Constitution of Verdelia (HUGE WIP)

“Article 0” / Preamble - Principles and Values and Fundamental Basics
- Establishes the name of the Federal Republic of Verdelia
- The nation shall be organized on the fundamental principles of Liberty, Equality, and Unity
- The nation shall be a federation of constituent states, with constituents states governing themselves with the autonomies granted to them, and a federal government governing the whole of the nation on the principles of consensus and common good
- The nation shall be a democratic republic, with the government’s power fundamentally derived from the consent of the people, with the elected representatives that comprise the government charged with governing in the interests and will of the people
- All people/citizens have fundamental liberties and rights and should be allowed to live with the fullest individual autonomy as the situation permits
- All people/citizens have fundamental equality with their fellow persons, and all people must have equal treatment before the law, and the appropriate regulations/moderations must be taken to ensure that all people have an equal liberty where no one uses their liberty to infringe on others
- The federal republic is founded on values of unity and brotherhood, with the federation being founded for common defense and common good, with values of cooperation and brotherhood between the people

Article I - Rights and Liberties (and Responsibilities?)
- Freedom of Speech, Opinion, and Conscious, Freedom of Language
- Freedom of Religion or Lack-thereof, Separation of Church and State
- Freedom of Assembly, Organization, and Protest, Right to Petition
- Freedom of the Press, Right to Information and Education
- Fundamental Right to Participate in Government, All citizens are enfranchised with universal suffrage
- Right to a Healthy Life, Shelter, and Food and Water
- Guarantee of Fair Trial in front of an impartial jury, Right to an Attorney, Freedom from Cruel or Excessive legal punishment, Freedom from self-incrimination, Dignified treatment by legal officers,
- Freedom from Slavery, Serfdom, and Other Forms of Excessive Submission

Article II - The Federation and Constituent States
- Verdelia is a federal republic, comprised of different member polities, with all of these polities called constituent states. Constituent state are given certain rights/abilities to govern themselves, adopting their own state-constitutions to outline such governance, and retain a certain amount of autonomy from the nation-wide federal government; however, all constituent state governments must abide by the principles and outlines of the constitution and federal laws, with the constitution and federal laws being supreme to that of state constitution and laws.
- All constituent states must abide by the authority of the federal government in accordance with the constitution, but they may file cases to be heard by the Federal Court over actions of the federal government they feel may overstep the powers of the federal government/violate the rights of the constituent state
- All citizens have freedom of movement within the territories of the Federal Republic, and no state laws may be established that put unjust restriction on citizens moving between state-borders, and no laws may be established that discriminate citizens on the basis of the constituent state to which they are a citizen of
- New constituent states cannot be created from the territory of already-established constituent states without the consent of the (all) legislature(s) of the involved state(s) and a referendum among the citizens within the borders of the proposed constituent state.
- The federal government has the power to establish “federal territories” governed directly+unilaterally by the federal government, and are fundamentally different than a constituent state. However, if either a) a majority of citizens of a given territory vote for statehood with approval by the Federal Congress or b) a supermajority of citizens of a given territory vote for statehood, a territory may ascend to statehood and adopt their own self-governance with full rights and recognition as a constituent state. A constituent state or portion of a constituent state cannot be converted/reverted into a federal territory without the approval of the affected state’s legislature.
- The federal government may “gift” some land of federal territory to a constituent state with the approval of the receiving constituent state’s legislature
- Although they must abide by the authority of the nation-wide armed forces and regulations of the federal government as established, constituent states may maintain their own state militias that answer to their own government. Under the authority of the Federal Government, all states are to act in the interests of the common defense of the Federal Republic, particularly during times of war, with the federal government obligated to provide the defense of all the land and people of the Federal Republic
- A fugitive accused of a crime under the laws of a consistent state, but found within another constituent state, may be extradited back to the former state on the request of the former state’s executive officer(s).
- A constituent state may regulate and maintain policy over the commerce+finances within their own borders to the fullest extent allowed under the constitution and federal law, but may not issues their own currency or forbid commerce between other constituent states without federal approval.

Article III - The Presidency and Executive
- The Federal Republic is a presidential republic, with the President of Verdelia being the head of state and head of government of Verdelia
- The President is elected to serve terms of four years. The president is directly elected by the people in a nation-wide election, (Amendment ? :) in a two-round system
- The general responsibility of the President is to oversee the ministries/bureaucracy of Verdelia, with the executive seeing the enforcement and administration of law and policy. The President nominates individuals to serve as ministers, but nominations must be approved by the Federal Congress to be fully appointed.
- The President also nominates individuals to serve as the judges in federal courts, including the Federal Court, but they too must be approved by the Federal Congress to be fully appointed.
- The President is the commander-in-chief of the Verdelian armed forces, serving as the top of the command chain, but all declarations of war or use of the armed forces in conflict must be approved/declaree by the Federal Congress
- The executive is primarily responsible for representing Verdelia in and the conduction of international diplomacy and affairs, with the President being seen as the top representative of the country on the foreign stage. As such, the executive has the power to negotiate treaties with other countries, but treaties must be formally approved by the senate to be fully adopted by Verdelia.

Article IV - The Federal Congress
- The Federal Congress is the legislature of Verdelia and is responsible for the creation of legislation
- The Federal Congress is bicameral, comprising of the General Assembly and the Senate
- The General Assembly shall generally represent the general population. [A portion of] seats shall be apportioned among the constituent states based on their respective population. The default electoral system for consistent seats are single-member plurality elections, but constituent states may choose the specific electoral system for the seats that represent them. (Amendment ?) : [A portion of] seats shall be elected from a nation-wide proportional-party-list vote.
- The Senate shall generally represent the constituent seats with equity among them in mind. All constituent states shall be represented by 1-5 senators. The exact number shall be determined by calculating the average population per state, and which point (minimum, lower quartile, median, upper quartile, maximum) a state’s population is closest to. Minimum = 1, Lower quartile = 2, Median = 3, Upper quartile = 4, Maximum = 5.
- Any Member of Congress may propose legislation, but it must be approved by both chambers by at least a simple majority in order to send it to the President for full adoption. Presidential vetos can be overturned by either both houses or a join session voting to do so by a 2/3 majority
- The Federal Congress is responsible for reviewing and then approving presidential nominations, with a nominee needing a simple majority in both chambers to be fully appointed.
- The Federal Congress has the power to impeach federal officials by voting on articles of impeachment by a simple majority vote in a join session. However, full conviction and removal is carried out instead by the Federal Court.
- The Federal Congress has the sole ability to officially declare war or other uses of the military requested by the President.
- Other general responsibilities of the Federal Congress include policies over taxation, minting/printing of money and regulating its value, borrowing and spending money, and regulation of commerce.

Article V - The Federal Court and Judiciary
- The judiciary are the courts of Verdelia, and are responsible for carrying out the administration of justice, ensuring that the people’s rights are being upheld, resolving civil disputes between citizens, and following/interpreting the law to hand out appropriate judgements.
- The supreme court of the Federal Republic of Verdelia is the Federal Court, with it being the final court of resort, and their rulings being final until new legislation elaborate or creates a new situation, or the Federal Court itself overturns a previous ruling.
- The Federal Court has the power to deliberate over legislation relevant to its cases, and may overturn laws that are found to be unconstitutional themselves
- If the Federal Congress impeaches a federal official, the Federal Court is the body responsible for overseeing the trial and having the final determination over the conviction+removal of the accused official
- The Federal Court is comprised of 15 judges. Each judge is nominated by the President, and then reviewed and the approved by the Federal Congress if deemed appropriate for the position. Upon assuming the position, a judge will serve a term for 10 years, at the end of the term being subject to a nation-wide approval vote directly by the citizenry. If a judge does not receive at least 60% approval, they must step down from the position and a new appointee must fill their seat; if they do receive at least 60% approval, they shall be renewed for an additional 10 year term.

Article VI - Amendment Process
- A proposal can be submitted either by a Member of Congress or the President if sponsored by 30 other Members of Congress, or by a public petition signed by [number tbd] citizens
- A proposal must be approved by both houses of the Federal Congress to go forward
- A proposal must receive a majority approval by citizens in a direct, nation-wide referendum to be fully adopted

Amendment ? -

Amendment ? -

Amendment ? - Citizen Initiatives and Referendums
- If a specialized petition, an initiative, receives a certain number of signatures from citizens, the issue(s) raised by the initiative becomes subject to nation-wide referendum. If the referendum receives a majority approval by citizens, it shall become adopted as full law
- Previously passed laws may also be subject to a referendum over whether to repeal it if an appropriate petition gets the required amount of signatures

Amendment ? - Presidential Election Reform
- The election of president is to be held in a two-round system; if a candidate does not receive a majority of votes, there shall be a second round with an election between only the top two candidates who received the most votes from the first round. In this second round, the candidate with the most/majority of votes is elected as president

Amendment ? - Legislative Election Reform
- [A portion of the] seats in the General Assembly shall be elected in a nation-wide partly-list proportional vote
- In order to receive seats in this “national list”, political parties must register with the Federal Election Ministry, requiring a certain minimum of registered members and having a verified record without illegal activity
- The lists political parties maintain to determine which members of their party take seats should they win any seats in the national list vote should also be registered with the Federal Election Ministry, and be fully publicly viewable. The means through which the lists are created may be determined by parties
- Political parties otherwise do not have to register with the federal government to be recognized in constituent-seat elections; however, if a constituent state adopts an electoral system for their respective constituent-seats that requires registration with the state government, political parties must do so

Amendment ? - LGBTQ+ Rights
- Discrimination on the basis of sex/gender identity or sexual orientation is forbidden
- Marriage shall be defined as the union of two consenting individuals, regardless of the gender identity of either of the participants
- So long as all participants are fully consenting and adults, citizens are free to engage in intimate private activities
- The minimum age of consent for intimate relationships is 18 for all citizens. No constituent state may lower the age of consent below 18. If a constituent state chooses to raise the age of consent above 18, it must still apply equally to all citizens of the constituent state
- The federal government recognizes transgender identity, and shall be obliged to recognize a citizen’s chosen gender identity upon that citizen’s request. There shall also be the recognition of a gender identity that is neither male/man nor female/woman