resulting expenditures.
In general the Federation should act so as to minimize variance in the Province budgets per Province resident, especially for core areas such as infrastructure and public health which are crucial for the welfare of the Federation’s citizens.
Details shall be regulated by legislation in the House of Representatives with the consent of the Senate.
Article 10 - Rights
Section 1 - The Purpose of This List
Constitutional Rights are an expression of the values which the Federation Government commits to uphold. They should not be viewed as exhaustive; the House of Representatives may enact new rights through ordinary legislation, but rights enacted through legislation may also be revoked through legislation. Province Parliaments may also enact new rights so long as they do not conflict with this Constitution or Federal law. The House of Representatives, with the consent of the Senate, will clarify the meaning and limits of the rights that appear in this Constitution.
Rights cannot protect the people simply by appearing on an official list. It is the responsibility of the Federal Legislature, the Cabinet, the Executive branch, the Constitutional Court and the Judiciary in general, as well as their equivalents in the Provinces, to clarify, adjudicate, and enforce these rights. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the people as well, to support these values and to vote for representatives who will do the same. Or, should it be deemed necessary, to vote for representatives who will amend this Constitution, to lawfully alter these rights.
Section 2 - The Right to Vote
Any citizen who has attained the age of eighteen has the right to vote. They will not be prevented from exercising this right by undue burden of registration procedure, and they will not have to pay a fee for registration nor to cast their vote.
The Department of Elections and the Constitutional Court will understand the right to vote as expansively as possible in facilitating citizens to exercise that right or striking down legal or administrative impediments to it. Discretion for this understanding will be constrained by elaborations that are legislated by the House of Representatives, with the consent of the Senate.
Section 3 - Citizenship
All persons born or naturalized in the Federation and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the Federation and will enjoy the full rights and duties laid out in this Constitution. Those residents of the Federation who lack citizenship will enjoy the full protection of the law but will lack the right to vote.
Section 4 - Freedom from Censorship
Every person shall have the right freely to express and disseminate their opinions in speech, writing and pictures and to inform themselves without hindrance from generally accessible sources. There will be no censorship.
These rights shall find their limits in the provisions for the protection of young persons, for the punishment of commercial fraud and incitement, and for damages awarded in defamation cases.
Donations and transfers of money and wealth will not be considered expression, even when it is for a political campaign or cause.
Section 5 - The Right to Assemble
Every person shall have the right to assemble peacefully and unarmed without prior notification or permission. In the case of outdoor assemblies, this right may be restricted by or pursuant to a law.
Section 6 - Freedom of Conscience
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Section 7 - Equality Before the Law
All persons shall be equal before the law. No person shall be favored or disfavored because of sex, parentage, race, language, homeland and origin, faith or religious or political opinions. No person shall be disfavored because of disability.
Section 8 - The Right to Dignity and Physical Integrity
Every person shall have the right to life and physical integrity. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Every person has the right to have their human dignity respected by all agents of the government.
Section 9 - Freedom from Bondage
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. Forced labor may not be imposed as a sentence for a crime.
Section 10 - Freedom of Association
Every person shall have the right to associate with others and to create formal associations without undue administrative or financial burden imposed upon them for the act of incorporation.
No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Section 11 - Freedom of Movement
All citizens of the Federation shall have the right to move throughout the federal territory.
This right may be restricted only to combat the danger of an epidemic, to respond to a grave accident or natural disaster, or to protect young persons from serious neglect or to prevent crime.
Section 12 - The Right to Due Process
No person accused of a crime will be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. No one will be compelled to be a witness against themselves, nor be prosecuted for the same offense twice.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against them; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in their favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for their defense.
Section 13 - The Right to a Speedy Trial
In all criminal and civil proceedings, all persons shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial. The House of Representatives shall pass legislation setting standards for the amount of time it will typically take for a case to come to trial after charges have been filed, and the Department of Justice will perform an annual review to determine if that standard has been met. If not, the Department of Justice will provide a recommendation for the extent to which the Judiciary ought to be expanded in order to facilitate meeting the standard. The House of Representatives will take it under advisement and may pass legislation expanding the Judiciary if it deems it necessary.
Section 14 - Property
Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
Property entails obligations. Its use shall also serve the public good. It may be taken for a public use only if compensation is provided at the current market rate. If an owner feels the compensation is less than the market rate, they may bring it before a court of law.
Article 15 - Ratification of This Constitution
A referendum will be held and if three-fifths or more of voters approve of this Constitution, it will become the law of the land and arrangements will be made for elections to be held for the House of Representatives, the President, and all of the Province Parliaments within thirty days.