Constitution of The Republic of Guntreland

The Constitution of the Republic of Guntreland is the supreme legal act of the Republic of Guntreland.

Adoption

The Constitution of the Republic of Guntreland was adopted on the Phasianor 7 Year 7 of the Republic by the First Convocation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Guntreland, elected in secret elections during the operation of the Republic in the secret sphere. It was voted by a three-quarter majority of representatives elected on the basis of general suffrage of those citizens who acted within the Underground Republic, that is, sympathized with it enough to be included in the very risky voting process.

Legal Status

The Constitution of the Republic of Guntreland is the highest legal act of the Republic of Guntreland and all other legal acts must be aligned with it.

The relationship between the written norms of the Constitution and natural law, as well as the content of natural law, which according to some interpretations could be above the text of the Constitution itself, is a subject of dispute among Republican theorists.

Preamble

The text of the Preamble of the Constitution reads as follows:

Proceeding from the Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity of the Republic of Guntreland,

Proceeding likewise from the principle that said Sovereignty naturally belongs equally to every person born upon the soil of the continent of Guntreland or naturalized into the Guntrelandite Nation, united in a Social Contract;

With the exemption only of those who renounced Guntrelandite Nation by their own will, by renouncing the said Contract;

That each of Guntrelandite citizens stands equal in rights, duties, and the dignity of Citizenship — be they man or woman, werewolf, vampire, or classic human;

And that said Territorial Integrity encompasses the entire mainland of the continent of Guntreland and all islands which, together with that continent, form one Natural Whole;

Proceeding furthermore from the truth that it is the State alone — by virtue of its system of laws and its monopoly of physical force — which guarantees to Man, by his free human will, the integrity of his life, security, liberty, and property (the emanation of his person), as well as his right to partake in the governance of the community wherein alone the essence of humanity may be fulfilled; whence follow the sacred duties of each citizen toward the State, holier than any others they may bear toward any other;

Proceeding moreover from the principle that the Salvation of the People, the Homeland, and all Humanity must stand as the supreme law; that all superstitions against races be rejected and condemned;

That all offices and all employments be equally open to every citizen of the Republic, save for the distinction of natural ability and the merit of their deeds;

LET ALL CITIZENS AND ALL MANKIND HONOUR THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF GUNTRELAND!

The text of the Preamble to the Constitution is engraved on a high stone pillar at the Republic square in Eustata.

Sovereignity

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Guntreland, sovereignty derives from the citizens, who exercise it through a referendum, popular initiative and through their freely elected representatives. The legislative, executive and judicial powers are unified and embodied in the National Assembly, elected by universal and equal suffrage. There are no hereditary titles in the Republic of Guntreland. An attempt to violently overthrow the constitutional order of the Republic is a serious crime against the National Sovereignty, the perpetrators of which, by doing it, deny themselves all their rights.

Territorial Integrity

The territory of the Republic is one and indivisible, and according to the Constitution, it extends to "the entire mainland of the continent of Guntreland and all islands which, together with that continent, form one Natural Whole", which includes the Schwenz peninsula, which is currently under royalist occupation, as well as numerous islands that are still in that same situation.

Flag, Coat of arms, Anthem, Symbol and Motto

The flag of the Republic of Guntreland is a black-silver-white horizontal tricolor.

The coat of arms of the Republic of Guntreland is a shield on which, on a background in the colors of the Guntreland tricolor, a fox is shown holding the Constitution in its paws with the words HONOR THE CONSTITUTION CITIZENS.

The anthem of the Republic of Guntreland is the solemn song "Honor the Constitution, Citizens!". It is a reworked version of the earlier Guntreland anthem "Honor the King, Gentlemen!"

The symbol of the Republic of Guntreland is the Fox, as the main heroine of Hurel's moralistic fables, which, as praise for natural virtue and condemnation of vice, inspired the moralism of the founders of the Republic.

The motto of the Republic of Guntreland is: "Honor the Constitution, Citizens!"

Constitutional Guarantees

Among other things, the Constitution of the Republic of Guntreland guarantees every citizen of the Republic the right to life, property, protection of life and property, basic education, inviolability of the apartment. Vampires in particular are guaranteed a job with a salary sufficient to enable them to procure at the market price as much human blood as they need to perform their vital functions.

Among other things, the Constitution of the Republic of Guntreland prohibits punishment on the basis of anonymous reports, hunting of animals that are not used for food and economic purposes equated with it, the death penalty except in the case of crimes against the Sovereignty of the Republic, when it is about crimes that threaten the survival of the Republic free, natural and based on Virtue and therefore the very survival of the Virtue of Justice and the possibility of its implementation on Earth; and when the purpose of this sanction is not to punish but to protect the inviolable Sovereignty of the Republic and the Virtue it represents.

Annihilation of enemies of the Republic

The method of "annihilation" of confirmed enemies of the Republic prescribed by the Constitution implies that immediately after they are convicted of crimes against the Republic, they are simultaneously outlawed and without delay also put out of life by the citizens present (in practice, as the hunger for flesh and blood is great in the present wartime, they are eaten by dogs and their blood is drunk by vampires). Execution devices in the Republic are considered barbaric.

Civization of former aristocrats

The Constitution of the Republic of Guntreland provides that former aristocrats who "without delay" swear allegiance to the Republic and who symbolically express this by tying their feudal charters to the donkey's tail, are allowed to keep all property except that which is declared to be "directly connected to the crime of feudalism", which included primarily all the land previously cultivated by their dependent and unfree population. Although there was a proposal in the National Assembly to fully or partially compensate these "honest" aristocrats for their lost feudal rights and privileges, it was rejected on the grounds that these rights and privileges were contrary to the natural and Constitutional morality, and as such could not constitute property.

National Assembly

The National Assembly has 1201 National Representatives elected by the general and equal suffrage of all adult citizens. It is the highest holder of all three branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial.

The Republican calendar contains a special complementary day, the 366th day of the year, every fourth leap year, dedicated to the election of National Representatives.

The quorum for work and voting according to the Constitution is 603 NRs.

The Constitution stipulates that the Assembly elects from among its members by a simple majority the Committee of Public Command of 12 members, the Committee of Public Supervision of 12 members, the Judicial Committee of 10 members and "other committees" to which it can transfer its powers.

The National Assembly passes laws in a plenary session, with a majority from the number of NRs present.

The Committee of Public Command exercises executive power and appoints and dismisses Regional commanders. The National Assembly elects Department commanders (ministers) from its composition.

The Committee of Public Supervision supervises and controls the work of all state bodies except the National Assembly and receives and considers letters from Morality censors .

The Judicial Committee has 10 members, every of them being a NR with legal education, and functions as the Supreme Court of the Republic. When NRs themselves are put to trial, they are exempted from the Judicial Committee and regular courts, and they are tried by the Court of twenty-six NRs, ten of whom are members of the Judicial Committee, and thirteen of whom the accused may exempt.

The National Assembly is protected by its own Guard, the army cannot be in the Assembly building.

According to the Constitution, the National Assembly can only be dissolved by an unanimous decision of all district committees in the Republic, or all quart and municipal committees in the Republic.

State of emergency

The Constitution provides for the declaration of a state of emergency, which the National Assembly did in the days of waiting for Ferdinand's Armada, and which continues without interruption to this day.

The Constitution stipulates that parliamentary elections during a state of emergency are not mandatory, but that they can be called during a state of emergency if the Assembly loses one third of the originally elected members. Such a decision is to be made by a two-thirds majority of all NRs.

Amending Process

One quarter of the NRs, one quarter of the district committees in the Republic, or one quarter of the municipal and quart committees in the Republic, are authorized to submit to the National Assembly a proposal to amend the Constitution, which the National Assembly discusses and decides on within a maximum of thirty days, and which is adopted by a two-thirds majority of all the National Representatives.

Henscher on the Constitution

Hermann Henscher usualy proclaims that the reality should adapt itself to the Constitution. Moreover, he wrote following words in honor of the Constitution:

"The Constitution is the fairest creation of human Reason, for it is that sacred text wherein is inscribed how men shall govern their common life in a manner both rational and just. The coyote hath no constitution, nor hath the lion; for the law of Nature for creatures devoid of Reason is brute Force, whilst for creatures endowed with Reason it is Written Justice. Thus do lands without a Constitution resemble naught but bestial hordes, for among them reigns the law of force as in the kingdom of beasts; yet they are not even that, for Reason hath stripped them of that unconscious innocence by which beasts do wound one another without malice. It is the Constitution alone that makes of beasts Men, and of Men, Citizens."