NSG Senate Coffee Shop: No Free Refills

[Martune]

Coffee shop is largely OOC.

Isn't it usually 100% OOC?

Other than us sponsoring as our senators

[The Miaphysite Church of Coptic Archism]

Rules and Procedures of the House of Representatives of Galatea
Co-Authors: Lilika Samaras (AfC — The Miaphysite Church of Coptic Archism), Giovanni Galatis (DP - Tectonix)
Sponsors: Gary Tyreea (CHU - Martune), Andrea Michelakos (FDP - Van Hool Islands), Joseph Sartori (DP - Collatis), ? (Ind. - Maklohi Vai), Niccolo Fallaci (FDP - Roosevetania)

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A Resolution of the Galatean Senate to establish the procedures for the deliberation of business in the federal legislative assembly.

BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the Head of the State, by and with the counsel of the Government, and the authority of the Senate, by virtue of the powers placed upon it by the Law, as follows:

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§1 –Definitions:

1. For the purposes of this act, the Leader of the Official Opposition is the leader of the largest political bloc opposed to the government.

§2 –The Dais:

1. The Dais of the House of Representatives shall consist of a Speaker, Parliamentarian and Clerk.
2. The presiding officer of the Galatean House of Representatives shall be the Speaker.
3. The Speaker is charged with maintaining order in the chamber, ruling on incidental (and other such appropriate) motions, bringing bills to the floor for consideration and ensuring all Senator-elects meet the necessary prerequisites for taking office before being sworn in.
4. The Speaker shall be elected by the assembled House of Representatives through a simple majority immediately following the election of the Prime Minister, with their terms lasting the same length.
5. The Speaker may appoint a Speaker pro tempore at their discretion.
6. The Speaker must be non-partisan in action as well as affiliation, if a member of a political party is elected speaker they must resign their position in their party to take up the position of Speaker.
7. The Parliamentarian shall be appointed by the Speaker, and is charged with reviewing proposed bills for legal inconsistencies, halting proceedings on a proposed bill if it breaks either federal law or house rules, and advising the Speaker in the context of house rules.
8. The Clerk shall be appointed by the Speaker, and is charged with calling the roll during roll call votes and maintaining an archive of all passed Acts and Resolutions.

§3 –Decorum:

1. Senators shall be respectful towards all other Senators, and may address each other in such terms as "The Honourable Senator," "My Honourable Colleague," "The Senator from [constituency],", "My Esteemed Colleague," or other equivalent terms, as deemed by the Speaker.
2. Senators shall address the Speaker when making statements or asking questions within the Chamber.
3. Senators may not impugn the integrity or dignity of another Senator when in the Chamber.
4. Senators may not use language unbecoming of an elected official when speaking in the Chamber — such language shall be decided at the discretion of the Speaker of the Senate.
5. Senators may not call for violence against another Senator, nor their constituents, when in the Chamber.
6. Senators may not physically harm another Senator when in the Chamber.
7. Senators may not unnecessarily obstruct the business of the Chamber.
8. Senators may not impugn the integrity or dignity of the Speaker, nor their Office.
9. Senators may not engage in conduct unbecoming of an elected official with the Chamber, at the discretion of the Speaker of the Senate.
10. Should there be mass disorder, the Speaker may unilaterally suspend proceedings for a temporary period to restore order.

§4 –Debate:

1. Debate within the Chamber must be pertinent to the question at hand, unless it be an address made by a newly-elected official or foreign dignitary.
2. Senators speaking of unrelated matters, while lacking justification, are subject to being called to order by the Speaker of the Senate.
3. Debate may never breach decorum.
4. A Speaker pro tempore may not preside over a question whose debate they participated in.

§5 –Bill Submission and Queues:

1. Any bill, once having gained three (3) supporting representatives (sponsors and co-authors), can be submitted to the Office of the Speaker at the leisure of the bill's author.
2. There shall be three queues—One for government bills (henceforth defined as any bill the Prime Minister designates as a government bill), one for opposition bills (henceforth defined as any bill the Leader of the Official Opposition designates as an opposition bill) and one for other bills. Each bill submitted to the speaker shall be put at the bottom of its respective queue.
3. Budget and Appropriations bills shall bypass all other bills, and be put at the top of the government bill queue.

§6 –Schedule:

1. Debate and voting shall be set to a weekly timetable. All bills presented during the week shall be voted on for 24 hours during Saturday-Sunday. The Speaker may not call a vote on a bill at an irregular time during the week.
2. Each week, on Sunday-Monday after the previous week's voting period, there shall be a 24 hour period for Oral Questions. All members may ask questions. Questions must be directed to the Prime Minister or a cabinet member, and must be relevant to the member's portfolio.
3. The number of bills presented each week shall be no less than 2, and no more than 5, at the Speaker's discretion. The nature of the bills presented with regards to their respective queue shall be determined as follows. If two bills are presented in a week, one shall be from the government queue, and one shall be from the opposition queue. If three, one shall be government, one shall be opposition, and one shall be other. If four, two shall be government, one shall be opposition, and one shall be other. If five, two shall be government, two shall be opposition, and one shall be other. If there are no bills from a particular queue to be submitted, it's slot(s) go first to government bills, then to opposition bills, then to other bills.
4. Each bill presented will be debated on for a period of 24 hours.
5. If less than 5 bills are presented in a week, the remaining time before voting begins can be spent on general debate, welcoming foreign dignitaries, hearing speeches from the President or members of the public, or other such functions at the discretion of the Speaker.

§7 –Amendments:

1. Typographical and clerical errors in a bill can be fixed at the time of a bill's passing without needing a vote.
2. During the week a bill is on the floor, the author (or a co-author if applicable) may offer amendments to the bill. If the majority of co-authors and sponsoring representatives support the amendment, it will be added to the bill before voting at the end of the week.
3. After a bill is voted into law, unless explicitly protected, it can be amended by passing an amendment bill, titled "Nth [Act Title] Amendment Bill" or similar.

§8 - Voting Procedures:

1. Motions made by senators shall be voted on if they receive three (3) seconds from other senators.
2. Voting on motions shall last 24 hours and can happen concurrently with debating on bills.
3. Votes on bills and motions shall require a simple majority for passage — treaties shall require a 2/3rds vote.
4. Discussion other than to inform the Speaker of important information is out of order during bill voting periods.
5. The Speaker may not vote unless breaking a tie.
6. Proxy voting may only be in order if both parties (the one proxying the vote and the one casting the vote that is to be proxied)
   sign a legal affidavit and present it to the Speaker prior to voting procedures being initiated.

§9 - Motion Precedence and their Functionalities:

1. Motion to adjourn, used to adjourn Senate proceedings until a set time.
2. Motion to recess, used to adjourn Senate proceedings for a short period of time.
3. Point of personal privilege, used to bring to the attention of the Senate a lack of comfort, safety, or capacity of hearing other Delegates.
4. Point of excusal, used by a Senator to request being excused from their duties as Senator for a specified reason for a set period of time.
5. Point of order, used to bring to the attention of the Speaker of the Senate a departure from the set rules and precedence that may be in progress.
6. Point of parliamentary inquiry, used to seek information with regards to procedural matters.
7. Point of information, used to seek information regarding the business and debate at hand.
8. Motion to extend debate, used to extend the amount of time allowed for debate, under extraordinary circumstances as allowed by the Speaker of the Senate.
9. Motion to appeal the ruling of the Chair, used to override the ruling of the Speaker of the Senate on a motion, amendment, or other ruling, if successful.

§10 - Disciplinary Procedures:

1. Disciplinary procedures may be enacted should a Senator continue to breach decorum.
2. Official Warning: The Speaker may issue a senator an official warning for breaching decorum of the House of Representatives. This warning carries no punishment but can be used to indicate that further breaches will not be tolerated.
3. Call to Order: Should a Senator break House rules during debate, the Speaker may call them to order. The Senator shall not participate during the current debate, but shall not be required to leave the Chamber.
4. Censuring: A public reprimand or condemnation by the House against a Senator who has committed an offense against the state, government members, or the Senate itself, or of a group of people, may be initiated by the Speaker, requiring five (5) seconds. If censure is formally invoked, the Senator must appear before the Dais while the Speaker of the Senate reads aloud why they were censured. A censured Senator may not participate in debate for three (3) days after censure is invoked.
5. Expulsion: In the most dire circumstances where a member has been convicted of a criminal offense and refuses to resign, or other extraordinary circumstances deemed as eligible for expulsion by the Parliamentarian, senators may motion for the expulsion of said member, requiring ten (10) seconds. A 2/3rds majority must be acquired in a 24 hour vote for a Senator to be expelled; if expulsion is formally invoked, the Senator is to be seized by the Serjeant-at-Arms and be brought before the Speaker of the Senate, who will read aloud the charges levied against them, before being taken by the Serjeant-at-Arms out of the Chamber of the Senate. An expelled Senator is barred from stepping foot on Senate again, pending a trial by the appropriate judicial court.
6. Motion to Vacate the Chair: In the circumstances of dereliction of duty, lack of impartiality, or inability to carry out the duties of the Speaker of the Senate, any member of the Senate may move to vacate the Speaker of the Senate, prompting a vote to sustain the motion or overrule it, requires ten (10) seconds. If the Speaker of the Senate is formally vacated, elections for a new Speaker of the Senate shall begin.

An explicitly non-partisan speaker and a more or less non-disruptive path for amendments on the floor.

[Crylante]

Sponsor above bill, Andreios Argyris, AfC

[Malgrave]

i'll sponsor as well

[Collatis]

Confirming my sponsorship.

[Nulla Bellum]

Sponsoring as well. Crazy question though.... will this be debated on the Senate floor under the old rules?

Meta-meta... talk about Fight Club

[Nulla Bellum]

ooc: I suck at formatting / making bill documents look pretty. Some help cleaning up the "look" would be appreciated.

A Bill to Protect the Rights and Property of the Citizens of Galatea

Author: The Hon. Rep. Xander Diamantakos (FIRE - Dionysika, Pochenti)

Sponsors:

§1. Egalitarian Rejection of Rank, Priviledge, And Noble Entitlements

The following protections of rights shall be binding upon the States and all branches of the Federal Administration. Public officials and government employees possess no special rights, immunities, or exemptions not possessed by other Citizens; nor shall crimes against the Government of Galatea or its officers be labeled "treason," or regarded as more serious than crimes against other organizations or individuals. Moreover, apart from the rights of suffrage, referendum initiative, and the holding of public office under the Government Act 2018 of Galatea or any future abrogation thereof, which are reserved to Citizens alone, the following rights apply to all persons equally, regardless of Citizenship or residency, with the qualification that persons judged incompetent (e.g., young children, or the mentally ill) may have their rights suspended in order to secure those ends to which, so far as can be established, they would be likely to consent if competent; but such persons retain in full force, as do others acting on their behalf, the right to challenge in court their status as incompetent no less often than once a year, and to sue for false judgment. Every person of the age of 18 or greater shall be assumed competent, and every person under the age of 13 shall be assumed incompetent, until proven otherwise in a Federal court. The standard of evidence necessary to prove incompetence shall be higher than the standard of evidence necessary to prove competence.

§2. Equal Protection Under the Law
The laws of Galatea shall apply equally to all persons regardless of gender, ethnicity, opinions, religion, national origin, or peaceful lifestyle. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law may be passed to criminalize and convict anyone without due process and a trial by a jury of peers. Anyone who stands accused of a crime shall be presumed wholly innocent of the allegations until found guilty in a court of law. No defendant against criminal charges may be denied bail from detention pending trial, nor may their bail exceed their ability to pay or bring civil restitution for the crime they are alleged to have committed; and any and all bail monies are to be returned to the defendant regardless of the outcome of their trial provided they returned for trial after bond and did not leave the jurisdiction of the court. No person may face double jeopardy, or tried and retried for the same allegation via application of variants of the same law. Prosecutors may only bring charges once, and they must be correctly applied. A mistrial results in dismissal of all charges. A defendant may present their defense in person or in concert with legal counsel, and reserves the right of adversarial discovery and supoena to call and question witnesses either for their defense, to question prosecutorial witnesses, and / or evidence to be presented at trial. No secret or anonymous evidences or witnesses may be presented in court, regardless of allegations made against the defendant or the protections of secrecy classification / clearances of the investigative / infiltrative sources and methods used to gather prosecutorial evidence. The courts may not grant to any profession or body of thought an effective "monopoly on truth" by permitting its findings to be entered as evidence while at the same time denying the same privilege to its rivals. A defendant may appeal a conviction or verdict against him and present new evidence or evidence of procedural misconduct on the part of the prosecution. A successful appeal of criminal conviction may be used as evidence of fraud or corruption to remove a prosecutor from office and sue them and the government for unlawful detention and other damages.

§3. Body and Property Sovereignty
No law shall abridge the right of each person to do as he or she chooses with his or her own person and property, so long as he or she does not interfere, by force or fraud (or the threat thereof), with the equal right of others to do as they choose with their own persons and property. This includes, but is not limited to the right to sign a "do not resusitate" medical waiver, contract to elect for euthanasia in case of terminal illness or morbid decline of quality of life, to voluntarily be tattooed or branded, to elect to undergo gender reassignment surgery, or otherwise electively and consensual alter one's own body parts or contract another to do so. No law may impose upon or compel anyone to keep their property up to an arbitrary standard or measure except as to regulate habitability, sanitary and safe living and working conditions, or accommodate reasonable access to public businesses and facilities for the mobility impaired.

§4 Right to Privacy, to Conduct Free Market Exchanges, Create Businesses, and Acquire Capital and Property
No law shall abridge the right of persons to the peaceful control of their own bodies, nor interfere with voluntary consensual or contractual relations among persons, or the right to form cooperative ventures of any kind; nor invade the privacy of peaceful persons, nor by confiscation, expropriation, regulation, redistribution, restriction, control, or any other means abridge the right of any person to acquire property by homestead, purchase, or gift, or to use, control, exchange, lease, sell, transfer, bequeath, dispose of, or in any manner enjoy, their property without interference, until and unless the exercise of their control infringes the freedom of others; nor shall private property be fully or partially taken for public use without the consent of, and mutually agreeable compensation to, the owner.

§5 Protection Against Prosecution or Criminalization of Harmless Behavior
No law shall create a class of victimless or consensual crimes.

§6 Freedom of Association
No law shall abridge the right of freedom of association; any person may associate or transact with any other person or refuse to associate or transact with any other person for any reason, and the proprietor or lawful possessor of any movable or immovable property may exclude or refuse admission to any other person, except where such property is being used to violate the rights of others.

§7 Freedom of Speech and Expression, Freedom of the Press, and Freedom of Ideologies
No law shall abridge the freedom of thought and feeling, or their peaceful expression or dissemination, as in speech, press and other media, artistic depiction, or religious practice; nor shall any law be made to promote or hinder religion, artistic culture, scientific research, or communication; nor shall the Government of Galatea operate or support any school, college, university, or religious organization to favor or establish any ideological or religious affiliation over any other.

§8 Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and to Petition the Government for a Redress of Grievances
No law shall abridge the right of the people peaceably to assemble, or to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

§9 Freedom Against Slavery, Conscription, and Involuntary Servitude
No law shall countenance the existence of slavery, conscription, indenture, or any other form of involuntary servitude within Galatea, or in any place subject to its jurisdiction.

§10 Freedom of Movement and Travel of Persons, Goods, and Communications of Information and Ideas
No law shall restrict or hamper the free and peaceful movement of persons, goods, or ideas within or across the borders of Galatea. No law may censor, filter, throttle, intercept, or impede access to the Internet, or prevent private and corporate interstate or international transactions, exports, imports and trade of goods and services not specifically embargoed or sanctioned against by duly elected and authorized trade regulation by the Federal Government.

§11 Freedom of Barter and Exchange
11 No law shall abridge the right of any person to use or issue any commodity or item as currency; provided the voluntary parties in the exchange are agreed on the value and price of such an exchange.

§12 Freedom of Self-Defense and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Against Unlawful Aggression
No law shall abridge the right of self-defense by victims or their agents against initiators of aggression (including governments or their agents), including the right, to own, manufacture, sell, and bear arms; but the right of self-defense shall not be construed to license resistance on the part of such aggressors to the legitimate use of force against them in defense of the rights of their victims. No particular tool or weapon may be outlawed or banned from private ownership except for arms and munitions only capable of single use mass destruction, such as bombs, grenades, mortars, artillery pieces, ballistic missiles, weaponized biological, chemical, inflammable, or radiological agents, or atomic / nuclear explosive devices. No law may be passed to collectively illegalize, punish, modify, abrogate, or impugn the rights of the citizens listed in this provision by emergency or in imprudent over-reaction to the criminal use of such weapons not already prohibited by this provision. The human right to self-defense exists superiorly and a priori to legislation or governance thereof; however retributive punishment, or any coercive treatment disproportionate to the seriousness of the aggression or exceeding that required to restrain an aggressor, protect actual or potential victims of that aggressor, or secure restitution, is hereby prohibited.

§13 Freedom of Private Occupational and Business Entrepreneurship
No law shall establish occupational licensure, nor make or claim grants of monopoly privilege, nor restrict competition or free entry into any profession or industry, including the services of adjudication, protection, and enforcement of legitimate rights. Nor shall any law grant copyrights or patents, or recognize their legitimacy; this provision shall not, however, be construed to license the fraudulent marketing of one person's work under the false pretense that it is another's, or commit fraud in general. The provider of any particular skilled labor or occupation is still individually accountable for tort or harm arising from incompetence, negligence, or fraud originating from their actions.

§14 Right to Government Transparency and Protection of "Whistleblowers"
No person shall be convicted for violating government secrecy classifications unless the government discharges its burden of proving that the publication violated the right of privacy of those who have been coerced into revealing confidential information to government agents, or disclosed defensive military plans so as to materially impair the capability to respond to attack; but it shall be a valid defense to such prosecution that information divulged shows that the government has violated the law.

§15 Right to Consent or Deny the Abrogation of Non-Enumerated Rights
The enumeration in this Act of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

§16 Rights of State and Popular Sovereignty to Exclude Federal Abrogation
The powers not delegated to the Federal Administration by the Government Act 2018, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the citizens of Galatea.

§17 Rejection of Executive Order Implements or Emergency Powers
The existence of a state of emergency shall not be construed to limit the individual rights of the Galatean citizenry, or to expand the governmental powers of a municipality, State, or the Federal Republic itself, herein enumerated. Executive order power is hereby denied at all levels of government, and the utterance or transmission of the same shall be regarded as prima faciae grounds for immediate impeachment and removal from office of the usurping executive as a violator of the civil, social, economic, political, and property rights of all citizens beneath his potfolio of office. In such cases, the Executive must vacate office within 24 hours and submit themselves to prosecution, upon pain of death.

[House of Judah]

I don't really have time to dissect just how bad this is this morning. If no one else comes along to do so before I get home, I'll try to do that then.

[Nulla Bellum]

I don't really have time to dissect just how bad this is this morning. If no one else comes along to do so before I get home, I'll try to do that then.

"I'm eager to debate which rights you would deny the Galatean people, or welcome reasonable changes. These are not rights you or I are giving the Galatean people. These are rights they ALREADY HAVE, as human beings. Careful where you chisel. Very careful."

[Lamaredia]

ooc: I suck at formatting / making bill documents look pretty. Some help cleaning up the "look" would be appreciated.

A Bill to Protect the Rights and Property of the Citizens of Galatea

Author: The Hon. Rep. Xander Diamantakos (FIRE - Dionysika, Pochenti)

Sponsors:

§1. Egalitarian Rejection of Rank, Priviledge, And Noble Entitlements

The following protections of rights shall be binding upon the States and all branches of the Federal Administration. Public officials and government employees possess no special rights, immunities, or exemptions not possessed by other Citizens; nor shall crimes against the Government of Galatea or its officers be labeled "treason," or regarded as more serious than crimes against other organizations or individuals. Moreover, apart from the rights of suffrage, referendum initiative, and the holding of public office under the Government Act 2018 of Galatea or any future abrogation thereof, which are reserved to Citizens alone, the following rights apply to all persons equally, regardless of Citizenship or residency, with the qualification that persons judged incompetent (e.g., young children, or the mentally ill) may have their rights suspended in order to secure those ends to which, so far as can be established, they would be likely to consent if competent; but such persons retain in full force, as do others acting on their behalf, the right to challenge in court their status as incompetent no less often than once a year, and to sue for false judgment. Every person of the age of 18 or greater shall be assumed competent, and every person under the age of 13 shall be assumed incompetent, until proven otherwise in a Federal court. The standard of evidence necessary to prove incompetence shall be higher than the standard of evidence necessary to prove competence.

§2. Equal Protection Under the Law
The laws of Galatea shall apply equally to all persons regardless of gender, ethnicity, opinions, religion, national origin, or peaceful lifestyle. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law may be passed to criminalize and convict anyone without due process and a trial by a jury of peers. Anyone who stands accused of a crime shall be presumed wholly innocent of the allegations until found guilty in a court of law. No defendant against criminal charges may be denied bail from detention pending trial, nor may their bail exceed their ability to pay or bring civil restitution for the crime they are alleged to have committed; and any and all bail monies are to be returned to the defendant regardless of the outcome of their trial provided they returned for trial after bond and did not leave the jurisdiction of the court. No person may face double jeopardy, or tried and retried for the same allegation via application of variants of the same law. Prosecutors may only bring charges once, and they must be correctly applied. A mistrial results in dismissal of all charges. A defendant may present their defense in person or in concert with legal counsel, and reserves the right of adversarial discovery and supoena to call and question witnesses either for their defense, to question prosecutorial witnesses, and / or evidence to be presented at trial. No secret or anonymous evidences or witnesses may be presented in court, regardless of allegations made against the defendant or the protections of secrecy classification / clearances of the investigative / infiltrative sources and methods used to gather prosecutorial evidence. The courts may not grant to any profession or body of thought an effective "monopoly on truth" by permitting its findings to be entered as evidence while at the same time denying the same privilege to its rivals. A defendant may appeal a conviction or verdict against him and present new evidence or evidence of procedural misconduct on the part of the prosecution. A successful appeal of criminal conviction may be used as evidence of fraud or corruption to remove a prosecutor from office and sue them and the government for unlawful detention and other damages.

§3. Body and Property Sovereignty
No law shall abridge the right of each person to do as he or she chooses with his or her own person and property, so long as he or she does not interfere, by force or fraud (or the threat thereof), with the equal right of others to do as they choose with their own persons and property. This includes, but is not limited to the right to sign a "do not resusitate" medical waiver, contract to elect for euthanasia in case of terminal illness or morbid decline of quality of life, to voluntarily be tattooed or branded, to elect to undergo gender reassignment surgery, or otherwise electively and consensual alter one's own body parts or contract another to do so. No law may impose upon or compel anyone to keep their property up to an arbitrary standard or measure except as to regulate habitability, sanitary and safe living and working conditions, or accommodate reasonable access to public businesses and facilities for the mobility impaired.

§4 Right to Privacy, to Conduct Free Market Exchanges, Create Businesses, and Acquire Capital and Property
No law shall abridge the right of persons to the peaceful control of their own bodies, nor interfere with voluntary consensual or contractual relations among persons, or the right to form cooperative ventures of any kind; nor invade the privacy of peaceful persons, nor by confiscation, expropriation, regulation, redistribution, restriction, control, or any other means abridge the right of any person to acquire property by homestead, purchase, or gift, or to use, control, exchange, lease, sell, transfer, bequeath, dispose of, or in any manner enjoy, their property without interference, until and unless the exercise of their control infringes the freedom of others; nor shall private property be fully or partially taken for public use without the consent of, and mutually agreeable compensation to, the owner.

§5 Protection Against Prosecution or Criminalization of Harmless Behavior
No law shall create a class of victimless or consensual crimes.

§6 Freedom of Association
No law shall abridge the right of freedom of association; any person may associate or transact with any other person or refuse to associate or transact with any other person for any reason, and the proprietor or lawful possessor of any movable or immovable property may exclude or refuse admission to any other person, except where such property is being used to violate the rights of others.

§7 Freedom of Speech and Expression, Freedom of the Press, and Freedom of Ideologies
No law shall abridge the freedom of thought and feeling, or their peaceful expression or dissemination, as in speech, press and other media, artistic depiction, or religious practice; nor shall any law be made to promote or hinder religion, artistic culture, scientific research, or communication; nor shall the Government of Galatea operate or support any school, college, university, or religious organization to favor or establish any ideological or religious affiliation over any other.

§8 Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and to Petition the Government for a Redress of Grievances
No law shall abridge the right of the people peaceably to assemble, or to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

§9 Freedom Against Slavery, Conscription, and Involuntary Servitude
No law shall countenance the existence of slavery, conscription, indenture, or any other form of involuntary servitude within Galatea, or in any place subject to its jurisdiction.

§10 Freedom of Movement and Travel of Persons, Goods, and Communications of Information and Ideas
No law shall restrict or hamper the free and peaceful movement of persons, goods, or ideas within or across the borders of Galatea. No law may censor, filter, throttle, intercept, or impede access to the Internet, or prevent private and corporate interstate or international transactions, exports, imports and trade of goods and services not specifically embargoed or sanctioned against by duly elected and authorized trade regulation by the Federal Government.

§11 Freedom of Barter and Exchange
11 No law shall abridge the right of any person to use or issue any commodity or item as currency; provided the voluntary parties in the exchange are agreed on the value and price of such an exchange.

§12 Freedom of Self-Defense and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Against Unlawful Aggression
No law shall abridge the right of self-defense by victims or their agents against initiators of aggression (including governments or their agents), including the right, to own, manufacture, sell, and bear arms; but the right of self-defense shall not be construed to license resistance on the part of such aggressors to the legitimate use of force against them in defense of the rights of their victims. No particular tool or weapon may be outlawed or banned from private ownership except for arms and munitions only capable of single use mass destruction, such as bombs, grenades, mortars, artillery pieces, ballistic missiles, weaponized biological, chemical, inflammable, or radiological agents, or atomic / nuclear explosive devices. No law may be passed to collectively illegalize, punish, modify, abrogate, or impugn the rights of the citizens listed in this provision by emergency or in imprudent over-reaction to the criminal use of such weapons not already prohibited by this provision. The human right to self-defense exists superiorly and a priori to legislation or governance thereof; however retributive punishment, or any coercive treatment disproportionate to the seriousness of the aggression or exceeding that required to restrain an aggressor, protect actual or potential victims of that aggressor, or secure restitution, is hereby prohibited.

§13 Freedom of Private Occupational and Business Entrepreneurship
No law shall establish occupational licensure, nor make or claim grants of monopoly privilege, nor restrict competition or free entry into any profession or industry, including the services of adjudication, protection, and enforcement of legitimate rights. Nor shall any law grant copyrights or patents, or recognize their legitimacy; this provision shall not, however, be construed to license the fraudulent marketing of one person's work under the false pretense that it is another's, or commit fraud in general. The provider of any particular skilled labor or occupation is still individually accountable for tort or harm arising from incompetence, negligence, or fraud originating from their actions.

§14 Right to Government Transparency and Protection of "Whistleblowers"
No person shall be convicted for violating government secrecy classifications unless the government discharges its burden of proving that the publication violated the right of privacy of those who have been coerced into revealing confidential information to government agents, or disclosed defensive military plans so as to materially impair the capability to respond to attack; but it shall be a valid defense to such prosecution that information divulged shows that the government has violated the law.

§15 Right to Consent or Deny the Abrogation of Non-Enumerated Rights
The enumeration in this Act of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

§16 Rights of State and Popular Sovereignty to Exclude Federal Abrogation
The powers not delegated to the Federal Administration by the Government Act 2018, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the citizens of Galatea.

§17 Rejection of Executive Order Implements or Emergency Powers
The existence of a state of emergency shall not be construed to limit the individual rights of the Galatean citizenry, or to expand the governmental powers of a municipality, State, or the Federal Republic itself, herein enumerated. Executive order power is hereby denied at all levels of government, and the utterance or transmission of the same shall be regarded as prima faciae grounds for immediate impeachment and removal from office of the usurping executive as a violator of the civil, social, economic, political, and property rights of all citizens beneath his potfolio of office. In such cases, the Executive must vacate office within 24 hours and submit themselves to prosecution, upon pain of death.

"First of all, section 16 and 17, we're a fully unitary state. There are no devolved administrations to give powers to, we're not a federal republic and there are no states. Second of all, section 13. It's important that the state limits the formation of monopolies, otherwise we end up in a similar shit situation like the US with their ISPs. Thirdly, section 17 as well. There is most definitively a need for executive order on how the executive handles their daily processes. Also, how do you think bills are written into law? That's right, by executive action."

[Nulla Bellum]

ooc: I suck at formatting / making bill documents look pretty. Some help cleaning up the "look" would be appreciated.

A Bill to Protect the Rights and Property of the Citizens of Galatea

Author: The Hon. Rep. Xander Diamantakos (FIRE - Dionysika, Pochenti)

Sponsors:

§1. Egalitarian Rejection of Rank, Priviledge, And Noble Entitlements

The following protections of rights shall be binding upon the States and all branches of the Federal Administration. Public officials and government employees possess no special rights, immunities, or exemptions not possessed by other Citizens; nor shall crimes against the Government of Galatea or its officers be labeled "treason," or regarded as more serious than crimes against other organizations or individuals. Moreover, apart from the rights of suffrage, referendum initiative, and the holding of public office under the Government Act 2018 of Galatea or any future abrogation thereof, which are reserved to Citizens alone, the following rights apply to all persons equally, regardless of Citizenship or residency, with the qualification that persons judged incompetent (e.g., young children, or the mentally ill) may have their rights suspended in order to secure those ends to which, so far as can be established, they would be likely to consent if competent; but such persons retain in full force, as do others acting on their behalf, the right to challenge in court their status as incompetent no less often than once a year, and to sue for false judgment. Every person of the age of 18 or greater shall be assumed competent, and every person under the age of 13 shall be assumed incompetent, until proven otherwise in a Federal court. The standard of evidence necessary to prove incompetence shall be higher than the standard of evidence necessary to prove competence.

§2. Equal Protection Under the Law
The laws of Galatea shall apply equally to all persons regardless of gender, ethnicity, opinions, religion, national origin, or peaceful lifestyle. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law may be passed to criminalize and convict anyone without due process and a trial by a jury of peers. Anyone who stands accused of a crime shall be presumed wholly innocent of the allegations until found guilty in a court of law. No defendant against criminal charges may be denied bail from detention pending trial, nor may their bail exceed their ability to pay or bring civil restitution for the crime they are alleged to have committed; and any and all bail monies are to be returned to the defendant regardless of the outcome of their trial provided they returned for trial after bond and did not leave the jurisdiction of the court. No person may face double jeopardy, or tried and retried for the same allegation via application of variants of the same law. Prosecutors may only bring charges once, and they must be correctly applied. A mistrial results in dismissal of all charges. A defendant may present their defense in person or in concert with legal counsel, and reserves the right of adversarial discovery and supoena to call and question witnesses either for their defense, to question prosecutorial witnesses, and / or evidence to be presented at trial. No secret or anonymous evidences or witnesses may be presented in court, regardless of allegations made against the defendant or the protections of secrecy classification / clearances of the investigative / infiltrative sources and methods used to gather prosecutorial evidence. The courts may not grant to any profession or body of thought an effective "monopoly on truth" by permitting its findings to be entered as evidence while at the same time denying the same privilege to its rivals. A defendant may appeal a conviction or verdict against him and present new evidence or evidence of procedural misconduct on the part of the prosecution. A successful appeal of criminal conviction may be used as evidence of fraud or corruption to remove a prosecutor from office and sue them and the government for unlawful detention and other damages.

§3. Body and Property Sovereignty
No law shall abridge the right of each person to do as he or she chooses with his or her own person and property, so long as he or she does not interfere, by force or fraud (or the threat thereof), with the equal right of others to do as they choose with their own persons and property. This includes, but is not limited to the right to sign a "do not resusitate" medical waiver, contract to elect for euthanasia in case of terminal illness or morbid decline of quality of life, to voluntarily be tattooed or branded, to elect to undergo gender reassignment surgery, or otherwise electively and consensual alter one's own body parts or contract another to do so. No law may impose upon or compel anyone to keep their property up to an arbitrary standard or measure except as to regulate habitability, sanitary and safe living and working conditions, or accommodate reasonable access to public businesses and facilities for the mobility impaired.

§4 Right to Privacy, to Conduct Free Market Exchanges, Create Businesses, and Acquire Capital and Property
No law shall abridge the right of persons to the peaceful control of their own bodies, nor interfere with voluntary consensual or contractual relations among persons, or the right to form cooperative ventures of any kind; nor invade the privacy of peaceful persons, nor by confiscation, expropriation, regulation, redistribution, restriction, control, or any other means abridge the right of any person to acquire property by homestead, purchase, or gift, or to use, control, exchange, lease, sell, transfer, bequeath, dispose of, or in any manner enjoy, their property without interference, until and unless the exercise of their control infringes the freedom of others; nor shall private property be fully or partially taken for public use without the consent of, and mutually agreeable compensation to, the owner.

§5 Protection Against Prosecution or Criminalization of Harmless Behavior
No law shall create a class of victimless or consensual crimes.

§6 Freedom of Association
No law shall abridge the right of freedom of association; any person may associate or transact with any other person or refuse to associate or transact with any other person for any reason, and the proprietor or lawful possessor of any movable or immovable property may exclude or refuse admission to any other person, except where such property is being used to violate the rights of others.

§7 Freedom of Speech and Expression, Freedom of the Press, and Freedom of Ideologies
No law shall abridge the freedom of thought and feeling, or their peaceful expression or dissemination, as in speech, press and other media, artistic depiction, or religious practice; nor shall any law be made to promote or hinder religion, artistic culture, scientific research, or communication; nor shall the Government of Galatea operate or support any school, college, university, or religious organization to favor or establish any ideological or religious affiliation over any other.

§8 Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and to Petition the Government for a Redress of Grievances
No law shall abridge the right of the people peaceably to assemble, or to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

§9 Freedom Against Slavery, Conscription, and Involuntary Servitude
No law shall countenance the existence of slavery, conscription, indenture, or any other form of involuntary servitude within Galatea, or in any place subject to its jurisdiction.

§10 Freedom of Movement and Travel of Persons, Goods, and Communications of Information and Ideas
No law shall restrict or hamper the free and peaceful movement of persons, goods, or ideas within or across the borders of Galatea. No law may censor, filter, throttle, intercept, or impede access to the Internet, or prevent private and corporate interstate or international transactions, exports, imports and trade of goods and services not specifically embargoed or sanctioned against by duly elected and authorized trade regulation by the Federal Government.

§11 Freedom of Barter and Exchange
11 No law shall abridge the right of any person to use or issue any commodity or item as currency; provided the voluntary parties in the exchange are agreed on the value and price of such an exchange.

§12 Freedom of Self-Defense and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Against Unlawful Aggression
No law shall abridge the right of self-defense by victims or their agents against initiators of aggression (including governments or their agents), including the right, to own, manufacture, sell, and bear arms; but the right of self-defense shall not be construed to license resistance on the part of such aggressors to the legitimate use of force against them in defense of the rights of their victims. No particular tool or weapon may be outlawed or banned from private ownership except for arms and munitions only capable of single use mass destruction, such as bombs, grenades, mortars, artillery pieces, ballistic missiles, weaponized biological, chemical, inflammable, or radiological agents, or atomic / nuclear explosive devices. No law may be passed to collectively illegalize, punish, modify, abrogate, or impugn the rights of the citizens listed in this provision by emergency or in imprudent over-reaction to the criminal use of such weapons not already prohibited by this provision. The human right to self-defense exists superiorly and a priori to legislation or governance thereof; however retributive punishment, or any coercive treatment disproportionate to the seriousness of the aggression or exceeding that required to restrain an aggressor, protect actual or potential victims of that aggressor, or secure restitution, is hereby prohibited.

§13 Freedom of Private Occupational and Business Entrepreneurship
No law shall establish occupational licensure, nor make or claim grants of monopoly privilege, nor restrict competition or free entry into any profession or industry, including the services of adjudication, protection, and enforcement of legitimate rights. Nor shall any law grant copyrights or patents, or recognize their legitimacy; this provision shall not, however, be construed to license the fraudulent marketing of one person's work under the false pretense that it is another's, or commit fraud in general. The provider of any particular skilled labor or occupation is still individually accountable for tort or harm arising from incompetence, negligence, or fraud originating from their actions.

§14 Right to Government Transparency and Protection of "Whistleblowers"
No person shall be convicted for violating government secrecy classifications unless the government discharges its burden of proving that the publication violated the right of privacy of those who have been coerced into revealing confidential information to government agents, or disclosed defensive military plans so as to materially impair the capability to respond to attack; but it shall be a valid defense to such prosecution that information divulged shows that the government has violated the law.

§15 Right to Consent or Deny the Abrogation of Non-Enumerated Rights
The enumeration in this Act of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

§16 Rights of State and Popular Sovereignty to Exclude Federal Abrogation
The powers not delegated to the Federal Administration by the Government Act 2018, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the citizens of Galatea.

§17 Rejection of Executive Order Implements or Emergency Powers
The existence of a state of emergency shall not be construed to limit the individual rights of the Galatean citizenry, or to expand the governmental powers of a municipality, State, or the Federal Republic itself, herein enumerated. Executive order power is hereby denied at all levels of government, and the utterance or transmission of the same shall be regarded as prima faciae grounds for immediate impeachment and removal from office of the usurping executive as a violator of the civil, social, economic, political, and property rights of all citizens beneath his potfolio of office. In such cases, the Executive must vacate office within 24 hours and submit themselves to prosecution, upon pain of death.

"First of all, section 16 and 17, we're a fully unitary state. There are no devolved administrations to give powers to, we're not a federal republic and there are no states. Second of all, section 13. It's important that the state limits the formation of monopolies, otherwise we end up in a similar shit situation like the US with their ISPs. Thirdly, section 17 as well. There is most definitively a need for executive order on how the executive handles their daily processes. Also, how do you think bills are written into law? That's right, by executive action."

"When the House of Tribunes begins operation, it will indeed function as seven single constituent districts, indeed these districts will function more like states when their judiciaries come on line beneath a Supreme Court. Regardless, if there are no secondary levels of government between the government and the citizenry to be called 'states,' then the removal of the extraneous mention of 'states' merely defers more powers and rights back to the people, which I have no problem with, whatsoever. Section 17 simply forbids the circumvention of these rights by enabling the executive to declare an emergency and bypass the legislative process altogether. I don't understand how Section 13 promotes monopoly. Anyone could claim to be a hairstylist, or security guard, or computer programmer, or brain surgeon even, and operate their own businesses doing the same. Other businesses in competition may discriminate and hire only those they see fit for employment, i.e. someone with a cosmetology degree to cut hair, someone with medical training to perform surgeries, and so on, but neither the credentials or lack thereof shall hold anyone harmless in malpractice, negligent action, or fraud cases as they may arise. The free market private sector will root out frauds and quacks faster and more effective than the government ever will. I'm arguing the extremes, but there is no reason you daughter would need a sociology degree to babysit the neighbor's children or your neighbor that is 'good with cars' needs an automotive engineering degree to change the head gasket on your car engine. If anything, section 13 is extremely anti-monopoly."

[Eibenland]

"When the House of Tribunes begins operation, it will indeed function as seven single constituent districts, indeed these districts will function more like states when their judiciaries come on line beneath a Supreme Court. Regardless, if there are no secondary levels of government between the government and the citizenry to be called 'states,' then the removal of the extraneous mention of 'states' merely defers more powers and rights back to the people, which I have no problem with, whatsoever.

"Do you understand how a federal system works? Tribunal districts are only legislative districts. They will have no powers of government reserved to them. The districts have no Supreme Courts."

[Nulla Bellum]

"When the House of Tribunes begins operation, it will indeed function as seven single constituent districts, indeed these districts will function more like states when their judiciaries come on line beneath a Supreme Court. Regardless, if there are no secondary levels of government between the government and the citizenry to be called 'states,' then the removal of the extraneous mention of 'states' merely defers more powers and rights back to the people, which I have no problem with, whatsoever.

"Do you understand how a federal system works? Tribunal districts are only legislative districts. They will have no powers of government reserved to them. The districts have no Supreme Courts."

"Okay, so whats the problem with changing that language and giving whatever power and rights at issue here back to the citizenry? If there is no tier between the central government and the citizenry, then we're risking nothing assuming the government doesn't have any non-enumerated rights or powers and those should be assumed to belong to the people. Simple phrasing change."

ooc: Hell yeah the government cant levy taxes kthanksbye XD

[Malgrave]

NB. Why do you think the government can't levy taxes?

[Lamaredia]

"Do you understand how a federal system works? Tribunal districts are only legislative districts. They will have no powers of government reserved to them. The districts have no Supreme Courts."

"Okay, so whats the problem with changing that language and giving whatever power and rights at issue here back to the citizenry? If there is no tier between the central government and the citizenry, then we're risking nothing assuming the government doesn't have any non-enumerated rights or powers and those should be assumed to belong to the people. Simple phrasing change."

ooc: Hell yeah the government cant levy taxes kthanksbye

OOC: Why the fuck wouldn't the government be able to levy taxes? Many unitary states exist who levy taxes. Are you as incompetent in real life as your character is in the RP?

[Tectonix]

"Okay, so whats the problem with changing that language and giving whatever power and rights at issue here back to the citizenry? If there is no tier between the central government and the citizenry, then we're risking nothing assuming the government doesn't have any non-enumerated rights or powers and those should be assumed to belong to the people. Simple phrasing change."

ooc: Hell yeah the government cant levy taxes kthanksbye

OOC: Why the fuck wouldn't the government be able to levy taxes? Many unitary states exist who levy taxes. Are you as incompetent in real life as your character is in the RP?

Oi, chill out mate. Ad hominem won't get you anywhere.

[Nulla Bellum]

NB. Why do you think the government can't levy taxes?

The power to levy and collect taxes is missing from the Government Act 2018. The Houses can't even introduce spending measures without the President's approval, what exactly they would spend is a mystery, as there are no tax powers in the GA. Don't blame me, I didn't vote for that garbage.

[House of Judah]

NB. Why do you think the government can't levy taxes?

The power to levy and collect taxes is missing from the Government Act 2018.

And it can easily legislate that ability to itself as needed...

[Nulla Bellum]

The power to levy and collect taxes is missing from the Government Act 2018.

And it can easily legislate that ability to itself as needed...

Can it?

[Lamaredia]

And it can easily legislate that ability to itself as needed...

Can it?

Yes? Article 2, section 4. "The Senate is a sovereign legislature with the power to make and unmake law on any topic whatsoever of its choosing.".

[Eibenland]

NB. Why do you think the government can't levy taxes?

The power to levy and collect taxes is missing from the Government Act 2018. The Houses can't even introduce spending measures without the President's approval, what exactly they would spend is a mystery, as there are no tax powers in the GA. Don't blame me, I didn't vote for that garbage.

This is not the United States, it is Galatea. The Government Act does not need to enumerate everything for us.

[Eibenland]

"Do you understand how a federal system works? Tribunal districts are only legislative districts. They will have no powers of government reserved to them. The districts have no Supreme Courts."

"Okay, so whats the problem with changing that language and giving whatever power and rights at issue here back to the citizenry? If there is no tier between the central government and the citizenry, then we're risking nothing assuming the government doesn't have any non-enumerated rights or powers and those should be assumed to belong to the people. Simple phrasing change."

ooc: Hell yeah the government cant levy taxes kthanksbye XD

OOC: I assume the only tier between the central government and the citizenry is municipal governments.

[Nulla Bellum]

Can it?

Yes? Article 2, section 4. "The Senate is a sovereign legislature with the power to make and unmake law on any topic whatsoever of its choosing.".

Thus the need for this Bill of Rights, which would limit that power significantly. This BOR does not specifically deny the government anything but unenumerated powers. Taxation is one of those. I'm not sure the Galatean people are up for another round of dictatorship.

[Paketo]

The power to levy and collect taxes is missing from the Government Act 2018. The Houses can't even introduce spending measures without the President's approval, what exactly they would spend is a mystery, as there are no tax powers in the GA. Don't blame me, I didn't vote for that garbage.

This is not the United States, it is Galatea. The Government Act does not need to enumerate everything for us.

Technically, we should have included a just and proper clause in the GA. Currently, we are bound to only the powers we have granted explicitly to the legislature though no one would argue at this point the government going beyond what is exactly stated as their powers.

[Vedastia]

"Okay, so whats the problem with changing that language and giving whatever power and rights at issue here back to the citizenry? If there is no tier between the central government and the citizenry, then we're risking nothing assuming the government doesn't have any non-enumerated rights or powers and those should be assumed to belong to the people. Simple phrasing change."

ooc: Hell yeah the government cant levy taxes kthanksbye XD

OOC: I assume the only tier between the central government and the citizenry is municipal governments.

OOC: I seem to recall there being provinces, but they weren't mentioned in the GEA and their existence doesn't necessarily imply federalism.

The GEA didn't mention anything about a federal state, either. Could there be an act establishing a federal state (something that isn't mentioned in the GEA)? I don't think that there's anything in the GEA preventing that, but I don't know if that would go against the original setting or not.