We the People of the Free State of Sabini, in order to preserve our Sovereignty, achieve and maintain prosperity and the blessings of Freedom and Liberty, provide for the common defense, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Free State of Sabini as its supreme law, deriving it’s just authority from the law of nature and the consent of the governed.
Article One
Provisions Subject to Amendment
Section 1: The Government of the Free State of Sabini
1: The Government of the Free State of Sabini shall consist of the Citizen's Council and an elected President.
2: The Citizens of the Free State of Sabini shall be any persons who, being competent shall have signed and assented to this Constitution. Citizenship carries with it the right to vote and eligibility to be on the Citizen's Council, which are denied to non-Citizens; it carries with it also the liability to taxation as set by the Citizen's Council, from which liability non-Citizens are exempt. Thus the Government of the Free State of Sabini is a voluntary cooperative association, with free exit and entry, and taxation is thus likewise voluntary, being conditional on Citizenship. Citizens may renounce their Citizenship at any time, and reclaim it later as they choose.
No competent person shall be barred from Citizenship. Criminal conviction shall not remove the rights, nor public office the responsibilities, of Citizenship.
3: Every Citizen shall have the right to launch a popular initiative calling for a national referendum to recall the President of the Free State of Sabini or to repeal any Act of the Citizen's Council, exclusive of the provisions of this Constitution. A popular initiative by a majority of the Citizens shall be sufficient to establish the referendum. A referendum vote must be held within 30 days of the attainment of the appropriate number of petitioners. If the President is recalled, a special election may be held to fill the vacant seat with the winner of the election serving the remainder of the recalled President's term.
4: Persons who acquire Citizenship after the first year following the ratification of this Constitution shall be required to maintain their Citizenship in good standing for minimum of two consecutive years to be eligible to hold public office, vote in elections, or to launch a popular initiative.
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Section 2: The Citizen's Council
1: The Citizen’s Council shall be composed of the Citizens of The Free State of Sabini.
2: The Citizen’s Council shall be vested with the authority to provide for the common defense and to manage the foreign affairs of the nation.
It shall have legislative authority and power to make and enforce laws, regulations, or ordnances as all legislative, regulatory, and enforcement powers authorized by this Constitution.
It shall have the power to propose, by two-thirds vote, policies, rules, or resolutions directing the actions of the Executive as it provides for the common defense and manages the foreign affairs provided that no Act compel or coerce Citizens or non- Citizens in any way.
Any Act, in order to advance to the Citizen’s Council for approval, must embrace no more than one subject, which shall be expressed in its title; appropriations shall concern only spending of monies and shall not mandate any other action or conduct, nor shall any Act contain more than one item of appropriation, and that for one expressed purpose.
All judiciary proceedings shall be composed by the Citizen’s Council.
3: The powers of the Council shall be restricted to the following:
a) To direct the Executive as it provides for the common defense and protection of Citizens of the Free State of Sabini from foreign aggression;
b) To make and approve of a budget;
c) To approve of the laying and collecting of taxes on the Citizens of the Free State of Sabini, for the purpose of paying the debts and providing for the common defense provided that all taxes are levied at a flat and uniform rate across the Citizenry; the Assembly may solicit voluntary contributions to the Treasury.
d) To declare war in defense of the people of The Free State of Sabini, and to make peace;
e) To provide for calling forth a militia to suppress insurrections, and repel invasions;
f) To impeach any officer who has lost the confidence of the Citizen’s Council, violated this Constitution, or committed a high crime or misdemeanor upon a majority vote and with the consent of a majority of the Citizen’s Council;
g) To pass judgment on the incorporation, under this Constitution, of new territory provided the people of territory consent to the incorporation;
h) To propose Amendments to this Constitution as detailed in Section 2.1, in addition to the power of vetoing Acts of the Citizen’s Council, the power to repeal any already existing Act by a one-half-plus-one vote;
i) To make such arrangements as shall be necessary for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government, or in any department or officer thereof, provided that no arrangement imposing restrictions on the people shall be regarded as necessary.
4: No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by approval of The Citizen’s Council pursuant to this Constitution; and statements and accounts of the receipts and expenditures of the Government shall regularly be made public; neither shall money be appropriated to any Citizen or group of Citizens through grants, subsidies, bailouts, conditional payment or any other means.
5: The Citizen’s Council shall be prohibited from creating and/or funding law enforcement agencies of any kind. If a Citizen fails to meet his or her tax liability, the Citizen’s Council may sue for breach of contract in a court of law in the same manner as would any person or institution.
6: The Citizen’s Council shall determine its own rules of procedure, and choose its own officers, including the Speaker of the Council.
7: All Acts of Citizen’s Council, prior to enactment, must receive the consent of two-thirds of the Citizen’s Council.
Section 3: The Executive
1: The Citizen’s Council shall, upon majority vote, elect the President of the Free State of Sabini.
Each President shall serve a term of 2 years.
The President may be removed from office by a majority vote of the Citizen’s Council.
2: The President shall, once per year, prepare the Annual Report of the Government of the Free State of Sabini for the Citizen’s Council, and the People of the Free State of Sabini. The report shall contain a comprehensive account of the activities of the Government during the prior year, information on the state of the nation, detailed financial statements including the balance sheet, income and cash flow statements, and recommendations for such measures as the President shall judge necessary and expedient.
3: The powers of the President shall be restricted to the following:
a) to be Commander in Chief of the militia, when called into the actual service of the Free State of Sabini to maintain a military force necessary to protect the People of the Free State of Sabini but under no circumstances shall the military be used for domestic law enforcement, police patrol, or domestic surveillance.
b) to negotiate treaties and to appoint ambassadors and other public officers, by and with the advice and consent a majority of the Citizen’s Council, and to commission all the officers of the State of the Free State of Sabini; though no treaty may enlarge the powers delegated to the Government by this Constitution.
c) to receive ambassadors and other public ministers;
d) to submit a budget to the Citizen’s Council for its consideration and to manage the finances of the Government, but no appropriation shall be made except where explicitly authorized by this Constitution.
e) to convene, on extraordinary occasions, the Citizen’s Council. The President shall not convene them at strange or difficult times or locations.
4: It shall be the duty of the President, and those in his Administration, to refuse assent to or execution of any Act in conflict with the Constitution of the The Free State of Sabini, and to grant reprieves and pardons to any persons accused of violating such Acts.
5: The Citizen’s Council may provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability of the President, declaring what officer shall succeed to that office, and such officer shall act accordingly until the disability be removed or a new President shall be selected in the usual manner.
Section 4: The Judiciary
1: Judiciary proceedings shall be composed by the Citizen’s Council minus the parties directly involved as plaintiff(s) and defendant(s).
2: The power of the judiciary roll of the Citizen’s Council shall be restricted to the adjudication of disputes, where no prior arbitration agreement exists between
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one Citizen and another,
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or between Citizens and non-Citizens,
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or among non-Citizens and other non-Citizens,
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or between Citizens and Corporation/Company,
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or Corporation/Company and other Corporation/Company.
3: It shall be the duty of all parties to this compact to strike down as void and unlawful any Acts or Appropriations in conflict with this Constitution.
Failure of the Citizen’s Council to strike down an Act of Government shall not be construed to legitimize the Act nor to affirm its constitutionality or lawfulness or to prohibit the other parties from passing judgment on its Constitutionality.
4: In the course of interpreting this document, where words are susceptible of two meanings, one consistent, and the other inconsistent, with justice and natural right, that meaning, and only that meaning, which is consistent with right, shall be attributed to them -- unless other parts of the instrument overrule that interpretation.
No language except that which is peremptory, and no implication, except one that is inevitable, shall be held to authorize or sanction anything contrary to natural right.
No extraneous or historical evidence shall be admitted to fix upon a statute an unjust or immoral meaning, when the words themselves of the act are susceptible of an innocent one.
5: No person shall be convicted, sentenced, or imprisoned without due process of law, including the right to trial by jury and habeas corpus, and there shall be no detention without trial, nor shall any person either before or after trial be held incommunicado. An accused person shall be assumed innocent until proven guilty. A person who has been arrested, detained, imprisoned, tried, or sentenced either illegally or in error shall receive restitution. At every stage of criminal process, an accused shall be informed of the charges against him or her, and to the privilege of counsel. An accused who does not speak the language in which the proceedings are conducted shall be provided without expense the services of an interpreter.
6: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, dwellings, vehicles, papers, communications and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of penalty; nor shall any be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against him or herself, nor be deprived of liberty or property without due process of law. Where illegally obtained evidence is judged to be admissible in court, those who obtained it remain subject to criminal prosecution.
7: The Judiciary shall have no power of compulsory witness, nor of compulsory jury empanelment.
8: It shall be the chief aim of judicial adjudication, using principles of common law and equity, to secure restitution for the victim to the fullest degree possible at the expense of the criminal or wrongdoer. Likewise, the prosecution shall as far as possible make full restitution for all loss suffered by persons arrested, indicted, restrained, imprisoned, expropriated, or otherwise injured in the course of criminal proceedings that do not result in their conviction.
When they are responsible, government employees or agents shall be liable for this restitution.
The claim of a victim (or class of victims) to restitution shall be a marketable claim, which may be acquired through gift or sale (or, in the case of deceased victims, through bequest or homesteading).
9: The victim shall have the right to direct the prosecution in criminal cases, so far as is consistent with full respect for the rights of the accused.
10: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor torture or other cruel, unusual, or degrading treatment inflicted. Convicted criminals shall not have their liberty restricted except so far as is necessary for the attainment of justice or for the protection of others, nor their property seized except so far as is necessary to make restitution to the victim and to pay the costs of the criminal's capture and trial.
11: The Judiciary shall not construe any part of this Constitution to be without effect or to be judicially unenforceable; nor shall appeals to international law or the laws of nations nullify any part of this Constitution or enlarge the powers delegated to the Government.
Article Two
Provisions Not Subject to Amendment
Section 1: Provision for Amendments
1: Amendments to this Constitution shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of this Constitution when ratified by four-fifths of the Citizen’s Council, provided that no Amendment shall in any manner affect Part Two of this Constitution.
2: All Amendments shall collectively constitute Part Three of this Constitution; the Executive shall have the power to enforce any Amendment, so far as such power is consistent with those provisions of the Constitution not subject to Amendment.
Section 2: Bill of Rights
1: Public officials and government employees possess no special rights, immunities, or exemptions not possessed by other Citizens; nor shall crimes against the Government or its officers be labeled as "treason," or regarded as more serious than crimes against other organizations or individuals. Moreover, apart from the rights of suffrage, referendum initiative, and the holding of public office under this Constitution, which are reserved to Citizens alone, the following rights apply to all persons equally, regardless of Citizenship or residency, with the qualification that persons judged incompetent (e.g., young children, or the mentally ill) may have their rights suspended in order to secure those ends to which, so far as can be established, they would be likely to consent if competent; but such persons retain in full force, as do others acting on their behalf, the right to challenge in court their status as incompetent no less often than once a year, and to sue for false judgment. Every person of the age of fifteen or greater shall be assumed competent, and every person under the age of fifteen shall be assumed incompetent, until proven otherwise in a court. The standard of evidence necessary to prove incompetence shall be higher than the standard of evidence necessary to prove competence.
2: The laws of the Free State of Sabini shall apply equally to all persons regardless of gender, ethnicity, opinions, religion, national origin, or peaceful lifestyle.
3: Every person has the right to do as he or she chooses with his or her own person and property, so long as he or she does not interfere, by force or fraud (or the threat thereof), with the equal right of others to do as they choose with their own persons and property.
4: No law shall abridge the right of persons to the peaceful control of their own bodies, nor interfere with voluntary, consensual, or contractual relations among persons, or the right to form cooperative ventures of any kind; nor invade the privacy of peaceful persons, nor by confiscation, expropriation, regulation, redistribution, restriction, control, or any other means abridge the right of any person to acquire property by homestead, purchase, or gift, or to use, control, exchange, lease, sell, transfer, bequeath, dispose of, or in any manner enjoy, their property without interference, until and unless the exercise of their control infringes the freedom of others; nor shall private property be fully or partially taken for public use without the consent of, and mutually agreeable compensation to, the owner.
5: No law shall create a class of victimless or consensual crimes.
6: All people have the right to freedom of association; any person may associate or transact with any other person or refuse to associate or transact with any other person for any reason, and the proprietor or lawful possessor of any movable or immovable property may exclude or refuse admission to any other person, except where such property is being used to violate the rights of others.
7: No law shall abridge the freedom of thought and feeling, or their peaceful expression or dissemination, as in speech, press and other media, artistic depiction, or religious practice; nor shall any law be made to promote or hinder religion, artistic culture, scientific research, or communication; nor shall the Government operate or support any school, college, or university.
8: The people have the right to peaceably assemble, or to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
9: No law shall countenance the existence of slavery, conscription, indenture, or any other form of involuntary servitude within the Free State of Sabini, or in any place subject to its jurisdiction.
10: All persons have the right to free and peaceful movement of themselves, goods, or ideas within or across the borders of the Free State of Sabini.
11: No law shall abridge the right of any person to use or issue any commodity or item as currency; nor shall the Government of the Free State of Sabini engage in monetary regulation or issue of any sort.
12: No law shall abridge ,restrict, or prohibit the right of self-defense by victims or their agents against initiators of aggression (including governments or their agents), including the right, to own, manufacture, sell, and bear arms; however, the right to own, manufacture, sell, and bear arms shall not extend to weapons of mass destruction defined as nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons and any other similar weapon whose devastation cannot be confined to a specific threat and whose possession in a populated area constitutes an aggravated assault on the population. Additionally, the right of self-defense shall not be construed to license resistance on the part of such aggressors to the legitimate use of force against them in defense of the rights of their victims.
13: There shall be no law to establish occupational licensure, nor make or claim grants of monopoly privilege, nor restrict competition or free entry into any profession or industry, including the services of adjudication, protection, and enforcement of legitimate rights.
14: No person shall be convicted for violating government secrecy classifications unless the government discharges its burden of proving that the publication violated the right of privacy of those who have been coerced into revealing confidential information to government agents, or disclosed defensive military plans so as to materially impair the capability to respond to attack; but it shall be a valid defense to such prosecution that information divulged shows that the government has violated the law.
15: Any owner or owners of land may secede with their property from the jurisdiction of the Free State of Sabini, whereupon their territory shall become a sovereign independent state in accordance with international law.
16: The enumeration in this Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
17: The existence of a state of emergency shall not be construed to limit the individual rights, or to expand the governmental powers, herein enumerated.
18: The powers not delegated to the Government by this Constitution are reserved to the people.