Constitution of the Seafaring Confederation

The Constitution of the Seafaring Confederation is the fundamental law of the Seafaring Confederation. It was drafted in 1810 and ratified by the member states in 1820. It was created by the Treaty of Hamburg and is often regarded more as a treaty than anything else. The Constitution is the Supreme Law in the Confederation and overrules any other laws or constitutions, but at the same time limits the power of the Constitution and devolves rights to lower Constitutions.

Content

Preamble

We, The Eight Nations, together in the One Thousand Eight Hundred and Tenth Year since the Beginning of Our Calendar, in Seafaring House in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, representing all who desire to join the proposed Confederation:

All those who will come to see or hear being read the present proposal, salute! to bring upon you to know and expand and understand:

As thus we have gathered in understanding that there exists both wish and necessity for the creation and subsequent maintenance of a Confederation, consisting of eight member states and their territorial possessions, in realms both domestic and foreign, and that there is presently no known such Confederation between any of these interested parties;

So it is that We, at the advice of our Leaders and Legislators, with the advice of our Governmental Institutions, and with General Discussion and Consultation in our present situation, in regard to the formation and maintenance of a Confederation, have understood and commissioned, as well as We do understand and commission hereby and forthwith:

The Seafaring Confederation

Article 1

(1) The Seafaring Confederation consists of the United States of Saxony in its cooperation of the State of Dutch Lower Saxony of the Kingdom of the Netherlands of the United States of Saxony, the State of German Lower Saxony and its independent cities of Bremen and Hamburg, the State of Saxony-Anhalt and the State of Saxony-State; the United Duchies of Schleswig, Holstein and Jutland in its cooperation of the Duchy of Schleswig, the Duchy of Holstein and the Duchy of Jutland; the Island Provinces of Dogger; the Principality of Howry; the Republic of the Highlands and Anglesey in its cooperation of North and South; the Independent Nation of the Faroe Islands of the Danish Realm of the Seafaring Confederation; the Most Preferable Earldom of the Island of Rockall in its cooperation of the Rockallic Federal District, the Viscountcy of An Uinnia, the Viscountcy of An Thir na tÁirdteachd, the Viscountcy of An Móir Leautheinn, the Viscountcy of Cóste Ígheainne and the Viscountcy of Líchthiach Thiair; and the Kingdom of the Islands (Rom).

(2) The Capital of the Seafaring Confederation is the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

Basic Rights

Article 2 (Non-discrimination)

All individuals in the Seafaring Confederation shall be treated equally in equal circumstances. Discrimination on the grounds of religion, belief, political opinion, race, or gender or on any other grounds whatsoever shall not be permitted.

Article 3 (Nationality)

(1) Eligibility and rights to citizenship of the Seafaring Confederation are to be based on the regulation as set out by the member nations.

(2) Any individual with the nationality of one of the member nations automatically becomes a citizen of the Seafaring Confederation at the moment that the individual achieves that nationality.

(3) Any individual with the nationality of one of the member nations automatically loses his citizenship of the Seafaring Confederation.

Article 4 (Eligibility)

All citizens of the Seafaring Confederation shall be equally eligible for appointment to public service.

Article 5 (Right to vote)

Every citizen of the Seafaring Confederation shall have an equal right to elect the members of the general representative bodies and to stand for election as a member of those bodies, insofar that it has been found that the citizen in question is considered mentally fit to do so.

Article 6 (Religious freedom)

(1) The practice of one's religion is allowed to take place undisturbed and without further restrictions as long as

(a) the practice of religion is confined to one's home and religious organization(s)

(b) the practice of religion does not negatively affect independent individuals

(c) the practice of religion is kept out of politics.

(2) All individuals have the right to refuse to be or become a member of a religion. It is illegal to force somebody to be or become a member of a religion.

Article 7 (Expression)

(1) Everyone has the right to freely express and disseminate his opinion in speech, writing, and pictures and to freely inform himself from generally accessible sources. Freedom of the press and freedom of reporting by means of broadcasts and films are guaranteed. There may be no censorship, except in cases of

(a) protection of youth

(b) protection of person against possibly negative, detrimental or lethal public and/or social repercussions

(c) protection of rights of personal honour.

(2) Art and science, research and teaching are free. The freedom of teaching does not release from allegiance to the constitution.

Article 8 (Right to life)

(1) Every person has the right to be alive, as long as he does not commit any crimes described in Article 45 (Death penalty) of this very Constitution.

(2) Every person has the right to end their life.

(a) If a person is unable to communicate that they want to end their life, their life can be ended if

(I) they are above the age of sixteen, and they have expressed beforehand, through written consent, that they wish to end their life in a situation wherein they cannot communicate

(II) they are below the age of sixteen, and their parents or custodians have expressed a direct wish that the life of their child be ended

(III) if none of (8. 2. I-II) is present, that it can be proven, by at least two who are proficient on the matter, that keeping the person alive would cause prolonged suffering.

(b) A person's life cannot be ended against their own will. Doing so will be considered premeditated murder.

Article 9 (Association and assembly)

(1) The right of assembly and demonstration shall be recognized, without prejudice to the responsibility of everyone under the law.

(2) Rules to protect health, in the interest of traffic and to combat or prevent disorders may be laid down by Act of Parliament.

(3) The right of association shall be recognized. This right may be restricted by Act of Parliament in the interest of public order.

Article 10 (Privacy)

(1) Everyone has a right to privacy, without prejudice to restrictions laid down by law.

(2) No one person shall have his or her privacy infringed without informed consent unless he or she is proven to the Courts to be significant enough a threat to the well-being of others that it warrants uninformed observation.

(3) No personal data shall be kept for longer than one hundred and ten years, except under the following circumstances:

(a) medical data, to be kept for one hundred and fifty years.

(b) criminal records, to be kept for as long as a convicted criminal lives

(I) unless proven innocent, in which case the record will be destroyed.

(c) the person to whom the personal data is personally relevant lives to be older than one hundred and ten years, in which case the data will be kept until death.

(4) The privacy of correspondence shall not be violated, unless otherwise ordered by Court.

(5) The privacy of the telephone, telegraph, email, and any other electronic means of communication shall not be violated, unless otherwise ordered by Court.

(6) Entry into the home of an unwilling occupant will only be allowed when sufficient reason to suspect possible harm to others exists in the eyes of the Court

(a) prior identification before entering the house of an unwilling occupant under the Court's orders is required under all circumstances.

Article 11 (Nulla poene sine lege)

(1) Nulla poena sine praevia lege poenali

(a) no offence shall be punishable unless it was an offence under the law at the time it was committed.

(2) Nulla poena sine lege scripta

(a) no offence shall be punishable unless the law which criminalises it is formally written into the books of law.

(3) Nulla poena sine lege certa

(a) no offence shall be punishable that is not definite enough in description by books of law to warrant an objective punishment.

(4) Nulla poena sine lege stricta

(a) no offence shall be punishable unless it is strictly enshrined in criminal law.

Confederation

Article 12 (High Leaders)

(1) There shall be one High Leader, consisting of two individuals, who are equal in every way and function as a single Head of State.

(2) The High Leader has the final say in legislation:

(a) if the High Leader votes aye, the legislation is accepted and shall be written into law

(I) an aye vote shall be any vote where both individuals vote aye or where one individual votes aye and the other individual abstains

(b) if the High Leader abstains, the legislation is rejected

(I) an abstention shall be any vote where both individuals vote neither aye nor nay

(II) legislation rejected by abstention shall be sent back to the legislature to be debated and amended

(c) if the High Leader votes nay, the legislation is rejected

(I) a nay vote shall be any vote where both individuals vote nay or where one individual votes nay and the other individual abstains

(II) legislation rejected by a nay vote shall be sent back to the legislature to be debated and amended once'

(III) a second nay vote shall be considered a veto

(IV) a veto may be overridden by four-fifths majority in parliament.

Article 13 (Ministries)

(1) Each ministry shall be led by a Confederate Minister.

(2) The Confederate Ministry of General Affairs and the Leaders of the Seafaring Confederation shall be responsible for public planning, information, and the High Leader of the Seafaring Confederation

(a) the Seafaring Confederate Information and Communication Service shall regulate government communication and information

(b) the Seafaring Confederate Scientific Council for Government Policy and General Affairs shall consist of internally elected scientists who will advise the government on the scientific aspects of proposed legislation in every domain of science

(c) the ministry shall be led by the Ministers Universally Plenipotentiary of General Affairs.

(3) the Confederate Ministry of the Interior and Intraconfederate Relations shall be responsible for upholding this Constitution, the guarantee of democratic rule of law, the effectiveness and efficiency of governmental administration of all layers of government within the Confederation, the maintenance of the quality of civil service, the successful integration of new inhabitants, the safeguarding of the relations between the different countries of the Seafaring Confederation, and the maintenance of the possibility of free travel between the member countries of the Seafaring Confederation

(a) the Seafaring Confederate Intelligence and Security Service shall protect this Constitution and the citizens to which it applies and make sure that every citizen of the Seafaring Confederation is equally protected

(b) the Seafaring Confederate Government Service for the Regulation of External and Internal Immigration and Naturalisation shall provide aid to those who want to live in the Seafaring Confederation or move between member states of the Seafaring Confederation if it is so needed

(c) the Seafaring Confederate General Regulation Board for All Levels of Government within the Confederation shall provide Confederate aid and guidance to all lower levels of government existent within the Seafaring Confederation

(d) the Seafaring Confederate Council of Confederate Ministers shall consist of all the Confederate Ministers of the Seafaring Confederation and is responsible for outlining government policy and the persistance of the Seafaring Confederation

(e) the Seafaring Confederate Council of National and Federal Ministers shall consist of all national and federal ministers within the Seafaring Confederation to discuss specific topics of international importance

(f) the Seafaring Confederate Council of State and Viscountcial Ministers shall consist of all state and viscountcial ministers within the Seafaring Confederation to discuss topics of local importance

(g) the ministry shall be led by the Minister Universally Plenipotentiary of the Interior and Intraconfederate Relations.

Crime and Justice

Article 43 (Superiority)

State laws are subordinate to the State's Constitution is subordinate to the Member Nation's laws are subordinate to the Member Nation's Constitution is subordinate to the Confederate Guidelines are subordinate to this Constitution.

Article 44 (Iustitia victimae dehibet non reui)

Iustitia victimae dehibet non reui.

Article 45 (Death penalty)

For him or her who inflicts the gravest of crimes upon another, to which it is included the crime of rape, the crime of utilising fellow humans for the crime of rape or the intend to utilise fellow humans against their will for crimes related to sexual intercourse not under the consent of the fellow human utilised, the crime of abusing a fellow human in a manner that is sexual and against the consent of the fellow human abused, or the crime of taking away the life of another person or the crime of conspiring to cause the death of large amounts of people within the Seafaring Confederation, wherein the age, social standing or any other factor related to or of those convicted or those affected does not have an impact on the final conviction or outcome of the sentence, the sentence shall be death, and death alone, for he or she who inflicts these crimes cannot be trusted to be present on the soil of the Seafaring Confederation.

Article 46 (Cruel and disproportionate punishment)

It will not be allowed to punish a criminal with a cruel and respectively or disproportionate punishment in regards to the crime the criminal has committed, for the punishment may not exceed the harm the crime has inflicted upon the victim.

Article 47 (Privacy)

Every citizen has the right to privacy, unless such privacy would place an undue burden on the safety of the Confederation or its citizens.

Article 50 (Age of consent)

The Age of Consent shall be Sixteen for both men and women, however, between the ages of Twelve and Sixteen it shall be legal to have sexual relations with a person who is no younger and no older than Four years away from said adolescent's age, and the person with whom these sexual relations are being had must still be older than Twelve, and it must be with said person's explicit and informed consent.