Post by Ian Plätschisch on Nov 29, 2015 16:40:36 GMT -6
WHEREAS The Organic Law has many provisions which would best be moved to statuary law, and
WHEREAS A simpler, clearer Organic Law would encourage more people to read it, which would result in a more knowledgeable citizenry
THEREFORE Article IX of the Organic Law, which currently reads;
Section 1
The Seneschál shall appoint a Secretary of State to an indefinite term. He may be removed and replaced by law. The Secretary of State shall supervise and organize the legislative business of the Ziu. He shall do this by administering a public venue for the inspection of legislative proposals before they become bills, "The Hopper" and by compiling and publishing the monthly legislative journal, "The Clark." He may delegate another citizen to act as Deputy Secretary of State, who will execute the powers and duties of the Secretary's office, while the Secretary is unavailable or unable to do so. This person shall be appointed and dismissed by the Secretary on whim.
Section 2
Any Member of the Cosâ, or Senator, or the King, shall have the right to submit legislative proposals and bills to the Secretary of State for consideration by the Ziu according to the procedures specified in this article.
Section 3
Except as provided in Article IX: Sec. 7, a bill is not eligible to be voted on by the Ziu and cannot be published in the Clark unless it was first submitted to "The Hopper" as a legislative proposal. And except as provided in Article IX: Sec. 8, only legislative proposals that are in "The Hopper" and have been there for at least ten days can become eligible for publication in "The Clark" as bills. Legislative proposals that are no longer in "The Hopper" cannot become bills.
Section 4
The Secretary of State is under no obligation to create a permanent record of legislative proposals in "The Hopper." The Secretary of State shall remove legislative proposals from "The Hopper" at the request of the author. If a legislative proposal has remained in the "The Hopper" for more than 59 days, the Secretary of State may remove it.
Section 5
A legislative proposal is submitted to the Secretary of State for publication in "The Hopper." A legislative proposal thus submitted should be followed by the words "Uréu q'estadra så" (or "Proposed by") and the name of the author and the capacity in which the author is offering the proposal. The Ziu may regulate how authors identify their capacity. A legislative proposal may be submitted by multiple sponsors, but the legislator whose name is listed first after the words "Uréu q'estadra så" (or "Proposed by") is considered the author of the legislative proposal. The Secretary of State may refuse to accept legislative proposals that are not clearly typed or word-processed. (47RZ37)
Section 6
Bills that will be eligible for publication when the next clark is published and have spent at least five days in the hopper may be submitted with or without modification or amendment as a bill to the Secretary of State by the author according to the procedures specified in this article. The Secretary of State may, however, refuse to accept the bill if he finds that the bill is so substantially different from its original form as a legislative proposal that it constitutes a significantly different proposal. Upon such a finding, the bill is automatically returned to "The Hopper."
Section 7
At his discretion, the Prime Minister shall have the right to withdraw any legislative proposal from "The Hopper" and instruct the Secretary of State to treat it as a properly submitted bill. The Prime Minister's Prime Dictates are exempt from all provisions relating to legislative proposals and "The Hopper."
Section 8
For the first Clark to be published following an Election Deadline as defined in Article VII: Sec. 3, only legislative proposals that are in "The Hopper" and have been there for at least five days can become eligible for publication in "The Clark" as bills.
Section 9
Bills must be submitted to the Secretary of State more than 24 hours before the publication of the Clark. Bills received less than 24 hours before publication of the Clark shall be published in the next Clark or postponed for one Clark, at the Secretary of State's discretion.
Section 10
(Repealed by amendment)
Section 11
If any bill seeks to amend, change, or repeal any Article of the Organic Law or any Law, the bill must specify exactly the Law(s) or Article(s), which it seeks to amend, change, or repeal. The Secretary of State may refuse to accept bills that do not comply with this provision.
Section 12
All bills received by the Secretary of State during one calendar month shall be compiled into a published legislative journal, to be called "The Clark." The Clark shall be compiled prior to the first day of the following month, and shall be published on that day.
Section 13
Notwithstanding Sections 2 and 6 of this Article, the Ziu may make laws regulating the number of bills a Member of the Cosâ or a Senator may submit for one Clark without the need to amend the Organic Law. (47RZ37)
Shall be amended to the following;
Section 1
The Secretary of State shall be appointed and dismissed as specified by law, and he or she shall supervise, and shall organise the legislative business of the Ziu. He or she shall do this by administering a public venue for the inspection of legislative proposals before they become bills, “The Hopper” and by compiling and publishing the monthly legislative journal, “The Clark”. The Secretary of State has the right to appoint deputies. Responsibilities, appointment, and dismissal of deputies shall be governed by law.
Section 2
Any Member of the Cosă, or a Senator, or the King, or the Secretary of State, shall have the right to submit legislative proposals, and bills to the Secretary of State for consideration by the Ziu according to the procedures specified in this article, and specified by law. Within the bounds and rules imposed by law, tradition, and reason, the Secretary of State shall ensure that all legislators be allowed to submit their bills for consideration.
Section 3
All bills received by the Secretary of State during one calendar month shall be compiled into a published legislative journal, to be called “The Clark”. The Clark shall be compiled prior to the first day of the following month, and shall be published on that day.
Section 4
At his discretion, the Prime Minister shall have the right to withdraw any legislative proposal from “The Hopper”, and instruct the Secretary of State to treat it as a properly submitted bill. Prime Dictates are exempt from all provisions relating unto legislative proposals.
Section 5
If any bill seeks to amend, change, or repeal any Article of the Organic Law or any Law, the bill must specify exactly the Law(s) or Article(s), which it seeks to amend, change, or repeal. The Secretary of State may refuse to accept bills that do not comply with this provision.
FURTHERMORE, upon the ratification of the above amendment by the People of Talossa, Title H of el Lexhatx, which currently reads;
1. Future elections shall be followed, when practical, by an official Living Cosa which shall be styled the "State Opening of the Cosa." At the State Opening, the PM shall read his Speech to the Nation and the Leader of the Opposition shall have a chance to rebut. A Living Cosa shall be carried out at the same time, on the Government's first Clark. At the start of the State Opening, the new PM will be sworn in publicly. The State Opening shall feature food, drink, and as many Talossans as possible will be invited to attend. (15RC9)
2. The Cosa authorises a question and answer period during Living Cosas. This will be called "Terpelaziuns" ('enquiries') or, for short, "Terps," or "Question Time." During Terpelaziuns, each MC may ask any other MC one question (plus a follow-up) and expect to receive some sort of answer. The Opposition Leader shall put the first question. Questions shall alternate between Government and Opposition members until all MCs on one side or the other have spoken. The remaining MCs may then put questions. Questions will be politely phrased in the third person and directed at the Speaker. Order of Questioners will be determined on an ad hoc basis by the Speaker. (14RC9)
2.1. Any Member of the Cosa (MC) or Senator may at any time between the First and Last Clark of a Cosa Term, table in “The Ziu” board on Witt, or its equivalent, a “c (PQ)” or “Terp” in a new thread or its equivalent. (44RZ1) 2.2. The PQ or Terp may ask one question to a named Member of the Government relating to Public Affairs connected with their Ministry or on matters of administration for which they are officially responsible. 2.3. There is no limit to the number of PQs or Terps a MC or Senator may submit in any given Clark. 2.4. Any PQ or Terp that is submitted by a MC or Senator in accordance with Section 1 above, must be answered by the named Minister within seven (7) days of the question being tabled. Should the Minister be unavailable to answer the question within the seven (7) days, the question shall be redirected to the Prime Minister or his/her appointed Deputy who shall be granted a further seven (7) days to answer the aforementioned question. With the agreement of the questioner, there may be a extension of seven (7) days on top of this period. However, the period from the asking of the question to the answering of the question, shall in no circumstances exceed twenty one (21) days. 2.5. For the purpose of subsection (a) above, “unavailable” means being unable for to access Witt, or its equivalent, for a acceptable and reasonable reason. Having Logged into or visited Witt during the seven day period, or its equivalent and having not seen or ignored the PQ or Terp, shall not constituent being unavailable. (c) This provision shall not apply PQs or Terps which refer to matters of Security or Defence of His Majesty’s Realm and/or any project(s), Correspondence or activities in which the Government has deemed and classed as confidential or its release may damage the Kingdom in any shape or form. Such questions may not be answered by any Minister. 2.6. The Minister must answer the question in the same thread or its equivalent as the original question and the questioner may ask one (1) supplementary question, in which subsection (a) above applies, with the seven days starting from the date the supplementary question is asked. 2.7. Failure to answer a question within the given timeframe shall constitute an offense and a Minister if found guilty of such a offense, will be subject to a punishment at the discretion of the Courts. 2.8. It shall be a defence to the Minister if the questioner, notwithstanding any other legitimate defences, did not or failed to: (i) Correctly title his/her question or; (ii) Ask a clear question. E.g. An ambiguous question, in which the Minister tried to clarify but failed to do so in the timeframe and did not subsequently answer. Or; (iii) Post his/her question in the correct board, or; (iv) Engage with the Minister in trying to answer his/her question or; (v) Direct the question to one named Minister.
3. All MCs must vote for themselves, and not through surrogates. They have innumerable options to communicate their own votes to the Secretary of State or to Undersecretary of State, including postcards, letters and phone calls. MCs are responsible for casting their own votes with their own assigned seats, and cannot cast votes for other MCs. If an MC will be unavailable to vote for some reason during any particular month, they may inform the Secretary or Undersecretary that they wish to vote exactly as another, named MC. That will be considered the sole justification for MC surrogate voting. (6RC30, 16RC11)
3.1. A person who is named as a Proxy Vote for another in a Living Cosâ is under the moral and legal obligation, whenever possible, to represent the original seat-holder's wishes and intentions on specific Ziu bills and the Vote of Confidence, whenever and however he is instructed or publicly notified to do so. (24RZ44)
4. A difference shall exist (and be spelled out in future bills) between committees (which are set up as standing committees, free to issue reports at any time) and Royal Commissions (or Commissions Royal) which are set up on an ad hoc basis and charged with a specific one-time task such as preparing a dossier or White Paper on a specific problem, and presenting the same to the Cosa. Once a Commission's paper is done, the Commission has fulfilled its duty and ceases to exist. (8RC35)
5. The Secretary of State will punish all Members of the Cosâ who cast invalid votes in the Vote of Confidence; the punishment being the declaration of said member's votes in the same Clark as null and void. (23RZ39)
6. His Majesty, when affixing His Royal Seal to Bills sent to him by this Ziu, may exclaim with all His Royal Royal-ness in the National Language of Our Nation, "El Regeu en volt." (25RZ17)
7. His Majesty, when acting out His Constitutional and Traditional Duty to Protect the Citizens of His Kingdom from Poor Government, decides to Withhold His Royal Seal from said Bill sent by said Ziu, may exclaim with all His Truth-and-Justice-ness in said National Language of said Kingdom, "El Regeu non en volt."
8. If the Prime Minister or a member of the Government party proposes a bill, and with the PM's permission marks it as a Government Bill, the Clark will denote this as a bill proposed by "HM Government, represented by" the member. If the Opposition Leader, or a member of the Opposition proposes a bill, and with the Opposition Leader's or the member's Party Leader's permission marks it as an Opposition Bill, the Clark will denote this as a bill proposed by "HM Loyal Opposition, represented by" the member. Any other bill will be called a Private Member's Bill, and will be denoted in the Clark the same way they've always been. (25RZ31)
9. Official non-Ziu titles may also be used when a member of the Ziu submit a bill, if the submitter feels that he is submitting a bill in another capacity as Ziu member. Such a title shall be called a "Limousine" or by its Talossan equivalent. A title of Senator, Distain or Member of the Cosa is a Ziu title, and as such not a Limousine. A person can only be entitled to a Limousine if he is both a member of the Ziu and holds an official title. A Limousine may contain, but is not restricted to: a governor's title, a minister or deputy minister's title, or a title conferred by a national organization such as the CÙG or the Secretary of State's office. This is not a means to allow non members of the Ziu to post bills using their Limousine, nor does this provision allow any submitter to use unofficial titles or party-specific titles. (32RZ13)
9.1. The use of a Limousine instead of a ziu title engages that person in that capacity. For example, a bill submitted by a Cosa member as being "Minister of Culture" indicates that the bill is trully submitted in the name of the Minister of Culture.
10. Members of Cosa shall be free to represent any constituency within the geographic boundaries of the Kingdom of Talossa including any and all of its territories and overseas colonies. Any Member wishing to represent a constituency shall publicly declare such representation before the conclusion of the first Clark following a General Election. (44RZ25) (48RZ3)
11. The Senatorial Medal of Honour may be awarded by the Senate for meritorious or honourable service to State or Nation. This award, awarded only and solely by a resolution in the Senate given the Royal Assent, will be the highest honour bestowed by the Talossan legislature. This award has a single class, and recipients may, in official RT affairs, affix the initials "S.H." (Senatorial Honour) after his/her name. (25RZ77)
12. The "Medal of Cincinnatus" may be awarded by the King in recognition for acts of extraordinary Talossanicity in the face of opposition. Recipients of this Medal would be entitled to follow their names with the honorific "Cin.". (37RZ8)
13. It is strongly suggested that MCs limit their bill submissions to five at the very most for each Clark. (25RZ91)
14. If there is the SLIGHTEST problem with any bill in excess of five (misspellings, inorganicity, etc.), the Secretary of State is empowered to refuse to put same on the Clark.
15. If at all possible, bills presented for review in the Hopper should be translated into Talossan before being Clarked. (38RZ12)
16. The King shall sign a physical printed copy of bills at the time they pass into law, and collect these bills for posterity.
17. Except in cases where the current Secretary of State is no longer able or eligible to perform his duties, any nominations of a new secretary of state must take effect on the day of the normal publication of a Clark. If the normally scheduled Clark is not published by the previous Secretary of State on the appropriate day, the new Secretary of State can still start his duties, starting with the publication of the Clark. (32RZ2)
18. No person shall hold more seats in the Cosa than ten times the total number of seats in the Cosa divided by the number of ballots cast for the Cosa in the most recent General Election, rounded up to the next integer.
Shall be amended to read;
1. Future elections shall be followed, when practical, by an official Living Cosă which shall be styled the “State Opening of the Cosa”. At the State Opening, the Prime Minister shall read his Speech to the Nation, and the Leader of the Opposition shall have a chance to rebut. A Living Cosă shall be carried out at the same time, on the Government's first Clark. At the start of the State Opening, the new Prime Minister will be sworn in publicly. The State Opening shall feature food, drink, and as many Talossans as possible will be invited to attend. (15RC9)
2. The Cosă authorises a question and answer period during Living Cosăs. This will be called “Terpelaziuns” ('enquiries') or, for short, “Terps”, or “Question Time”. During Terpelaziuns, each MC may ask any other MC one question (plus a follow-up), and expect to receive some sort of answer. The Opposition Leader shall put the first question. Questions shall alternate between Government and Opposition members until all MCs on one side or the other have spoken. The remaining MCs may then put questions. Questions will be politely phrased in the third person and directed at the Speaker. Order of Questioners will be determined on an ad hoc basis by the Speaker. (14RC9)
2.1. Any Member of the Cosă (MC) or Senator may at any time between the First and Last Clark of a Cosă Term, table in “The Ziu” board on Witt, or its equivalent, a “c (PQ)” or “Terp” in a new thread or its equivalent. (44RZ1)
2.2. The PQ or Terp may ask one question to a named Member of the Government relating to Public Affairs connected with their Ministry or on matters of administration for which they are officially responsible.
2.3. There is no limit to the number of PQs or Terps a MC or Senator may submit in any given Clark.
2.4. Any PQ or Terp that is submitted by a MC or Senator in accordance with the provisions of H.2, must be answered by the named Minister within seven (7) days of the question being tabled. Should the Minister be unavailable to answer the question within the seven (7) days, the question shall be redirected to the Prime Minister or his/her appointed Deputy who shall be granted a further seven (7) days to answer the aforementioned question. With the agreement of the questioner, there may be a extension of seven (7) days on top of this period. However, the period from the asking of the question to the answering of the question, shall in no circumstances exceed twenty one (21) days.
2.5. For the purpose of H.2.4, “unavailable” means being unable to access Witt, or its equivalent, for an acceptable and reasonable reason. Having logged into, or visited Witt, or its equivalent, during the seven day period, and having not seen, or ignored the PQ or Terp, shall not constitute being unavailable. (c) This provision shall not apply PQs or Terps, which refer to matters of Security or Defence of His Majesty’s Realm and/or any project(s), correspondence, or activities, in which the Government has deemed, and classified as confidential, or which in its release may damage the Kingdom in any shape or form. Such questions may not be answered by any Minister.
2.6. The Minister must answer the question in the same thread or its equivalent as the original question and the questioner may ask one (1) supplementary question, in which the provisions of H.2 apply, with the seven days starting from the date the supplementary question is asked.
2.7. Failure to answer a question within the given timeframe shall constitute an offence, and a Minister, if found guilty of such a offence, will be subject to a punishment at the discretion of the Courts.
2.8. It shall be a defence to the Minister if the questioner, notwithstanding any other legitimate defences, did not, or failed to
2.8.1 correctly title his/her question
2.8.2 ask a clear question. E.g. an ambiguous question, in which the Minister tried to clarify, but failed to do so in the time frame, and did not subsequently answer.
2.8.3 post his/her question in the correct board
2.8.4 engage with the Minister in trying to answer his/her question
2.8.5 direct the question to one named Minister.
3. All MCs must vote for themselves, and not through surrogates. They have innumerable options to communicate their own votes to the Secretary of State or to Undersecretaries of State, including postcards, letters and phone calls. MCs are responsible for casting their own votes with their own assigned seats, and cannot cast votes for other MCs. If an MC will be unavailable to vote for some reason during any particular month, they may inform the Secretary or an Undersecretary that they wish to vote exactly as another, named MC. That will be considered the sole justification for MC surrogate voting. (6RC30, 16RC11)
3.1. A person who is named as a Proxy Vote for another in a Living Cosă is under the moral and legal obligation, whenever possible, to represent the original seat-holder's wishes and intentions on specific Ziu bills and the Vote of Confidence, whenever and however he is instructed, or publicly notified to do so. (24RZ44)
4. The Secretary of State will punish all Members of the Cosă who cast invalid votes in the Vote of Confidence; the punishment being the declaration of said member's votes in the same Clark as null and void. (23RZ39)
5. A difference shall exist (and be spelled out in future bills) between committees (which are set up as standing committees, free to issue reports at any time) and Royal Commissions (or Commissions Royal) which are set up on an ad hoc basis and charged with a specific one-time task such as preparing a dossier or White Paper on a specific problem, and presenting the same to the Cosă. Once a Commission's paper is done, the Commission has fulfilled its duty, and ceases to exist. (8RC35)
6. No bill may be published in a Clark unless it has spent at least ten days in the Hopper as a legislative proposal, except according to H.6.1
6.1 For the first Clark to be published in a Cosă term, no bill may be published in a Clark unless it has spent at least five days in the Hopper as a legislative proposal
6.2 The Secretary of State is under no obligation to create a permanent record of legislative proposals in “The Hopper.”
6.3 The Secretary of State shall remove legislative proposals from “The Hopper” at the request of the author.
6.4 If a legislative proposal has remained in the “The Hopper” for more than 59 days, the Secretary of State may remove it.
6.5 Bills must be submitted to the Secretary of State more than 24 hours before the publication of the Clark.
6.6 Bills received less than 24 hours before publication of the Clark shall be published in the next Clark or postponed for one Clark, at the Secretary of State's discretion.
7. A legislative proposal should be followed by the words “Uréu q'estadra så” (or “Proposed by”), and the name of the author, and the capacity in which the author is offering the proposal. A legislative proposal may be submitted by multiple sponsors, but the legislator whose name is listed first after the words “Uréu q'estadra så” (or “Proposed by”) is considered the author of the legislative proposal.
7.1 Official non-Ziu titles may also be used when a member of the Ziu submit a bill, if the submitter feels that he is submitting a bill in another capacity than as a Ziu member. Such a title shall be called a “Limousine”, or by its Talossan equivalent. A title of Senator, Distain or Member of the Cosă is a Ziu title, and as such not a Limousine. A person can only be entitled to a Limousine if he is both a member of the Ziu and holds an official title. A Limousine may contain, but is not restricted to: a governor's title, a minister or deputy minister's title, or a title conferred by a national organisation, such as the CÚG, or the Secretary of State's office. This is not a means to allow non-members of the Ziu to post bills using their Limousine, nor does this provision allow any submitter to use unofficial titles or party-specific titles. (32RZ13)
7.2 The use of a Limousine instead of a Ziu title engages that person in that capacity. For example, a bill submitted by a Cosă member as being “Minister of Culture” indicates that the bill is truly submitted in the name of the Minister of Culture.
8. If the Prime Minister, or a member of the Government party, proposes a bill, and with the Prime Minister's permission marks it as a Government Bill, the Clark will denote this as a bill proposed by “HM Government, represented by”, before the name of the member. If the Opposition Leader, or a member of the Opposition, proposes a bill, and, with the Opposition Leader's or the member's Party Leader's permission, marks it as an Opposition Bill, the Clark will denote this as a bill proposed by “HM Loyal Opposition, represented by”, followed by the member's name. Any other bill will be called a Private Member's Bill, and will be denoted in the Clark the same way they have always been. (25RZ31)
9. Members of Cosă shall be free to represent any constituency within the geographic boundaries of the Kingdom of Talossa, including any and all of its territories and overseas colonies. Any Member wishing to represent a constituency shall publicly declare such representation before the conclusion of the first Clark following a General Election. (44RZ25) (48RZ3)
10. It is strongly suggested that MCs limit their bill submissions to five at the very most for each Clark. (25RZ91)
11. The Secretary of State is empowered to refuse to put a certain bill on a Clark if said bill;
11.1 has the SLIGHTEST problem in excess of five (misspellings, inorganicity, etc.); and/or
11.2 is not clearly typed or word-processed; and/or
11.3 is so substantially different from its original form as a legislative proposal that it constitutes a significantly different proposal.
12. If at all possible, bills presented for review in the Hopper should be translated into Talossan before being Clarked. (38RZ12)
13. Except in cases where the current Secretary of State is no longer able or eligible to perform his duties, any nominations of a new secretary of state must take effect on the day of the normal publication of a Clark. If the normally scheduled Clark is not published by the previous Secretary of State on the appropriate day, the new Secretary of State can still start his duties, starting with the publication of the Clark. (32RZ2)
14. No person shall hold more seats in the Cosă than ten times the total number of seats in the Cosă divided by the number of ballots cast for the Cosa in the most recent General Election, rounded up to the next integer.
15. His Majesty, when affixing His Royal Seal to Bills sent to him by the Ziu, may exclaim with all His Royal Royal-ness in the National Language of Our Nation, “El Regeu en volt.” (25RZ17)
16. His Majesty, when acting out His constitutional and traditional duty to protect the Citizens of His Kingdom from poor Government, decides to withhold His Royal Seal from said Bill sent by said Ziu, may exclaim with all His Truth-and-Justice-ness in said National Language of said Kingdom, "El Regeu non en volt."
17. The King shall sign a physical printed copy of bills at the time they pass into law, and collect these bills for posterity.
18. The Senatorial Medal of Honour may be awarded by the Senate for meritorious or honourable service to State or Nation. This award, awarded only and solely by a resolution in the Senate given the Royal Assent, will be the highest honour bestowed by the Talossan legislature. This award has a single class, and recipients may, in official RT affairs, affix the initials “S.H.” (Senatorial Honour) after their name. (25RZ77)
19. The “Medal of Cincinnatus” may be awarded by the King in recognition for acts of extraordinary Talossanicity in the face of opposition. Recipients of this Medal are entitled to follow their names with the honorific “Cin.” (37RZ8)
Noi urent q’estadra så:
Ian Plätschisch (MC-MRPT)
Sir Alexandreu Davinescu (MC-RUMP)
Magniloqueu Épiqeu da Lhiun (Sen-MM)
