Constitution of Anglien
| Verfassung fonn Anglien | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Adopted |
II.1759 AN by the Constitutional Diet |
| Referendum |
Ratified 7.VII.1759 AN (Anglien national referendum, 1759; 79% Yes, certified 23.VII.1759 AN) |
| Supersedes |
Charter of Anglien (in force 1.VIII.1759 AN) |
| System | Parliamentary constitutional monarchy with reserve ducal powers |
| Chambers |
Diet of Anglien (84) Burgenraat (36) |
| Authoritative languages | Crandish, Anglo-Saksen, Alexandrian |
| Structure | 15 chapters; Schedule of Transition |
| Permanent constitution of the Free Duchy of Anglien | |
The Constitution of Anglien (Crandish: Verfassung fonn Anglien) is the permanent constitution of the Free Duchy of Anglien, adopted in its final form by the Constitutional Diet in II.1759 AN and ratified at a national referendum on 7.VII.1759 AN by 79 percent to 21 on an 88 percent turnout. Certified on 23.VII.1759 AN and in force from 1.VIII.1759 AN, it supersedes the Charter of Anglien, the transitional instrument under which the duchy had been governed since independence, and brings the post-occupation transitional period to a close.
The Constitution establishes a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Legislative power rests in a bicameral legislature: an enlarged, directly elected Diet of 84 members and a territorial second chamber, the Burgenraat, of 36. Executive power passes to a Prime Minister and a Chancellor of the Free Duchy, each answerable to the Diet and removable only by constructive vote of no confidence. The Sovereign Duke becomes a ceremonial head of state holding three defined reserve powers, including an independent right of dissolution and the emergency authority of the Vigilance Doctrine. The text entrenches the duchy's policy of non-alignment and recognizes seven constituent communities under the Anglien Compact, four with protected status. The accountability institutions of the transitional period carry over into the permanent order.
The constitutional text is authoritative in Crandish, Anglo-Saksen, and Alexandrian, with the Constitutional Court of Anglien empowered to resolve divergences among the three versions. It comprises fifteen chapters and an annexed Schedule of Transition governing the passage from the Charter framework to the permanent order. The full text appears below.
Background
The Charter of Anglien, promulgated by Edgard III on 15.X.1754 AN, established the duchy's transitional government and bound it to a five-year constitutional deadline: a permanent constitution drafted by the Diet, sitting as a constitutional convention, and submitted to national referendum no later than 1759 AN. The Charter concentrated executive authority in the Sovereign Duke, an arrangement its drafters defended as unavoidable for a state rebuilding its administration from the wreckage of the NKR occupation, and explicitly temporary.
The drafting mandate fell to four permanent committees covering fundamental rights, institutions, succession and the ducal house, and CATO relations and external affairs. Draft articles required approval by three-fifths of the Diet's full membership, a threshold proposed by Transitional Prime Minister Eduard Vogt during the Charter negotiations on the argument that a chamber whose members had not been directly elected should not adopt a permanent constitution by simple majority.
Two developments during the drafting years changed the constitutional problem itself. The incorporation of Eesdehaven with the surrounding northern marches, the Purple Isles, and Arminsburg from Lac Glacei in 1756 AN roughly doubled the duchy's population and added a large Lac Glaceian community for which the Charter's institutions made no provision. The ducal census, reported against a reference date of 1.IV.1757 AN, recorded 1,302,547 residents across the expanded territory and supplied the demographic basis for the new electoral system. The St. Aldric's Day Surge of 1756 AN and the National Recovery Act passed in its aftermath shaped the Constitution's approach to the defense of the constitutional order.
Drafting and adoption
The committees produced their working drafts across the Diet's first (1754 AN-1756 AN) and second (1757 AN-1759 AN) sessions, with plenary approval of articles proceeding section by section from 1757 AN. Edgard III, who had intervened personally on the executive-powers and succession sections of the Charter, confined his role in the constitutional drafting to the same two subjects, communicated through the Committee on Succession and the Ducal House, which Prince Edgard Nathan chaired ex officio without a vote.
Four disputes dominated the drafting record. On the ducal reserve powers, delegates who regarded a strong crown as the guarantee of stability faced those who, after the occupation, wanted concentrated authority checked wherever it appeared; the adopted text strips the crown of ordinary executive power while arming it with defined reserve functions. The interior and eastern delegates pressed the entrenchment of non-alignment most consistently, over the resistance of the Johannsessbuurg benches, and carried it: the adopted article is reversible only by special procedure. The communities added by the 1756 AN incorporation had no place in the Charter's structures, a gap answered by the expansion of the Compact's protected tier and the fourth reserved community roll. The confidence mechanism had been advocated in the Diet since the first session by delegates who argued that an executive accountable only to the Duke was tolerable in a transitional government but not a permanent one; it entered the text in its constructive form.
The consolidated text passed its final plenary vote in II.1759 AN. The CATO Commissioner of Peace for Anglien, whose office certifies the referendum under the Charter, stated that the adopted text satisfied the governance benchmarks attached to Concord Alliance support. The referendum was held on 7.VII.1759 AN and certified by the CATO Commissioner on 23.VII.1759 AN; ratification required an absolute majority of valid votes with turnout of at least fifty percent of registered voters, both thresholds met.
Structure
The Constitution comprises fifteen chapters and an annexed Schedule of Transition.
| Chapter | Subject |
|---|---|
| I | Foundations of the Free Duchy: statehood, territory, sovereignty, languages |
| II | The Anglien Compact: constituent communities and their protection |
| III | Fundamental rights and freedoms |
| IV | The Sovereign Duke and Lord Protector |
| V | The Diet of Anglien |
| VI | The Burgenraat |
| VII | The Government: Prime Minister, Chancellor, Council of Ministers |
| VIII | The judiciary |
| IX | The Constitutional Court |
| X | Defense of the constitutional order |
| XI | Memory, restitution, and reconciliation |
| XII | The bailiwicks and local government |
| XIII | Elections and the Kiescommissie |
| XIV | Public finance, audit, and the armed forces |
| XV | Amendment and final provisions |
| Annex | Schedule of Transition |
Provisions
Head of state
Chapter IV makes the Sovereign Duke a ceremonial head of state. The office remains hereditary in the House of Carrillo; the text confirms Prince Edgard Nathan as Duke-Apparent and provides that the succession is governed thereafter by absolute primogeniture, closing the question the Charter had left open. The Duke's formal style is His or Her Grace, Sovereign Duke and Grand Elector of Anglien, Lord Protector of the Free Duchy, and the holder takes the Constitutional Oath at accession before a joint session of the chambers.
In normal times the Duke opens the Diet, receives ambassadors, signs instruments of ratification on the advice of the Government, and confers honors, holding no independent legislative or policy authority. Three reserve powers are the exception. The Duke personally appoints three of the nine justices of the Constitutional Court, after consultation with the Court's president and the Council of Counsel, giving the Court a non-partisan appointment stream alongside the chambers' political appointments. The Duke may dissolve the Diet by personal proclamation requiring no countersignature, subject to three limits: no second dissolution within twelve months of the last, no dissolution during a State of Vigilance, and a mandatory election date within sixty days of the proclamation. The Burgenraat is a continuous chamber and cannot be dissolved.
The third reserve function is the Vigilance Doctrine. As Lord Protector the Duke carries an explicit constitutional duty to oppose any organized attempt to restore NKR-style governance and to defend the constitutional order and the protected communities. A State of Vigilance may be declared by personal proclamation in response to foreign attack, organized armed insurrection, constitutional sabotage by an organized political force, natural disaster of constitutional magnitude, or an organized NKR-restoration attempt. During a declared State the Lord Protector may suspend specific enumerated statutes for up to ninety days, issue protective decrees with the force of law, direct the internal deployment of the Anglian Ducal Guard, issue emergency-budget appropriations subject to Diet ratification within sixty days, and refer organizations to the Constitutional Court for expedited dissolution proceedings. The Diet may annul a declaration or any decree under it by two-thirds of its full membership within thirty days, and every State of Vigilance is subject to mandatory Constitutional Court review.
The drafting record treats the Vigilance Doctrine and the dissolution power as a deliberate pairing: a crown removed from daily government but capable of decisive action against the two failures the duchy has lived through, insurrection and institutional paralysis. Critics in the convention, concentrated among the eastern and interior delegates, accepted the design with the override and review checks attached.
Legislature
Chapter V replaces the appointed and assembly-based transitional chamber with a directly elected Diet of 84 members serving five-year terms: 34 members from single-member bailiwick constituencies, 34 compensatory members allocated to preserve overall proportionality with the national vote, and 16 members elected by the community rolls of the four protected communities, four each for the Mala'anje, Alexandrian Nazarene, Norse-Crandish, and Lac Glaceian communities. The compensatory tier makes the chamber proportional overall while preserving a local member for every constituency; the reserved tier converts the Charter's eight appointed minority seats into sixteen elected ones and extends the principle, for the first time, to the community added by the 1756 AN incorporation. Constituency boundaries are drawn by a Boundary Commission proportionally to population, with no district crossing a bailiwick boundary except where the smallest bailiwicks must be combined.
Chapter VI creates the Burgenraat, the Council of Bailiwicks, a chamber without precedent in the Charter framework. It seats three members from each of the twelve bailiwicks, indirectly elected by the bailiwick councils under each bailiwick's organic statute. The equal-seats rule gives the six mainland and six incorporated bailiwicks eighteen members each. Ordinary legislation passes the Diet by simple majority and goes to the Burgenraat; the Diet may override Burgenraat amendments or rejection by three-fifths of its full membership, except on bailiwick boundaries, territorial powers, and local government, where Burgenraat consent is required and cannot be overridden. The Burgenraat holds no role in confidence.
Executive
Chapter VII vests the government in a Prime Minister and a Chancellor of the Free Duchy (Kanzler fonn der Frii Ataltom). The Diet elects the Prime Minister by simple majority and the Chancellor on the Prime Minister's nomination. Each is removable only by constructive vote of no confidence, in which the chamber simultaneously elects a successor by majority of its full membership, and the two offices are removable independently of one another. The Prime Minister chairs the Council of Ministers and directs general policy. The Chancellor holds a defined statutory portfolio: constitutional affairs, the civil service, anti-corruption, oversight of the Ducal Police Service, and the State Audit Office. The design answers the convention's confidence-mechanism advocates while building a second, structural check on executive power inside the government itself.
Judiciary and constitutional defense
Chapter VIII establishes the ordinary judiciary on the foundations built by the Transitional Judiciary, with a professional bench and the phased conclusion of the international participation that marked the transitional courts. Chapter IX constitutes the Constitutional Court of nine justices sitting in three panels, with the full bench reserved for impeachment trials and the gravest constitutional questions. Three justices are the Duke's personal appointments; the remainder are appointed by the chambers. The Court interprets the trilingual text, reviews every State of Vigilance, and tries impeachments voted by two-thirds of the Diet against the Sovereign Duke, the Prime Minister, the Chancellor, ministers, and its own members.
Chapter X carries the duchy's militant-democracy regime into the permanent order. The proscription of NKR-successor organizations enacted by the National Recovery Act of XII.1756 AN continues in force, and the chapter establishes the Court for Crimes Against the Constitutional Order as the permanent successor to the Special NKR Tribunals' jurisdiction. Political participation runs through registration: contesting elections requires registration as an electoral league with the Kiescommissie fonn Anglien, and the Constitutional Court may refuse or withdraw registration on a standard reaching successor organizations, open apologism and denialism of NKR-era crimes, and persons under disqualification orders.
Chapter XI converts the remaining transitional-justice machinery into permanent institutions. The Anglien Memory Commission succeeds to the documentary and commemorative functions of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Anglien; the Office of the Restitution Master carries the restitution caseload to completion; and the chapter entrenches the duchy's memorial obligations, including the protected status of the Plein fonn Versoening.
The Anglien Compact
Chapter II recognizes seven constituent communities of the Free Duchy: the Crandish, Anglo-Saksen, and Crandish-Alexandrian communities by general recognition, and the Mala'anje, Alexandrian Nazarene, Norse-Crandish, and Lac Glaceian communities with entrenched constitutional protection. Protected status carries the reserved Diet seats, community electoral rolls, and the Compact's guarantees against discrimination and assimilationist policy. The Lac Glaceian provision, the Constitution's principal response to the 1756 AN incorporation, expressly encompasses the Purple Islanders, whose Purple Temple faith the heritage and religious-freedom provisions cover by name.
The language regime makes Crandish the principal language of national administration, with Anglo-Saksen and Alexandrian holding administrative status in bailiwicks where their speakers form a substantial proportion of the population, and Lac Glaceian holding the same status in the Eesdehaven, Montrial, Purple Isles, and Rielrar bailiwicks. The Norse-Crandish dialect, whose status the Charter left undetermined, receives recognition within the Compact's protection of the Norse-Crandish community, resolving a question the Diet's Committee on Fundamental Rights had flagged since 1755 AN.
Fundamental rights
Chapter III sets out the rights catalog: the civil and political freedoms the Charter guaranteed provisionally, entrenched and expanded. The chapter prohibits prior censorship and licensing of the press, constitutionalizes minority-language broadcasting, and carries the broadcaster-independence design of the Anglienen Rundfunk's founding decree into the permanent framework, following the recommendations of the Committee on Fundamental Rights' 1755 AN working paper. Two prohibitions are absolute and admit no derogation, in a State of Vigilance or otherwise: torture and capital punishment.
Local government
Chapter XII organizes the duchy into twelve bailiwicks, each with an elected bailiwick council: Johannsessbuurg, Bergbuurg, Sundhaven, Bahira, Shelsa, and Vischreede on the mainland; Eesdehaven, Montrial, the Purple Isles, Rielrar, Arminsburg, and the Northern Marches in the territories incorporated in 1756 AN. Three bailiwicks hold entrenched charters: Johannsessbuurg as the capital, Bergbuurg as the designated heritage city, and Eesdehaven as the centerpiece of the Lac Glaceian settlement. The remaining nine adopt organic statutes within constitutional minima.
Foreign policy
Chapter I declares the duchy's permanent policy of non-alignment: membership in no military alliance or collective security organization. The provision is the Constitution's lone special-threshold article, amendable only by two-thirds of each chamber together with approval at a national referendum. The entrenchment, carried over the objections of the Johannsessbuurg benches, deliberately outlasts the protection arrangement whose conclusion is sequenced to the constitutional calendar. Treaty-making power rests with the Government subject to Diet ratification, with the Burgenraat's consent required for treaties affecting territorial matters.
Amendment and transition
Chapter XV provides the standard amendment procedure: proposal by a third of either chamber or by the Government, adoption by three-fifths of each chamber in two readings. The Constitution contains no eternal clauses; the non-alignment article's referendum lock is the single departure from the standard rule. The annexed Schedule of Transition governs the passage from the Charter framework. The Charter's institutions continue as the caretaker government between ratification and the first general election; the first elections under the new system are scheduled for late 1759 AN; the bailiwick councils are elected in the same period and constitute the first Burgenraat; and the transitional-justice institutions transfer their functions to the Chapter X and XI successors on dates the Schedule fixes. The Schedule's sequence conforms to the withdrawal articles of the Treaty of Johannsessbuurg.
Reception
Te Landbond and the eastern delegates carried the entrenchment of non-alignment and the checked crown, and the interior press has claimed the text accordingly, while objecting that the registration regime's breadth treats sovereigntist expression as a security question and that the dissolution power hands the crown a weapon no one now living will see Edgard III use. Te Herstelliberalen point to the constructive vote of no confidence, the chartered cities, and the Compact's entrenched protections as the safeguards they had sought, and have absorbed the entrenchment defeat without proposing to reopen it. The reserved communities' delegates supported the text unanimously at the final plenary vote; the Lac Glaceian roll and the Eesdehaven charter secured the support of the incorporated territories' notables, whose alignment the coming election will test. The CATO Commissioner has certified that the text meets the Charter's Chapter IX benchmarks, and the Concord Council has restated that the alliance's presence concludes with the constitutional process.
Text of the Constitution
The authoritative text was adopted in Crandish, Anglo-Saksen, and Alexandrian. The Istvanistani translation follows.
Preamble
We, the people of the Free Duchy of Anglien, having endured occupation and the destruction of our institutions, and having restored our freedom with the aid of friends; mindful of those who resisted, of those who were persecuted, and of those who did not live to see this day; resolved that the crimes of the occupation shall be neither repeated nor forgotten; recognizing that the duchy is the common home of all its communities; and determined to govern ourselves under law, through our Constitutional Diet and by our own vote, adopt this Constitution as the supreme law of the Free Duchy of Anglien.
Chapter I. Foundations of the Free Duchy
Article I.1. The state. (1) Anglien is a free, sovereign, and indivisible duchy. Its official name is the Free Duchy of Anglien (Frii Ataltom Anglien). (2) The Free Duchy is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy governed under this Constitution.
Article I.2. Territory. The territory of the Free Duchy comprises the mainland territory of the former Anglien canton together with the territories incorporated in 1756 AN, including the Purple Isles, Rielrar, and the northern marches. The territory is organized into the twelve bailiwicks established by Chapter XII.
Article I.3. Sovereignty and supremacy. (1) All public authority derives from the people of the Free Duchy and is exercised under this Constitution. (2) This Constitution is the supreme law. Any law, decree, or act inconsistent with it is void to the extent of the inconsistency.
Article I.4. Non-alignment. (1) The Free Duchy is permanently non-aligned. It shall not join any military alliance or collective security organization, nor permit the permanent stationing of foreign forces on its territory except under a treaty of defined duration ratified in accordance with this Constitution. (2) This Article may be amended only by the procedure of Article XV.2.
Article I.5. Authoritative texts. This Constitution is adopted in Crandish, Anglo-Saksen, and Alexandrian, each text being equally authoritative. Official translations shall be maintained in Mala'anje, Norse-Crandish, Crandish-Alexandrian, and Istvanistani. Where the authoritative texts diverge, the Constitutional Court determines the meaning that best gives effect to the constitutional order.
Article I.6. Languages of administration. (1) Crandish is the principal language of national administration. (2) Anglo-Saksen and Alexandrian hold administrative status in every bailiwick in which their speakers form a substantial proportion of the population, as determined by law on the basis of the census. (3) Lac Glaceian holds administrative status in the bailiwicks of Eesdehaven, Montrial, the Purple Isles, and Rielrar.
Article I.7. Capital and symbols. Johannsessbuurg is the capital of the Free Duchy. The flag, the coat of arms, the anthem Anglien Stans Frii, and the motto Wii Bliven, Wii Stans are protected by law.
Article I.8. Citizenship. Anglian citizenship is acquired, retained, and lost as provided by law. No citizen may be deprived of citizenship arbitrarily or rendered stateless.
Chapter II. The Anglien Compact
Article II.1. Constituent communities. The Free Duchy recognizes as its constituent communities the Crandish, the Anglo-Saksen, the Crandish-Alexandrian, the Mala'anje, the Alexandrian Nazarene, the Norse-Crandish, and the Lac Glaceian communities. The Lac Glaceian community expressly encompasses the Purple Islanders.
Article II.2. Protected communities. The Mala'anje, Alexandrian Nazarene, Norse-Crandish, and Lac Glaceian communities hold protected status under this Compact.
Article II.3. Guarantees. (1) No person shall suffer discrimination by reason of community, language, or faith. (2) No organ of the state shall pursue the assimilation of any constituent community against its will. (3) The cultural and religious heritage of the constituent communities, including the temples and sanctuaries of the Alpinist religion, the churches of the Alexandrian Nazarene faith, the maritime traditions of the Mala'anje, the dialect of the Norse-Crandish community, and the Purple Temple of the Purple Islanders, stands under the protection of the state.
Article II.4. Community rolls. (1) Each protected community maintains a community electoral roll, administered by the Kiescommissie fonn Anglien. (2) Enrollment is voluntary and rests on self-identification, subject to criteria of community connection established by law with the concurrence of the community's elected representatives. (3) No person may be enrolled on more than one community roll at a time.
Article II.5. Reserved representation. The protected communities are represented in the Diet of Anglien through the reserved seats established by Article V.1.
Chapter III. Fundamental rights and freedoms
Article III.1. Dignity. The dignity of the person is inviolable. All public authority exists to respect and protect it.
Article III.2. Equality. All persons are equal before the law. No privilege or disability attaches to birth, community, language, faith, sex, or condition.
Article III.3. Life. Every person has the right to life. Capital punishment is prohibited. This Article admits no derogation.
Article III.4. Prohibition of torture. No person shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. This Article admits no derogation.
Article III.5. Liberty and due process. No person shall be deprived of liberty except on grounds and by procedures established by law. Every person detained shall be informed promptly of the reasons, brought before a judge without undue delay, and entitled to challenge the lawfulness of the detention.
Article III.6. Fair trial. Every person is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time before an independent and impartial court established by law, to the presumption of innocence, and to defense.
Article III.7. Privacy. The private life, home, and correspondence of every person are inviolable except by judicial warrant on grounds established by law.
Article III.8. Conscience and religion. Freedom of thought, conscience, and religion is guaranteed, including the freedom to practice, to teach, to change, and to hold no faith. There is no established religion of the Free Duchy.
Article III.9. Expression. Freedom of expression is guaranteed. Prior censorship is prohibited. No license shall be required to publish.
Article III.10. Press and broadcasting. (1) The freedom and independence of the press are guaranteed. (2) Broadcasting in the languages of the constituent communities is a protected category and shall be sustained by law. (3) The governance of public broadcasting shall be independent of the Government; the supervisory organs of the public broadcaster are appointed by the Diet.
Article III.11. Assembly and association. Freedom of peaceful assembly and of association is guaranteed, subject only to the limits established by law and by Chapter X.
Article III.12. Movement. Every citizen may move and reside freely within the territory of the Free Duchy and may leave and return to it.
Article III.13. Property and restitution. (1) Property is guaranteed. Expropriation is permitted only by law, for public purpose, and against compensation. (2) Nothing in this Article impairs the restitution of property seized, extorted, or fraudulently transferred during the occupation, as provided by Chapter XI.
Article III.14. Education and language. Every person has the right to education. Members of the constituent communities have the right to instruction in their own language as provided by law.
Article III.15. Petition. Every person may petition any public authority and shall receive a reasoned reply.
Article III.16. Derogation. Rights under this Chapter may be limited during a State of Vigilance only to the extent Article IV.10 permits, by measures proportionate to the threat, and never as to Articles III.1, III.3, III.4, the presumption of innocence, or access to a court.
Chapter IV. The Sovereign Duke and Lord Protector
Article IV.1. The office. The Sovereign Duke (Atal fonn Anglien) is the head of state of the Free Duchy. The office is hereditary in the House of Carrillo. The same person holds the office of Lord Protector of the Free Duchy (Landsbeschermer fonn der Frii Ataltom).
Article IV.2. Succession. (1) Prince Edgard Nathan, recognized as Duke-Apparent in XI.1754 AN, is confirmed as heir to the ducal title. (2) The succession is thereafter governed by absolute primogeniture among the descendants of the holder, without regard to sex. (3) Disputes of succession are decided by the Constitutional Court sitting as full bench.
Article IV.3. Regency. If the Sovereign Duke is a minor or is durably unable to exercise the office, the Constitutional Court, on application of the Government or of either chamber, shall declare a regency. The regent is the next person in the line of succession of full age and capacity, and exercises the ceremonial functions of the office. The reserve powers of Articles IV.13 and IV.15 are suspended for the duration of a regency, and the powers of Articles IV.9 to IV.12 may be exercised by the regent only with the prior concurrence of the Vigilance Council.
Article IV.4. Independent appointments. The Sovereign Duke personally appoints three justices of the Constitutional Court, after consultation with the President of the Court and the Council of Counsel. This power is exercised without advice of the Government.
Article IV.5. Obligations of the ducal house. (1) The Sovereign Duke and the members of the ducal house shall uphold this Constitution, abstain from party politics, and serve the unity of the constituent communities. (2) Members of the ducal house shall not hold elective office. (3) The civil list and the property of the ducal house are regulated by law. (4) The Sovereign Duke enjoys immunity for acts in office; the responsibility for countersigned acts lies with the Government. (5) Violation of these obligations is grounds for Diet referral to the Constitutional Court, which may issue an admonition, suspend ceremonial functions, or recommend that the Diet remove the offender from the line of succession.
Article IV.6. Style and oath. The Sovereign Duke's formal style is His or Her Grace, Sovereign Duke and Grand Elector of Anglien, Lord Protector of the Free Duchy. The Sovereign Duke takes the Constitutional Oath at accession before a joint session of the Diet and the Burgenraat.
Article IV.7. Ceremonial functions. The Sovereign Duke performs the ceremonial functions of the duchy: opening sessions of the Diet, receiving ambassadors, signing instruments of ratification on advice, conferring honors, attending state ceremonies, and representing the duchy abroad. Acts of the Sovereign Duke require the countersignature of the Prime Minister or the competent minister, except the acts under Articles IV.4, IV.9, and IV.15.
Article IV.8. Lord Protector duty. The Lord Protector has an explicit constitutional duty to oppose any organized attempt to restore NKR-style governance, to defend the constitutional order, and to act in defense of the constituent communities, particularly those of constitutional protection.
Article IV.9. State of Vigilance: declaration. (1) The Lord Protector may declare a State of Vigilance by personal proclamation, published immediately in the Gazette of the Sovereign Duchy of Anglien. (2) A State of Vigilance may be declared in response to: foreign attack or imminent threat thereof; organized armed insurrection; constitutional sabotage by an organized political force; natural disaster of constitutional magnitude affecting the duchy's territorial integrity or governance; or organized attempt to restore NKR-style governance. (3) The proclamation must specify the threat, the territorial scope of the State, and the powers being invoked.
Article IV.10. State of Vigilance: powers. During a declared State of Vigilance the Lord Protector may, subject to the override and review provisions of Articles IV.11 and IV.12: (a) suspend specific enumerated statutes concerning assembly, movement, and communications for periods not exceeding ninety days; (b) issue protective decrees with the force of law on matters of public order, security, and constitutional defense; (c) direct the Anglian Ducal Guard to deploy within the duchy to suppress organized threats to the constitutional order; (d) issue emergency-budget appropriations subject to Diet ratification within sixty days; (e) order the Constitutional Court to consider league or organization dissolution proceedings on an expedited basis, where an organization has acted against the constitutional order; (f) convene the Vigilance Council.
Article IV.11. Diet override. The Diet may annul any declaration of a State of Vigilance, or any decree issued thereunder, by a two-thirds supermajority of the full membership within thirty days of issuance. An annulled decree is void from the date of annulment. An annulled declaration terminates the State.
Article IV.12. Mandatory Constitutional Court review. Every declaration of a State of Vigilance, and every decree issued under it, is referred to the Constitutional Court for review as of right. The Court shall rule on the constitutionality of the declaration within thirty days.
Article IV.13. Duration and renewal. A State of Vigilance lapses sixty days after its proclamation unless renewed. Renewal requires a new proclamation under Article IV.9 and is subject in full to Articles IV.11 and IV.12.
Article IV.14. The Vigilance Council. The Vigilance Council comprises the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Free Duchy, the Speaker of the Diet, the President of the Burgenraat, the President of the Constitutional Court, and the commander of the Anglian Ducal Guard. The Lord Protector shall consult the Council on the conduct of a State of Vigilance and may convene it at any time.
Article IV.15. Dissolution of the Diet. (1) The Sovereign Duke may dissolve the Diet by personal proclamation, requiring no countersignature. (2) No dissolution may be proclaimed within twelve months of a previous dissolution, nor during a State of Vigilance. (3) The proclamation of dissolution shall set a date for a general election no later than sixty days after its publication. (4) The Burgenraat is not subject to dissolution.
Chapter V. The Diet of Anglien
Article V.1. Composition. The Diet of Anglien (Landtag fonn Anglien) consists of 84 members: (a) 34 members elected in single-member bailiwick constituencies; (b) 34 compensatory members allocated so that the overall composition of the chamber is proportional to the national vote; (c) 16 members elected by the community rolls of the protected communities, four each for the Mala'anje, Alexandrian Nazarene, Norse-Crandish, and Lac Glaceian communities.
Article V.2. Term. The Diet is elected for five years. Its term ends earlier only by dissolution under Article IV.15.
Article V.3. Election. (1) Constituency members are elected by plurality in a single round. (2) Compensatory members are allocated under the proportional formula established by the electoral law, which may also establish a threshold of representation. (3) Constituency boundaries are drawn by the Boundary Commission proportionally to population on the basis of the census; no constituency shall cross a bailiwick boundary except where the smallest bailiwicks must be combined.
Article V.4. Reserved seats. Reserved members are elected by the voters enrolled on the respective community rolls, by the method established by the electoral law after consultation with the elected representatives of each community.
Article V.5. Eligibility. Every citizen entitled to vote and of at least twenty-one years of age is eligible for election, except persons subject to a disqualification order under Chapter X.
Article V.6. Officers. The Diet elects its Speaker and Deputy Speaker from among its members at its first session.
Article V.7. Procedure. The Diet adopts its rules of procedure. Except where this Constitution provides otherwise, it decides by simple majority of members present and voting.
Article V.8. Legislation. (1) Bills approved by the Diet are transmitted to the Burgenraat. (2) The Diet may override Burgenraat amendments or rejection by three-fifths of its full membership. (3) On matters affecting bailiwick boundaries, the powers of the bailiwicks, or the framework of local government, the consent of the Burgenraat is required and is not subject to override.
Article V.9. Confidence. (1) The Diet elects the Prime Minister by majority of its full membership. (2) The Diet elects the Chancellor of the Free Duchy on the nomination of the Prime Minister. (3) The Diet may remove the Prime Minister or the Chancellor only by a constructive vote of no confidence, electing a successor by majority of the full membership in the same vote. The two offices are removable independently of one another.
Article V.10. Oversight, annulment, and impeachment. (1) The Diet exercises oversight of the Government and may require the attendance of ministers. (2) The Diet annuls Vigilance measures as provided by Article IV.11. (3) The Diet may impeach the Sovereign Duke, the Prime Minister, the Chancellor, a minister, or a justice of the Constitutional Court for grave misconduct or violation of this Constitution, by two-thirds of its full membership; trial is held by the Constitutional Court sitting as full bench.
Chapter VI. The Burgenraat
Article VI.1. Composition. The Burgenraat, the Council of Bailiwicks, consists of 36 members: three from each of the twelve bailiwicks.
Article VI.2. Election. The members from each bailiwick are elected by its bailiwick council from among its own members or other eligible persons, by the method established in the bailiwick's organic statute or charter, within the constitutional minima of free, fair, and secret election.
Article VI.3. Continuity. The Burgenraat is a continuous chamber. Its members serve for the term of the council that elected them and remain in office until successors are elected. The Burgenraat is not subject to dissolution.
Article VI.4. Officers. The Burgenraat elects its President and Vice-President from among its members.
Article VI.5. Powers. (1) The Burgenraat considers every bill approved by the Diet and may approve, amend, or reject it within the periods established by law. (2) Its consent is required, without override, for the matters reserved by Article V.8(3) and for the territorial treaties specified in Article VI.6. (3) It elects two justices of the Constitutional Court.
Article VI.6. Territorial treaties. Treaties affecting the territory of the Free Duchy, the boundaries or powers of the bailiwicks, or the status of the chartered bailiwicks require the consent of the Burgenraat in addition to ratification by the Diet.
Chapter VII. The Government
Article VII.1. The Government. The Government of the Free Duchy consists of the Prime Minister (Premierminister), the Chancellor of the Free Duchy (Kanzler fonn der Frii Ataltom), and the ministers, who together form the Council of Ministers.
Article VII.2. The Prime Minister. The Prime Minister chairs the Council of Ministers, directs the general policy of the Government, and answers for it to the Diet.
Article VII.3. The Chancellor. The Chancellor holds a defined portfolio established by this Constitution: constitutional affairs, the civil service, the prevention and prosecution of corruption, oversight of the Ducal Police Service, and the State Audit Office. The Chancellor answers to the Diet for this portfolio and exercises it independently of the direction of the Prime Minister.
Article VII.4. Appointment and removal. (1) The Prime Minister and the Chancellor are elected and removed as provided by Article V.9. (2) Ministers are appointed and dismissed by the Sovereign Duke on the binding proposal of the Prime Minister.
Article VII.5. Incompatibilities. Membership of the Government is incompatible with membership of the Burgenraat, with judicial office, and with any other public or private employment.
Article VII.6. Caretaker rule. A Government that has resigned, been removed, or seen the Diet dissolved continues to conduct current affairs until a successor takes office, and shall in that period take no measure of major policy that can be deferred.
Chapter VIII. The judiciary
Article VIII.1. Judicial power. Judicial power is exercised by independent courts established by law. Judges are subject only to this Constitution and the law.
Article VIII.2. Court structure. The ordinary judiciary consists of the Supreme Court of Anglien, the circuit courts, and the bailiwick courts. Specialized jurisdictions may be established only by law and never as extraordinary tribunals for particular cases.
Article VIII.3. Appointment. Judges of the ordinary courts are appointed by the Sovereign Duke on the binding recommendation of the Council of Counsel, a body of senior jurists constituted by law to safeguard the professional and non-partisan character of judicial appointments.
Article VIII.4. Tenure. Judges are appointed until the retirement age established by law and may be removed before then only for incapacity or grave misconduct, by decision of the Constitutional Court.
Article VIII.5. Transitional participation. The participation of international jurists in the courts of the Free Duchy, established during the transitional period, concludes as provided in the Schedule of Transition.
Chapter IX. The Constitutional Court
Article IX.1. Composition. The Constitutional Court of Anglien consists of nine justices and sits in three panels of three. The full bench is reserved for impeachment trials, succession disputes, league dissolution, the review of States of Vigilance, and the gravest constitutional questions as defined by its statute.
Article IX.2. Appointment. Three justices are appointed personally by the Sovereign Duke under Article IV.4; four are elected by the Diet by three-fifths of its full membership; two are elected by the Burgenraat by majority of its full membership.
Article IX.3. Term. Justices serve a single term of nine years and may not be reappointed. The terms are staggered as provided by law.
Article IX.4. Jurisdiction. The Court decides: (a) the conformity of laws, decrees, and treaties with this Constitution; (b) disputes of competence between organs of the state and between the state and the bailiwicks; (c) the interpretation of the authoritative texts under Article I.5; (d) appeals from the decisions of the Kiescommissie fonn Anglien; (e) the matters assigned to it by Chapters IV, X, and XV.
Article IX.5. Effect. Judgments of the Constitutional Court bind all public authority. A provision found unconstitutional is void from the date the Court determines.
Chapter X. Defense of the constitutional order
Article X.1. Principle. The Free Duchy defends its constitutional order against those who would abolish it. No freedom under this Constitution may be invoked to destroy the freedoms of others.
Article X.2. Continuity of proscription. The proscription of the Nü Krantisk Rapskaff, its successor organizations, and organizations pursuing its aims, enacted by the National Recovery Act (Volksherstelwet) of 22.XII.1756 AN, continues in force under this Constitution.
Article X.3. Electoral leagues. (1) Elections are contested by electoral leagues registered with the Kiescommissie fonn Anglien. (2) Registration entitles a league to public funding scaled to seats won, as established by law. (3) The internal organization of leagues must conform to democratic principles.
Article X.4. Refusal and withdrawal of registration. The Constitutional Court, on application of the Kiescommissie, the Government, or either chamber, may refuse or withdraw the registration of a league that is a successor to a proscribed organization, that engages in apologism for or denial of the crimes of the occupation, or whose leadership includes persons subject to disqualification orders. The Court's procedure shall guarantee a hearing and a reasoned judgment.
Article X.5. Court for Crimes Against the Constitutional Order. (1) The Court for Crimes Against the Constitutional Order is established as a permanent specialized court. (2) It succeeds to the jurisdiction of the Special NKR Tribunals over the crimes of the occupation and exercises jurisdiction over crimes against the constitutional order as defined by law. (3) Its judges are appointed under Article VIII.3.
Article X.6. Disqualification. Disqualification and disenfranchisement orders made under the Charter framework and the National Recovery Act continue in force. The disqualified class is defined by law and shall not be broadened except by law adopted by three-fifths of the full membership of the Diet.
Chapter XI. Memory, restitution, and reconciliation
Article XI.1. The Anglien Memory Commission. The Anglien Memory Commission is established as a permanent independent body. It succeeds to the documentary, archival, and commemorative functions of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Anglien, preserves the record of the occupation and the testimony of its victims, and reports annually to the Diet.
Article XI.2. The Office of the Restitution Master. The Office of the Restitution Master is established to carry the restitution of property seized, extorted, or fraudulently transferred during the occupation to completion. Its orders bind, subject to appeal to the ordinary courts as provided by law.
Article XI.3. Memorial obligations. The Plein fonn Versoening in Johannsessbuurg is a protected memorial site and shall not be built upon. The heritage status of Bergbuurg under Article XII.3 includes its religious landscape. The state maintains the memorials of the occupation and of the resistance.
Article XI.4. Remembrance in education. Public instruction shall include the history of the occupation, the resistance, and the restoration of the constitutional order.
Article XI.5. Archives. The archives of the occupation and of the transitional-justice institutions are preserved permanently. Access is governed by law, with protection for the privacy and safety of victims and witnesses.
Chapter XII. The bailiwicks and local government
Article XII.1. The bailiwicks. The Free Duchy comprises twelve bailiwicks: Johannsessbuurg, Bergbuurg, Sundhaven, Bahira, Shelsa, Vischreede, Eesdehaven, Montrial, the Purple Isles, Rielrar, Arminsburg, and the Northern Marches.
Article XII.2. Bailiwick councils. Each bailiwick has a council elected by its residents by free, equal, direct, and secret ballot for a term of four years.
Article XII.3. Chartered bailiwicks. (1) Johannsessbuurg, as the capital, Bergbuurg, as the designated heritage city, and Eesdehaven hold entrenched charters annexed to this Constitution by law. (2) A charter may be amended only with the consent of the bailiwick's council and of the Burgenraat.
Article XII.4. Organic statutes. The remaining bailiwicks adopt organic statutes through their councils, within the constitutional minima established by this Chapter and by law.
Article XII.5. Powers. The bailiwicks administer their local affairs under their charters and statutes. Matters not assigned to the bailiwicks by this Constitution or by law belong to the Free Duchy.
Article XII.6. Boundaries. The boundaries of the bailiwicks may be altered only by law adopted with the consent of the Burgenraat under Article V.8(3), after consultation of the councils concerned.
Chapter XIII. Elections and the Kiescommissie
Article XIII.1. Suffrage. Every citizen of at least eighteen years of age has the right to vote in elections and referendums, by free, equal, direct, and secret ballot, except persons subject to a disqualification order under Chapter X.
Article XIII.2. The Kiescommissie. (1) The Kiescommissie fonn Anglien is the independent electoral authority of the Free Duchy. (2) It consists of five members elected by the Diet by three-fifths of its full membership for a single term of seven years. (3) It administers elections and referendums, maintains the electoral register and the community rolls, registers electoral leagues, and certifies results. (4) Its decisions are subject to appeal to the Constitutional Court.
Article XIII.3. The electoral law. The electoral law is an organic law adopted by three-fifths of the full membership of the Diet. It establishes the proportional formula and any threshold under Article V.3, the conduct of community-roll elections, and the administration of the franchise.
Article XIII.4. The Boundary Commission. The Boundary Commission is an independent body constituted by law. It delimits the constituencies after every census, on the principles of Article V.3(3).
Article XIII.5. Referendums. National referendums are held in the cases provided by this Constitution. A referendum is carried by an absolute majority of valid votes, with turnout of at least fifty percent of registered voters, unless this Constitution provides otherwise.
Chapter XIV. Public finance, audit, and the armed forces
Article XIV.1. Budget. The finances of the Free Duchy are governed by an annual budget law adopted by the Diet. No expenditure may be made without legal authority.
Article XIV.2. Taxation. Taxes may be imposed, altered, or abolished only by law.
Article XIV.3. The State Audit Office. The State Audit Office examines the accounts of the Free Duchy and the bailiwicks. It operates within the Chancellor's portfolio and reports to the Diet.
Article XIV.4. Currency. The currency of the Free Duchy and its monetary arrangements are governed by law.
Article XIV.5. The armed forces. (1) The armed forces of the Free Duchy are the Anglian Ducal Guard and the Anglian Maritime Service. (2) The Sovereign Duke holds the supreme command in a ceremonial capacity; the administration and employment of the armed forces belong to the Government under law. (3) The armed forces may be deployed within the territory of the Free Duchy only under Article IV.10(c) or as provided by law for disaster relief and the support of the civil power.
Article XIV.6. Civilian control. The armed forces stand under civilian direction and answer, through the competent minister, to the Diet.
Chapter XV. Amendment and final provisions
Article XV.1. Amendment. (1) Amendment of this Constitution may be proposed by one-third of the members of either chamber or by the Government. (2) An amendment is adopted by three-fifths of the full membership of each chamber, in two readings separated by at least sixty days.
Article XV.2. The non-alignment exception. Article I.4 may be amended only by two-thirds of the full membership of each chamber together with approval at a national referendum under Article XIII.5.
Article XV.3. Continuity. This Constitution contains no provision exempt from amendment except as Article XV.2 conditions. Constitutional change occurs only through the procedures this Chapter establishes.
Article XV.4. Supersession. On the entry into force of this Constitution, the Charter of Anglien (Stadsfortte fonn Anglien) is superseded, subject to the Schedule of Transition.
Article XV.5. Entry into force. This Constitution enters into force as provided in the Schedule of Transition, upon ratification by national referendum and certification of the result.
Schedule of Transition
Section 1. Entry into force. This Constitution enters into force on 1.VIII.1759 AN, the ratification of 7.VII.1759 AN having been certified by the CATO Commissioner of Peace for Anglien on 23.VII.1759 AN, or, if certification occurs later, on the first day of the month following certification.
Section 2. Caretaker continuity. The institutions of the Charter framework, including the Sovereign Duke's transitional powers, the Council of Ministers under the Transitional Prime Minister, and the Constitutional Diet, continue in office as caretaker organs from entry into force until the first Diet elected under this Constitution convenes. During the caretaker period the transitional powers are exercised only so far as current administration requires.
Section 3. First Kiescommissie. By way of single exception to Article XIII.2, the first members of the Kiescommissie fonn Anglien are appointed within thirty days of entry into force by the Sovereign Duke on the advice of the Council of Ministers and with the consent of the Constitutional Diet.
Section 4. First delimitation. The Boundary Commission completes the first delimitation of the 34 constituencies, on the basis of the 1756 AN-1757 AN census, in time for the first general election.
Section 5. League registration. Registration of electoral leagues opens on the constitution of the Kiescommissie and closes on 15.X.1759 AN for the first general election.
Section 6. First elections. The first general election to the Diet, and the first elections to the bailiwick councils, are held on the same day in XII.1759 AN, the day to be set by the Kiescommissie. The conduct of the first elections is certified by the CATO Commissioner of Peace for Anglien.
Section 7. First Diet. The first Diet convenes within thirty days of the certification of results, elects its officers, and elects the Prime Minister and the Chancellor. On the election of the Prime Minister the office of Transitional Prime Minister and the caretaker provisions of Section 2 lapse.
Section 8. First Burgenraat. The first Burgenraat is constituted within sixty days of the bailiwick council elections.
Section 9. First Constitutional Court. The appointments to the first Constitutional Court are made within ninety days of the first Diet's convening. Until the Court is constituted, its functions under this Constitution are exercised by the Supreme Transitional Court of Anglien.
Section 10. Judiciary. The courts of the Transitional Judiciary continue as the courts of Chapter VIII until reconstituted by law. The participation of international jurists concludes on a schedule agreed with the Concord Alliance, and no later than the conclusion of the Alliance's assistance mission.
Section 11. Transitional justice. The Special NKR Tribunals and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Anglien continue in operation and transfer their functions to the Court for Crimes Against the Constitutional Order, the Anglien Memory Commission, and the Office of the Restitution Master within six months of the first Diet's convening. Proceedings pending at transfer continue before the successor institutions without interruption.
Section 12. Treaties and obligations. The treaties and international obligations of the Free Duchy continue in force. The conclusion of the protection arrangement under the Treaty of Johannsessbuurg follows the timeline of that treaty.
Section 13. Continuity of law. The laws, decrees, and foundational statutes of the Charter period, including the National Recovery Act, continue in force so far as consistent with this Constitution, until amended or repealed. Citizenship acquired under the Charter framework and under the instruments of incorporation of 1756 AN continues.
