Constitutional Amendment Act (2018)

An act to amend the Constitution to abolish the Premier and the Regional Assembly, enhance the powers of the Grand Chancellor, provide protections for members during the enactment of legislation, and for connected purposes.

WHEREAS the members of the Independent Order have, after due time and consideration, determined that there shall exist a single Constitution with supreme authority over all laws,

AND WHEREAS said members believe such Constitution has, since its enactment, failed to increase activity with regional governance or gameplay, and therefore believes significant amendments are required,

BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by Her Excellency the Grand Chancellor, by and with the advice and consent of the Regional Assembly, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Amendments

(1) After subsection 2a, insert:
“(b) Making any such enactments required for the peace, order and good government in the region;
(c) Appointing Ministers, the Lord Chief Justice and the Roleplay Magistrate, and any other formal positions, where required;”

(2) In subsection 2b, omit ‘Premier elections and’.

(3) Section (3) shall be repealed.

(4) Section (4) shall be amended as follows:
“(4) The Grand Chancellor may be recalled following a referendum of all eligible members of the Independent Order, as defined by law. Should a Grand Chancellor be recalled, then an Constitutional Convention shall be required to appoint a replacement.”

(5) Article Two, including sections 5-13, shall be replaced with:
“Article Two: Legislation

(5) The Grand Chancellor may enact any legislation, including amendments to the Constitution, Criminal Code and Roleplay Rules.

(6) Any enactment made shall be known as Acts of the Chancellory.

(7) The Grand Chancellor must, when seeking to make such legislative changes, publicly post, and announce on Discord, the regional message board and any other relevant areas, the proposed Act in the Conference Hall.

( The Act must remain in the Conference Hall, open for public debate or opposition, for a minimum of 72 hours, unless such an Act would amend the Constitution, Criminal Code, Emergency Procedures or Roleplay Rules, where it must be open for at least 96 hours.

(9) No Act amending the Roleplay Rules proposed initially by the Grand Chancellor may be enacted without the advice and consent of the Roleplay Magistrate, except where the enactment is approved by a referendum of eligible members.

(10) Any eligible member may petition in the Conference Hall thread to block an Act. Should the petition receive two further signatures from eligible members while the Act is in the Conference Hall, then the Act shall be subject to referendum of all eligible members.

(11) Any eligible member may bring forward their own legislation and, with the support of four further eligible members, require the Bill to be brought to a referendum of all eligible members.

(12) The Grand Chancellor may, where authorised or required by law to do so, issue a statutory instrument known as an Order of the Chancellory (herein ‘Order’). No Order shall need prior approval, however, any eligible member may bring forward, to the Conference Hall, a petition to repeal the Order. Should the petition receive four further signatures from eligible members, then the Order must be withdrawn.”

(6) Article Three, including sections 14-20, shall be repealed.

(7) Section (22) shall be amended as follows:
“(22) The Roleplay Magistrate shall be appointed by the Grand Chancellor for an indefinite term. The Roleplay Magistrate may be dismissed by the Grand Chancellor, or may be recalled following a referendum of all eligible members of the Independent Order, as defined by law.”

( In subsection (23c), omit ‘Regional Assembly’ and insert ‘Grand Chancellor’.

(9) Section (26) shall be amended as follows:
“(26) The Lord Chief Justice shall be appointed by the Grand Chancellor for an indefinite term. The Lord Chief Justice may be dismissed by the Grand Chancellor, or may be recalled following a referendum of all eligible members of the Independent Order, as defined by law.”

(10) In subsection (27b), omit ‘, Executive, Regional Assembly’.

(11) After subsection (27b), insert:
“(c) Ensuring all Acts and Orders of the Chancellory are made in compliance, and are themselves compliant, with the Constitution, Criminal Code and Roleplay Rules.”

(12) In section (29), omit ‘Regional Assembly’ and insert ‘Grand Chancellor’.

(13) In section (29), omit ‘Zetaboards Terms of Service and Terms of Use’ and insert ‘Forum Terms of Service’.

(14) In section (30), omit ‘, with the exception of members of the Regional Assembly.’

(15) After section (30), insert:
“(31) An eligible member is one who has been a member of the forum for a period of at least 45 days, has made more than 20 non-spam posts on the forum, and is not serving any form of sentence under the Criminal Code (2013) or the Forum Terms of Service Act (2015).”

Consequential provisions

(16) All previous Acts of the Assembly shall henceforth be known as Acts of the Chancellory.

(17) Any power, authority or responsibility derived from other statutes for the Premier or Regional Assembly shall henceforth be considered powers of the Grand Chancellor.

(18) Existing Orders of the Executive (herein ‘Executive Orders’) shall remain in force, however the power to make such Executive Orders shall be depreciated and vested in the Grand Chancellor’s power to make Orders.

(19) The Grand Chancellor shall, by Order, amend the explanatory note of the Constitution to bring it in to line with the Constitution as amended by this Act. This must be done within 6 months of this Act coming in to force.

(20) All article and section numbers in the Constitution shall be renumbered accordingly.

Explanatory note (not part of Act)

This Act is a major rewriting of the Constitution. It repels Articles 2 and 3 to abolish the Premier and the Regional Assembly. It replaces it by empowering the Grand Chancellor to make ‘any such enactments required for the peace, order and good governance of the region.’ It states that when the GC wants to enact a law, it must be posted in the Conference Hall for 72 hours (96 for Constitutional amendments, Criminal Code and RP Rule amendments) and empowers members to oppose bills/present their own.