Commonwealth of Charybdis Constitution

# Commonwealth of Charybdis Constitution ## Article 1 - The Commonwealth of Charybdis is a Constitutional Monarchy, in which member states pledge allegiance to the First Lord, in exchange for security and economic prosperity under the banner of the Nation. - The Commonwealth maintains a Parliamentary body which votes on laws and amendments to the constitution, meeting within the House of Parliament in Hycliffe. - The Commonwealth Parliament elects and oversees an Executive Branch containing several Secretarial positions that oversees domains of the National Interest, acting as arbiters of the First Lord's authority within their responsibility. - Members States of the Commonwealth are responsible for maintaining their own internal government, a standing militia, and an economic base which provides for their basic needs, including upkeep, food, and ammunition supplies. - Member States of the Commonwealth are entitled to recieve protection from the Nation in times of war, both formally declared and border skirmishes, especially in instances where the Member State is at risk of being occupied by a foreign power. - Member States of the Commonwealth are bound to uphold the decisions of Parliament where they would apply within their town or their town's sphere of influence. - Member States may peacefully leave from the Commonwealth with the approval of the First Lord, if it would not interfere with the Commonwealth's ability to provide for its other member states, especially during times of war or economic crisis. ## Article 2 - Parliament is a body of representatives of the member states of the Commonwealth, under the First Lord. - Parliament derives its authority through the power of the First Lord, and operates with his assent. The First Lord maintains a veto against any act of Parliament, or modification to the Constitution, which can not be rescinded by an act of Parliament or modification to the Constitution. - Parliamentary sessions will be held at a minimum of once a week, except where requested by a simple majority of parliament, and ratified by the First Lord. - Parliament may override the First Lord's veto with a 2/3rds majority, except where the resulting act of Parliament would modify the Constitution. - Each member state of the Commonwealth is entitled to a single seat on Parliament for each 10 members of their town, and one additional seat that will always be assigned to the town leader. - Parliamentary sessions require a 2/3rds presence of Parliamentary Members, excluding members who have expressly assigned their vote to another member, in writing, to the First Lord - Parliament is responsible for maintaining the positions of the Executive Branch and its Secretaries, and ensuring the good order of operation of their domains of responsibility - Parliament is empowered to call into question in a session the behavior, actions, and decision making of any member of the Executive Branch, if their past behavior, actions, or decisions reflect poorly on the nation, fail to uphold the responsibilities of their station, or if they have abdicated their responsibilities by inaction. - Parliament may modify or make amendments to any portion of the Constitution with a 2/3rds majority vote on the amendment, and with the explicit consent of the First Lord. - Parliamentary laws or amendments to the Constitution must be posted publicly for review by both citizens and members of Parliament a full 24 hours before the session in which they are voted upon, except where this requirement is waived by the First Lord. - Emergency Sessions of Parliament may be called at any time by the First Lord when a sufficiently time-sensitive issue needs to be voted upon. Resolutions for these sessions may be presented and voted on immediately. - Parliamentary members may be censured by majority vote within Parliament if their past behavior, actions, or decisions reflect poorly on the nation, fail to uphold the responsibilities of their station, or if they have abdicated their responsibilities by inaction. - Parliamentary members may be removed immediately after being censured, by order of the First Lord. ## Article 3 - Parliament may vote to declare war with a simple majority vote, and the ratification by the First Lord, which if passed compels the Member States to commit to the conflict whole-heartedly to the best of their abilities, through men, material, and soft-power influences, wherever possible. - Parliament solely empowers the Secretary of National Defense with the responsibility of negotiating peace, cease-fire, or other diplomatic terms with opposition forces during war. No individual Member State may negotiate a separate peace or other treaty with the opposition or its allies. - Parliament may vote to impose sanctions on trade, banning towns, nations, or individuals from trade with the whole of the Commonwealth. - Parliament may only vote to impose sanctions where consistent oppositions to the well-being and security of the Commonwealth, or any of its constituent states are identified. - These sanctions bar any positive interaction where material goods are given or recieved, except for the express purpose of diplomatic repair and remediation between a hostile foriegn power or with the approval of the Secretary of National Defense. - Parliament may create laws binding to the Member States in the event that any article of the Constitution does not sufficiently provide codified rules, which reasonably may be followed by the average member of the Commonwealth. - Parliament reserves the right to enforce laws contrary to the internal policy of member states only in the event in which not doing so would undermine or otherwise harm the ability of the Parliament to perform its duties or where inaction would lead to the erosion of the Authority of the First Lord. ## Article 4 - Parliament nominates and ratifies the membership of the Executive Branch with a simple majority and ratification by the First Lord. - The Executive Branch is made up of several Secretariats, each led by a Secretary, whose sole responsibility is to discharge the duties of their domain, under the authority of the First Lord. - The Secretary of the Treasury is the head of the Charybdis National Bank, and is responsible for maintaining the development of the Commonwealth's Treasury, ensuring the economic growth and stability of the Member States, and advising the moderation of the National Currency to the Parliament. - The Secretary of the Interior is responsible for the development, maintenance, and standardization of infrastructure within the Nation, including but not limited to National transportation networks, nationalized economic zones, the House of Parliament, foreign embassies and their plots. - The Secretary of Foreign Affairs is responsible for maintaining fruitful and positive relations with foreign powers, wherever possible, act as the primary point of contact for foreign diplomats, inform and discuss the requests, demands, and advisements from foreign diplomats or leaders, and advise the parliament and the First Lord of international relations relevant to the nation. - The Secretary of National Defense is responsible for developing, maintaining, and commanding the military assets of the Nation, including drilling with, requisitioning equipment for, and overseeing the effectiveness of militia troops within individual Member States. The Secretary of National Defense is required to maintain an appropriate level of readiness to effectively defend Member States within the nation. - Every two weeks, Parliament is responsible for the review and re-confirmation of members of the Executive Branch. This must be performed in the event that the First Lord or any other Secretary calls for a Parliamentary review of the performance of a Secretary member in a session of Parliament. - During any session of Parliament Emergency Replacement 2/3rds Majority ## Article 5 - If any Member State of the Commonwealth is attacked by a foreign power, it is considered to be an attack on all Member States of the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth, its Member States, and their constituents are obligated to defend the aggrieved Member State. ## Article 6 - The Commonwealth shall issue, maintain, replace, and honor the Charybdis Requisition Bill, or "C-Bill", for use in internal and international trade, where applicable. - The Commonwealth must honor the exchange rate of 3 C-Bills to 1 Emerald, or 3 EXP Potions to 1 C-Bill. - The Commonwealth must maintain branches of the Commonwealth National Bank in Member States where the Member State has requested, especially where no other arm of the Commonwealth's economic interests reach. - The Commonwealth National Bank must maintain an accurate count of the C-Bills in circulation and not allow the bank's reserves of Emeralds decrease below 50% of the bills in circulation at any given time. - It is the duty of Parliament to oversee and explicitly authorize by Parliamentary act, the printing and replacement of C-Bills for the purposes of maintaining a healthy backing to the C-Bill within the national economy. - Member State Bank branches must be overseen by a member of the host State, and answerable directly to the Secretary of the Treasury for all matters governing the replenishment, maintenance and security of funds within its purview. - The Commonwealth National Bank is enfranchised with the ability to create and issue non-currency financial instruments with the exception of any instrument that would disrupt, deprive, or exploit the national economy or the economy of a Member State.