The Rational Argumentator

A Journal for Western Man

The Freecharter: 

A Constitution for a Society of Lasting Liberty

Note: The Freecharter is intended to be a constitution for any newly established free society and government that genuinely adheres to the principles of individual liberty, limited government, and free markets. This is not a final version of the Freecharter, which may be updated prior to the actual institution of such a society, which may occur decades in the future. Until then, the Freecharter remains a theoretical exercise, open to refinement, and suggestions, comments, and criticisms regarding it are welcome and may be sent to gennadystolyarovii@yahoo.com.

 

The Freecharter borrows heavily from the United States Constitution. Virtually all protections for individual rights and checks on government from the U. S. Constitution are retained, and many additional ones are incorporated. The Freecharter is also influenced by Roderick Long’s Virtual-Canton Constitution. Restrictive Clauses XXXVII - XXXIX in Article II, Sections XXVI – XXVII of Article IV, Section XII of Article V, Sections XIV and XVI of Article VI, and Sections VII-VIII of Article VII are adaptations from the Virtual-Canton Constitution.

 

The Freecharter

Authored by G. Stolyarov II on November 5, 2008;

Revised on November 19, 2008;

Revised on November 30, 2008;

Revised on April 24, 2010

 

Preamble: This Freecharter is a constitution that hereby establishes a government whose sole purpose is the protection of those inalienable rights which all individuals possess by virtue of their humanity.

 

Article I: Affirmations of the Inalienable Rights of Individuals

 

Affirmation I: Every individual human being – from the moment of conception to the cessation of all bodily functions – possesses a right to life. No individual, organization, or governmental entity may deprive another individual of life, unless that individual has committed deliberate murder of another individual.

 

Affirmation II: Every individual possesses the right to keep his or her body free from the unwanted intrusions of other persons or governmental entities. No individual, organization, or governmental entity may damage or inflict an inconvenience on an individual’s body without that individual’s consent. However, this affirmation may not be taken to supersede the individual right to life as described in Affirmation I. Namely, no individual may deprive another individual of life simply on account of non-life-threatening intrusions onto the integrity of the former individual’s body.

 

Affirmation III: Every individual possesses the right to own property that he or she has either acquired by mixing his or her labor with objects in the state of nature or through the explicit consent of prior owners of such property. Property legitimately acquired cannot be taken away from an individual, without his freely given consent, by any other individual or governmental entity for any reason.

 

Affirmation IV: Every individual possesses the right to retain his or her property in the face of arguments that a “public use” might require its confiscation. There is no “public use” that justifies the seizure of private property without the willing consent of its owner, on the owner’s terms.

 

Affirmation V: Every individual possesses the right to use his or her property for the dissemination of information of any kind. This implies that every individual possesses the right to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of submitting petitions and lists of grievances, and freedom of disseminating written messages to other individuals. No other individual or governmental entity may restrict the ways in which a person uses his property to disseminate information.

 

Affirmation VI: Every individual possesses complete freedom of religious belief or non-belief. No governmental entity may issue laws restricting the free exercise of religion or the espousal of atheistic or agnostic ideas. Moreover, no official religion over any subsection of the country or the country as a whole may be instituted, nor may any establishment of religion be supported in any manner by any governmental entity. Only religious activities that involve the infliction of involuntary harm upon individuals may be restricted.

 

Affirmation VII: Every individual possesses the right to free movement through property whose owners consent to such movement. Moreover, every individual possesses the right to free movement through unowned territory. No individual or governmental entity may restrict this right of free movement in any manner.

 

Affirmation VIII: Every individual who has not committed a violent crime has the right to keep and bear weapons and other devices serving the function of self-defense and defense of property. No individual or governmental entity may restrict this right to bear arms in any manner.

 

Affirmation IX: Every individual possesses the right to the privacy of his or her person and property. Accordingly, every individual has the authority to choose not to disclose the nonviolent activities engaged in on his or her property to any individual or governmental entity.

 

Affirmation X: Every individual possesses the right to keep his property – including his houses, papers, electronic documents, and any other physical items owned by him – free from search and seizure, unless warrants for this purpose have been in each case procured from two distinct courts, neither having hierarchical superiority over the other. Each warrant must be supported by oath or affirmation, contain probable cause for the search, and describe specifically the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

 

Affirmation XI: Every individual possesses the right to keep his property free from the presence of military personnel. Therefore, no quartering of soldiers on private property shall be required by any individual or governmental entity at any time.

 

Affirmation XII: Every individual possesses the right to remain free of surrendering his money and property under conditions to which he did not explicitly consent. No individual or governmental entity may engage in taxation, defined as the extraction of revenue under coercion or the threat of coercion.

 

Affirmation XIII: Every individual has the right to the full prerogatives of adulthood upon reaching the age of sixteen years from birth. However, nothing herein shall be construed to limit the recognition of full adult status of individuals younger than sixteen years of age who are able to demonstrate the requisite adult competencies.

 

Affirmation XIV: Every individual, having reached full adulthood, possesses the right to engage in fully consensual physical and intellectual activities with other full adults. No governmental entity may restrict this right of consensual physical and intellectual intercourse.

 

Affirmation XV: Every individual has the right to the liberty of his person. No individual may be confined to a particular location outside the scope of his property against his will for any period of time without having been charged with a crime, without having been informed of the charges against him, and without having been found guilty as charged. However, bail may be required for an individual charged of a crime, and that individual’s ability to leave the country may be restricted, until the court proceedings regarding the charges against him are completed, whereafter the bail must be refunded and, if the individual is found innocent of all charges, the restrictions on emigration must be lifted.

 

Affirmation XVI: Every individual charged with committing a crime has the right to a trial that begins no later than seven days after the charges have been made. Failure to initiate such a trial within the specified time period shall result in the automatic acquittal of the person charged. The trial shall be guaranteed to be speedy, public, and impartial. During the course of the trial, the accused person shall be guaranteed the right to examine the evidence against him and to confront all witnesses present. Moreover, every individual charged of committing a crime shall have the right to have the charges against him examined by a jury of private citizens of the country who volunteer for the position. No juror may be disqualified from service on account of superior intelligence, education, or reasoning ability. Moreover, no juror may be disqualified from service during the time of jury deliberations, except for clearly verifiable breaches of integrity in his or her role as a juror. Moreover, jury verdicts of conviction must be unanimous, and the failure to achieve a unanimous verdict within seven days of deliberation shall result in the automatic acquittal of the person charged.

 

Affirmation XVII: No torture or physical injury may be inflicted on any individual by any other individual or any governmental entity as a means of interrogation, punishment, or for any other reason. Capital punishment shall be the only acceptable infliction of physical injury, and may be used only in cases where deliberate murder has been committed, although nothing in this affirmation shall mandate the use of capital punishment in all such cases. If it is found after the occurrence of an execution that the man executed had been innocent of the crime committed, then the persons responsible for sentencing the executed man to death shall themselves be liable to prosecution for manslaughter.

 

Affirmation XVIII:  No individual may be required by any governmental entity to serve as a witness against himself.

 

Affirmation XIX: No individual may be subjected to trial more than one time for the same offense.

 

Affirmation XX: No individual who has been found fully innocent in the course of a trial or who has been confirmed by the court to be a victim of criminal aggression, negligence, or fraud shall be required to incur expenses in paying for the conduct of the trial. Either the guilty party or the state shall be required to pay for all the legal expenses of such a person.

 

Affirmation XXI: No individual may be fined for any violation of the law more than twice the amount of damage to the property of others that his violation has brought about. To bring about property damage means to commit an action which was both necessary and sufficient for such damage to occur.

 

Affirmation XXII: In cases not involving murder, excessive bail shall not be imposed, where excessive bail is defined as any amount greater than ten times the amount of damage to the property of others of which the person to be bailed is accused. In cases involving murder, excessive bail is defined as any amount that exceeds one-half of the total value of the accused individual’s property.

 

Affirmation XXIII: No individual or organization may be denied the option to contribute funds to the government, and to gain the voting privileges derived therefrom, on account of race, nationality, place of residence, religion, philosophy, age, gender, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic, with the following exception. The sole characteristics which may be used to deny the granting of voting privileges to individuals are (i) past aggression against citizens of this country, (ii) an attempt to unconstitutionally overthrow the government thereof, and (iii) status as an official or agent of a foreign government in any capacity.

 

Affirmation XXIV: No individual shall be held in involuntary servitude of any kind. Such involuntary servitude includes enslavement to private individuals or to any governmental entity.

 

Affirmation XXV: No individual shall be subjected to military or police conscription by any government or private individuals. Moreover, no individual shall be subjected to the performance of any kind of public or private service without his explicit and freely given consent.

 

Affirmation XXVI: No individual shall be compelled to employ the services of the government in any capacity, with the exception of the final arbitration of disputes that would otherwise escalate into violence.

 

Affirmation XXVII: Every individual has a right to consume substances that are not directly and unavoidably injurious to the health of other individuals. No individual or governmental entity may coercively restrict another individual’s consumption of such substances, except as is consistent with the jurisdiction individuals and organizations have over their own property.

 

Affirmation XXVIII: Every individual has the right to remain free from searches, seizures, inspections, and compulsory delays at airports, seaports, spaceports, and other centers or vehicles of transportation. No private or governmental entity may conduct such procedures, unless the individual toward whom they are directed has been directly and individually suspected of criminal activity, and a warrant authorizing the specific procedures in question has been issued by two distinct courts, neither having hierarchical superiority over the other.

 

Affirmation XXIX: Any individual who resides within the Territorial Scope of Sustainable Expansion (TSSE) and who decides to freely and earnestly accept this constitution becomes thereby a citizen of the country and shall not be denied the prerogatives of citizenship under any circumstances. Any individual who moves his person or property into the TSSE is considered to reside within it.

 

Affirmation XXX: The enumeration in this constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by individuals. No individual may be denied the ability to assert his or her possession of rights not enumerated in this constitution and to present this assertion of rights before a court of law, which that court shall be obligated to consider in accordance with reason and the objective facts of reality. A court’s action in striking down a statute based on this affirmation of rights is not a usurpation of the role of the legislature.

 

Affirmation XXXI: The powers not delegated to the central government by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to other governmental entities or individuals, are reserved to those governmental entities, respectively, or to individuals.

 

Affirmation XXXII: These Affirmations of the Inalienable Rights of Individuals may not be revised or nullified by any persons employing any means at any time.

 

Article II: Restrictive Clauses on Governmental Entities

 

Restrictive Clause I: All restrictions on governmental entities present in Article I are forever binding and unalterable. Moreover, all restrictions on governmental entities present in this article are forever binding and unalterable.

 

Restrictive Clause II: No governmental entity may promulgate an ex post facto law, defined as a law that is intended to apply to conduct made prior to its promulgation.

 

Restrictive Clause III: No governmental entity may promulgate a law to which complete and secure adherence is impossible.

 

Restrictive Clause IV: No governmental entity may suspend the writ of habeas corpus under any circumstances.

 

Restrictive Clause V: No governmental entity may coercively punish any government employee or private citizen who expresses views critical of any action of a government functionary or of any government functionary’s person. Moreover, no governmental entity may remove from office a person whose sole misconduct has been the expression of such critical views.

 

Restrictive Clause VI: No governmental entity may issue bills of attainder. 

 

Restrictive Clause VII: No governmental entity may spend money in excess of its revenues during any time period.

 

Restrictive Clause VIII: No governmental entity may borrow money.

 

Restrictive Clause IX: No governmental entity may issue money.

 

Restrictive Clause X: No governmental entity may transfer money to financial institutions without receiving for that money specific and easily delimitable services that such financial institutions routinely grant to their private customers. Such services may only be issued to governmental entities on the same terms as they are issued to private customers of the financial institutions.

 

Restrictive Clause XI: No governmental entity may subsidize any private individual or business by grants of money or other property which are not meant to either directly pay for the purchase of specific and easily delimitable goods and services by the government or to compensate government employees and contractors.

 

Restrictive Clause XII: No governmental entity may grant monopolies or quasi-monopolies in any line of business or non-profit activity to any private individual, business, governmental entity, governmental-private partnership, or to any multitude of such organizations, however large that multitude might be. No governmental entity may restrict entry into any industry, profession, or activity by direct or indirect means, including but not limited to licensing requirements, coerced unionization, and either prohibitions from or compulsions to working in any line of human endeavor that is not directly and unavoidably injurious to the health of other individuals.

 

Restrictive Clause XIII: No governmental entity may tax or otherwise restrict imports of goods and services into the territory under its jurisdiction, unless the specific goods and services in question are each directly and unavoidably injurious to the health of the inhabitants of said territory who do not directly consume said goods or services.

 

Restrictive Clause XIV: No governmental entity may regulate or influence wages, prices, interest rates, debts, gifts, or inheritances, except in such a manner as would be indispensably necessary to prevent, deter, or diminish coercion, fraud, and falsehood in commercial transactions. 

 

Restrictive Clause XV: No governmental entity may regulate workplace environmental or safety conditions, except in such a manner as to ensure the fulfillment of mutually agreed-upon contracts among employers and employees.

 

Restrictive Clause XVI: No governmental entity may regulate the quality of consumer products, except in such a manner as to punish fraud and falsehood in advertising.

 

Restrictive Clause XVII: No governmental entity may require businesses to interact in any manner with labor unions or require labor union membership on behalf of any employee, either as a prerequisite of entering or of remaining in any profession.

 

Restrictive Clause XVIII: No governmental entity may provide economic aid of any sort to foreign individuals, governments, or miscellaneous organizations.

 

Restrictive Clause XIX: No governmental entity may provide funds to individuals in the event of those individuals’ unemployment, unless those individuals have formerly been employees of the specific governmental entity providing the funds.

 

Restrictive Clause XX: No governmental entity may unilaterally alter the terms of its contracts with any of its employees, contractors, or agents. No person pledged to serve a governmental entity for a specified time period may be required without his consent to serve beyond the term originally stipulated.

 

Restrictive Clause XXI: No governmental entity may pass laws prohibiting gambling or other forms of monetary speculation which are undertaken with the mutual consent of all parties involved.

 

Restrictive Clause XXII: No governmental entity may tax or regulate the Internet in any manner.

 

Restrictive Clause XXIII: No governmental entity may punish individuals for failing to adhere to regulations, which are contrary to the letter of this constitution, in other territorial jurisdictions. Moreover, no governmental entity may extradite such individuals, whose crimes under the interpretation of foreign systems of jurisprudence are in fact no crimes at all, and force them to stand trial for having violated unjust laws.

 

Restrictive Clause XXIV: No governmental entity may wage war, except in direct defense of the territory under its jurisdiction. No territory outside a governmental entity’s jurisdiction may be invaded or occupied by that governmental entity’s forces, except as a direct consequence of invasions and assaults previously undertaken by that territory’s occupants and as an unavoidably necessary measure for preventing such future invasions and assaults.

 

Restrictive Clause XXV: No governmental entity may inflict physical force, except against those who had already initiated or demonstrate an unambiguous, verifiable, and incontrovertible intent to initiate physical force or fraud against innocent individuals. In the event of a war, where a governmental entity’s forces inadvertently damage the lives and property of innocent individuals, that governmental entity is obligated to offer as compensation for destruction of property at least twice the monetary value of the property damaged. As compensation for any bodily injury dealt to an innocent individual, the governmental entity responsible must pay for at least twice the injured party’s costs of treatment, in addition to providing an income equivalent to the highest former income of the individual injured for any time during which the injury has not healed completely and the individual affected by it has not been returned to his pre-injury physical state.

 

For any individual unjustly killed, the governmental entity responsible shall offer the deceased individual’s next-of-kin at least one hundred times the sum of the cumulative lifetime income of the innocent individual killed and the median lifetime income of a citizen of this free country, multiplied by the sum of one and 0.99 taken to the power of the age at death of the individual killed.

 

The compensation, C, which must be offered for unjustly killed individuals shall adhere to the following formula, where we let
CLI = the cumulative lifetime income of the individual unjustly killed;

MLI = the lifetime income of the median individual in the territory governed by this constitution;

A = the age of the individual unjustly killed.

Then C ≥ 100(CLI + MLI)(1 + 0.99^A).

 

Restrictive Clause XXVI: No governmental entity may regulate commerce within its territory, except with the express purposes and sole effects of preventing, deterring, and diminishing coercion, theft, falsehood, and fraud and lifting any restrictions on commerce imposed by subordinate governmental entities.

 

Restrictive Clause XXVII: No governmental entity may pass laws prohibiting, regulating, or mandating any kind of educational or business practice, except in such a manner as is indispensably necessary to preventing, deterring, and diminishing coercion, falsehood, and fraud and does not prohibit or regulate any non-fraudulent behavior.

 

Restrictive Clause XXVIII: No governmental entity may mandate that a certain proportion of its own or a private organization’s or another governmental entity’s employees, customers, or other affiliates belong to a certain racial, ethnic, cultural, gender-based, or lifestyle-based category. No governmental entity may undertake proactive measures to bring about any manner of distribution among these categories in any organization. Moreover, no governmental entity may restrict any non-coercive changes in the distribution among these categories in any organization.

 

Restrictive Clause XXIX: No governmental entity may use any religious test as a consideration in hiring, dismissing, compensating, or otherwise treating its functionaries.

 

Restrictive Clause XXX: No governmental entity may define as treason any activity except the deliberate and planned attempt to overthrow the government which has been established under this constitution through the use of physical violence. A charge of treason can only be substantiated by the indisputable testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or a freely given confession in open court.

 

Restrictive Clause XXXI: No money shall be drawn from the treasury of any governmental entity, but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published at least on a monthly basis.

 

Restrictive Clause XXXII: No person holding any office of profit or trust in any governmental entity under this constitution, shall, without the consent of the High Legislature, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any foreign government.

 

Restrictive Clause XXXIII: No punishment of treason shall extend to the individually innocent blood relatives of the punished, or result in forfeiture of property except during the life of the person being thus punished. Moreover, treasonous activities that have not resulted in the death of any innocent individual may not be punished by death.

 

Restrictive Clause XXXIV: No governmental entity may restrict political advertising or private campaign financing in any manner at any time.

 

Restrictive Clause XXXV: No governmental entity may distribute its own funds to political campaigns of any kind.

 

Restrictive Clause XXXVI: No governmental entity nor any of its employees may conduct searches, seizures, or inspections at airports, seaports, spaceports, and other centers or vehicles of transportation; nor may any governmental entity through its laws or directives lengthen the time or reduce the convenience experienced in the course of transportation by any individual who has not been personally and directly suspected of criminal activity and for whose inspection warrants have not been issued, in accordance with Affirmation XXVIII of Article I; nor may any private entity be forced or encouraged by any governmental entity to conduct any of these measures.

 

Restrictive Clause XXXVII: Any bill, before it may become a law, must embrace no more than one subject, which shall be expressed in its title; appropriation bills shall concern only spending of monies and shall not mandate any other action or conduct, nor shall any bill except a general budget bill contain more than one item of appropriation, and that for one expressed purpose.

 

Restrictive Clause XXXVIII: No expenditure by any governmental entity may be declared “off-budget” or fail to be listed in the official and freely and publicly available record of expenditures for that governmental entity.

 

Restrictive Clause XXXIX: The sum total of laws passed by the government established under this Freecharter may not exceed one million words. Any laws passed after this limit has been reached, no previous laws having been repealed, are void and unlawful. Also, each law of the government established under this Freecharter, before being passed, must be read aloud, at normal speed, to a quorum of each chamber of the High Legislature. These provisions may not be evaded by attempting to give the force of law to documents that are not laws by passing laws which merely refer to these documents.

 

Article III: Investmentocracy

 

Section I: All popular voting pertaining to the central government established under this constitution shall be done in accordance with the principle of investmentocracy – the allocation of votes to individuals who contribute money to the government, in direct and linear proportion to their contributions.

 

Section II: Any individual or private organization contributing money to the High Treasury established under this constitution shall receive one vote for every ten ounces of gold contributed. For every fraction of ten ounces of gold contributed, a corresponding and directly proportional fraction of one vote shall be granted in perpetuity to the contributing individual or organization. This price per vote may not be altered or suspended under any circumstances and for any reason, unless the artificial creation and mass artificial production of gold becomes technically feasible.

 

Section III: In allocating votes to individuals and private organizations that contribute money to the High Treasury, no regard shall be made for the race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, philosophy, lifestyle, or residency of the contributing individuals. Only individuals who have engaged in criminal activity and have not yet fully compensated for their crimes may be restricted in their ability to purchase votes. Moreover, no regard shall be made for the status of organizations that have not engaged in any criminal activity for which full compensation has not yet been made.

 

Section IV: Once votes have been acquired by private individuals or organizations, these votes may be traded or given away to other individuals or organizations on mutually agreed-upon terms.

 

Section V: Once votes have been acquired by private individuals or organizations, these votes may be allocated in any manner by their holders among the alternatives in any given election wherein the voteholders in question are entitled to participate.

 

Section VI: No entity that relies on the coercive extraction of revenues may participate in the system of investmentocracy. In particular, foreign governments relying on taxation for their funding may not purchase votes in the system created under this constitution.

 

Section VII: The citizens of this country shall be divided into one thousand groups, henceforth referred to as mille-groups. Upon obtaining any vote or fraction of a vote, an individual or organization may choose to belong to any mille-group. Upon selecting a mille-group, an individual or organization retains voting power within that mille-group, in addition to voting power in elections of country-wide scope, in perpetuity. Any citizen voteholder may choose to completely transfer his or her voting power from any one mille-group to any other at most once every ten years.

 

Section VIII: An Internet database shall be established, containing the number of votes held by every individual and organization. Only the voteholder shall be officially permitted to access information regarding how many votes he, she, or it holds, although it is the voteholder’s prerogative to publicize such information.

 

Section IX:
All popular voting pertaining to the government established under this Freecharter shall be done by secret ballot.

 

Section X: All willing individuals shall be entitled to observe the counting of votes, provided that the secrecy of each voter’s name is preserved.  

 

Article IV: Composition of the Legislative Branch

 

Section I: All legislative power granted under this constitution is hereby solely vested in the High Legislature, composed of Chamber A, Chamber B, and Chamber C.

 

Section II: Delegates to Chamber A shall be elected by popular vote, with one delegate selected by and among each mille-group of the population. The number of delegates to Chamber A shall be at most 1000 in number, and one for every mille-group that contains any members.

 

Section III: Delegates to Chamber A shall be elected for two-year terms in office, with every specific Delegate election held at any time decided internally within the corresponding mille-group, provided that elections are held in two-year time intervals.

 

Section IV: If and when an untimely vacancy should exist in Chamber A, the mille-group whose Delegate seat has been vacated may elect another Delegate to fill the vacancy.

 

Section V: Chamber A shall elect its officers from among its Delegates.

 

Section VI: Chamber A shall have the sole power of impeachment.

Section VII: Delegates to Chamber B shall be elected by a general election where all voters may participate, with the 250 delegates receiving the highest numbers of votes being appointed to the chamber.

 

Section VIII: Delegates to Chamber B shall be elected for four-year terms in office in a single election held at four-year time intervals.

 

Section IX: If and when an untimely vacancy should exist in Chamber B, the Delegate receiving the next-highest number of votes in the immediately previous Chamber B election, as compared to the votes received by the Delegates currently serving in Chamber B, shall be appointed to fill the vacancy.

 

Section X: Chamber B shall elect its officers from among its Delegates.

 

Section XI: Chamber B shall have the sole authority to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, Chamber B Delegates shall be on oath or affirmation. When the High Executive under this constitution is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present.

 

Section XII: Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit in any governmental entity subject to this constitution: but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according to law.

 

Section XIII: Delegates to Chamber C shall be elected among the citizens under the jurisdiction of governmental entities that are immediately subordinate to the government created by this constitution. For every governmental entity immediately subordinate to the government created by this constitution, one delegate to Chamber C shall be elected. Individuals who are not subject to such governmental entities may also elect Delegates to Chamber C, provided that such individuals form a group that controls at least one hundred thousand votes and can therefore nominate one C Delegate for every hundred thousand votes thus held.

 

Section XIV: Delegates to Chamber C shall be elected for six-year terms in office, with every specific Delegate election held at any time decided internally within the corresponding subordinate governmental entity, provided that elections are held in six-year time intervals.

 

Section XV: If and when an untimely vacancy should exist in Chamber C, the citizens under the jurisdiction of the subordinate governmental entity whose Delegate seat has been vacated shall elect another Delegate to fill the vacancy.

 

Section XVI: Chamber C shall elect its officers from among its Delegates.

 

Section XVII: Each Chamber shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each Chamber may provide.

 

Section XVIII: Each Chamber may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of three fourths, expel a member.

 

Section XIX: Each Chamber shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question shall in every case be entered on the journal.

 

Section XX: No Chamber, during the session of the High Legislature, shall, without the consent of each of the two others, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the three Houses shall be sitting.

 

Section XXI: The Delegates to Chambers A, B, and C shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the High Treasury under this constitution. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Chamber, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in any Chamber, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

 

Section XXII: No Chamber Delegate shall, during the time for which he or she was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of this constitution, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time: and no person holding any office under this constitution, shall be a member of either of the three Chambers during his continuance in office.

 

Section XXIII: A majority of votes in each of the three Chambers of the High Legislature is required to pass any piece of legislation.

 

Section XXIII: Every bill which shall have passed each of the three Chambers of the High Legislature, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the High Executive; if he approves he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections to that Chamber in which it shall have originated, whose members shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that Chamber shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to each of the other two Chambers, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of both Chambers, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of all three Chambers shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each Chamber respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the High Executive within fifteen days after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the High Legislature by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.

 

Section XXIV: Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of Chambers A, B, and C may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the High Executive; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of each of the three Chambers, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.

 

Section XXV: No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Delegates to the Chambers of the High Legislature, shall take effect, until an election of Delegates to Chamber A shall have intervened.

 

Section XXVI: The deliberations of the High Legislature shall be open to public view and record.

 

Section XXVII: The Legislature may not delegate its legislative authority to any other person, body, or bureau.

 

Article V: Enumerated Powers of the Legislative Branch

 

Section I: The High Legislature shall have the power to raise and support armies composed entirely of volunteer servicepersons, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years. These armies may be used to repel invasions, suppress violent insurrections, and create establishments for the common defense that do not coerce any citizen under this constitution.

 

Section II: The High Legislature shall have the power to define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations.

 

Section III: The High Legislature shall have the power to declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water.

 

Section IV: The High Legislature shall have the power to provide and maintain a navy, air force, and defensive space infrastructure.

 

Section V: The High Legislature shall have the power to make rules for the government and regulation of the land, naval, air, and space forces whose purpose is to provide for the defense of the citizens under this constitution.

 

Section VI: The High Legislature shall have the power to constitute tribunals inferior to the High Court.

 

Section VII: The High Legislature shall have the power to determine the rules governing the property of the government under this constitution, in accordance with the restrictions stipulated in Articles I and II.

 

Section VIII: The High Legislature shall have the power to commission the creation of such tangible goods and services as can be funded without the coercive participation by or coerced funding from any individual. In participating in the production of a good or service, the activities of the High Legislature and any individuals acting under its authority may not in any manner exclude or restrict the production of the same good or service by private individuals or organizations.

 

Section IX: The High Legislature shall have the power to establish the High Treasury and to direct it to invest the government’s funds, at the prevailing market rates of interest, into the endeavors of consenting financial institutions.

 

Section X: The High Legislature shall have the power to direct the High Treasury to use its funds to refund the court expenses of verified victims or acquitted defendants, up to the full amount of such expenses.

 

Section XI: The High Legislature shall have the power to use funds from the High Treasury to purchase land from consenting foreign and domestic individuals and governmental entities.

 

Section XII: It shall be the duty of the High Legislature to refuse their assent to, or to repeal, any laws in conflict with the Freecharter.

 

Section XIII: The High Legislature shall have the power to make such laws as shall be absolutely and indispensably necessary for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Freecharter in the High Legislature, or in any department or officer thereof, provided that no law imposing greater restrictions on any individual than needed for the attainment of this end shall be regarded as necessary.

 

Article VI: The Executive Branch

 

Section I: The executive power under this constitution shall be vested in a High Executive, who shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Second Executive, chosen for the same term, be elected by the plurality of votes cast in a general election where all voteholders are eligible to participate and vote a number of times in direct and linear proportion to the number of votes they hold.

 

Section II: Only citizens under the jurisdiction of this constitution for a period of at least five years, or citizens who accepted this constitution at the time of its initial adoption, are eligible for the offices of High Executive and Second Executive.

 

Section III: The High Executive and Second Executive shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which they shall have been elected, and they shall not receive within that period any other emolument from any governmental entity under this constitution.

 

Section IV: Before the High Executive enters on the execution of his or her office, he or she shall take the following oath or affirmation:–”I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will honestly and reliably execute the office of High Executive under this Freecharter, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the constitution of this country.”

 

Section V: The High Executive shall be commander in chief of the army, navy, air force, and space defense infrastructure of the government created under this constitution; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the government created under this constitution, except in cases of impeachment. However, nothing in this Freecharter shall be construed to extend to the Executive the power to initiate military action.

 

Section VI: The High Executive shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of Chamber B, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Chamber B delegates present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of Chamber B, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the High Court, and all other officers of the government created by this constitution, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the High Legislature may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the High Executive alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

 

Section VII: The High Executive shall from time to time give to the High Legislature information of the state of the country, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he or she shall judge necessary and expedient; he or she shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he or she shall take care that the laws be honestly and reliable executed, and shall commission all the officers of the government created by this constitution.

 

Section VIII: The High Executive, Second Executive, and all civil officers of the government created by this constitution, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

 

Section IX: In the event of the removal from office of the High Executive by any means, the Second Executive shall become the High Executive and shall appoint a new Second Executive, subject to approval by a majority of each of the three chambers of the High Legislature. Likewise, in the event of the removal of the Second Executive from office by any means, the High Executive shall appoint a new Second Executive, subject to approval by a majority of each of the three chambers of the High Legislature.

 

Section X: The High Legislature may by law provide for the succession to the office of High Executive in the event that both the High Executive and the Second Executive are simultaneously unable to fulfill their duties.

 

Section XI: Whenever the High Executive transmits to each of the three Chambers of the High Legislature his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Second Executive as Acting High Executive.

 

Section XII: Whenever the Second Executive and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as the High Executive may by law provide, transmit to each of the three Chambers of the High Legislature their written declaration that the High Executive is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Second Executive shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting High Executive.

Thereafter, when the High Executive transmits to each of the three Chambers of the High Legislature his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Second Executive and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as the High Legislature may by law provide, transmit within four days to each of the three Chambers of the High Legislature their written declaration that the High Executive is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon the High Legislature shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the High Legislature, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if the High Legislature is not in session, within twenty-one days after the High Legislature is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of each of the three Chambers that the High Executive is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Second Executive shall continue to discharge the same as Acting High Executive; otherwise, the High Executive shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

 

Section XIII: No person shall be elected to the office of the High Executive more than twice, and no person who has held the office of High Executive, or acted as High Executive, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected High Executive shall be elected to the office of the High Executive more than once.

 

Section XIV: In the case of bills that contain spending appropriations, the High Executive may exercise a line-item veto, signing some provisions into law and sending back others with objections to the High Legislature.

 

Section XV: The High Executive may not interpret the laws he signs into action in any manner differing from their original and stated intent. The interpretation either by the High Legislature by the High Court of these laws shall prevail over the interpretation by the High Executive in the event of diverging views between the High Executive and either of the aforementioned other branches.

 

Section XVI: It shall be the duty of the Federal Executive to refuse assent to or execution of any laws in conflict with the Freecharter, and to grant reprieves and pardons to any persons accused of violating such laws.

 

Article VII: The Judicial Branch

 

Section I: The highest judicial power of under this constitution shall be vested in one High Court, and in such inferior courts as the High Legislature may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the High and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

 

Section II: The High Court shall be comprised of precisely fifteen justices, and one Chief Justice, who shall preside over the High Court’s proceedings.

 

Section III: The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this constitution, the laws of this country, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority;–to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls;–to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction;–to controversies to which this country’s government shall be a party;–to controversies between two or more subordinate governmental entities;– between a subordinate governmental entity and a citizen under the jurisdiction of another governmental entity; — between citizens under the jurisdiction of different governmental entities;–and between a governmental entity, or the citizens under the jurisdiction thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects.

 

Section IV: In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a governmental entity shall be party, the High Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the High Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the High Legislature shall make.

 

Section V: The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held within one hundred kilometers of the location where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within the boundaries of this country, the trial shall be at such place or places as the High Legislature may by law have directed.

 

Section VI: The High Court shall have the power to judge the constitutionality of laws, directives, and other acts instituted by the High Legislature as well as the activities of the High Executive and of any subordinate governmental entity, provided that the text of this Freecharter is rigorously adhered to, not contradicted, and not augmented by interpretation. Any contravention of the text of this Freecharter in the course of the High Court’s constitutional interpretation shall automatically render such interpretation null and void.

 

Section VII: It shall be the duty of the High Courts and all subordinate courts to strike down as void and unlawful any laws, issued by any governmental entity, in conflict with the Freecharter.

 

Section VIII: Neither the High Court nor any subordinate court shall construe any part of this constitution to be without effect, or to be judicially unenforceable.

 

Article VIII: The Nullifier

 

Section I: Every 24-hour period, one citizen of this country shall be randomly selected by lot to assume the position of Nullifier.

 

Section II: The selection of the Nullifier must occur in such a manner that every citizen of this country has a verifiably equal probability of being selected during each 24-hour period.

 

Section III: The Nullifier, during his continuance in office, shall have the power to veto any positive action undertaken by any governmental entity or agent thereof. This veto power extends to, but is not limited to, acts of the High Legislature and the High Executive, decisions of the High Court, and governmental entities subordinate to the government established by this constitution. A positive government action is any action that demands a greater degree of obligation from any citizen or resident who is not a government employee than would have been demanded had the government act in question not existed. The Nullifier may not veto any act of government that is negative in nature, i.e., that does not include any positive measures as above defined.

 

Section IV: The Nullifier shall have no constitutional power at all to initiate or enact positive government acts himself.

 

Section V: When faced with a bill or other decision of a governmental entity that packages negative acts together with positive acts, the Nullifier only has the authority to selectively repeal the positive provisions of the bill.

 

Section VI: The Nullifier has the authority to repeal previously implemented positive acts of any governmental entity.

 

Section VII: The Nullifier’s veto shall be unconditionally adhered to by all governmental officials whose activities it concerns.

 

Article IX: The Amendment Process

 

Section I: The High Legislature, whenever two thirds of each of the three houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the governmental entities subordinate to this constitution, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this constitution, when ratified by a convention with delegates elected from throughout the population, with the delegates receiving the highest number of votes being selected to participate in the convention.

 

Section II: No amendment to Article I or Article II of this constitution may be passed; nor may any amendment contrary to the provisions in Article I or Article II be enacted.

 

Article X: The Institute for Constitutional Revision

 

Section I: The Institute for Constitutional Revision, a non-governmental body for the interpretation and periodic rewriting of parts of this constitution, is hereby established.

 

Section II: Three hundred years past the time of enactment of this constitution, and every three hundred years thereafter, the Institute for Constitutional Revision shall have the authority to completely rewrite any portions of this constitution, with the absolute and unqualified exception of Article I and Article II. The new constitution thereby produced shall become the new supreme law of the land once it is enacted.

 

Section III: Membership in the Institute for Constitutional Revision shall be independent of the political process and shall be open to any individuals who have passed an objective test, consisting of the following components:

(i) The ability to recite, from memory, the entirety of this constitution.

(ii) The authorship of a freely and publicly available dissertation which shall have at least 1500 words devoted to the analysis of at least 10 works pertaining to constitutional thought written in each fifty-year period following the year 1600 and extending to the time at which the dissertation is written. The analysis within the dissertation may not be judged on its ideological content, provided that it, as well as the works it examines, actually address in an intelligible manner the subject of constitutions and constitutional thought.

(iii) The recitation of the following oath upon the successful completion of components (i) and (ii): “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will honestly and reliably interpret the constitution of this country and analyze the extent to which its mechanisms adhere to its principles, as set forth in Articles I and II.  While this constitution is in force, I shall endeavor to the best of my ability to use my influence in any legitimate manner to ensure that it is respected and adhered to. If and when the time comes to revise this constitution, I shall endeavor to the best of my ability to align its mechanisms with the principles and protections set forth in Articles I and II.”

 

Section IV: Membership in the Institute for Constitutional Revision shall be lifelong, unless the member freely and voluntarily resigns or is convicted of committing violent crime or fraud against a private citizen, in which case the Institute for Constitutional Revision may establish an internal tribunal judging whether the member thus convicted might be expelled.

 

Section V: Members of the Institute for Constitutional Revision may not hold or run for any political, including any judicial, office of any governmental entity subject to this constitution.

 

Section VI: Members of the Institute for Constitutional Revision may not provide material support or any public endorsement for the campaign or agenda of any individual running for any political, including any judicial, office of any governmental entity subject to this constitution. However, members of the Institute for Constitutional Revision may vote in elections in the capacity of private citizens and issue public statements regarding the constitutionality and compatibility with this constitution of any measure, promise, or political theory enacted or held by any official of any governmental entity subject to this constitution.

 

Section VII: In consequence of any ruling issued by the High Court, the Institute for Constitutional Revision shall issue a statement of its own, providing an independent analysis of the constitutional status of the matter in question and the validity or invalidity of the High Court’s decision and reasoning. In the event of dissent among members of the Institute for Constitutional Revision, only the opinion of a majority of members may be issued as an official statement of the Institute, and each member who is of a different mind may issue his or her own statement of opinion.

 

Section VIII: The constitutional interpretation statements issued by the Institute for Constitutional Revision, or any members thereof, in the time interval between constitutional revisions shall not be legally binding, but the government officials, including judges, whose actions these statements address are obligated to read them and to issue a response within a time period of ninety days.

 

Section IX: The Institute for Constitutional Revision shall not draw on the funds of the High Treasury in any circumstances. Rather, it shall generate its revenue entirely from the non-coercive activities in which it and its members engage. Private donations to the Institute for Constitutional Revision are permitted, provided that the donors do not set conditions on the manner in which the funds are to be used, nor on the conduct of the Institute for Constitutional Revision, nor on the ideas espoused by members thereof.

 

Article XI: Subordinate Governmental Entities

Section I: Any multitude of citizens subject to this constitution shall have the right to form a subordinate governmental entity with its own constitution and laws, provided that no provision or restriction of this constitution is contravened in the statutes and conduct pertaining to the subordinate governmental entity.

 

Section II: The subordinate governmental entities are subject ultimately to the government created by this constitution and may hold no other government of men above it.

 

Section III: Existing foreign governmental entities within the Territorial Scope of Sustainable Expansion (TSSE) may, through the internal mechanisms pertaining to them, opt to become subordinate governmental entities subject to the government created by this constitution. Foreign governmental entities outside the TSSE may, through the internal mechanisms pertaining to them, petition the High Legislature for admission into this country. For such a petition to be approved, it must receive a majority vote in its favor in each Chamber of the High Legislature.

 

Article XII: Status of Citizens and Foreigners

 

Section I: The High Executive shall define any area of land currently this country’s borders as the Territorial Scope of Sustainable Expansion (TSSE) for this country. Land within the TSSE is not officially under the jurisdiction of this country, but it may be transferred to this country’s jurisdiction if the individuals or organizations owning it consent to abide by this constitution.

 

Section II: Any person who owns property within this country’s borders or within the TSSE may opt to become a citizen of this country, which he or she shall automatically become upon swearing the following oath, with his or her hand placed upon the Freecharter, before any officer of any governmental entity subject to this constitution:

 

“I hereby accept this Freecharter as the supreme manmade law by which I must abide. In particular, I hereby accept that all individuals have the inalienable rights stipulated in Article I of this constitution and that no governmental entity may assume the powers that are restricted by Articles I and II. I hereby solemnly promise that I will not violate any of the aforementioned individual rights and that I will not direct any governmental entity to perform actions in which it is constitutionally forbidden to engage.”

 

Section III: Upon becoming a citizen of this country, a citizen transfers any of his or her property that was located in the TSSE into the legal jurisdiction, but not the ownership, of this country’s government and annexes any of his or her land that was located in the TSSE to the territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof. If some of his or her property or land is located outside the TSSE at the time of his or her admission as a citizen of this country, then this property and land retain the legal status they had prior to such admission.

 

Section IV:  Any citizen of this country shall have full and irrevocable legal rights and privileges, as stipulated in this constitution and all laws created under it.

 

Section V: Non-citizens of this country shall hereby be termed foreigners. All foreigners who have not been convicted of a violent crime and do not have a record of violently and physically aggressive or fraudulent behavior are hereby guaranteed free entry into, movement throughout, and exit from the territory contained within the boundaries of this country. Foreigners are permitted unfettered access to the territories and facilities held by any governmental entity subject to this constitution. However, in moving through any privately owned territory contained within the boundaries of this country, foreigners must abide by the terms and conditions instituted by the owners of said territory. Moreover, in using government territories and facilities, foreigners must abide by the universal and non-discriminatory rules that have been created regarding the use of such territories and facilities.

 

Section VI: Foreigners may reside and engage in non-coercive activities within the territory of this country for a time period of indefinite duration, open to the foreigners’ own free choice, provided that they abide by all the laws of this country and by this constitution. Foreigners who make this choice are strongly encouraged to take the oath described in Section II, as they shall, with or without taking the oath, be held to the same standards of conduct as are expected of citizens.

 

Section VII: A citizen of this country is hereby permitted to simultaneously be a citizen of any foreign country, tribe, clan, or state.

 

Section VIII: Any child of a citizen of this country, in any location, shall be treated as a citizen until he or she reaches full adulthood or sixteen years of age, whichever comes earliest. At such a time, he or she may affirm his or her citizenship by taking the oath stipulated in Section II of this article before an official of any governmental entity subordinate to this constitution. No attempts shall be made to deny such a person the right to take this oath.

 

Section IX: Children of foreigners residing in this country or within the TSSE shall be subject to the legal status of their parents, but also to all the legal protections of citizens of this country. Upon reaching adulthood or sixteen years of age, whichever comes earlier, these persons, too, may become citizens by taking the oath stipulated in Section II of this article before an official of any governmental entity subordinate to this constitution. No attempts shall be made to deny such a person the right to take this oath.

 

Article XIII: Status of This Constitution

 

Section I: This constitution, and the laws of this country which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of this constitution, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges serving every subordinate governmental entity shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any subordinate governmental entity to the contrary notwithstanding.

 

Section II: The Delegates of the High Legislature before mentioned, and the officials of subordinate governmental entities, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the government created by this constitution and of subordinate governmental entities, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under this constitution.

 

Article XIV (Only for existing governments that adopt the Freecharter): Transition to the Freecharter

 

Section I: All payments that the government of this country contractually obligated itself to make prior to accepting the Freecharter remain valid and enforceable by law, although no future obligations of this sort which are contrary to the provisions of the Freecharter may be undertaken.

 

Section II: Any votes possessed by citizens of this country prior to its adoption of the Freecharter are irrevocable and remain in the possession of those citizens in addition to the votes the citizens may now purchase in accordance with Article III. 

Section III: Within three years of the adoption of the Freecharter, the High Legislature has the option of retroactively allocating votes to individuals, in accordance with the price per vote stated in Article III, Section II, and based solely on accurate computations of the cumulative taxes paid by those individuals prior to the Freecharter's adoption.

 

Recommend this page.

This TRA feature has been edited in accordance with TRA's Statement of Policy.

Click here to return to TRA's Issue CLXXVI Index.

Learn about Mr. Stolyarov's novel, Eden against the Colossus, here.

Read Mr. Stolyarov's comprehensive treatise, A Rational Cosmology, explicating such terms as the universe, matter, space, time, sound, light, life, consciousness, and volition, here.

Read Mr. Stolyarov's four-act play, Implied Consent, a futuristic intellectual drama on the sanctity of human life, here.