Constitution of the Free State of Haifa
| Jurisdiction | Free State of Haifa |
|---|---|
| Texts | Four, of which three were adopted |
| Form of state | Unitary parliamentary republic |
| Head of state | Governor-General |
| Head of government | Prime Minister |
| Legislature | National Parliament |
| Judiciary | National Court under a Supreme Arbiter |
| Abrogated | 1620 AN, by the Agreement of Dissolution |
The Constitution of the Free State of Haifa was the fundamental law of the Free State of Haifa between 1602 AN and 1620 AN. It was not a single document. Four constitutional texts were written in the republic's eighteen years, three of them adopted and the fourth drafted and abandoned. No two successive texts agreed on the length of a prime-ministerial term, which ran variously at three, four, and six years. The republic dissolved with the question unsettled.
The order that held for most of the republic's life placed a Governor-General at the head of state and a Prime Minister at the head of government, with legislative power in a National Parliament drawn from the territorial units of the state rather than from a national roll, and judicial power in a National Court under a Supreme Arbiter. The Governor-General was elected by Parliament from among the sitting governors and combined offices that were elsewhere separate, serving at once as head of state, Speaker of Parliament, foreign minister, and senior diplomatic representative, and standing neutral in partisan divisions except to break a tie.
The constitution was abrogated by Article I(a) of the Agreement of Dissolution, which declared it completely null and void upon the final dissolution of the republic and the distribution of its sovereignty, lands, possessions, assets, and resources.
Texts
The three adopted texts followed one another in succession, each replacing the one before it, and the fourth was drafted and never put to a vote.
The original constitution
The first text was adopted at the founding. It was short, ran to four sections, and vested representation in a Presiding Official who spoke for the people before foreign friends and enemies, with a Parliament as national legislature overseeing all government functions.
Its second section named the three protectorates of the republic as the Fenkel Shipping Co., Minab Azis, and the Wallis Islands, gave them limited autonomy under either a trade representative or a governor, reserved to Parliament the right to restrict or rescind that autonomy by a vote in session, and provided that the territory of the Fenkel Shipping Co. was always run by the owner of the company, since it was not run by the government but held government land.
Its third section made the Prime Minister head of state and leader of the people in peace and in war, elected by Parliament on polling dates fixed at the first day of months I, V, IX, and XIII, and charged with enforcing the laws Parliament laid down and overseeing federal financial transactions. The Prime Minister could be deposed by a vote of no confidence, which required unanimity in Parliament. City Officials, under the fourth section, were the heads of individual cities and were appointed by the Prime Minister, so that the premiership was the only federally elected position in the country.
The constitution in force
The second text replaced the first, ran to six sections, and supplied the constitutional order that held for most of the republic's life.
Its first two sections set out rights. Every citizen was equal under the law regardless of gender, social background, skin color, political or sexual orientation, or religious affiliation, held equal rights to education, medical treatment, and free speech, and was presumed innocent until proven otherwise. Citizenship, once given, could never be rescinded, though the same article described it as a privilege rather than a right. Free speech was guaranteed, assembly was permitted where it did not conflict with other law, and no citizen was to be detained or harassed for organizational affiliation.
The territory of the republic was declared indivisible by the third section, which left the enumeration of provinces and protectorates blank, a gap never filled in the text itself. Its fourth and fifth sections established the state as a unitary one with all subnational entities under direct supervision of the central government, made the National Parliament the legislative assembly with supreme power over national affairs and over the other branches, seated it at seven members, granted its members judicial immunity, and set out the offices of Prime Minister, Governor-General, and Supreme Arbiter, the last presiding over the National Court. Ministers, governors, and the Governor-General could sit in Parliament.
Elections were governed by the sixth section. Suffrage was granted at eighteen. Parliament was elected by proportional representation every six years, with the choice of seat-distribution model left to the Governor-General, who ran the elections. The Prime Minister was elected from among members of Parliament within four days of a parliamentary election, subject to the Governor-General's review and approval. If no Prime Minister had been chosen seven days after a new Parliament was seated, the Governor-General was required to call fresh parliamentary elections. The Governor-General was himself elected every six years, three years into the Prime Minister's term, on a plurality, with a second round in the event of a tie and a parliamentary choice if the second round also failed to produce a plurality.
The restructure
The third text was a restructure adopted under Fayiz Sarraj. It reproduced the rights, territory, and state sections of the text before it and rewrote the electoral machinery. Parliamentary elections moved from every six years to every three. The Governor-General's term fell from six years to four, and the surviving text moves the office from parliamentary election to direct election by the people on a plurality, with Parliament retaining the power to hold the election. The same restructure is the origin of the rule that the Governor-General was drawn from among the sitting governors, a rule absent from the surviving text and one on which Meir and Fauxan had openly disagreed, and it was on that basis, with Parliament making the choice, that the office was held for the rest of the republic's life.
The restructure also introduced a mixed-member proportional method for the chamber, seating eight members, and set a threshold of five of those eight for overriding a veto. The surviving text does not record the change and retains the seven-seat chamber of the text it replaced. The chamber the republic last returned did not sit on those terms. The general election of 1614 AN filled six seats by the d'Hondt method under the Elections Act, and it was that six-member Parliament which sat until the dissolution.
The reform draft
The fourth text was drafted by Benjamin Meir in 1615 AN, at the outset of his ministry, and was never adopted. Meir presented it on the ground that the constitution then in effect was not the one proposed before his absence, that the text adopted in his absence was contradictory, and that it was untenable as the basis of a constitutional order.
The draft ran to ten articles in four chapters and would have changed the character of the state. It opened with a preamble in the first person plural, declared the republic secular, democratic, and sovereign, fixed the capital at Abeis, and gave itself supremacy as directly binding on all state authority. The motto of the republic was to be "Unity makes strength". It replaced the unitary state with a federal one composed of Regions, Territories, and Protectorates, in which residual powers belonged to the Regions and only enumerated subjects were reserved to the national level. The Governor-General was abolished and the Prime Minister made head of state as well as head of government, elected by direct universal suffrage on a four-year term with polling dates fixed at the first day of months I, V, IX, and XIII, removable by a loss of confidence which took the form of a fresh election. A Supreme Court exercising constitutional jurisdiction replaced the Supreme Arbiter, its justices elected by Parliament and its chief justice chosen by the justices themselves.
A Bill of Rights was drafted alongside it by another officeholder, Paladino. The reading of the draft was broadcast on television across Haifa, with more than ninety thousand watching. It was met with a request for a summary of the changes, which Meir supplied article by article, and it never came to a vote. Its author resigned the premiership and his citizenship within weeks of presenting it, and the constitution he had proposed to replace remained in force until the dissolution.
Text
The text in force at the dissolution was the restructure. It is set out below as the republic left it, with its numbering and blank enumerations unaltered.
Constitution of the Free State of Haifa
Section 1: Basic Human Rights
Article 1: Every citizen, regardless of gender, social background, skin color, political or sexual orientation, or religious affiliation, is equal under these laws, and cannot be discriminated against, and can defend, his/her inalienable rights.
Article 2: Every citizen has the same right to education, medical treatment, and free speech.
Article 3: Every citizen is equal under the law, and is presumed innocent until proven otherwise in a court of law.
Article 4: Citizenship may, once given, never be rescinded. Citizenship is a privilege, not a right.
Section 2: Free Speech & Affiliation
Article 1: Free speech is a guaranteed right in the Free State of Haifa.
Article 2: Citizens have the right to assemble as they see fit, unless they come into conflict with other laws.
Article 3: No citizen shall be detained or harassed based on their organizational affiliations.
Section 3: Territory
Article 1: The territory of the Free State of Haifa is comprised of the following provinces:
Article 2: Protectorates of the Free State of Haifa are:
Article 3: The territory of the Free State of Haifa is indivisible.
Section 4: The State
Article 1: The Haifan State is a Unitary State. All sub-national entities are under direct supervision of the central government.
Article 2: The National Parliament is the legislative assembly. It holds supreme power over national affairs.
Article 3: Government is headed by the Prime Minister, who oversees a cabinet of ministers, and works with parliament in directing national policy. The Prime Minister is head of government.
Article 5: The highest representative, the Head of State, of the Free State is the Governor-General.
Article 6: The Governor-General acts as Foreign Minister in the cabinet of the Prime Minister, and oversees parliamentary elections. The Governor-General also appoints governors of provinces.
Article 7: Ministers, Governors and the Governor-General can be members of parliament.
Section 5: Three Branches of Government
Article 1: The legislative branch of the Free State is the National Parliament. It holds supreme power over the other branches as the representative body of the people of Haifa. The National Parliament is comprised of seven seats.
Article 2: The National Parliament is an independent body, with its own set of procedures and rules. Members of parliament are subject to judicial immunity.
Article 3: The Prime Minister is tasked with setting and executing national policy in conjunction with parliament, as well as choosing his/her cabinet. He/she also swears into office the Governor-General.
Article 4: The Governor-General works with the executive and legislative branch, staying neutral to the best of his/her ability in partisan matters, as the highest representative of Haifa.
Article 5: The Governor-General is also Speaker of Parliament, tasked to ensure a working parliament. He/she also swears in new members of parliament, as well as the cabinet members.
Article 6: Governors are administrators of provinces, ensuring national policy is enforced.
Article 7: The highest court in Haifa is the National Court. It oversees the judicial system as an independent body, headed by the Supreme Arbiter. The National Court has jurisdiction over civil and criminal law.
Article 8: The Supreme Arbiter is selected by parliament.
Section 6: Elections
Article 1: All elections are free and fair. Suffrage is granted to any citizen at the age of eighteen.
Article 2: The National Parliament is elected via proportional representation. The seat distribution model used is up to the Governor-General, who is in charge of parliamentary elections. Parliamentary elections are to be held once every three years.
Article 3: The Prime Minister is elected from among members of parliament. A Prime Ministerial election should be held no later than four days after the end of a parliamentary election. The Governor-General must review and approve the selection of Prime Minister.
Article 4: If a Prime Minister has not been selected seven days after the new parliament has been elected, the Governor-General must call out new parliamentary elections.
Article 4: The National Parliament has the power to hold elections for Governor-General. These are to be held every four years. The Governor-General is elected directly by the people, the winner being the candidate with a plurality of votes.
Article 5: In the case of a tie between two candidates for Governor-General, a second round of voting must occur within three days of the original election. If no candidate received a plurality of the votes in the second round, the National Parliament has the right to select a Governor-General.
The prime-ministerial term
No text of the four settled the length of a prime-ministerial term, and the practice of the republic did not settle it either.
The original constitution provided for election of the Prime Minister on fixed polling dates, giving a term of three years. The constitution in force set parliamentary elections at six years and made the premiership follow from them, giving a term of six. The restructure moved parliamentary elections to three years and left the premiership following them, returning the term to three. The reform draft would have fixed it at four. In the event, the republic's last Prime Minister was ratified for a term of six years by a motion of Parliament rather than by any constitutional provision, and held office for less than one.
The instability was not confined to the term. Of the four men who held the premiership, only the founder completed a full term. Sarraj resigned within weeks of forming a government. Erlo Sinders held it on an interim basis. Meir governed for a single session. After his resignation in 1616 AN no successor was chosen, and the office stood vacant for the republic's remaining four years, a vacancy no text of the four had contemplated.
Related instruments
The constitution was not the whole of Haifan public law. A Parliamentary Code regulated the conduct of members on a four-class scale of discipline, running from a minor infringement of protocol, punished by suspension for the remainder of a sitting, to talk of separation or treason, punished by expulsion. It also required attendance of members from the major cities, with warnings for a first absence and loss of the right to sit for a second, and excused absence for a stated reason.
The Unification Act annexed the Republic of the North Antarctic Peninsular Islands in 1608 AN. The Elections Act governed the conduct of the polls and prescribed the d'Hondt method used in the general election of 1614 AN; its text does not survive. Two directives of the Foreign Office set the republic's founding diplomatic doctrine, committing it to formal neutrality and to the unconditional recognition of every Micran nation. For as long as the principality was Haifan, the Principality of Walstadt held its own Basic Law, providing for the Prince and the Stadtraat.
Abrogation
The constitution ended with the state. Article I(a) of the Agreement of Dissolution of 1620 AN dissolved the Free State of Haifa and its government and declared the constitution of that government completely null and void from the final dissolution.
The republic's constitutional order did not carry into the administrations that followed. Haifa proper passed to the Commonwealth of Hamland as an autonomous territory, and within five years of the dissolution members of the Commonwealth were proposing to renew Haifan institutions on the reasoning that little of the old apparatus was still running. The Most Serene Republic of St. Andre, named Haifa's successor state, was given liberty by the same agreement to choose which Haifan laws it would inherit, and it framed a constitution of its own.
