Chapter 10 - Constitutional Conventions

[Penelope]

Constitutional Conventions​

Constitutional conventions are an option if citizens wish to repeal and replace the Mandate25 in its entirety

Procedure to establish a Constitutional Convention​

IX. Constitutional Conventions

Procedure for initiating a constitutional convention

(1) The Assembly may initiate a constitutional convention for the purpose of repealing and replacing this Mandate by three-quarters vote.

The Assembly26 has the ability to declare a constitutional convention to repeal and replace the Mandate25 or constitution of Lazarus, though three-quarters or 75% of voters must vote for a constitutional convention for this to occur.

Procedure within a constitutional convention​

Basic procedure for a constitutional convention

(2) Following initiation of a constitutional convention, the Assembly will establish procedure for the convention by 50%+1 vote. The Assembly may amend the procedure of the convention while the convention is ongoing by 50%+1 vote.

Key points:

• Procedure can be established for the convention by the Assembly26 if 50% of voters support it, with one additional vote on top of that.
• Procedure can be amended by the Assembly26 if 50% of voters support it, with one additional vote on top of that.

Continuance of Government​

(3) During a constitutional convention, this Mandate, the institutions and offices established by and under this Mandate, and all laws and treaties established under this Mandate, will remain in force, until a new constitution is adopted by the convention.

During the constitutional convention, the current Mandate25 and what it has established remains in effect, until a new constitution is adopted.

Adjourning the Convention​

(4) Should the convention fail to yield a new constitution, the Assembly may, by 50%+1 vote, adjourn the convention.

If the effort fails to establish a new constitution, then the Assembly26 requires 50% of voters to be for adjourning the convention, with one additional vote on top of that.
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Footnotes​

1: Procedural rules and policy statements allow for the application of powers. This can involve delegating or establishing powers or responsibilities in a process or a position [Citation: administrativelaw.uslegal.com].
2: Resolutions are usually non-binding, but they may also have enforcement mechanisms or grant additional powers or abilities to the government. These resolutions could include a declaration of war or a resolution on a constitutional matter [Citation: Wikipedia.org].
3. Treaties are agreements passed by the Assembly that are between Lazarus and a foreign region or organization [Citation: Wikipedia.org].
4. A Declaration of war is either the recognition or establishment of hostilities between Lazarus and another region or organization [Citation: Wikipedia.org].
5. General or normal laws are laws that add to existing law such as a regulation of policy or the implementation of a regulation permitted by the Mandate, or a law that has limited to no impact upon a position, such as the awarding of titles or the establishment of a regional flag.
6. The Assembly Speaker is tasked with overseeing votes and the passage of bills, elections, and setting procedural rules of the Assembly if required.
7: The Prime Minister is the head of government of Lazarus, who appoints and organizes the Cabinet and runs the government of the region as far as Ministries, and the internal and foreign affairs of Lazarus [Citation: Wikipedia.org].
8: The Cabinet/Cabinet Ministers/Ministers/Deputy Ministers are the government officials appointed by the Prime Minister to run or organize ministries or the duties the Prime Minister assigns to each of them.
9. The Court of Lazarus is both a constitutional court and a criminal court and interpret the laws of the region and the Mandate, as well as oversees criminal trials [Citation: Wikipedia.org].
10. The Council on Lazarene Security is the main security body of Lazarus, tasked with both in-game and off-site in-character duties such as the removal of nations considered a threat to regional security or acting against Lazarene interests.
11. The Delegate of Lazarus is the head of state of the region and helps to oversee regional security and affairs of state, and is the commander-in-chief of the military of Lazarus [Citation: Wikipedia.org].
12. The Vice Delegate of Lazarus is commonly second in the line of succession to the Delegacy and Chairs the Council on Lazarene Security and the Executive Council
13. A state of emergency would be a situation where the regional security of Lazarus is under threat suffiently to consider it an exceptional situation, such as an attempted or-ongoing in-game coup d'etat attempt [Citation: Wikipedia.org]
14. Amendments to the mandate are modifications to the text of the mandate, such as to remove or establish concepts, regulations or requirements into the primate or main law of the region.
15. Constitutional laws would be considered to be laws that are established to interpret and apply the constitution of Lazarus to legal status.
16. Constitutional resolutions are the application of policy on the same level as the Mandate of Lazarus.
17. The Assembly Speaker is tasked with overseeing votes and the passage of bills, elections, and setting procedural rules of the Assembly if required.
18. Resignation is to voluntarily give notice or request they be terminated from their position in the region, or for instance to give up citizenship voluntarily in the case of revoking of citizenship.
19. Removal from office can be from the action of a higher authority such as the Prime Minister or the Delegate, from a vote of the Assembly, or as part of the conditions of a court ruling.
20. Automatic removal from office would be as a result of either loss of citizenship, their nation ceasing to exist or from the failure to comply with the obligations or requirements of citizenship.
21. Deputies of the Assembly Speaker of Lazarus can act in the stead of the Assembly Speaker and are set their duties by the Assembly Speaker.
22. The head of state or Delegateof Lazarus could resign, be removed from office, or be automatically removed from office, in which case the line succession would be followed, from the Vice Delegate of Lazarus down to the list of succession decided by the last Delegate.
23. The World Assembly Delegate is an in-game position that allows for a nation to carry out in-game executive powers, such as the appointment and removal of regional officers, the ejection and/or banning of nations, and allows for them to add the collective vote of the region to a World Assembly resolution in the General Assembly or Security Council. In User Created Regions (UCRs) the powers of the World Assembly Delegate are set by the Founder nation, unless the region is founder-less, in which case it has the same authority as a Delegate would have in a Game Created Region like Lazarus.
24: Citizenship admittance/citizenship is the process whereby resident nations of Lazarus become citizens, which is defined by the Mandate and the Lazarene Citizenship Act (January 2020), which define how the Delegate approves or declines citizenship, and how the Granting Official and Prime Minister advise them.
25:The Mandate of Lazarus is the regional consitutional document upon which all other laws are based.
26: The Assembly is the legislature of Lazarus, meaning the body made up of citizens who write laws and elect and decide certain policies or appointments [Citation: Wikipedia.org].
27: The Executive Council is a body that exercises executive power and advises or helps the Prime Minister.
28: The Court of Lazarus is the judicial body tasked with interpreting and defining constitutional law as petitioned, and to oversee and judge criminal cases.
29: The root administrator is responsible for maintaining the Lazarus forum, Lazarus discord server, and other off-site properties.
30: Regional Border Control is the in-game regional officer ability to ban or eject nations from Lazarus, through the use of in-game regional influence, which in Lazarus is assigned to the Delegate and the Council on Lazarene Security.
31: Communications Officers have the ability to "send region-wide telegrams without stamps, compose Welcome telegrams, suppress & unsuppress posts on the Regional Message Board, and control who can recruit for the region" [Citation: nationstates.net].
32: Regional Officers are appointed by the Delegate (or the Founder in most user created regions) to perform duties with certain in-game regional powers, which are set in the categories of appearance, border control, communications, embassies, and polls [Citation: nationstates.net].