Public Order (Paramilitary and Intimidatory Displays) Act, 1759

Public Order (Paramilitary and Intimidatory Displays) Act, 1759

Long title	An Act to prohibit paramilitary and intimidatory displays at or near public assemblies and the dwellings of others; to prohibit quasi-military organizations and provide for their proscription by the High Court; to protect persons from intimidation in the exercise of lawful activity; to provide for offenses, penalties, and orders in connection therewith; to preserve the right of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
Bill Number	FA-1759-01
Introduced by	Deputy Piti Gándara (Independent) in the Federal Assembly
Session of Cortes Federales	13th Cortes Federales
Extent	Entire Federation of Nouvelle Alexandrie
Dates
Bill Status	Defeated
Date introduced	6.I.1759 AN
Last updated	20.VII.1759 AN
Result	Rejected by the Federal Assembly: 258 in favor, 372 against, 119 abstentions
Other legislation
Amendments	None
Related legislation	Proclamation of Punta Santiago; Organized Crime Control Act, 1750; Prohibition of Paramilitary Organizations Act, 1730; Public Order and Liberties Act, 1760

The Public Order (Paramilitary and Intimidatory Displays) Act, 1759 (Alexandrian: Loi sur l'ordre public (démonstrations paramilitaires et intimidantes) de 1759; Martino: Ley de Orden Público (Manifestaciones Paramilitares e Intimidatorias) de 1759) was a private member's bill in the 13th Cortes Federales of the Federation of Nouvelle Alexandrie. It would have prohibited paramilitary and intimidatory displays at public assemblies and private dwellings, established offenses and court orders against intimidation, and allowed the High Court of Justice to proscribe quasi-military organizations. The bill would also have protected peaceful assembly and freedom of expression under the Proclamation of Punta Santiago.

Deputy Piti Gándara, an independent, introduced the bill in the Federal Assembly on 6.I.1759 AN. It followed the Parade of Lassos and Nooses of 1758 AN and the failure of the motion to censure Vice-Premier Fred Strong. Gándara presented it as a measure aimed at conduct rather than at any party, relying on the legislature's power under Article 19(5) of the Proclamation to restrict assembly in the interests of public order.

The Federal Assembly defeated the bill at final reading on 20.VII.1759 AN by 372 votes to 258, with 119 abstentions. The Federal Humanist Party (FHP) voted against it. The Alliance for a Just Nouvelle Alexandrie (AJNA), the Civic Governance Alliance (CGA), and all 32 independent deputies voted in favor, while the Federal Consensus Party (FCP) abstained. The FCP's abstention was decisive: its 119 votes would have been enough to carry the bill had they been cast in favor. Gándara carried the division into the opening of the 1759 general-election campaign.

Background

The Proclamation of Punta Santiago guarantees the rights of peaceful assembly and association. Article 19(5) permits the law to impose "reasonable restrictions in the interests of public order, public health, or in the case of a clear and present danger to national security or the integrity of the Federation." In Citizens for Constitutional Rights v. Council of State, the High Court of Justice held that the liberties of Chapter II bind every organ of government. The Court later invalidated provisions permitting indefinite detention without charge, exclusion of habeas corpus, compulsory production of records, and interception of communications without judicial authorization in Marquez v. Council of State.

The Prohibition of Paramilitary Organizations Act, 1730, introduced by Deputy Gabrielle Fitzgerald of the Democratic Socialist Party after clashes between the Humanist Vanguard and The Nouveau Wave before the 1729 general election, remained at the introduced stage and never received Royal Assent. Gándara's bill addressed related conduct through offenses covering public displays, intimidation at private dwellings, and the organization of quasi-military bodies. It reserved proscription to the High Court and subjected enforcement to constitutional safeguards.

The immediate occasion for the bill was the Parade of Lassos and Nooses of 1758 AN. Cadres of the Humanist Vanguard, the youth arm of the Federal Humanist Party, held torchlit marches through the academic quarters of Cárdenas and Parap and outside the Cárdenas home of Sofia Reyes. The marchers carried lassos and nooses, and Vice-Premier Fred Strong declined to withdraw his support for the campaign.

On 11.XIV.1758 AN, the Federal Capital District Court granted Reyes a protective order against assemblies outside her home and directed the Federal Gendarmerie to enforce it. Commissioner General Manuel Aristegui y Campos dispersed the marches within a day and referred the Gendarmerie's earlier handling of them to its Bureau of Professional Integrity. Polling by the Institute of Public Opinion found majorities opposed to the marches in every reported group, including among FHP voters.

Leader of the Opposition Marcos Ferreira Gonçalves filed a motion to censure Strong on 29.XIV.1758 AN with 258 endorsements from AJNA, the CGA, and independent deputies. Speaker Carolina Mendez ruled that a private-member resolution required 263 endorsements under Standing Orders 6(1) and 6(2), leaving the filing five names short. It remained in the Hopper without a debate or vote on its merits. Gándara, an independent deputy from Alduria who had endorsed the censure, introduced the Public Order bill on 6.I.1759 AN. She presented a general law governing conduct as an alternative means of addressing the dispute.

Key provisions

The bill defined two principal display offenses. A paramilitary display consisted of uniforms, insignia, formations, drilling, or objects resembling weapons displayed at an assembly in a manner signifying military or paramilitary character or discipline. An intimidatory display consisted of objects, symbols, gestures, or words that a reasonable person would understand as threatening death or serious bodily harm or invoking lynching or killing. A separate offense covered assemblies at or near a person's dwelling that were intended to make an occupant fear for their safety.

A quasi-military organization was a body organized, trained, or equipped to usurp the functions of the Federal Forces or the Gendarmerie, to intimidate others, or to advance a political objective through the display or threat of force. Organizing or controlling such a body would have been an offense. On an application by the Secretary of Justice, the High Court could have declared the body proscribed after notice and an opportunity to be heard. Neither the executive nor the legislature could have imposed proscription under the bill.

The bill preserved peaceful assembly, lawful protest, expression of opinion, and religious, cultural, national, ceremonial, and occupational dress. Display offenses required intent or recklessness, while ceremonial, sporting, theatrical, educational, religious, and lawful official activities were exempt. Courts were required to read each provision within the limits permitted by Article 19(5) of the Proclamation. The Gendarmerie could direct a person to stop a prohibited display or impose reasonable conditions on an assembly, but only a court could prohibit an assembly. The Secretary of Justice would also have been required to report annually to the Cortes Federales on the use of the bill's powers.

Legislative history

Legislative history of the Public Order (Paramilitary and Intimidatory Displays) Act, 1759

Stage	Date	Chamber	Action	Votes (Y-N-A)	Details
1	6.I.1759 AN	Federal Assembly	Introduction	-	Introduced by Deputy Piti Gándara (Independent) as a private member's bill
2	20.VII.1759 AN	Federal Assembly	Final division	258-372-119	Defeated

Because the bill was defeated in the Federal Assembly, it did not proceed to the Chamber of Peers, Royal Assent, or commencement.

Bill as submitted to the Hopper of the Federal Assembly, 1759 AN

THE PUBLIC ORDER (PARAMILITARY AND INTIMIDATORY DISPLAYS) ACT, 1759

THE READING OF

A

BILL

TO

prohibit paramilitary and intimidatory displays at or near public assemblies and the dwellings of others; to prohibit quasi-military organizations and provide for their proscription by the High Court; to protect persons from intimidation in the exercise of lawful activity; to provide for offenses, penalties, and orders in connection therewith; to preserve the right of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid; among other purposes.

THE PUBLIC ORDER (PARAMILITARY AND INTIMIDATORY DISPLAYS) ACT, 1759

Presented by Deputy Piti Gándara (Independent)
Ordered, by the Cortes Federales of Nouvelle Alexandrie,
to be Printed, 1759 AN.

BE IT ENACTED by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Cortes Federales, in this present session assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1: Citation.

1. This Act may be cited as the "Public Order (Paramilitary and Intimidatory Displays) Act, 1759".

Article 2: Definitions.

1. For the purposes of this Act:
   1. "assembly" means two or more persons gathered in a public place, whether stationary or moving;
   2. "procession" means an assembly proceeding along a route;
   3. "public place" means any place to which the public has access, whether on payment or otherwise, and includes any place from which an assembly or display is visible or audible to persons in a public place or in a dwelling;
   4. "paramilitary display" means the display, at, in, or in connection with an assembly or procession, of any uniform, insignia, or emblem, or the adoption of any formation, drilling, or marching in military manner, or the bearing of any weapon or of any object resembling or representing a weapon, in a manner signifying association with, or the character or discipline of, a military or paramilitary force;
   5. "intimidatory display" means the display or use, at or in the vicinity of an assembly, a procession, a dwelling, or a place at which a person carries on lawful activity, of any object, symbol, image, or representation, or the making of any gesture or the utterance of any words, that a reasonable person would understand as threatening death or serious bodily harm to a person or to a class of persons, or as signifying, celebrating, or invoking the lynching, hanging, or killing of a person;
   6. "quasi-military organization" means any association of persons, whether incorporated or not, that is organized, trained, or equipped for the purpose of enabling its members to be employed to usurp the functions of the Federal Forces of Nouvelle Alexandrie or the Federal Gendarmerie, or for the purpose of intimidating others or of promoting a political object by the use, display, or threat of physical force;
   7. "the Gendarmerie" means the Federal Gendarmerie of Nouvelle Alexandrie;
   8. "the Secretary" means the Secretary of Justice;
   9. "the Court", except where the High Court of Justice is named, means the Federal Capital District Court or a court of competent jurisdiction in the Region concerned;
   10. "the Proclamation" means the Proclamation of Punta Santiago.

Article 3: Purpose.

1. The purposes of this Act are:
   1. to give effect, in the manner permitted by Article 19(5) of the Proclamation, to reasonable restrictions on assembly in the interests of public order;
   2. to protect persons from intimidation in the exercise of lawful assembly, expression, education, work, and participation in public life;
   3. to prohibit the organization of private bodies for the usurpation of public force or for intimidation; and
   4. to preserve, and not to abridge, the right of peaceful assembly and the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Proclamation.

PART II
PROHIBITED DISPLAYS

Article 4: Paramilitary displays.

1. A person who organizes a paramilitary display, takes part in one, or knowingly provides a uniform, weapon, object, vehicle, or other material for the purpose of one, commits an offense.
2. It is a defense to a charge under this Article that the display was an exempt activity under Article 11.

Article 5: Intimidatory displays.

1. A person who engages in an intimidatory display, with intent to intimidate another or being reckless as to whether another is intimidated, commits an offense.
2. The offense is aggravated where the display is directed at a person or class of persons on account of a characteristic listed in Article 9 of the Proclamation, or on account of a person's participation in lawful public, academic, professional, or political life.

Article 6: Intimidation at or near a dwelling.

1. A person who takes part in an assembly at or in the vicinity of the dwelling of another, with intent that a person in the dwelling be made to fear for their safety or that of another, or being reckless as to that effect, commits an offense.
2. Nothing in this Article applies to a lawful assembly held in a public place that is not directed at the occupant of a particular dwelling.

PART III
QUASI-MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS

Article 7: Quasi-military organizations.

1. A person who organizes or trains a quasi-military organization, who takes part in its control or management, or who organizes or trains its members in the use of force or the display of force, commits an offense.
2. A person does not commit an offense under this Article by reason only of membership of a body, apart from taking part in the conduct described in paragraph 1 of this Article or in conduct prohibited by Article 8.

Article 8: Proscription by the High Court.

1. On the application of the Secretary, the High Court of Justice may declare a body proscribed where it is satisfied that the body is a quasi-military organization within the meaning of this Act, or that the body is a political party, or a section or wing of one, that fails the requirements of Article 7 of the Proclamation.
2. Before making a declaration, the Court shall give the body notice and an opportunity to be heard, and any person claiming to be affected may apply to be joined.
3. Where a body is proscribed, a person who takes part in its control or management, or who solicits or provides money, premises, or material support for it knowing it to be proscribed, commits an offense.
4. No body may be proscribed under this Act otherwise than by the judgment of the High Court, and no instrument of the executive or resolution of the legislature shall have that effect. A declaration under this Article is subject to Articles 52 and 53 of the Proclamation.

PART IV
SAFEGUARDS AND EXEMPTIONS

Article 9: Protection of lawful assembly and expression.

1. Nothing in this Act limits the right of peaceful assembly, the holding of a lawful protest or procession, the expression of opinion, or the wearing of religious, cultural, national, ceremonial, or occupational dress, where the assembly, expression, or dress is not a paramilitary display or an intimidatory display within the meaning of this Act.
2. This Act shall be construed consistently with Articles 15 and 19 of the Proclamation, and no provision of this Act shall be read as restricting speech or assembly further than Article 19(5) permits.

Article 10: Mental element.

1. No offense is committed under Part II unless the person intended the display, or acted with intent to intimidate, or was reckless as to whether another would be intimidated.
2. Conduct that is innocent, inadvertent, or incidental to a lawful purpose is not an offense under this Act.

Article 11: Exemptions.

1. This Act does not apply to any of the following, where not carried on as an intimidatory display and not intended to intimidate:
   1. ceremonial, sporting, theatrical, cinematic, educational, or historical activity, including historical re-enactment;
   2. religious observance and the display of religious articles;
   3. the lawful activities of the Federal Forces, the Gendarmerie, and the regional constabularies;
   4. an assembly or event that the Secretary has by regulation exempted.
2. Regulations made under paragraph 1(d) of this Article shall be laid before the Cortes Federales.

Article 12: Construction with the Proclamation.

1. Where a provision of this Act would, in a particular application, exceed the restriction on assembly or expression permitted by Article 19(5) of the Proclamation, it shall be read as not applying to that extent, and the remainder of the provision and of this Act shall continue in force.

PART V
ENFORCEMENT, ORDERS, AND OFFENSES

Article 13: Powers of the Gendarmerie.

1. A member of the Gendarmerie may direct a person to cease a paramilitary display or an intimidatory display, or to remove or put away an object being so displayed.
2. Where necessary to prevent an offense under Part II, a member of the Gendarmerie may impose reasonable conditions as to the time, place, or manner of an assembly; but only the Court may prohibit an assembly.
3. This Act confers no power to detain a person otherwise than by arrest for an offense under this Act on the ordinary conditions of the law, and nothing in this Act authorizes detention without charge.
4. A person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a lawful direction under this Article commits an offense.

Article 14: Prohibition and protection orders.

1. On the application of the Secretary, or of a person at or against whom conduct prohibited by Part II is directed, the Court may make an order prohibiting a specified paramilitary or intimidatory assembly at or in the vicinity of a specified place or dwelling, for such period as the Court thinks fit.
2. The Court shall not make an order without notice to the persons to be bound, so far as they can be identified, and an opportunity for them to be heard; and a person bound by an order may apply to the Court to vary or discharge it.
3. A person who takes part in an assembly in breach of an order under this Article commits an offense.
4. This Article does not diminish any jurisdiction of a court to make a protective order otherwise than under this Act.

Article 15: Offenses and penalties.

1. A person who commits an offense under Article 4, Article 5, Article 6, or Article 13(4) is liable on summary conviction to a fine, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one (1) year, or to both.
2. A person who commits an offense under Article 7, or under Article 8(3), or who commits an aggravated offense under Article 5(2), or who is convicted of a further offense under this Act after a previous conviction, is liable on conviction to a fine, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five (5) years, or to both.
3. No person shall suffer the penalty of death under this Act, in accordance with Article 10(4) of the Proclamation.
4. In sentencing, the court shall have regard to the degree of intimidation intended or caused and to the person's role, and shall distinguish an organizer from a participant.

Article 16: Prosecution.

1. Proceedings for an offense under this Act shall be brought by or with the consent of the Secretary.
2. Proceedings for an offense in which the accused is alleged to have acted on behalf of, or in association with, a political party require the personal consent of the Secretary, which shall be reported to the Cortes Federales.

Article 17: Oversight and report.

1. The Bureau of Professional Integrity of the Gendarmerie shall keep under review the exercise of powers under this Act and shall report to the Secretary any exercise that appears to it to be unlawful or disproportionate.
2. The Secretary shall lay before the Cortes Federales, once in each year, a report of the directions given, orders made, proscriptions declared, and prosecutions brought under this Act.

PART VI
GENERAL

Article 18: Relationship to other law.

1. This Act complements, and does not derogate from, the Organized Crime Control Act, 1750 or the Proclamation, and nothing in this Act diminishes any protection available to a person under any other law.

Article 19: Commencement and application.

1. This Act shall apply to all of the Federation of Nouvelle Alexandrie.
2. This Act shall not become law unless it has been given Royal Assent by H.M. King Sinchi Roca II.
3. This Act shall be published in the Federal Gazette and made publicly available within seven (7) days of Royal Assent.
4. This Act shall come into force on the day it is given Royal Assent.
5. In the event any provision or part of this Act is found to be invalid or unenforceable, only that particular provision or part so found, and not the entire Act, shall be struck.

Voting record

The Public Order bill was defeated in the Federal Assembly by 372 votes to 258, with 119 abstentions. The Alliance for a Just Nouvelle Alexandrie, the Civic Governance Alliance, and all 32 independent deputies voted in favor. The Federal Humanist Party voted against, and the Federal Consensus Party abstained.

Federal Assembly final reading (20.VII.1759 AN)

Notable votes on the Public Order (Paramilitary and Intimidatory Displays) Act, 1759 AN

Deputy	Region	Party	Vote	Signature	Role/Notes
Piti Gándara	Alduria	Independent		N/A	Bill sponsor
José Manuel Montero	Wechua Nation	FHP		N/A	Premier
Marcos Ferreira Gonçalves	Santander	DSP		N/A	Leader of the Opposition; DSP leader
Yuiza Bohi'o	Boriquén	WPP		N/A	WPP leader
Francisco Gabaza	Santander	FCP		N/A	FCP leader
Tomás Iñiguez	North Lyrica	CGA		N/A	CGA floor leader

Vote summary by party

Federal Assembly final division, 20.VII.1759 AN

Political party	Yes	No	Abstain	Total	% voting Yes
Federal Humanist Party (FHP)	0	372	0	372	0%
Democratic Socialist Party (DSP)	196	0	0	196	100%
Wakara People's Party (WPP)	20	0	0	20	100%
Federal Consensus Party (FCP)	0	0	119	119	0%
Civic Governance Alliance (CGA)	10	0	0	10	100%
Independent	32	0	0	32	100%
Total	258	372	119	749	34.4%

Analysis

The FCP held enough seats to reverse the outcome. Had its 119 deputies voted in favor, the division would have produced 377 Ayes and 372 Noes. The published division notice did not record a reason for the party's abstention.

The 258 votes in favor reproduced the coalition behind the motion to censure Vice-Premier Fred Strong: the 216 AJNA deputies, ten CGA deputies, and 32 independents. The censure filing had fallen five endorsements short of the threshold for debate. The Public Order bill reached a final division but drew no support beyond the same benches.

Aftermath

The bill had no legal effect. Its defeat ended its passage through the 13th Cortes, and none of its proposed offenses, police powers, or court procedures came into force.

Two days after the division, Gándara made the result part of a campaign appearance at Parap. She challenged the FHP to defend its opposition and the FCP to explain its abstention, emphasizing that the Consensus Party's 119 votes would have carried the bill. The FCP, campaigning as the responsible center, defended its abstention as a refusal to take sides in what it cast as a partisan quarrel between the government and the opposition; supporters of the bill treated the same silence as an evasion of a plain civil-liberties question. The exchange carried the civil-liberties dispute arising from the Parade of Lassos and Nooses into the opening of the 1759 AN general-election campaign.

The Federal Accord coalition agreement, 1759 undertook to bring the measure again. Its successor, the Public Order and Liberties Act, 1760, was introduced in the 14th Cortes Federales on 10.II.1760 AN, co-sponsored by Gándara and by Francisco Gabaza of the Federal Consensus Party. It passed the Federal Assembly on 12.II.1762 AN and received Royal Assent on 1.III.1762 AN, and it carried the bill's provisions forward with added safeguards.