Constitution

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Constitution April 2010 — The Constitution, edition April 2010

The National Constitution of the Kingdom of Lovia or the Constitution is the highest law in Lovia. It was authored in 2007 by then-Crown Prince Dimitri of Lovia. It was approved by Congress by an absolute majority. The Constitution's supremacy is mandatory in Lovia. In it, all fundamental statements and political and judiciary procedures are enshrined. Already fourteen amendments have been made to the Constitution, of which one in the last year. The First Amendment fixed the word choice issues and unclearities, the Second stressed the unitarity of the National State, the Third reformed citizenship registration and reviewed the executive power of the ruling monarch and Prime Minister, the Fourth settled some language questions, the Fifth Amendment reformed voting in federal elections, the Sixth Amendment (or 2010 State Reform) mostly reformed the states and their powers, and the Seventh Amendment dealt with the number of residences citizens may have. The Tenth Amendment (or 2011 State Reform) reformed the Congress into an 100 member legislature, and reformed the post of Prime Minister. It also gave rights to fair trials (article 12). In 2017 the Constitution was reformed again

Index

Article 1 – Fundamental declarations on the State of Lovia
- Article 1 A - Lovian National State
- Article 1 B - Lovia is a monarchy, ruled by a king or queen
Article 2 – Rights of every human being in Lovia
Article 3 – The Lovian citizenship
Article 4 – The structure of Lovia
Article 5 – Legislature and executive power
Article 6 – Amending the Federal and State Law
Article 7 – Amending the Constitution
Article 8 – Elections and the formation of a federal government
Article 9 – Supreme Court Trials
Article 10 – State Court Trials (repealed)
Article 11 – National symbols and language
Article 12 - Rights to Fair Trials

Content

The Constitution has 12 articles, each divided in sections, then divided in subsections and subsubsections.

Article 1

Article 1 A - Lovian National State

Lovia is a sovereign, independent, unitary and indivisible National State.
Lovia is a democratic and social state, governed by the rule of law, in which human dignity, the citizens' rights and freedoms, the free development of human personality, justice and political pluralism represent supreme values, in the spirit of the democratic traditions of the Lovian people and shall be guaranteed.
Lovia shall be organized based on the principle of the separation and balance of powers - legislative, executive, and judicial - within the framework of constitutional democracy. Therefore no person is entitled to combine a top function in two or three branches of government; thus, the ruling monarch, the Prime Minister and the Supreme Court Judge shall be no less than three different persons.
In Lovia, the observance of the Constitution, its supremacy and the laws shall be mandatory.
The national sovereignty shall reside within the Lovia people, that shall exercise it by means of their representative bodies, resulting from free, periodical and fair elections, as well as by referendum.
No group or person may exercise sovereignty in one's own name.

Article 1 B - Lovia is a monarchy, ruled by the ruling monarch.

The ruling monarch is the person who legally inherited the throne from the previous ruling monarch. He or she is thus a descendant of the first Lovian monarch, King Arthur I of Lovia (Arthur Noble).
1. The ruling monarch can be either male (the King) or female (the Queen).
The method of the line of succession to the Lovian throne is absolute cognatic primogeniture. Therefore, the person who legally inherits the Lovian throne, after the previous ruling monarch has either deceased or abdicated, is the person who is the eldest child of the previous monarch. If the monarch had no children, the throne goes to the next oldest sibling, followed by younger siblings and cousins.
1. All descendants of Arthur I of Lovia are part of the line of succession, regardless of any activity, except for those that have requested that they be removed.
The partner of the ruling monarch is the person who legally married the ruling monarch. They are a member of the royal family, but they do not enjoy privileges over the citizens of Lovia.
The person first in line to the throne is known as the heir apparent, and becomes monarch after the previous monarch has abdicated or deceased.
1. The heir apparent to the throne will sign the Constitution upon their coronation.
2. The heir apparent assumes the throne after they have presented themself to Congress on invitation of a normal majority in Congress. After this, the heir is officially declared Monarch of Lovia.
The ruling monarch has the right to demand financial support from the Ministry of Finance, in which case the Minister of Finance can decide to grant the ruling monarch an amount of money, in agreement with Congress.
1. The maximum amount of financial support that can be given is 4000 Lovian dollars per month.
With the exception of the ruling monarch in function, no member of the royal family is granted extra-legal privileges. Each member of the royal family, with the exception of the ruling monarch in function, is a regular citizen as determined by the Constitution.
The ruling monarch's functions in the government are ceremonial.
1. The ruling monarch should preside over Congress, in partnership with the Speaker of the Congress.
2. The ruling monarch does not have a vote in Congress, but is free to discuss and make opinions on the laws and activities of Congress.

Article 2

Article 2 – Rights of every human being in Lovia

Every human being and citizen has the right:
1. Of freedom of thought, meaning and religion.
2. Of equality, by race, religion, political opinion, language, sex, property, birth or other statuses.
3. Of privacy.
4. To have personal or common property.
5. To be arrested in a trial and to be treated correctly.
6. To have a residence.
7. To work and to receive education.
8. To relax and recreate.
9. To live in peace with his or her fellow-men.
10. To live in welfare.
11. To become a Lovian citizen.
Every Lovian citizen has the right:
1. To have a primary residences in Lovia.
  1. A citizen is granted the right an additional residence every 4 weeks after achieving citizenship.
    1. This is limited to 4 additional residences, which must be registered in priority order.
      1. This priority may be changed once per month.
    2. These additional residences may be revoked if the citizen commits edit vandalism or has them revoked in a trial. Once they are revoked, the citizen may start accruing additional residences again.
Every Lovian citizen above the minimum age requirement has the right:
1. To vote in federal and state elections.
  1. The minimum age requirement is set at:
    1. Eighteen years, for the federal elections.
    2. Either sixteen, seventeen or eighteen years, for the state elections, at the discretion of the government of the respective state.
  2. No citizen may be barred from voting on grounds of their gender, sexual orientation, race, personal beliefs, or religious background.

Article 3

Article 3 – The Lovian citizenship

Every inhabitant of Lovia has the right to become a Lovian citizen.
1. An inhabitant of Lovia is every person who has a domicile (permanent residence) within Lovia.
2. There are requirements to become a Lovian citizen:
  1. He or she must reside in Lovia.
  2. He or she must have been present in Lovia for 2 weeks since their first edit.
    1. Acts of vandalism or related edits shall disqualify a person for 4 weeks.
  3. He or she must have made contributions of quality and demonstrate that they intend to continue doing so in the future.
  4. He or she must truthfully provide the following personal information:
    1. His or her official name that consists of at least one given name and a surname.
    2. His or her biological sex.
    3. His or her domicile (permanent residence) address; This being a house name or number, neighborhood and settlement name.
The rights of a citizen are described in Article 2.
One's citizenship may be taken away as a punishment in a trial.

Article 4

Article 4 – The structure of Lovia

The Kingdom of Lovia is governed on different levels:
1. The federal level encompasses the entire Lovian territory.
  1. The executive power of the federal level inheres to the Government of Lovia. This government consists of the Prime Minister and the ministers of the federal government, and has control over government ministries, government institutions and civil services.
    1. The Prime Minister and other ministers are Members of the Congress; however, the heads of government institutions and civil services do not need to be Members of the Congress.
  2. All legislative power inheres to the Lovian Congress. This parliamentary body consists of the Members of the Congress, who are either democratically elected by the citizens of Lovia or who are Member by Right (the ruling monarch). Congress may, as the sole body in the nation, write and amend legal matters in the Federal Law and the Constitution.
  3. All judicial power inheres to the Supreme Court of Lovia.
2. The state level consists of five states with limited powers: Clymene, Kings, Oceana, Seven and Sylvania.
  1. The executive power of the federal level inheres to the Governor and Deputy Governor of each state, both democratically elected by the citizens of each state.
  2. The local level, consisting of cities and towns, and the sublocal level, consisting of neighborhoods and hamlets, are governed by the state authorities.

Article 5

Article 5 – Legislature and executive power

In general, the competencies of the state level are limited to local government that does not interfere with federal law and government. The following competencies belong to the state level:
1. The naming, organizing and maintaining of urban parks, public places, streets, markets, roads (with the exclusion of highways), waterways, natural areas and environmentally significant places that are not protected by the federal government, culturally significant monuments that are not protected by the federal government.
2. Informing the state population about the various aspects of the state, the federal government and its policies.
3. The construction and planning of neighborhoods and hamlets.
  1. The Governor may decide on the construction, destruction, re-organization of neighborhoods and hamlets in that specific state.
    1. The Lovian Congress may overrule the Governor's decision by a normal majority. From the moment a bill to overrule that decision has been proposed to Congress, the Governor cannot proceed with the construction, destruction or re-organization. If the decision is in effect overruled by Congress, the Governor may not construct, destroy or re-organize neighborhoods and hamlets for thirty-one days, to protect the state and its inhabitants from whimsical construction plans.
    2. The Governor may not grant a town a fifth neighborhood, which would make it a city.
4. Bringing the people of Lovia and the different levels and branches of government closer to one another.
5. Advising the Lovian Congress on issues related to the particular state.
6. Advising federal institutions in relation to protected natural regions and culturally significant locations and monuments in the particular state.
7. Creating and managing state agencies and corporations which have the sole function and duty to perform the tasks the state government is entitled to perform, including but not exclusively maintaining roads and waterways and protecting cultural and natural heritage.
  1. Such agencies and corporations are not entitled to engage in other economic activities.
  2. The number of such agencies and corporations within one state may not exceed five, allowing states to run a cultural heritage agency, a natural protection agency, a public works corporation, an urban planning agency, and other possible such agencies or corporations.
All competencies not covered by the states inhere to the federal level.
When a state is in conflict with the federal level or with another state, in relation to their legal competencies, any of the involved parties may consult the Supreme Court.
1. The Supreme Court Judge must in turn consult the laws of Lovia and must interpret these justly and with respect to the well-being of the Lovians.
  1. The Supreme Court Judge must then decide to which of the involved parties the competency of conflict inheres.
  2. The Supreme Court Judge may also find the matter inconclusive. He or she may then require the Congress to amend the Constitution. Such a requirement is binding and obligatory.

Article 6

Article 6 – Amending the Federal and State Law.

A motion to amend the Federal Law can be:
- A proposal for a new article in the Federal Law;
- A proposal to amend a section of the Federal Law;
- A proposal to remove a section of the Federal Law.
The required steps to propose a motion to the Federal Law in Congress:
1. All Lovian citizens may write and propose motions to the Federal Law.
2. Motions are presented to the Members of the Congress in the First Chamber by the proposer in conjunction with the Speaker.
  1. Each week a set amount of motions may be brought before Congress to ensure the work of Congress can be properly debated and managed. The Speaker is responsible for enforcing these limits and ensuring that Ministers, non-Ministerial Members of the Congress and Lovian citizens do not use up the slots not reserved for them.
    1. Motions from Ministers, including the Prime Minister, are limited to four a week.
    2. Motions from non-Ministerial Members of the Congress are limited to four a week.
    3. Motions from Lovian Citizens are limited to two a week.
    4. The Speaker must remove proposals that violate these limits.
3. All Members of the Congress are expected to read the motion and form a personal opinion about it. In order to obtain the support of a majority of Members of the Congress, changes may be proposed in the First Chamber.
  1. Changes may only be made with the consent of the proposer.
4. If the proposing Member of the Congress expects that the majority of Congress is in favor of the motion, he or she may move it to the Second Chamber.
  1. If they do not move it to the Second Chamber within a month the Speaker is obligated to request that they move it to the Second Chamber within two days or withdraw it and enforce the result.
5. All Members of the Congress are expected to vote on the motion in the Second Chamber.
  1. There are three valid voting options, two countable and one uncountable. The countable options: pro (in favor of the motion) or contra (in opposition to the motion). And the uncountable option: abstention (the declaration to not to vote).
  2. A normal majority is required to pass a motion. A normal majority is described as more than fifty percent of the countable votes.
  3. All Members of the Congress have two weeks’ time to cast their vote in the Second Chamber.
6. When the motion is accepted by Congress, it must be implemented. The Minister of Justice, the Prime Minister and the ruling monarch are enprivileged to enshrine passed motions in the law, although all Members of the Congress may do it, if done correctly.
7. When the motion is not accepted, either because the majority opposed it or because no majority was found in favor of the motion, it shall be removed from the Second Chamber. Any citizen and Member of the Congress has the right to propose an altered version for reconsideration in the First Chamber.
A motion that is not intended to be enshrined in the Federal Law, but that does need Congressional approval, is proposed and voted in the same way.
For each motion that has been moved to the Second Chamber by Congress, and that is in due time either approved, rejected or proven unable to gain the required support, Congress must keep a record, starting February 1st of the year 2011, which will be known as the Congressional Journal.
A motion to amend the State Law can be:
- A proposal for a new article in the State Law;
- A proposal to amend a section of the State Law;
- A proposal to remove a section of the State Law.
The required steps to propose a motion to the State Law:
1. All Lovian citizens that reside in the concerning State may write and propose motions to the State Law. The Governor may also create their own motions, known as edicts.
2. Motions are presented to the respective State's Governor in the State Council by the proposer.
  1. Each week a set amount of motions may be brought before the Governor to ensure the Governor's work can be properly debated and managed. The Governor is required to enforce these limits, ensuring that they themselves, the Deputy Governor and citizens residing in the State do not use up the slots not reserved for them.
    1. Governor's Edicts are limited to four a week.
    2. Motions from the Deputy Governor are limited to four a week.
    3. Motions from Citizens residing in the State are limited to two a week.
    4. The Governor must remove proposals that violate these limits.
3. The Governor is expected to read the motion and form a personal opinion about it. In order to obtain the support of the Governor, changes may be proposed.
  1. Changes may only be made with the consent of the proposer.
  2. The Governor has two weeks time to either accept or decline a proposal.
4. When the motion is accepted by the Governor via written affirmation and their signature, it must be implemented. The Governor and the Deputy Governor are enprivileged to enshrine passed motions in the law, although all citizens of the respective State may do that, if done correctly.
5. When the motion is not accepted, either because the Governor opposed it or because the two weeks' consideration time expired, it shall not be implemented.
  1. Any citizen has the right to propose an altered version for reconsideration to the Governor however if it is sufficiently similar the Governor may refuse to receive it.
A motion that is not intended to be enshrined in the State Law, but that does need Governor's approval, is proposed and managed in the same way.
The Lovian Congress reserves the right to block additions and amendments to the State Law by a normal majority, if the motion is deemed contradictive, unconstitutional or illegal. These issues can be brought before Congress on Saturdays or Sundays by any Lovian citizen and are treated as motions.
States must have a State Council with the State's own choice of election system and system of running. However this council is purely advisory and the Governor retains the final say over the workings of the State, behind the Federal Congress.

Article 7

Article 7 – Amending the Constitution

A motion to amend the Constitution is called an Amendment.
The required steps to propose a motion to the Constitution in Congress:
1. All Lovian citizens may write and propose amendments to the Constitution.
2. Amendments are presented to the Members of the Congress in the First Chamber.
3. If the proposing Member of the Congress expects that the majority of Congress is in favor of the amendment, he or she may move it to the Second Chamber.
4. All Members of the Congress are expected to vote on the amendment in the Second Chamber.
  1. There are three valid voting options: pro (in favor of the motion), contra (in opposition to the motion) and abstention (the wish not to vote).
  2. A special majority is required to pass a amendment. A special majority is described as more than two thirds (66.67%) of the valid votes.
  3. All Members of the Congress have two weeks’ time to cast their vote in the Second Chamber. Voting may be closed earlier if the required majority is reached. The proposer may also choose to lengthen the voting period.
5. When the amendment is accepted by Congress, it must be implemented. The Minister of Justice, the Prime Minister and the ruling monarch are enprivileged to enshrine passed amendments in the law, although all Members of the Congress may do it, if done correctly.
6. When the amendment is not accepted, either because the majority opposed it or because no majority was found in favor of the amendment, it shall be removed from the Second Chamber. Any citizen and Member of the Congress has the right to propose an altered version for reconsideration in the First Chamber.

Article 8

Article 8 – Elections and the formation of a federal government

Federal Elections:
1. Every four months federal elections must be held for the election of the 100 seat Congress.
2. The term of office of every Member of the Congress is exactly three months and three weeks. Therefore every four months the elections should be held on the same dates.
3. Election procedure during Federal Elections:
  1. During a period of two weeks, any Lovian citizen can, without restrictions, become a candidate in the Federal Elections. This period begins exactly twenty-nine days before Inauguration Day.
    1. Candidates which are members of a party are grouped under a party list.
  2. During a period of a week, any Lovian citizen can cast his or her votes in favor of candidates in the Federal Elections. Any Lovian citizen aged 18 or older may exercise their right to vote in a federal election.
    1. Every citizen may cast three favorable votes in the Federal Elections: a Major Vote, a Minor Vote and a Favor Vote. A Major Vote is worth three points, a Minor Vote two and a Favor Vote one.
    2. Citizens may choose not to cast their votes, or to only cast some of them.
    3. Citizens may not cast multiple votes for the same party list or candidate. All cast votes must be given to different party lists or candidates.
    4. A party list or candidate must receive at least 1% of the total vote to receive any seats in Congress.
    5. Candidates from the previous government will have their vote reduced by a tenth, while all other challengers will have their vote increased by a tenth.
  3. The normal dates of elections, excluding the possibility of a dissolution of Congress, are set as below:
    1. January 1st to 14th for nominations, and from January 15th to 21st for voting. Inauguration Day is set at January 29th.
    2. May 1st to 14th for nominations, and from May 15th to 21st for voting. Inauguration Day is set at May 29th.
    3. September 1st to 14th for nominations, and from September 15th to 21st for voting. Inauguration Day is set at September 29th.
  4. All party lists and candidates will complete the elections with a percentage of the total votes, with the exception of those that have withdrawn.
    1. 70 of the 100 Congress seats are proportionally distributed amongst the party lists and candidates according to the percentage of the vote they received. Further the party three lists that receive the first, second and third largest percent of the vote shall receive 15, 10 and 5 additional seats respectively.
      1. Seats won by party lists are divided up equally between the candidates of the party list with split seats being given to the candidates with the longest standing membership.
      2. Non-party list candidates may delegate their seats to all the parties that they wish, but still control the votes of each congressperson.
4. Federal by-elections must be held when one or more non-party list Members of the Congress are inactive; either self-declared or if they have not edited the First or Second Chamber for over a month (30 days).
  1. A by-election must be called by the Speaker on the first Monday this becomes true for any Members of the Congress.
  2. These are held in the same manner as a federal election except that nominations last for a week and voting for four days.
  3. The seats held by the inactive Members of the Congress are then redistributed proportionally amongst the candidates according to their share of the vote.
5. Seats should be redistributed amongst active party list Members of the Congress from those party list Members of the Congress that become inactive; either self-declared or if they have not edited the First or Second Chamber for over a month (30 days).
  1. If there are no other Members of the Congress in that party then a Federal by-election should be held.
The Prime Minister and Ministers of the Federal Government:
1. A coalition of political parties and/or Members of the Congress that should, but does not necessarily need to, control more than 50% of the seats of Congress should form between the end of elections and Inauguration Day.
2. The coalition should create a proposal of which Members of the Congress should become the Prime Minister and the ministers of the federal government. This proposal must be approved by a normal majority in Congress.
  1. This proposal may only create ten ministers in addition to the Prime Minister. This is to ensure accountability of ministers and avoid positions being used as bribes.
  2. All government proposals are voted upon in the First Chamber with voting starting once the first proposal is tabled and ending on the day prior to inauguration day.
  3. If no government proposal is approved, then inauguration must be post-poned another two weeks and the Members of the Congress should attempt again to gain approval for a proposal.
    1. If no government proposal is approved after this extension, a new election must be held in two weeks time.
3. A Member of the Congress should be elected by a normal majority of Congress to become the Speaker of the Congress, who presides over Congress in conjunction with the ruling monarch.
  1. The Speaker of the Congress has the power to appoint a special session of congress in the case that more than half of congressional members are inactive and elections are not being held.
4. Congress should be able to question all executing members of government - of any level - about their activities. If the congress has lost their trust in the questioned person, a motion of distrust may be proposed in congress against him or her. When this motion is accepted by a normal majority, he or she has to resign from the government and a replacement has to be proposed by another Member of the Congress, accepted by the person who is nominated, and approved by Congress.
5. When Congress has lost its trust in the incumbent government, it can vote a motion of no confidence. When this motion is accepted by a normal majority, both the government and Congress are dissolved and new federal elections are to be held, with the former government and congress continuing until inauguration of the new congress.
6. If the Prime Minister or a minister resigns, a replacement has to be proposed by another Member of the Congress, accepted by the person who is nominated, and approved by Congress.
7. The Prime Minister may schedule new federal elections at any time. If he or she decides to do so, both the government and Congress are dissolved and new federal elections are to be held, with the former government and congress continuing until inauguration of the new congress.
State Elections:
1. Every Lovian citizen has the right to become a candidate for Governor of a state wherein he or she has a primary, secondary or tertiary official residence within which they have resided for two weeks prior to nominations.
  1. It is not permitted to be a candidate during a state election in more than one state.
2. The term of office of the elected Governor and Deputy Governor is exactly three months and three weeks. Therefore every four months the elections should be held at the same date.
3. Election procedure during State Elections:
  1. During a period of two weeks, any Lovian citizen and resident of the state can become a candidate in the State Elections. This period begins exactly twenty-nine days before the day of the inauguration of the Governor and Deputy Governor.
  2. During a period of one week, any Lovian citizen can cast his or her vote in favor of a candidate in the State Elections of the state of which he or she is an official resident. A state may set the voting age limit for statewide elections to either the age of 16, 17, or 18, according to the preference of the state.
    1. Every citizen may cast one vote per state election. Inhabitants of multiple states have the right to cast one vote for each state in which they have an official residence.
    2. Votes are weighed according to the primacy of the citizen's residence in the state: Primary residences afford a Major Vote, secondary and tertiary residences afford a Minor Vote and all other residences afford a Favor Vote. A Major Vote is worth three points, a Minor Vote two and a Favor Vote one.
    3. Citizens may choose not to cast their vote.
    4. Incumbent governors will have their vote reduced by a tenth, while all other challengers will have their vote increased by a tenth.
  3. The normal dates of elections, excluding the possibility of a resignation of both Governor and Deputy Governor, are set as below:
    1. March 1st to 14th for nominations, and from March 15th to 21st for voting. Inauguration Day is set at March 29th.
    2. July 1st to 14th for nominations, and from July 15th to 21st for voting. Inauguration Day is set at July 29th.
    3. November 1st to 14th for nominations, and from November 15th to 21st for voting. Inauguration Day is set at November 29th.
  4. The candidate who received the highest number of votes and at least 25% of the vote will become Governor of the state in which he or she participated in the state elections.
    1. In the case of a draw, a second voting round must be held exactly seven days later for four days.
      1. This second round will only include the candidates who drew.
    2. In the case where no candidate achieves the percentage of votes required to become Governor, a second round must be held exactly seven days later for four days.
      1. This second round will only include the two candidates with the highest percentage of the vote.
    3. The Governor is in charge of the competencies given to the state government.
  5. The candidate who received the second highest number of votes will become Deputy Governor of the state in which he or she participated in the state elections.
    1. The Deputy Governor is in temporary charge of the state competencies during the absence of the Governor. This includes inactivity; either self-declared or if the Governor has not edited for over a month (30 days).
    2. Upon the resignation of the Governor, or any other instance causing the Governor to quit, the Deputy Governor becomes Governor and will keep this office until the next elections.
      1. Fresh elections should be held should the new Governor become inactive; either self-declared or if the new Governor has not edited for over a month (30 days).

Article 9

Article 9 – Supreme Court Trials

The Supreme Court is an independent institution and the nation's only and supreme judicial organ, led by three Supreme Court Judges.
A lawsuit is a civil or public action brought before a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have received damages from a defendant's actions, seeks a legal or equitable remedy, from the defendant who is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint.
A lawsuit can be opened by a plaintiff or a public plaintiff.
1. Any person in Lovia may be a plaintiff in a lawsuit.
2. A public plaintiff is a representative of the federal government or any institution of it or any other level of administration in Lovia.
  1. The federal attorney is the public plaintiff representing the federal government, the entire population or any other administrative institution of the federal level in court. He or she is appointed by the Minister of Justice.
A defendant is the party accused by the plaintiff.
1. A public defendant has the same status as a public plaintiff.
The Judges, plaintiff and defendent must all be different people. If one of Judges are involved in the case, he/she must resign and a replacement be nominated.
Both parties may opt to be represented in court by a lawyer.
Every lawsuit before the Supreme Court must proceed in this manner and order:
1. The plaintiff opens the lawsuit.
  1. The plaintiff makes an accusation and names the defendant in the lawsuit.
  2. The plaintiff may make a demand. This can be a period of imprisonment, a fine or/and any other punishment not contradicting the laws of Lovia.
2. The Supreme Court Judges must investigate the accusation. They may find the accusation not suited for Supreme Court; that is when the accusations made are in no way a violation of the law.
3. The Supreme Court must notify the defendant that he or she is accused in court.
4. The Supreme Court Judges must read out the case, including accusations and demands.
5. The plaintiff's party must speak before court in order to convince the Supreme Court Judges of the truthfulness of the made claims. He or she may bring forward witnesses, that can be asked questions directly relating to the accusations, and/or evidence material. He or she may ask the defendant's party questions directly relating to the accusations.
6. The defendant's party may speak before court. The defendant or his or her lawyer may plea guilty to the accusations, or unguilty. He or she may also try to convince the Supreme Court Judges of extenuating circumstances. The defendant is free to bring forward witnesses and evidence, both directly relating to the accusations or to the extenuating circumstances.
7. The Supreme Court Judges must consider both pleas thorougly and by interpreting the laws of Lovia.
8. The plaintiff's party may demand a second round, for which the same rules account.
9. The defendant's party may demand a second round, for which the same rules account, but only if the plaintiff's party has made use of their second round.
10. The Supreme Court Judges must consider the entirity of the lawsuit. The Judges must, within two week's time since the last plea, come to a conclusion. They may conclude:
  1. That the defendant is guilty of the accusations, or of a part of the accusations;
  2. That the defendant is not guilty of any accusations.
11. All Judges must agree on the conclusion, except in the following circumstances:
  1. One of the Judges does not make an edit for a full week. In this situation, the agreement of the two remaining Judges will suffice.
  2. The Judges disagree completely over the verdict to give. In this case, the Judges must announce their inability to judge the case and stand down. Three new Judges must be appointed and continue with the case.
12. If the Supreme Court Judges find the defendant guilty, he or she may choose to sentence the defendant, by means of:
  1. A period of imprisonment in a federal penitentiary;
  2. A fine;
  3. Any other sentence, including penal labor or contributions to Lovian society.
13. All sentences issued by the Supreme Court:
  1. Must be in agreement with the laws of Lovia;
  2. Must be in proportion to the violation;
  3. Must respect the personal integrity of the individual; therefore death penalty, corporal punishment and inhumane forms of humiliation are prohibited.
Potential candidates for the position of Supreme Court Judges must be nominated by the Prime Minister, who will officially announce the candidacy in Congress in the same manner as a motion would be presented.
1. The candidate must have twenty-five congresspersons announce support of the candidate in the First Chamber to allow the nomination to move to the Second Chamber.
2. Once the nomination moves to the Second Chamber, the candidate requires a simple majority after two weeks of voting to become a Supreme Court Judge.
3. At no point may two Judges be members of the same political party.
  1. Should this situation arise the longest standing Judge will retain their seat and the other Judge will immediately be discharged from the Supreme Court.
4. The term of each Supreme Court Judge lasts for one year, or shorter, if they resign due to personal reasons or a conflict of interests, or if the Judges declare their inability to judge the case.
  1. At the end of his/her term, the Judge must stand down and another must be elected.
  2. Judges must not remain in office for two consecutive terms, except in exceptional circumstances, such as if another two nominees failing to gain Congressional approval prior to the proposal.
5. If one of the Supreme Court Judge resigns from his or her duty, the Prime Minister is bound to appoint a successor, with Congressional confirmation, within one month's time. It is the Supreme Court Judges' duty to continue their service until another Judge is confirmed, and until all ongoing cases are terminated, or prepared to be passed on to his successor, without causing disturbances.
6. Congress has the unique power to discharge a Supreme Court Judge forthwith, by a special majority. The Prime Minister is then bound to appoint a successor, with Congressional confirmation, within one month's time.

Article 10 (repealed)

Article 10 – State Court Trials

Issues for the State Court:
- Every case concerning state, local or sublocal issues.
Starting a case:
1. The case can be started by: a plaintiff or a public plaintiff (a representative of the government, the nation, the state, the city, the town…).
2. There has to be a defendant: the person or organization accused by the plaintiff. This can also be a public defendant, that’s when the government is accused by someone or something.
3. Both plaintiff or defendant may use a lawyer.
4. The case starts when one of both parties asks the State Court for a lawsuit.
5. The Judge has to examine the case and look at all the evidence. If he thinks this case isn’t appropriate for the State Court, he can redirect it to the Supreme Court.
The lawsuit:
1. The Judge starts with reading the file on this case.
2. The plaintiff (or his/her lawyer) has the right to speak to the Judge in public. He or she can also bring witnesses or material on the case. He can ask the defendant questions to prove his or her guiltiness.
3. Then the defendant (or his/her lawyer) can speak and ask questions to witnesses. Bringing material is also allowed, to prove his or her innocence.
Judging the case:
1. The Judge retreats and examines all the evidence and considers what both the defendant and the plaintiff have said or shown. He will use the Constitution and the Federal Law as his guidelines.
Decision:
1. The Judge will make his decision clear:
  - He or she can declare someone guilty. The Judge can fine this person or organization, or can lock somebody up, for a time according to the crime.
  - He or she can warn somebody or an organization, for doing wrong, but not that wrong there has to be a punishment.
  - He or she can declare the defendant unguilty and free.
  - He or she can redirect this case to the Supreme Court, because it’s not appropriate.
The State Court Judges are appointed by the Minister of Justice, with the agreement of the Governor of the State in which the new State Court Judge will work.

Article 11

Article 11 – National symbols and language

The federal capital of Lovia is Noble City, Sylvania.
The national symbol of Lovia is the white pine tree.
The national colors of Lovia are navy blue, red and white.
The national flag of Lovia has a navy blue hoist, a red fly and the white pine tree as badge.
The national language is English.
1. The variety of English spoken and written by the Lovians is Lovian English. Lovian English is defined as a variety of American English, sharing its orthography and grammar, and most of its pronunciation and vocabulary, supplemented with lexical and grammatical features that are generally recognized as Lovian and that are understandable to all Lovians.
2. The Lovian authorities of all levels shall make use of standardized Lovian English in all official documents.
3. The language Oceana is recognized as a regional minority language, and shall thus be protected from extinction.
  1. The language may publicly be used by its speakers, under the condition that an accurate English translation shall be provided within a reasonable time.
  2. The Narasha 'Oshenna Rát or Oceana Language Council is a federal institution under the Ministry of Culture that shall preserve the language through literary, cultural and lexicographical projects. The Narasha 'Oshenna Rát is entitled to regulate and promote the use of Oceana language.

Article 12

Article 12 - Rights to a Fair Trial

All people accused in a civil or criminal case pending with a Lovian court are entitled to a due process of law as defined in this section of the Constitution, in correspondence with Articles 1.A.2 and 2.1.5.
The due process of law is supervised by a Judicial Council which is an organ independent of any of the three powers judicial, legislative and executive.
1. The Judicial Council consists of a Supreme Court Judge, the Minister of Justice and a representative of the Congress.
  1. Of all the non-involved Supreme Court Judges the one with longest duty is chosen for every case-specific assembly.
  2. For every case-specific assembly Congress appoints a MOTC as its representative.
  3. All three seats of the Judicial Council are at any time occupied by different members.
2. The Judicial Council must judge on the challenging of judges and motivations as described in 3.3 and 4.1 of this section of the Constitution.
3. The Judicial Council may formulate an advice to the Congress on the appointment or removal of a judge.
To ensure a due process of law a defendant in a civil or criminal case pending with a Lovian court has the following rights:
1. To have access to an independent and impartial judge with the full judicial power to judge on both the facts and the rights.
  1. A judge is considered independent if he or she does not follow instructions of another judge or a political actor.
  2. A judge is considered impartial if he or she does not show any bias towards a party in a case he or she is judging.
  3. The fair access to a judge is guaranteed by allowing any involved party to challenge the judge before the Judicial Council.
    1. If the Judicial Council agrees to the challenge it can either appoint a replacing judge or judge the case itself.
    2. If the Judicial Council denounces the challenge the judge resumes his duty and his judgement is legally binding.
2. To be provided the following means in order to be sufficiently able to exercise one's right to a fair defense:
  1. The ability to choose not to speak or answer any question by calling upon one's right to remain silent.
  2. The ability to get advice from and to be defended by a lawyer which can not be treated as a witness.
  3. A treatment in compliance with the presumption of innocence for the duration of the trial.
  4. The ability to contradict all elements of a case during the trial and to be given the proper time to do so.
    1. The right to contradiction is limited to the substantial case and does not apply to police research.
    2. The judge can make an exception to this right to protect an anonymous witness from harm.
3. To be judged and hear one's verdict in publicity, ensured by entrance to the court room free to the public.
  1. The judge can cancel this right to protect an involved party from harm or to ensure public order.
  2. If the judge cancels this right he or she has to inform the involved parties at the start of the trial.
To ensure a due process of law the parties in a civil or criminal case pending with a Lovian court have the following rights:
1. To receive sufficient factual and judicial motivation for the verdict given in which all means raised are to be answered.
  1. If the motivation is believed to be insufficient, dubious or contradictory any involved party may challenge the verdict before the Judicial Council
  2. The Judicial Council can suspend a verdict if the motivation is found to be insufficient, dubious or contradictory though it can not be cancelled.
  3. A suspended verdict becomes executable when the judge altered its motivation to solve the problems determined by the Judicial Council.
2. To be provided with a judgement within a reasonable amount of time, at most one month after the judge opened the case.
  1. No one can be sentenced for an act more than one year after the act took place, tough the question of guilt can still be the object of a trial.
  2. An an exception, the following crimes are always punishable: murder, genocide, slavery, severe deprivation of freedom in conflict with the law, torture, grave sexual violence such as rape or forced prostitution, targeted persecution or discrimination of an identifiable group or community and forced disappearance.
3. To see the verdict executed once it is final as a means of assuring the rule of law.

History

Background

When King Arthur III died in August 2007, Congress began a long argument over the continuance of the monarchy. This caused quite some trouble for the 2007 Congress, which had been troublesome from the start. When it was agreed upon by the two leading parties, F1 and the King's Party, that Prince Dimitri of Lovia would indeed succeed Arthur III, the Republican Alternative ceased all participation in Congress. Crown Prince Dimitri authored the new Constitution, which would replace the 2003 Constitution, in order to provide for a more stable government. The bill was approved December 8th, 2007 by nine Members of the Congress. LDP and NLP opposed the new Constitution, and the RA restrained from voting. In January 2008, the first election since the new Constitution were held.

Amendments

Main article: Amendment.

So far, Fourteen amendments to the Constitution have been approved. The majority of them have been authored by King Dimitri I of Lovia, followed by Yuri Medvedev. A three fourths majority or higher was required until the 2010 State Reform was enacted in the summer of 2010. Since then, a constitutional amendment requires more than two thirds of the valid votes.

First Amendment, fixing word choices and weak spots (authored by King Dimitri);
Second Amendment, stressing the unitarity of the national state (authored by King Dimitri);
Third Amendment, reforming citizenship registration and reviewing the executive power of the ruling monarch and Prime Minister (authored by Yuri Medvedev and co-authored by King Dimitri);
Fourth Amendment, settling language matters (authored by King Dimitri);
Fifth Amendment, reforming federal election voting procedures (authored by Jon Johnson);
Sixth Amendment or 2010 State Reform, reforming the states, including the abolishment of state courts, state police, and introducing Deputy Governors (authored by King Dimitri);
Seventh Amendment, giving all citizens the right to three residences (authored by Martha Van Ghent);
Eighth Amendment, introducing a Congressional Journal (authored by Andy McCandless);
Ninth Amendment, reforming the appointment and dismission procedures for Supreme Court Judges (authored by Arthur Jefferson);
Tenth Amendment or 2011 State Reform, reforming the Congress and post of Prime Minister, abolishing the King's Member by Right status, and giving rights to fair trials (authored by William Krosby, Marcus Villanova, and Yuri Medvedev);
Eleventh Amendment or 2012 Judicial Reform, reforming the Supreme Court to three members, reinstating the King as an observer in Congress, and making cosmetic changes to other articles (authored by Semyon Breyev and William Krosby);
Twelfth Amendment, cementing voting rights and re-introducing State Law;
Thirteenth Amendment, changing the term of Supreme Judges from six months to one year;
Fourteenth Amendment or 2017 Citizen's Convention Reforms, reforming the rights of citizens, the methods of elections, the method of amending laws and the way the Supreme Court Judges are nominated and operate (authored by Lukas Hoffmann).

The 2011 State Reform, 2010 State Reform and the Third Amendment were the lengthiest and most complicated amendments. The Eighth Amendment, by contrast, only added one clause to the Constitution.