THE ACT OF CONSTITUTION:
Preamble:
This Act of Constitution hereby declares the unity of the states of the Radiatian subcontinent, and the agreement to be in Federation.
We are in concordance that all the states, cultures, tribes and peoples, and the representatives thereof are equal and to be as one nation.
The purpose of the Federation shall be the common DEFENCE and PROTECTION of its member states, the promotion of its core values of INDIVIDUALISM and EFFICIENCY, progress and greater productivity leading to PROSPERITY for all citizens of all member states.
This Act of Constitution thus formally creates a federal government, and its member states do henceforth swear allegiance to it and declare it as the sovereign authority of Radiatia, over all Radiatian states.
Article I: - Membership
Section One – Definition of Federation
1. The Radiatian Federation refers to all member states who have signed this constitution and agree to its terms.
2. All states that agree to this constitution are to be considered nationals of the Radiatian Federation, and all rights and responsibilities of a Radiatian Citizen are afforded them.
3. States who become members of the Radiatian Federation agree that the laws of the Federation, the Bill of Rights and Bill of Responsibilities have precedence over that state’s legislature.
4. States who become members of the Radiatian Federation are committed to the welfare of the Federation and all other states within it
5. States who become members of the Radiatian Federation agree to treat all citizens and peoples of other states as if their own and will not restrict the movement of people from other Radiatian states, unless in situations outlined elsewhere in this constitution or in accordance with federal law
6. Member states surrender their sovereignty permanently to the federal government.
Section Two – Territories
1. Should a state wish to join the Radiatian Federation, permission must be granted the President of the Radiatian Federation and ratified by two thirds of the Federal Parliament. Two thirds of the adult population of said state are also required to indicate a willingness to join the Radiatian Federation for such a request to be approved by the federal government.
2. Conquered territories are considered part of the Radiatian Federation, but are not states and citizens are therefore not entitled to the rights of Radiatian citizens. Territories may apply for statehood as outlined in clause one.
3. Clause two does not apply to the Federal Capital Territory, whose citizens shall be considered Radiatian nationals and afforded all the rights thereof.
4. States that are not considered Radiatian - due to geography, lack of cultural or historic ties, excluding territories annexed by the Radiatian Federation are not considered eligible for membership of the Radiatian Federation.
5. No new state may be formed within the existing boundaries of a state without permission from the President, and the unanimous support of the Radiatian Federal Senate.
Article II: - The Legislative Branch
Section One- General
1. Legislative power shall be invested in the Federal Parliament, which shall consist of the Federal Assembly and the Senate.
5. Members of the Parliament will be compensated for their work at a level prescribed by an independent committee
Section Two – The Federal Assembly
1. The Members of the Federal Assembly shall be elected by the General Public once every two years. All citizens of the Radiatian Federation who are aged 17 years or older are permitted to vote in elections. No state may prohibit any citizen of the Radiatian Federation aged over 17 years from voting.
2. Every state shall have at least one representative in the Federal Assembly. No single constituency may contain a population greater than one million people. No constituency other than an all-state electorate shall contain a population less than 500,000 people.
3. The electoral boundaries may change according to population growth and shrinkage. If an electorate has less than 500,000 people (and is not an all-state electorate) then it will disappear. Conversely a state may gain an electorate seat if its population growth requires it.
4. Electoral boundaries shall be determined by an independent committee. Gerrymandering is considered unlawful.
5. Should a seat become vacant then a by-election must be held to fill that vacancy within one month of the vacancy occurring.
6. In order to be able to run for Parliament, one must be:
i) Aged at least 21 years
ii) A citizen of the Radiatian Federation
iii) Resident in the Radiatian Federation for at least 3 years
iv) Have no previous criminal convictions
v) Pay a bond of 1000 Tsenyens to the Federal Electoral Commission, which shall be refunded if the candidate receives at least 1000 votes. This bond may be paid on their behalf by a registered political party.
7. The Federal Assembly shall have power of the purse, and power to control the increase and decrease expenditure of revenue and have the power to increase or decrease the amount and number of levies, duties and taxes
8. The Speaker of the Federal Assembly shall be elected by the members of that chamber, who shall have the power to set the agenda of that chamber and shall be considered the temporary landlord of Xerconia Castle
9. Members of the Federal Assembly are to be referred to as Members of Parliament, or MPs. Their official title is MP, which will be added as a suffix to their name. Unless impeached, this suffix is granted for life.
10. The Federal Assembly is required to record all debates and make all records including financial records publicly available at all times
11. The Federal Assembly may convene provided that at least one third of members are present. The Speaker shall have the power to summon any member to the chamber and punish members for unauthorised absence.
12. The Federal Assembly has the power to pass legislation referring to the following:
i) Increase or decrease taxation
ii) Increase or decrease public expenditure and services
iii) Buy and sell state assets
iv) Cease funding a particular project
v) Enact laws which affect the entire Federation
vi) Fund and equip the Armed Forces of the Radiatian Federation
vii) Control conscription laws
viii) Maintain the armed forces
ix) Enact laws that prevent Radiatians from exploitation
x) Enact laws that prevent excessive exploitation of the environment
xi) Regulate industry
xii) Regulate the use of natural resources
xiii) Control the flow of immigration
xiv) Control what goods are allowed to cross the Radiatian border
xv) Charge tariffs on imported goods
xvi) Establish interstate highways
xvii) Establish rail infrastructure
xviii) Establish or regulate the Post Office and any nationwide telecommunications network
xix) Establish or regulate any nationwide broadcasting companies
xx) Regulate the use and distribution of arms
xxi) Regulate and lessen the powers of paramilitaries and state militias
xxii) To determine and decide on the punishment for committing a federal crime
xxiii) To fund any Radiatian federal government department
xxiv) To allow the President to borrow money from overseas
xxv) To impeach the President or any other federal official
Section Three – The Senate
1. There shall be two Senators for every state, regardless of population
2. Senators are elected to four year terms, with citizens electing one Senator every two years.
3. In order to become a Senator, a person must
i) Be aged at least 35 years
ii) Be a citizen of the Radiatian Federation
vi) Have been a resident of the state for at least 4 years
vii) Have previous experience serving as a member of that state’s government or as a member of
viii) Have permission from the leader of their political party to run for Premier of that state.
4. Should any decision or vote by the Senate be tied, then the Vice President of the Radiatian Federation will be called-upon to make the deciding vote.
5. A Senator shall be granted the title and honorific "Senator"
6. State governments have the power to impeach a Senator from their state for misconduct
7. If a Senator is impeached, or unable to continue serving, then the state may appoint a new Senator to serve for the remainder of the term.
8. The Vice President of the Radiatian Federation is the President of the Senate and expected to preside over meetings.
9. The Senate possesses the following specific powers:
i) The power to convict the President and remove him from office with a two thirds majority vote once impeached for treason, corruption or failure to uphold the constitution or for endangering the people of Radiatia
ii) To ratify any foreign treaty signed by the President
iii) To amend or concur with legislation passed by the Federal Assembly, including budget legislation
v) To approve new member states to the Radiatian Federation
vi) To ratify any proposal by the President not covered elsewhere in the constitution
vii) To originate a motion leading to a declaration of war
viii) To confirm nominations to the Cabinet
vix) To confirm nominations to the Supreme Court by a two thirds majority
10. All legislative powers vested in the Federal Assembly are also vested in the Senate, excluding the ability to originate budget legislation
Section Four – Limits of Powers
1. No law shall be made retroactively. No citizen shall be convicted of an act that was made illegal after they committed it.
2. No law shall contradict the Bill of Rights
Section Five - Powers Prohibited by States
1. No state may pass a law that contradicts the Bill of Rights or any law passed by the Federal Parliament
2. No state may engage in relations with a foreign power or declare hostility against another Radiatian state.
3. No state may declare war against another state or a foreign nation
4. No state shall charge tariffs on goods from another state
5. No state shall prohibit travel, movement or migration between states, unless authorised to do so under federal legislation
Article III – The Executive Branch:
Section One – General
1. Executive Power in the Radiatian Federation is invested in the President
2. The President may nominate a Cabinet, which will be confirmed by the Senate
Section Two – The President
1. The President shall swear an Oath to uphold the Bill of Rights, the Bill of Responsibilities and the Constitution.
2. The President must be a citizen of the Radiatian Federation, aged at least 40 years, resident for at least 14 years. He must be found in good character.
3. The President shall serve a term of four years, renewable once
4. A President’s title is President
5. The President may not accept bribes, threats or commit treasonous acts and if found guilty of doing so shall be impeached and removed from office
8. The President has veto power over any bill passed by the Federal Parliament
9. The President shall be given an official place of residence within the Federal Capital Territory.
10. The President shall be guarded at all times by members of the Radiatian Security Service
11. The President shall have access to ALL information, may demand access to any information and is to have unrestricted access to information, intelligence and secret information held by the military and other agencies.
12. The President shall be the Commander in Chief of the Radiatian Armed Forces
13. The President shall have sole propriety of the nuclear activation codes
14. The President shall be elected by the member states of the Radiatian Federation. Each state shall have a number of votes equivalent to the total number of representatives in the Federal Parliament that state has. The way that a state votes shall be determined by a quadrennial referendum of its citizens, to be held on the same day as all other states (i.e. a general election)
15. The President shall have the following powers:
i) The power to declare a state of emergency and federalise state armies
ii) The power to announce a military alert (Code, Alert and DEFCON)
iii) The power to order the military into combat
iv) The power to sign foreign treaties
v) To appoint members of the Supreme Court, with Senate approval
vi) To appoint ambassadors and other civil servants and public officers
vii) The power to grant honours
viii) To commute a death sentence
ix) To pardon those convicted of crimes at his discretion
x) To pass decrees or executive orders on matters not controlled by the legislature
Section Three – State of the Federation
1. The President is obliged to at least once per year communicate a message to the public detailing the state of the nation.
Section Four – Impeachment
1. Any public officer found guilty of accepting bribes, taking bribes, conviction of treason or acting as a result of threat (instead of arresting the person or group threatening them) shall be impeached and permanently banned from holding public office.
Article IV – The Judicial Branch
Section One – Judicial Powers
1. The judicial power of the Radiatian Federation shall be vested in a Supreme Court, and in lower courts.
2. The courts shall follow a hierarchy with the Supreme Court as the most powerful, then the Federal High Court, the State High Court, and with District courts at the bottom.
3. Superior courts may overturn a decision by a lower court, however Federal Courts cannot overturn a decision unless it is in breach of the constitution or bill of rights.
4. The Supreme Court shall be responsible for interpreting the constitution and for trying members of the government for breaches of the constitution, treason, or any other illegal and unconstitutional act.
5. All trials shall be by jury, excluding trials to impeach the President in which the decision lies with the Federal Parliament
Section Two – Trials and Jurisdiction
1. All Radiatian courts shall have trials by a jury
2. All courts are expected and encouraged to hold trials as soon as possible
3. The accused are guilty until proven innocent, but the court must not delay a trial longer than one month. If they do then the person must be granted bail until they can be tried.
4. No state’s court may overturn a decision made in another state
5. If a person is accused of a crime in one state and manages to escape to another state where the act is not a crime, they shall be extradited to their original state to face trial.
6. If a person is charged with crimes in multiple states, they are to be tried by a federal court
Section Three – Appointing the Supreme Court
1. Members of the Supreme Court shall be appointed for an indefinite period by the President, with approval from two-thirds of the Senate
2. In order to stand be on the Supreme Court one must be
i) Aged at least 45 years
ii) Be declared sane
iii) Not have any conflicting business, corporate or religious interests
iv) Be of good character without a blemish on reputation
v) Have obtained the status of a judge
vi) Be qualified as a judge and well-versed in law and constitutional law
3. Members of the Supreme Court may be removed by:
i) Parliament supermajority
ii) Reaching the age of 75
iii) Discovery of undeclared biases or criminal behaviour
Section Four – Treason
1. Treason is defined as any act that endangers the Radiatian people without just cause, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies.
2. Accepting bribes is also considered treason.
3. Threatening or harming a member of the government is considered treason.
Article V – The States
Section One – States shall honour each other
1. Each state in the Federation shall honour one another and all are considered equal in terms of authority and validity.
2. No state may interfere in the affairs of another
3. No state may declare war against another
4. All states shall allow freedom of all citizens of all Radiatian states to work, settle and travel there without impair or discrimination and all states shall treat all citizens of the Radiatian Federation equally.
5. States are permitted to have border checks but only for the purpose of tracking wanted criminals, or tracking the movement of non Radiatian nationals. At no point may a state deny a Radiatian Citizen access to that state.
Section Two – Privileges
1. The citizens of each state are to be considered citizens of the Radiatian Federation and all rights, privileges, immunities and responsibilities that go with that shall be conferred upon them.
2. The Radiatian Federal Government guarantees the protection of all states against invasion or hostility, and against domestic violence or terrorism.
Section Three – Authority
1. All laws passed by a state must not contradict the Act of Constitution, the Bill of Rights or the Bill of Responsibility
2. If there is an inconsistency between state law and Federal law, the latter shall prevail and the former shall be invalidated.
3. States are permitted to pass laws that are not otherwise detailed in this constitution.
4. States are permitted to implement a state-wide tax
5. States are permitted to have their own education system, however these education systems are obliged to allow all Radiatians to pass the Federal Standard of Education.
6. States are permitted to keep their own standing armies, for the purposes of policy enforcement (police) and defence. However these State Armies are not permitted to invade another state or foreign nation, nor does the State have the power to command them to do so. The Federal Government have at all times the power to seize direct command and control of a State Army
7. States are not permitted to charge duties or tariffs on imports from another state.
8. States are permitted to give any language an official language status
9. All states shall have as head of state a Premier, to be directly elected once every four years and a democratically elected legislature
10. The powers of the Premier and legislature within a state may be determined by that state, provided it does not violate this constitution
Section Four – Federal Capital Territory
1. Citizens living in the Federal Capital Territory (which shall be defined by the Federal Parliament) are not permitted to be represented on the Senate
2. If the FCT has a population of more than 500,000 they are entitled to have electorate MPs
3. The FCT shall be governed directly by the Federal Parliament
Section Five – Extradition
1. Should a citizen of one state commit a felony and escape to another, the latter state must arrest and send the citizen back to the former state, even if the felony committed is not a felony in the latter state.
Section Six – State Government
1. The Radiatian Federation guarantees that the Premier of every state, who shall serve as the head of that state shall be democratically elected by ballot, with all citizens aged over 17 years entitled to vote.
2. The structure of the state government is up to that state, according to its constitution, provided that it does not contradict this federal constitution or the Bill of Rights.
Article VI – The Radiatian Federation as One Nation
Section One – Language
1. All languages of member states shall be considered to be an official language, however government business shall be conducted in the Xerconian dialect of Radiatian
2. State governments have the power to give their state an official language which shall be in equal but no greater standing than Radiatian
3. All federal public services must be conducted in Radiatian
Section Two – Religion
1. The Radiatian Federation is officially an atheist nation
2. The Radiatian Federation shall, to an extent, allow freedom to practice religion, provided that such religions do not break laws or attempt to curb or impede on the Bill of Rights
3. No religion or religious organisation may influence or attempt to influence the government, although people practising religions are permitted to run for any public office
4. Any religion that goes against the Bill of Rights, attempts to overthrow the status quo or is found guilty of hate crime shall be banned
Section Three – Titles and Nobility
1. All members of government are to be given and are permitted to keep the title given to them according to that which is written in this Act of Constitution
2. The President may give an honourary citizen a title at his discretion, in accordance with Parliamentary legislation
3. No actual nobility shall be granted other than a ceremonial title.
4. No land or extra authority shall be given to the receiver of an honourary title
Section Four - Democracy
1. The Radiatian Federal government guarantees a democratic system of government for all citizens of all member states
2. Should any branch of government be presented with a petition requesting the holding of a referendum, and should that petition be signed by 1% of the population of Radiatia, then the government is bound to hold the requested referendum.
3. The peoples of Radiatia, through power of a referendum whether initated by the citizens or initiated by the state, the power to override any governmental decision. All referendums are binding, and no government may ignore a referendum result, the penalty for doing so to be impeachment or more severe punishment.
4. A referendum result may be ignored only in the event of its conflict with the Bill of Rights.
Article VII – Citizenship
1. Any citizen of a state which joins the Radiatian Federation, or who was a citizen or permanent resident of a state at the time of the signing of this constitution shall be granted Radiatian citizenship.
2. Any citizen who is born in any of the states of the Radiatian Federation after the signing of the constitution shall be granted citizenship
3. All citizens are granted the rights conferred to them by the Bill of Rights and must carry the responsibilities conferred to them by the Bill of Responsibilies
5. A citizen may take dual citizenship and settle in a foreign nation, however if they do their citizenship may be revoked upon request by the Federal Government
Article VIII – Amendments
1. The President may propose an amendment to the constitution, however a binding referendum must be held and approved by two thirds of all Radiatian citizens in order to ratify it
2. An amendment may add to, but not subtract from, the Bill of Rights