Aɴᴅ Wʜᴇʀᴇᴀs such a Constitution would conduce to the Welfare of East Plate and promote the Interests of the British Empire:

Aɴᴅ Wʜᴇʀᴇᴀs it is expedient that further and better provision should be made for the Government of East Plate:

Bᴇ ɪᴛ Tʜᴇʀᴇғᴏʀᴇ Eɴᴀᴄᴛᴇᴅ, by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

1. This Act may be cited as the East Plate Constitution Act, 1858.

2. The Provisions of this Act referring to Her Majesty the Queen extend also to the Heirs and Successors of Her Majesty, Kings and Queens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

3. It shall be lawful for the Queen, by and with the Advice of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, to declare by Proclamation that, on and after a Day therein appointed, not being more than Six Months after the passing of this Act, the territories located on the South American continent to the east of the Uruguay River and the River Plate, finding its limits with the Empire of Brazil at Lake Merin, the Yaguarón River, the San Luis stream and the Ibicuí River, shall form and be One Dominion under the name of Colony of East Plate, which shall be governed by the provisions of this Constitution.

4. "The Dominion" shall mean the Colony of East Plate as established under this Act. "The Provinces" shall mean each of the nine constituent divisions of the Colony of East Plate, such as the Provinces of New Oldenburg, New Surrey, Midfield, Eastwood, Enfield, Billingham, and Arlesey and the Territories of the North Blackwater Territory and the Capital Territory. "The Dependencies" shall mean any territory not comprised in the nine constituent divisions of the Colony of East Plate, but which, for any reason, finds itself under the administration of the Government of the Colony of East Plate.

5. This Act, and all laws made by the Parliament of East Plate under the Constitution, shall be binding on the courts, judges, and people of every Province and of every part of the Dominion, notwithstanding anything in the laws of any Province; The laws of the Dominion of East Plate shall be in force on all British ships, the Queen's ships of war excepted, whose first port of clearance and whose port of destination is in the Dominion.

6. The Constitution of the Colony of East Plate shall be as follows—

The legislative power of the Dominion shall be vested in a Parliament, which shall consist of the Queen, a Legislative Council, and a House of Representatives, and which is herein-after called "The General Assembly," or "The Parliament."

2. Privileges of Parliament

The Privileges, Immunities, and Powers to be held, enjoyed, and exercised by the Legislative Council, by the House of Representatives and by the Members thereof respectively shall be defined by Acts of the Parliament of East Plate, but so that the same shall never exceed those held, enjoyed, and exercised by the Commons House of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and by the Members thereof at the passing of this Act.

3. The Governor

A Governor appointed by the Queen shall be Her Majesty's representative in the Dominion, and shall have and may exercise in the Dominion during the Queen's pleasure, but subject to this Constitution, such powers and functions of the Queen as Her Majesty may be pleased to assign to him.

4. Sessions of Parliament

The Parliament of East Plate shall be called together not later than Six Months after the passage of this Act. There shall be a Session of the Parliament of East Plate once at least in every Year, so that Twelve Months shall not intervene between the last Sitting of the Parliament in one Session and its first Sitting in the next Session. The Governor may appoint such times for holding the sessions of the Parliament as he thinks fit, and may also from time to time, by Proclamation or otherwise, prorogue the Parliament, and may dissolve the House of Representatives.

The Legislative Council shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, consist of twenty Members, who shall be styled as Legislative Councilors. Members shall be distributed equally between the Provinces, with each of them being represented by at least one member, and by the same amount of members each. The Dependencies are not entitled to representation in the Legislative Council, but may be granted it by Acts of the Parliament, which may also modify the total number of members of the Legislative Council to ensure that it is possible for all provinces to have an equal number of representatives if new provinces are created or constituencies gain representation. When modifications to the number of members of the Legislative Council demand an increase in its membership, said increase shall always be kept to the minimum to fulfill the requirement of provinces and dependencies (who have been granted representation) to have at least one member and equal representation in the Legislative Council, without reducing the representatives already allocated to any Province or Dependency.

6. Qualifications of Legislative Councilors

The Qualifications of a Legislative Councilor shall be as follows:

• He shall be of the full Age of Twenty-one years, and not older than Seventy-five years;

• He shall be either a natural-born Subject of the Queen, or a Subject of the Queen naturalized by an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, or of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or of the Legislature of East Plate;

• His Real and Personal Property shall be together worth One Thousand Pounds over and above his Debts and Liabilities:

• He shall be resident in the Province for which he is appointed:

• He shall hold a University Degree of any kind, expedited by any University within East Plate, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or any of Her Majesty's domains.

7. Summons of Legislative Councilors

The Governor shall from Time to Time, in the Queen's Name, summon qualified Persons to the Legislative Council; and, subject to the provisions of this Act, every Person so summoned shall become and be a Member of the Legislative Council and a Legislative Councilor.

8. Tenure of Place

Every member of the Legislative Council of East Plate shall hold his seat therein for the term of his life; subject, nevertheless, to the provisions hereinafter contained for vacating the same.

9. Disqualification and resignation of Legislative Councilors

It shall be lawful for any member of the said Legislative Council, by writing under his hand, addressed to the Governor, to resign his seat in the said Council, and upon such resignation and acceptance thereof by the Governor, the seat of such member shall become vacant. If any Legislative Councillor of East Plate shall, for two successive sessions of the General Assembly, without the permission of her Majesty or of the Governor, signified by the said Governor to the Legislative Council, fail to give his attendance in the said Legislative Council, or shall take any oath, or make any declaration or acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to any foreign Prince or Power, or shall do, concur in, or adopt any act whereby he may become a subject or citizen of any foreign state or power, or become entitled to the rights, privileges, or immunities, of a subject or citizen of any foreign state or power, or shall become bankrupt, or shall become an insolvent debtor, within the meaning of the laws relating to insolvent debtors, or shall become a public defaulter, or be attainted of treason, or be convicted of felony, or any infamous crime, his seat in such Council shall thereby become vacant.

10. Appointment of Speaker of the Legislative Council

The Governor shall have power and authority from time to time to appoint one member of the said Legislative Council to be Speaker of such Council, and to remove him and appoint another in his stead. The Speaker shall preside at all Meetings of the Legislative Council.

11. Quorum and Voting

The presence of at least five members of the said Legislative Council, including the Speaker, shall be necessary to constitute a meeting for the exercise of its powers; and all questions which shall arise in the said Legislative Council shall be decided by a majority of votes of the members present other than the Speaker, and when the votes shall be equal, the Speaker shall have the casting vote.

The House of Representatives shall, subject to the Provisions of this Act, consist of at least fifty-five Members; whom shall be directly chosen by the people of the different Provinces of the Dominion, and shall be styled as Members of Parliament. Dependencies may be granted representation in the House of Representatives by Acts of Parliament. No Province or Dependency (if granted representation) shall find itself without representation in the House of Representatives under any circumstance. The number of members chosen in the several Provinces (or Dependencies if granted representation) shall be in proportion to the respective numbers of their people, and shall, until the Parliament otherwise provides, be determined, whenever necessary, in the following manner:—

• A quota shall be ascertained by dividing the number of the people of the Dominion, as shown by the latest statistics, by the number of total seats intended to be elected;

• The number of members to be chosen in each Province or Dependency shall be determined by dividing the number of the people of the Province or Dependency, as shown by the latest statistics of the Dominion, by the quota; and if on such division there is a remainder greater than one-half of the quota, one more member shall be chosen in the Province or Dependency.
  

13. Electoral Divisions

Until the Parliament of the Dominion otherwise provides, the Parliament may make laws for determining the divisions in each Province or Dependency for which members of the House of Representatives may be chosen, with each division electing one Representative. A division shall not be formed out of parts of different Provinces or Dependencies. Each division must have a similar amount of population, understanding "similar" as the requirement that the population included within a division does not differ more than fifty percent of a value obtained by dividing the total population of the province or dependency by the number of divisions. University Electorates, representing the Universities of East Plate, may be created by Acts of Parliament, and shall not be linked to any Province or Dependency.

14. Qualification of voters for members of House of Representatives

The qualification of electors of members of the House of Representatives shall be determined by Acts of Parliament, but in the choosing of members each elector shall vote only once, with the exception of those who are able to vote on University Electorates, who shall be able to cast votes in their normal electorate and their university electorate.

15. Qualification of members

Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the qualifications of a member of the House of Representatives shall be as follows:

• He must be of the full age of twenty-one years, and must be an elector entitled to vote at the election of members of the House of Representatives, or a person qualified to become such elector, and must have been for three years at the least a resident within the limits of the Dominion at the time when he is chosen;

• He shall be either a natural-born Subject of the Queen, or a Subject of the Queen naturalized by an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, or of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or of the Legislature of East Plate;

• He shall hold a University Degree of any kind, expedited by any University within East Plate, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or any of Her Majesty's domains, only if he is running in a Univeristy Electorate.

16. Election of Speaker

The House of Representatives shall, before proceeding to the despatch of any other business, choose a member to be the Speaker of the House, and as often as the office of Speaker becomes vacant the House shall again choose a member to be the Speaker. The Speaker shall cease to hold his office if he ceases to be a member. He may be removed from office by a vote of the House, or he may resign his office or his seat by writing addressed to the Governor. The Speaker shall preside at all Meetings of the House of Representatives.

17. Summons of Members of Parliament

The Governor General shall from Time to Time, in the Queen's Name, summon and call together the House of Representatives. The Governor may cause writs to be issued for general elections of members of the House. Whenever a vacancy happens in the House of Representatives, the Speaker shall issue his writ for the election of a new member.

18. Duration of House of Representatives

Every House of Representatives shall continue for four years from the day of election (subject to be sooner dissolved by the Governor), and no longer.

19. Quorum and Voting

Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the presence of at least one-third of the whole number of the members of the House of Representatives shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the House for the exercise of its powers. Questions arising in the House of Representatives shall be determined by a majority of votes other than that of the Speaker. The Speaker shall not vote unless the numbers are equal, and then he shall have a easting vote.

Every Legislative Councilor and every member of the House of Representatives shall before taking his seat make and subscribe before the Governor, or some person authorised by him, an oath of allegiance in the following form:
Oᴀᴛʜ - I, A.B., do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Her heirs and successors according to law. SO HELP ME GOD!

(NOTE.—The name of the King or Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for the time being is to be substituted from time to time.)

21. Member of one House ineligible for other

A member of either House of the Parliament shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a member of the other House.

22. Allowance to members

Until the Parliament otherwise provides, each Legislative Councilor and each member of the House of Representatives shall receive an allowance of four hundred pounds a year, to be reckoned from the day on which he takes his seat.

It shall be competent to the Parliament (except and subject as hereinafter mentioned) to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of East Plate, provided that no such laws be repugnant to the law of England, with respect to:

• Trade and commerce with other countries;

• Taxation;

• Borrowing money on the public credit of the Dominion;

• Postal, telegraphic, and other like services;

• The naval and military defence of the Dominion, and the control of the forces to execute and maintain the laws of the Dominion;

• Lighthouses, lightships, beacons and buoys;

• Astronomical and meteorological observations;

• Quarantine;

• Census and statistics;

• Currency, coinage, and legal tender;

• Weights and measures;

• Bankruptcy and insolvency;

• Copyrights, patents of inventions and designs, and trade marks;

• Naturalization and aliens;

• Marriage;

• Divorce and matrimonial causes; and in relation thereto, parental rights, and the custody and guardianship of infants;

• Invalid and old-age pensions.

24. Power to General Assembly to alter Electoral Districts and number of Members of House of Representatives.

It shall be lawful for the General Assembly, by any act or acts, from time to time, to establish new electoral districts for the purpose of electing members of the House of Representatives, to alter the boundaries of electoral districts for the time being existing for such purposes, to alter and appoint the number of members to be chosen for such districts, to increase the whole number of members of the House of Representatives, and to alter and regulate the appointment of returning officers, and make provision in such manner as they may deem expedient for the issue and fetus of writs for the election of the members of such house, and the time and place of holding such elections, and for the determination of contested elections for such house.

25. Disagreement between the Houses

If the House of Representatives passes any proposed law, and the Legislative Council rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, and if after an interval of three months the House of Representatives, in the same or the next session, again passes the proposed law with or without any amendments which have been made, suggested, or agreed to by the Legislative Council, and the Legislative Council rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, the Governor may dissolve the Legislative Council and the House of Representatives simultaneously. But such dissolution shall not take place within six months before the date of the expiry of the House of Representatives. If after such dissolution the House of Representatives again passes the proposed law, with or without any amendments which have been made, suggested, or agreed to by the Legislative Council, and the Legislative Council rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, the Governor may convene a joint sitting of the members of the Legislative Council and of the House of Representatives. The members present at the joint sitting may deliberate and shall vote together upon the proposed law as last proposed by the House of Representatives, and upon amendments, if any, which have been made therein by one House and not agreed to by the other, and any such amendments which are affirmed by an absolute majority of the total number of the members of the Legislative House and House of Representatives shall be taken to have been carried, and if the proposed law, with the amendments, if any, so carried is affirmed by an absolute majority of the total number of the members of the Legislative Council and House of Representatives, it shall be taken to have been duly passed by both Houses of the Parliament, and shall be presented to the Governor for the Queen's assent.

26. Royal assent to Bills

When a proposed law passed by both Houses of the Parliament is presented to the Governor for the Queen's assent, he shall declare, according to his discretion, but subject to this Constitution, that he assents in the Queen's name, or that he withholds assent, or that he reserves the law for the Queen's. The Governor may return to the House in which it originated any proposed law so presented to him, and may transmit therewith any amendments which he may recommend, and the Houses may deal with the recommendation.

27. Acts to be printed

The Governor shall cause every act of the General Assembly which he shall have assented to in her Majesty's name to be printed in the Government Gazette of East Plate for general information, and such publication by such Governor of any such act, shall be deemed to be in law the promulgation of the same.

28. Disallowance by the Queen

The Queen may disallow any law within one year from the Governor's assent, and such disallowance on being made known by the Governor by speech or message to each of the Houses of the Parliament, or by Proclamation, shall annul the law from the day when the disallowance is so made known.

The executive power of the Dominion is vested in the Queen and is exerciseable by the Governor as the Queen's representative, and extends to the execution and maintenance of this Constitution, and of the laws of the Dominion.

30. Ministers of State

The Governor may appoint officers to administer such departments of State of the Dominion as the Governor may establish. Such officers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor.

31. Ministers to sit in Parliament

After the first general election no Minister of State shall hold office for a longer period than three months unless he is or becomes a Legislative Councilor or a member of the House of Representatives.

32. Salaries of Ministers

There shall be payable to the Queen, out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Dominion, for the salaries of the Ministers of State, an annual sum which, until the Parliament otherwise provides, shall not exceed twelve thousand pounds a year.

33. Appointment of civil servants

Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the appointment and removal of all other officers of the Executive Government of the Dominion shall be vested in the Governor, unless the appointment is delegated by the Governor or by a law of the Dominion to some other authority.

34. Command of naval and military forces

The command in chief of the naval and military forces of the Dominion is vested in the Governor as the Queen's representative.

The judicial power of the Dominon shall be vested in a Supreme Court, to be called the High Court of East Plate, and in such other courts as the Parliament creates. The High Court shall consist of a Chief Justice, and so many other Justices, not less than two, as the Parliament prescribes.

36. Judges' appointment, tenure, and remuneration

The Justices of the High Court and of the other courts created by the Parliament shall be appointed by the Governor and shall not be removed except by the Governor, on an address from both Houses of the Parliament in the same session, praying for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity. Justices shall receive such remuneration as the Parliament may fix; but the remuneration shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

37. Appellate jurisdiction of High Court

The High Court shall have jurisdiction, with such exceptions and subject to such regulations as the Parliament prescribes, to hear and determine appeals from all judgments, decrees, orders, and sentences.

38. Trial by jury

The trial on indictment of any offence against any law of the Dominion shall be by jury, and every such trial shall be held in the Province, Territory or Dependency where the offence was committed, and if the offence was not committed within any Province, Territory or Dependency the trial shall be held at such place or places as the Parliament prescribes.

All revenues or moneys raised or received by the Executive Government of the Dominion shall form one Consolidated Revenue Fund, to be appropriated for the purposes of the Dominion in the manner and subject to the charges and liabilities imposed by this Constitution.

40. Expenses of Collection

The Consolidated Revenue Fund of East Plate shall be permanently charged with the Costs, Charges, and Expenses incident to the Collection, Management, and Receipt thereof, and the same shall be, form the first charge thereon, subject to be reviewed and audited in such manner as shall be ordered by the Governor until the Parliament otherwise provides.

41. Money to be appropriated by law

No money shall be drawn from the Treasury of the Dominion except under appropriation made by law, but until the expiration of one month after the first meeting of the Parliament the Governor may draw from the Treasury and expend such moneys as may be necessary for the maintenance of any department of the Dominion and for the holding of the first elections for the Parliament.

42. Audit of accounts

All costs, charges, and expenses, of or incident to the collection, management, and receipt of duties of import and export shall be regulated and audited in such manner as shall be directed by the Commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and all such costs, charges, and expenses in relation to other branches of the said revenue shall be regulated and audited in such manner as shall be directed by laws of the General Assembly.

43. Trade within the Dominion to be free

Trade and commerce among the Provinces, Territories and Dependencies of East Plate, whether by means of internal carriage or ocean navigation, shall be absolutely free.

The seat of Government of the Dominion shall be determined by the Parliament, and shall be within territory which shall have been granted to or acquired by the Dominion, and shall be vested in and belong to the Dominion, and shall be in the Capital Territory, and be distant not less than one hundred miles from Montevideo City. Such territory shall contain an area of not less than one hundred square miles, and such portion thereof as shall consist of Crown lands, which shall be granted to the Dominion without any payment therefor.

45. Power to Her Majesty to authorise Governor to appoint deputies

The Queen may authorise the Governor to appoint any person, or any persons jointly or severally, to be his deputy or deputies within any part of the Dominion, and in that capacity to exercise during the pleasure of the Governor such powers and functions of the Governor as he thinks fit to assign to such deputy or deputies, subject to any limitations expressed or directions given by the Queen; but the appointment of such deputy or deputies shall not affect the exercise by the Governor himself of any power or function.

46. Aborigines not to be counted in reckoning population

In reckoning the numbers of the people of the Dominion, or of a Province or other part of the Dominion, aboriginal natives shall not be counted.

47. Use of English and Spanish languages

Either the English or the Spanish Language may be used by any person in the Debates of the Houses of the Parliament of East Plate, and both those languages shall be used in the respective Records and Journals of those Houses; and either of those Languages may be used by any Person or in any Pleading or Process in or issuing from any Court of East Plate established under this Act. The Acts of the Parliament of East Plate shall be printed and published in both those languages.

48. Commencement of this Act

This Act shall be proclaimed in East Plate by the Governor thereof within six weeks after a copy of such act shall have been received by such Governor, and, save as herein expressly provided, shall take effect in East Plate from the day of such proclamation thereof.

49. Proclamations to be published in the East Plate Government Gazette

The proclamation of this Act, and all proclamations to be made under the provisions thereof, shall be published in the East Plate Government Gazette.

This Constitution shall not be altered except in the following manner:

The proposed law for the alteration thereof must be passed by an absolute majority of each House of the Parliament, and not less than two nor more than six months after its passage through both Houses the proposed law shall be submitted in each Province and Territory to the electors qualified to vote for the election of members of the House of Representatives.

If either House passes any such proposed law by an absolute majority, and the other House rejects or fails to pass it or passes it with any amendment to which the first-mentioned House will not agree, and if after an interval of three months the first-mentioned House in the same or the next session again passes the proposed law by an absolute majority with or without any amendment which has been made or agreed to by the other House, and such other House rejects or fails to pass it or passes it with any amendment to which the first-mentioned House will not agree, the Governor may submit the proposed law as last proposed by the first-mentioned House, and either with or without any amendments subsequently agreed to by both Houses, to the electors in each Province or Territory qualified to vote for the election of the House of Representatives.

When a proposed law is submitted to the electors the vote shall be taken in such manner as the Parliament prescribes and if a majority of the electors voting approve the proposed law, it shall be presented to the Governor for the Queen's assent.