Preamble: We the people of Sarzonia, in order to protect the rights, freedoms, and liberties we hold dear, hereby ordain and establish this Constitution for the Incorporated States of Sarzonia.
Article I:
Section 1. Executive power shall be vested in a President, who shall, upon the death, resignation or removal from office of the founder of Sarzonia, be elected every six years and shall serve no more than two terms of office, consecutively or otherwise.
Section 2: Two Senior Vice Presidents shall assist the President in the governing of the country. A Senior Vice President for Internal Affairs shall serve as acting President in the event of the death, removal from office, resignation, or temporary inability of the President to perform his duties. A Senior Vice President for External Affairs shall represent Sarzonia’s interests as the senior representative of Sarzonia. He shall serve as acting President in the event of the inability of the Senior Vice President for Internal Affairs to serve in the same capacity.
Section 3: The daily functions of the country shall be supervised by a Cabinet, which reports directly to the President. Each position on the Cabinet shall be led by a Vice President.
Section 4: The President shall be commander-in-chief of all Sarzonian armed forces.
Article II:
Section 1: Legislative powers shall be vested in a Parliament, which shall be comprised of two chambers.
Section 2: The House of Delegates shall serve as the upper House and is the direct voice of the People of Sarzonia. Each State may elect one Delegate to serve in the House of Delegates for every one million persons in its population. Any state with fewer than one million people shall be entitled to one Delegate. Each Delegate is elected to serve a two year term and may serve no more than two terms in office consecutively or three terms not in succession.
Section 3: The Senate shall serve as the lower House and each Senator is appointed by the Governor of each State with the Legislature of each State’s vote of approval. Each Senator may serve no more than two six-year terms, either consecutively or otherwise.
Section 4: For any declarations of war, either the President must either officially ask Parliament for a declaration of war and Parliament must approve by simple majority in both chambers, or Parliament must vote by simple majority pending the President's ascent.
Article III:
Section 1: Judicial power shall be vested in a Supreme Judicial Court, with six Associate Justices and one Chief Justice, all appointed for life by the President and confirmed by the House of Delegates. The Chief Justice may not vote in any decision unless the Associate Justices have reached a tie vote.
Section 2: Up to four Alternate Justices shall be appointed via the same process used to appoint Associate Justices and the Chief Justice to serve in the event that up to two Justices must recuse themselves from a case.
Article IV:
Section 1: In the event of the death, removal from office, resignation, or temporary inability of the President to perform the duties incumbent upon him, the Senior Vice President for Internal Affairs shall assume the title of Acting President for the length of the temporary inability or for the remainder of the term. In the event of the inability of the Senior Vice President of Internal Affairs to assume the title of President, the Senior Vice President for External Affairs shall assume the title of Acting President.
Section 2: The remaining line of succession for the title of President is as follows: The Speaker of the House; the President of the Senate; each Vice President in descending order of their Cabinet position’s establishment. In the event of the entire line of succession being unable to discharge the duties of President, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court shall serve as acting President and shall organize and conduct a special Election to re-establish the Government.
Section 3: In the event of the complete destruction of the capital of Sarzonia, the capital city of the least populous state shall serve as the capital and the government of that state shall serve as the interim executive government of Sarzonia until a new capital city can be constructed or voted upon by the People. In the event that city is destroyed, the capital of the next smallest state shall serve in the same capacity.
Section 4: In the event the Governor of the state wherin the reserve capital resides becomes acting President, he shall be responsible to call a special election to re-establish the executive and legislative branches of government as soon as practicable, but not later than six months from the time the national crisis has begun. The newly elected President and Parliament shall be responsible for appointing the new Supreme Judicial Court.
Section 5: Parliament shall have the power to enforce this article through appropriate legislation.
Article V:
Section 1: Sarzonia shall be divided into 25 States, with a National Capital that is a separate jurisdiction from any State.
Section 2: The Capital shall receive representation in Parliament as if it were a State, with two Senators and one Delegate per one million people population. The two Senators shall be appointed by the Mayor of the National Capital with approval by the City Council.
Article VI:
Section 1: Parliament shall make no law respecting an establishment of or furthering of any particular national religion nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Parliament also is expressly prohibited from denying or abridging the freedoms of speech and of the press or the ability of the people to assemble peacefully for a redress of grievances against the government.
Article VII:
Section 1: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, their papers, and their effects from unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be infringed.
Section 2: This article grants the people a right to privacy that may not be infringed without a properly-served warrant for arrest or without a preponderance of evidence to suggest that the person has committed a capital or otherwise infamous crime.
Article VIII:
Section 1: No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury unless in cases arising in the military forces when in service during a time of war. No person shall be subject for the same offense to be put in jeopardy of life or limb nor be compelled in a criminal case to be a witness against himself. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. No private land shall be taken for public use without due compensation.
Article IX:
Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in Sarzonia and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of Sarzonia and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law to abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of Sarzonia. In addition, no State shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Article X:
Section 1: Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Parliament may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proven, and the effect thereof.
Section 2: A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another state, shall be extradited to the original state upon request of the executive authority of the original state.
Article XI:
Section 1: The right of citizens 18 years of age or older to vote in national and local elections in Sarzonia shall not be infringed.
Article XII:
No law varying the compensation of any member of an elected government body shall take effect until an election of the members of the elected government body shall have intervened.
Article XIII:
Section 1: Discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender of birth or of reassignment, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, physical disability, or other protected class is expressly prohibited.
Section 2: Parliament shall have the authority to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Article XIV:
Section 1: The laws of the Incorporated States of Sarzonia shall be considered the supreme laws of the land. Any state or local laws that contradict those of the national government shall be considered null and void.
Section 2: Parliament shall have the authority to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Article XV:
Section 1: No person shall be eligible to hold elected local, state or national office in Sarzonia who has supported insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. [No such person shall be eligible to hold voting rights in such elections.] But Parliament may by a vote of two-thirds of each House restore the eligibility to do so.
Section 2: The validity of the public debt of Sarzonia, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither Sarzonia nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against Sarzonia, but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section 3: The first Section of this Article is not applicable to any citizens of any State who shall have supported Sarzonia in insurrection or rebellion against the same. It is also not applicable to any citizens who have not reached eighteen years of age by the conclusion of insurrection or rebellion.
Article XVI:
Section 1: No state may keep troops, ships of war, or other implements of war. No state may enter into any alliance or confederation nor sign or ratify any treaties, draft currency, pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
Section 2: Parliament may not grant any title of nobility and no citizen may accept such title from a foreign government or jurisdiction therein without the consent of Parliament and the President.
Article XVII:
Section 1: During a period of declared national emergency including war, impending economic collapse, or other urgent situation, the President shall have the authority to suspend this Constitution until such time as the state of emergency shall have passed.
Section 2: Upon the signing and ratification of any treaty ending war, period of documented economic recovery, or conclusion of urgent situation, the Constitution shall be fully restored to its peacetime status as the supreme law of the land.
Article XVIII:
Section 1: English shall be the official language of government and conduct of business functions throughout Sarzonia.
Section 2: This article shall not be construed as to limit the language of choice for the people in their daily lives or in their family interactions.
Article XIX
Section 1: In the event of an electoral dispute that renders the result of a Presidential election in doubt beyond the scheduled inauguration of the succeeding President, the outgoing President shall remain in office until 45 days following the confirmation of the election results of the successor to the office.
Clause A: This provision shall take effect unless the outgoing President shall have completed two elected terms as President. In that instance, the outgoing Lieutenant President shall preside as President from the formal end of the outgoing President's term until the conclusion of the prescribed 45-day period.
Section 2: If there are more than two candidates for President and neither of the top two vote-getters shall have garnered at least 50 percent of votes cast, the top two vote-getters shall take part in a run-off election to take place on the third Tuesday of November.
Section 3: Regardless of whether or not a run-off election is required, if the margin between the leading candidate and the second place candidate is less than 1 percent of total votes cast, the second place candidate may request a formal recount to be conducted by the Office of Lieutenant President at the candidate's expense. If the margin between the two candidates is less than 0.1 percent of total votes cast, the Supreme Judicial Court shall appoint a tribunal to supervise an automatic recount, which shall not be at the expense of the second place candidate.
Section 4: Should the tribunal rule that the electoral results from either the original general election or the run-off election shall be invalidated, the tribunal shall call for a new election to take place six months after the run-off election. This new election may take place with candidates chosen by the various political parties at the discretion of their members.
Section 5: If the electoral results shall be invalidated by the tribunal, the sitting President of Sarzonia shall remain President until 45 days after the new election is concluded. If the sitting President shall have served two six-year terms, the Lieutenant President shall serve as President until 45 days after the new election is concluded.
Section 6: In the event of the death, resignation, removal from office, or elevation to President of the sitting Lieutenant President, the President shall appoint a candidate to serve as Lieutenant President, who shall be confirmed by the House of Delegates to serve the remainder of the term. The Senior Vice President and External Affairs Officer shall assume the authority of the office of Lieutenant President until a successor shall have been confirmed and sworn in.
Article XX:
Section 1: The provisions of Article X of this Constitution shall extend to the various provinces and other territories of the Democratic Republic of Delaclava. Any person who is charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in a Delaclav province or territory shall be extradited to the original state upon request of the executive authority of the original state in accordance with the laws of the Republic, the province, or the territory within Delaclava.
Section 2: Any person who is charged in any province or territory of Delaclava who shall be found within any Sarzonian state or territory shall be extradited to the original province in accordance with the laws of the Republic, of the Incorporated States and its member States, or within the laws of the various territories of the two countries.
ARTICLE XXI
Section 1: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Section 2: The death penalty shall be reserved only for pre-meditated murder or sexual abuse of any non-emancipated minor under age 18, anyone over the age of 70, or anyone mentally and emotionally incapable of giving informed consent, and after evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of murder.
Section 3: Parliament shall have power to enforce this legislation by appropriate legislation.
Section 4: This article shall become inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within seven years from the date of its submission to the states by Parliament.
Article XXII:
Section 1: The death penalty is hereby abolished in the Incorporated States for all offenses.
Section 2: Article XXI, Section 2 is hereby repealed.
Section 3: Parliament shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Article XXIII:
Section 1: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the Incorporated States or in any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2: Parliament shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
