UmbrellixOn the political status of the republic
This revision initially written starting 11:34 a.m. UTC on the 26th of January, 2023 c.e.
Initial revision available behind this link and written starting 05:44 UTC on the 22nd of July, 2022 c.e. This version is a substantial rewrite.
This document has been superseded already, because it was becoming unmanageable.
This document was going to serve as a provisional constitution until we published a permanent constitution with procedures for amendment etc., but we decided that we would instead proceed with the previous, incomplete constitution, after advice to hang up our quill and inkwell from trusted friends in the micronational community.
Art. Structure of this document
§ Divisions
- This document is divided into articles, which are named, not numbered, sections, which are named, and subsections, which are numbered. This is article Structure, section Divisions, subsection 1.
Art. Purpose of this document
As stated in the informal preamble, this document serves as a provisional constitution to ensure the good governance of Evdonia pending the passage of a final constitution with procedures for amendment etc.
Definitions of terms (Art. Defs)
This table is not normative, but informative. Its definitions may influence the interpretation of further clauses of this ordinance of the republican Commission, but further clauses are normative if they contradict this table.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Commission (form of government) | The basic unit of confederation and of feudalism in Evdonia. Spelled with a capital letter. Must contain an executive, a legislature, a judiciary, and an electoral; executive and legislature may be fused, but judiciary and electoral must, within the capabilities of the Commission, be independent. Every branch has some limited capacities of every other branch as is necessary to exercise its functions. A Commission does not exist by fiat of its creating Commission, but by its own will, though it may not have existed previously to creation, and its withdrawal may leave it without jurisdiction. |
| Provisional Commission | A Commission that has not been confederated into Evdonia. Relations between Commissions and Provisional Commissions are those between mutually foreign states. |
| Pseudocommission | A Commission that has been chartered as part of an executive, rather than as a separate unit of confederation. Has a feudal relationship to its creating Commission, and may share its legislative and electoral branches with its creating Commission. May be enfranchised by its creating commission, or by itself (at which point it becomes Provisional, if its creating letter patent does not permit this; the effect is likely identical to the Commission’s destruction) |
| Letter patent | A letter published by a Commission establishing a privilege, or the existence, of a Commission subordinate to it, or a restriction on its own powers or a subordinate commission’s powers. A Commission may use a letter patent to amend its constitution, unless it has previously prohibited this, in which case a letter patent must be released after the approved means of amendment is carried out. |
| Executive | Branch of a Commission responsible for carrying out the law. Has limited powers of legislation in order to do so. |
| Electoral | Either: pertaining to elections; or a branch of a Commission responsible for performing elections and ensuring that their will is carried out. In the latter case, should have its own means of enforcement separate from the executive and judiciary. |
| Legislature | Branch of a Commission responsible for creating and amending ordinary law, including laws which amend a Commission’s constitution. |
| Ordinance | An article of ordinary law created by a Commission. |
| Judiciary | Branch of a Commission responsible for finding fact, and matching it with clearly articulated law, and that with constitutional law, and pronouncing that actions must be taken to bring fact into the closest possible alignment with law. |
| Republican | Pertaining to the whole republic. |
| Confederation | A loose federation which can legally be exited. |
| Feudalism | This is not intended to imply the classical meaning, of holding land by knightservice or sergeanty, and relationships of subservience (down to serfdom, the unfree tenure in land which entails owing services to the landlord, and inalienability, as well as forfeiture and emancipation after a year and a day spent fugitive) that entail. In Evdonia, feudalism refers to the hierarchical relationship between Commissions and their creating Commissions. A feudal relationship is abolished (or shortened) if the Republican (or other superordinate) Commission directly creates a Commission that is already in existence. A subordinate Commission is not subservient, and is considered equal to its creating Commission. |
| Transitional Government | A Commission whose General Secretary, legislature, and judicators are all the same people, owing to low population. |
| Territorial | Relating to territory. Of a Commission, means that it has at least some control over territory, or over broad aspects of governance in a territory. |
| Secretary | A minister of a Commission’s executive. May also be called a Minister. |
| General Secretary | A minister of a Commission’s executive with plenary powers, considered to represent the Commission’s executive as a whole. |
| Office of the General Secretariat | Where the General Secretary is more than one Subject, the General Secretaries collectively, as well as their assistants. |
| Natural Person | One or multiple persons who are considered to be a single natural person at the common law of England. |
| Subject | A Natural Person who is afforded the privileges and responsibilities of subjection to a Commission, by letter patent of that Commission. |
| Commission of the Republic of Evdonia | The name of the paramount commission of Evdonia. Is also aliased as “the republican Commission.” |
IETF RFC 2119 applies (Art. IETF RFC 2119 applies)
The key words “MUST”, “MUST NOT”, “REQUIRED”, “SHALL”, “SHALL NOT”, “SHOULD”, “SHOULD NOT”, “RECOMMENDED”, “MAY”, and “OPTIONAL” in this document are to be interpreted as described in IETF RFC 2119 and IETF RFC 8174.
Art. Creating signatory Commissions
§ Creating the republican Commission
It is known to the writer that this section is redundant, as this just brings the Commission that wrote this article into confederation.
- The Commission of the Republic of Evdonia is hereby created; having previously existed, it comes under confederation with Evdonia.
- The Commission of the Republic of Evdonia is hereby bound over to respect this constitution, as may from time to time come to be amended. This document is also its constitution, so no separate procedures for amendment are required.
- The Commission of the Republic of Evdonia has a fused executive. This means that Secretaries may be deposed by an ordinary act of parliament. This status may be changed by an ordinary act of parliament.
§ Creating the Pseudo-Commission of Republic House
- The Commission of the Republic House of the Republic of Evdonia is hereby created; having previously existed, it remains under confederation with Evdonia as it was before this document was written.
- The Commission of the Republic House of the Republic of Evdonia is hereby bound over to respect this constitution, as may from time to time come to be amended, to the extent of its abilities. As it is subject to outside authority, this may not always be possible.
- The Commission of the Republic House of the Republic of Evdonia is subordinate to the Commission of the Republic of Evdonia as a pseudocommission.
- The Commission of the Republic House administers, to the extent possible under shorthold tenancy in the surrounding state (BC, Canada), Republic House, the residence of the General Secretary of the republican Commission.
- The officers of this Commission are the same as the officers of the republican Commission.
Art. Defining the rights and responsibilities of Commissions
§ To other Commissions
- Even despite a subordinate (“feudal”) relationship, Commissions within Evdonia are each others' equals.