Constitution of Ransenar
| Jurisdiction: | Ransenar (Benacian Union) |
| Ratified: | 28.XV.1752 AN by the Ransenari Congress |
| Effective: | 28.XV.1752 AN |
| Conformity confirmed: | 1753 AN by the Conservatory Senate |
| System: | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy ("Royal Republic") |
| Head of state: | King of Ransenar (Szodan of the Realm) |
| Head of government: | Lord Chief Steward |
| Executive: | Civil Executive |
| Legislature: | Ransenari Congress (unicameral) |
| Judiciary: | Ransenari Supreme Court |
| Amendment: | Two-thirds vote of Congress; Conservatory Senate conformity review |
| Supersedes: | Constitution of Ransenar (1673 AN); Social Contract of the Kingdom of Ransenar |
| Location: | Goldfield |
The Constitution of Ransenar of 1752 AN, formally the Constitution of the Kingdom of Ransenar, is the organic law of the Kingdom of Ransenar, a self-governing Realm of the Benacian Union. The Ransenari Congress ratified it on 28.XV.1752 AN and the Conservatory Senate confirmed its conformity with the Charter of the Benacian Union in 1753 AN. It defines Ransenar as a "Royal Republic" in which sovereignty resides in the people, sets out the offices of the Crown, the Civil Executive, the Ransenari Congress, and the courts, and states the rights and duties of subjects within the competencies the Charter reserves to the Realm. It replaced the Constitution of Ransenar of 1673 AN, the Social Contract of the Kingdom of Ransenar, and the constitutional acts passed since independence.
The Constitution comprises a preamble and forty-nine articles grouped into seven chapters. The preamble names the seven counties united under the Crown and Throne of Goldshire and states the ends the people of Ransenar set for their government. The chapters establish the Realm and its place in the Union, the Crown, the Lord Chief Steward and the Civil Executive, the unicameral Ransenari Congress, the courts and the office of the Defender of Subjects, the rights and duties of subjects, and the supremacy of the Constitution together with the procedure for its amendment.
The document is the first Ransenari organic law to define the Kingdom expressly as a self-governing Realm of the Benacian Union rather than an independent nation, replacing the language of the instruments drafted before and during accession. It preserves several features distinctive to Ransenar within the Union, among them a franchise more permissive than the Union threshold, an affirmed right of the Realm to withdraw from the Union, and a Defender of Subjects charged with the merit-evaluation safeguards the Charter requires. Sovereignty is vested in the people, and every office except the Crown derives its authority from them, the arrangement the Constitution calls a "Royal Republic".
Background
The reformed Charter of the Benacian Union took effect on 5.XV.1752 AN. Its transitional provisions required each Realm to establish its executive selection process within one year and to submit its constitution to the Conservatory Senate within two years for conformity review. Ransenar's constitutional order at that point was a patchwork of the 1673 AN Constitution drafted around Queen Salome I, the Social Contract of the Kingdom of Ransenar, the Throne and Crown of Ransenar Act, the Severance of the Throne Act, the Succession to the Throne Act, and the Treaty of Goldfield. Several of these instruments described Ransenar as an independent nation and named a monarch severed from the Crown in 1706 AN.
The accession of Cosgrach I in III.1752 AN, following the death of his father Ruadh I, and the appointment of Eamon Brannigan as Lord Chief Steward coincided with the conformity deadline. The Civil Executive used the requirement to consolidate the older instruments into one document and to settle the relationship between Realm institutions and the Union agencies operating in Ransenari territory. Congress ratified the text late in 1752 AN. The First Consul raised no objection to the method of selecting the Szodan, and the Conservatory Senate confirmed conformity the following year.
Structure
The Constitution is a single instrument of a preamble and forty-nine numbered articles arranged in seven chapters. The preamble recites the union of the counties of Ran, Elsenar, Syrelwynn, Holwinn, Monty Crisco, East Caverden, and Lunaris under the Crown and Throne of Goldshire and the accession of the people of Ransenar to the Benacian Union. Chapter I defines the Realm, fixes its territory, and divides competencies between the Realm and the Union. Chapter II governs the Crown and the position of the King as Szodan within the Union. Chapter III establishes the Lord Chief Steward and the Civil Executive and makes them answerable to Congress. Chapter IV vests the legislative power in the Ransenari Congress and provides for its election and for the National Electoral Commission. Chapter V provides for the courts and for the Defender of Subjects. Chapter VI states the rights and duties of subjects. Chapter VII declares the Constitution the supreme law of the Realm, subordinate only to the Charter and the Union Covenant, and sets the procedure for its amendment.
Text
The full text of the Constitution, as ratified on 28.XV.1752 AN, is reproduced below.
Preamble
WHEREAS the counties of Ran, Elsenar, Syrelwynn, Holwinn, Monty Crisco, East Caverden, and Lunaris are united in the Kingdom of Ransenar under the Crown and Throne of Goldshire, held in Goldfield;
WHEREAS the people of Ransenar acceded to the Benacian Union by the Treaty of Goldfield in 1711 AN and are bound by the Charter of the Benacian Union and the Union Covenant;
WHEREAS the people of Ransenar resolve to secure for themselves and their posterity peace, order, and good government; justice in social, economic, and political life; liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith, and worship so far as the Union Covenant permits; equality of status and of opportunity; and the dignity of the person;
The people of Ransenar, in Congress assembled and with the consent of His Majesty the King, establish and ordain this CONSTITUTION OF THE KINGDOM OF RANSENAR.
Chapter I: Of the Realm
1. The Kingdom of Ransenar is a self-governing Realm of the Benacian Union and the political association of all its subjects. Its government is hereditary, constitutional, and representative, described as a Royal Republic, in which sovereignty resides in the people and every public office except the Crown is held by persons deriving their authority, directly or indirectly, from the people.
2. The territory of the Realm comprises the counties of Ran, Elsenar, Syrelwynn, Holwinn, Monty Crisco, East Caverden, and Lunaris. County boundaries within the Realm may be altered by Congress. The territory of the Realm may not be ceded or its outer boundary altered except with the consent of Congress and, where the Charter so requires, the Council of Realms.
3. The Realm holds all powers not vested in the Union by the Charter. The Union exercises exclusive authority over foreign relations and treaties, war and peace, the armed forces, foreign and inter-Realm commerce, monetary and credit systems, surveillance and merit evaluation through the Commission for the Panopticon, the selectorate, and federal nationality. The Realm does not legislate in these fields.
4. Within the competencies reserved to the Realm, which are cultural and linguistic autonomy, the content of education, local economic development, internal governance, the organization of the courts, administrative procedure, and Realm symbols and honors, Congress legislates freely, subject to the Union Covenant.
5. The official languages of the Realm are Istvanistani and Praeta. The Alexandrian and Martino languages hold official status in Belmuliet. Other local and regional languages protected by Realm law retain that protection.
6. The right of the Realm to withdraw from the Benacian Union, by a majority vote of the Ransenari Congress in the manner provided by the Treaty of Goldfield and the Charter, is affirmed. No organ of the Realm may abridge it.
Chapter II: Of the Crown
7. The King of Ransenar is head of state of the Realm and its Szodan within the Benacian Union. The Crown is hereditary in the House of Aldric under the Succession to the Throne Act. The reigning King is Cosgrach I, and the heir apparent is the Crown Prince, Prince Hartmut.
8. The Crown is held under the grant of the Ransenari Congress, which retains the constitutional power to grant or to remove the Throne in the manner provided by the Throne and Crown of Ransenar Act. This power affirms that authority in the Realm proceeds from the people.
9. The King is President of the Civil Executive. He does not direct the government and acts on the advice of the Lord Chief Steward. His functions are ceremonial and representational and are exercised without partisanship, in keeping with the terms of accession to the Benacian Union.
10. The King opens and prorogues sessions of Congress, appoints the Lord Chief Steward and, on the advice of the Lord Chief Steward, the ministers of the Civil Executive, promulgates the laws passed by Congress, grants the honors of the Realm, and receives envoys so far as the Union competence over foreign affairs allows.
11. The King may dissolve Congress on the advice of the Lord Chief Steward or after a vote of no confidence. He may not refuse a dissolution required by this Constitution, and he may not dissolve Congress except as this Constitution provides. Where a doubt arises whether a measure presented for promulgation is repugnant to this Constitution, the King refers the measure to the Ransenari Supreme Court before promulgation.
12. The Crown of Ransenar proceeds solely from the law of the Realm. The King accedes under the Succession to the Throne Act and exercises every function of the Crown and of the head of the Realm from the moment of accession, independent of any act of the Union.
Confirmation of the King as Szodan by the First Consul under the Charter bears only on the King's capacity to act in the organs of the Union. It is taken as given unless the First Consul, within forty days of the accession, issues a written refusal resting on one of the grounds the Charter allows, being violation of the Union Covenant, heresy, criminal conviction, foreign allegiance, or a determination of the Conservatory Senate that the King is a threat to the constitutional order. A refusal is referred to the Council of Realms under the Charter.
While confirmation is withheld or pending, the King continues to reign and to exercise the functions of the Crown within the Realm. The functions of the Szodan in the organs of the Union are exercised in the interim by the Lord Chief Steward.
The King is removed only by the internal processes of the Realm, save that a removal sought by the First Consul under the Charter requires the concurrence of two-thirds of the Conservatory Senate, lies only for treason, gross violation of the Charter, criminal conviction, or referral by the Worshipful Guild of the Sacred Carnifices, and is appealed to the Council of Realms. On any vacancy of the Throne, the Crown passes according to the succession law of the Realm, which no organ of the Union may set aside.
Chapter III: Of the Lord Chief Steward and the Civil Executive
13. The Lord Chief Steward heads the government as Vice President of the Civil Executive. The King appoints as Lord Chief Steward the member of Congress best able to command its confidence. The Lord Chief Steward holds office while retaining that confidence.
14. The Civil Executive is collectively responsible to Congress. On losing the confidence of Congress, the Lord Chief Steward either resigns, upon which the King appoints a successor able to command confidence, or advises a dissolution.
15. The Civil Executive consists of the presidency, held by the King as President and the Lord Chief Steward as Vice President, and four commissions: Internal Affairs, Logistics, the Treasury, and Public Instruction and Safety. A Commissioner heads each commission, holds a seat in the cabinet, and coordinates the ministers within the commission.
16. The King appoints and dismisses ministers on the advice of the Lord Chief Steward. Ministers are accountable to Congress for the conduct of their offices.
17. The Civil Executive executes the law of the Realm and administers the competencies reserved to the Realm. It does not act in the competencies of the Union except as agent of the Union institutions under the Charter. The Lord Chief Steward presides over the General Staff of the Realm and directs the Public Forces of Ransenar in the internal security of the Realm. Command of the Public Forces passes to the Union only on a Constitutional Emergency lawfully declared under the Charter, and returns to the Realm on its expiry. At all other times the Public Forces remain under the command of the Realm.
18. The Civil Executive answers questions in Congress, lays the budget of the Realm before Congress, and publishes its accounts. Records of the Realm administration are open to subjects under the law on access to information, except where the law withholds them for the security of the Realm or the Union.
Chapter IV: Of the Ransenari Congress
19. The legislative power of the Realm is vested in the Ransenari Congress, a single chamber of 317 members. Members are elected from single-member districts by the candidate receiving the most votes in each district.
20. The term of a Congress is five years. A general election is held at least every five years. The King may dissolve Congress earlier under Article 11.
21. Every subject of Ransenar who has attained the age of majority and holds meritorious status, being a Civic Trust Score above the merit threshold of 350 points, is entitled to vote. This franchise is more permissive than the franchise threshold of the Union, which is 450 points, and is a democratic characteristic of the Realm preserved by the Treaty of Goldfield. Beyond that threshold, the Civic Trust Score does not further condition the right to vote in elections to Congress, and the Union franchise threshold of 450 points does not apply to them. The franchise may be narrowed only by amendment under Chapter VII.
22. Elections and referendums of the Realm are administered by the National Electoral Commission, a non-partisan office of Congress that reports to Congress and not to the Crown or the Civil Executive. The Chief Electoral Officer is appointed by resolution of Congress for a term of ten years. Officers and employees of the Commission hold no affiliation to any party. The Commission maintains the Roll of Voters, draws the boundaries of electoral districts, registers parties and candidates, monitors and publishes the finances of parties and candidates, and allocates broadcasting time during elections.
23. Congress makes the laws of the Realm in all competencies reserved to the Realm, grants supply, and ratifies the participation of the Realm in instruments within Realm competence. Congress grants and removes the Throne under the Throne and Crown of Ransenar Act. Congress may resolve the withdrawal of the Realm from the Benacian Union by a majority of its members.
24. The party or coalition that does not form the government and holds the most seats is recognized as the opposition, and its leader is the Leader of the Opposition. Standing committees of Congress scrutinize each commission of the Civil Executive. A committee inquiry is held on the motion of one-third of the members of Congress. The Civil Executive answers a regular period of questions. Sittings of Congress are held in public and recorded, except where Congress sits in closed session on a matter of security.
25. A bill becomes law on its passage by Congress and promulgation by the King.
Chapter V: Of the courts and the Defender of Subjects
26. The judicial power of the Realm is vested in the Ransenari Supreme Court, which sits at Goldshire Hamlet, and in the subordinate courts that Congress establishes. The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal in matters of the law of the Realm.
27. The courts decide civil, commercial, and criminal matters not reserved to the Union, interpret the law of the Realm, and enforce the rights set out in Chapter VI against the government of the Realm. A court may hold a law or act of the Realm void to the extent that it is repugnant to this Constitution.
28. Judges hold office during good behavior until the age of retirement fixed by law. A judge is removed only by the King on an address of Congress for incapacity or misconduct. Judicial salaries are charged on the budget of the Realm and are not reduced during a judge's tenure.
29. Judges are appointed by the King on the recommendation of a Judicial Appointments Commission composed of serving judges, members of the legal profession, and lay members. The Civil Executive does not appoint judges of its own authority.
30. Matters reserved to the Union by the Charter, including the Union Covenant and the determination of heresy, fall to the institutions of the Union. The Worshipful Guild of the Sacred Carnifices and the Corps of the Gentlemen-at-Cudgels exercise only the authority the Charter grants them, and appeals in those matters proceed to the Conservatory Senate. All other criminal and security jurisdiction, including ordinary offenses against the person, property, and public order, belongs to the courts of the Realm and the Public Forces of Ransenar. The courts of the Realm apply Union law only where the Charter so requires.
31. There is a Defender of Subjects, appointed by Congress for a fixed term and independent of the Civil Executive. The Defender assists subjects in the annual appeal of the Civic Trust Score provided by the Charter, ensures that no revocation of merit or reclassification of a subject takes effect within the Realm without the recorded approval of a named human official as the Charter requires, investigates complaints against the administration of the Realm, and reports to Congress.
32. The public services, licenses, employment, and welfare of the Realm are administered without reference to the Civic Trust Score, except where the Charter or Union law requires the score to be applied.
Chapter VI: Of the rights and duties of subjects
33. The rights set out in this chapter are held to arise from natural right. They are exercised within the Union Covenant and the law, and they bind the government and the courts of the Realm.
34. Subjects are equal before the law of the Realm and are entitled to its equal protection. The Realm does not discriminate among subjects on grounds of county of origin, language, sex, or descent.
35. Subjects have liberty of thought, expression, of the press, of assembly, and of association, so far as is consistent with the Union Covenant and the maintenance of public order under law.
36. Subjects have liberty of belief, faith, and worship in any practice recognized as Covenant-compliant, including Cedrism, Folk Mysticism, Suthra, Zurvanism, and the Nazarene traditions. The Realm maintains no religious establishment beyond the obligations of the Covenant.
37. Subjects have security of the person. No subject is detained by an authority of the Realm except on lawful warrant or charge and is brought promptly before a court of the Realm. The writ to test the lawfulness of detention by a Realm authority is available in the courts of the Realm.
38. A subject charged in a court of the Realm is presumed innocent until proven guilty, is entitled to counsel and to a public hearing, and is not tried under a Realm offense created after the act. No subject is tried twice in the Realm for the same offense.
39. Subjects hold property, subject to taxation and to regulation by law. Property is not taken by a Realm authority except under law and for compensation.
40. The privacy of the home, of the person, and of correspondence is protected against the authorities of the Realm. A Realm authority intrudes upon it only on lawful warrant and for a purpose the law allows.
41. Subjects use the protected languages of the Realm in education, in the courts, and in their dealings with the Realm. Subjects petition the Crown, Congress, and the Defender of Subjects.
42. Subjects owe obedience to the law, observance of the Union Covenant, payment of lawful taxes, and the duties of the engaged subject. These duties do not enlarge the grounds on which rights may be restricted.
43. A right in this chapter is restricted only by a law of the Realm for the security of the Realm or the Union, public order, public health, the protection of the rights of others, or the suppression of heresy as the Charter requires, and only so far as necessary. Recusants, and persons determined by the United Ecclesiastical Corporation to be heretic, hold rights only as the Charter provides.
44. Where this chapter conflicts with the Charter, the Union Covenant, or a competence of the Union, the Charter, the Covenant, and the Union competence prevail.
Chapter VII: Of supremacy, amendment, and transitional provisions
45. This Constitution is the supreme law of the Realm, subordinate only to the Charter of the Benacian Union and the Union Covenant. A law of the Realm repugnant to this Constitution is void to the extent of the repugnancy, as determined by the Ransenari Supreme Court.
46. This Constitution is amended by a vote of two-thirds of all members of Congress and promulgation by the King. An amendment that touches a competence of the Union or an obligation of the Realm under the Charter is submitted to the Conservatory Senate for conformity review. An amendment confined to the internal affairs of the Realm takes effect on promulgation.
47. The franchise in Article 21 and the right of withdrawal in Article 6 are amended only by a two-thirds vote of all members of Congress confirmed at the following general election or by a referendum of the meritorious subjects of the Realm.
48. This Constitution replaces the Constitution of Ransenar of 1673 AN, the Social Contract of the Kingdom of Ransenar, and every constitutional act inconsistent with it. The Throne and Crown of Ransenar Act, the Severance of the Throne Act, and the Succession to the Throne Act remain in force so far as consistent with this Constitution, their substance being incorporated here. The Treaty of Goldfield continues as the instrument of accession to the Benacian Union.
49. This Constitution enters into force on its promulgation by the King following ratification by Congress on 28.XV.1752 AN. The King, the Lord Chief Steward, the members of Congress, and the judges in office at that date continue in office.
Principal features
The Constitution describes the Ransenari system as a "Royal Republic", a hereditary and constitutional monarchy in which sovereignty resides in the people and every public office except the Crown is held by persons deriving their authority from them. The Crown proceeds solely from the law of the Realm: the King accedes under the Succession to the Throne Act and exercises the functions of head of the Realm from the moment of accession, while the confirmation of the King as Szodan by the First Consul bears only on his capacity to act within the organs of the Union. The King's role is ceremonial, and the executive government is conducted by the Lord Chief Steward while retaining the confidence of Congress.
The Constitution distributes competencies between the Realm and the Union along the lines the Charter prescribes. It reserves to the Union foreign relations, the armed forces, the currency, inter-Realm commerce, the selectorate and merit evaluation, and federal nationality, and leaves to the Realm cultural and linguistic autonomy, the content of education, local development, internal governance, the organization of the courts, and Realm symbols and honors.
Two provisions preserve characteristics distinctive to Ransenar within the Union. The franchise for elections to Congress extends to every subject of full age holding a Civic Trust Score above a merit threshold of 350 points, more permissive than the Union threshold of 450, which the Constitution treats as a democratic characteristic secured by the Treaty of Goldfield. The right of the Realm to withdraw from the Union by a majority vote of Congress is affirmed and placed beyond the reach of any organ of the Realm; together with the franchise, it may be altered only by a reinforced amendment confirmed at a general election or by referendum.
Chapter VI sets out a schedule of rights held to arise from natural right and exercised within the Union Covenant and the law, including equality before the law, the liberties of expression and of belief, security of the person, and the protection of property and privacy against the authorities of the Realm. The Constitution establishes a Defender of Subjects, independent of the Civil Executive, to assist subjects in the annual appeal of the Civic Trust Score and to ensure that no revocation of merit takes effect within the Realm without the recorded approval of a named human official, as the Charter requires.
