Constitution of the Confederate States of Earth

"The Constitution, the document to which the basis of the law and government policy of our nation is set out, penned by me and the 9 other fellows of the Alliance of Ten."

- President of the Confederacy Jane Zarkan on the constitution

The Constitution of the Confederate States of Earth was the supreme law of the Confederate States of Earth, a breakaway alliance of states from the Union of Earth States which supported the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

The document detailed the basis for the laws, civil rights, the government and other societal aspects of the young Confederacy.

Penned by Jane Zarkan, Provisional Confederate President, and the 9 other members of the Alliance of Ten, the first 10 nations to secede and the founding nations of the Confederacy, the constitution was almost a word-for-word copy of the Constitution of the Union of Earth States, President Zarkan later stating that this was done because the heads of the seceded nations still liked the laws in the Union's constitution, and wished to preserve the Union's constitution from what they saw as its subversion during the tenure of Federalist President Richard Williams

Unlike the Union's pledge of allegiance, which was pledged to the Union's banner, the standard Confederate Oath of Allegiance involved swearing to "Obey, fight for, and maintain, the laws of the Constitution of the Confederate States of Earth"

"I solemnly swear that I shall obey, fight for, and maintain, the laws of the Constitution of the Confederate States of Earth"

- The standard Confederate Oath of Allegiance

The original document was displayed in the Confederate Parliament building in Zarkan City, the capital of the Confederacy, until 18 BBY when it was hidden in a bunker to prevent its destruction by the Earth Empire, the original document survived the 22 years of the Earth Empire and the Second Earth Rebellion in 4 ABY, following which it was placed back in its original location. Within days of the writing of the original copy copies of the Constitution had been sent to every legislative building of the the Confederate states, including those of national and local governments.

The document was originally signed with 11 signatures, 10 signatures from the Alliance of Ten, the founders of the Confederacy, one signature by each Head of State of the first 10 nations to secede, along with Edward R. Stephens, the High Chancellor of the Confederacy, though it was later amended with the signature of the Member of Confederate Parliament from each of the new states, because of the logistical problems and waste which would be caused by having to replace the hundreds of copies of the constitution sent across the Confederacy every time a signature or amendment was made it was decided to leave the vast majority of legislatures with the original version until the final state to join the Confederacy was determined.

When the Republic of Wekland joined the Confederacy as the 95th and final Confederate state copies of the completed constitution replaced all of the older original versions across the Confederate territory.

Content of the Constitution

The Confederate Consititution was pretty much a word-for-word copy of the Union's constitution, but included some rights not seen in the Union constitution, such as the right to impeach government officers and judges if they lived and worked solely within their state.

Another difference are the mentions of Indentured servitude, the Union did not practice indentured servitude, whilst the states which made up the Confederacy did, the Confederate Constitution goes into somewhat detailed examples of indentured servitude, including "Voluntarily", examples given being indentured servitude performed to work off a debt, or performed because the servant felt loyalty to their employer and "Involuntarily", of which examples were given including prisoners made indentured servants to the state to pay off their debt to society through servitude, or criminals held in indentured servitude by their victims as repayment for all manner of crimes ranging from "trickery" (swindling, fraud), "thievery", and "murder".

Another part not featured in the Union's constitution being the creation, purpose and the rights of the "Confederate Vexillographical Institute", a government body responsible for the design, creation and production of military, government, state and civilian flags for the Confederacy, the Union not having an equivalent to such an organisation.

Preamble We, the people of the Confederate States of Earth, each State acting in her free and independent manner, in order to form a permanent and free Confederated government, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, invoking the favour and guidance of Almighty God do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Confederate States of Earth.

Articles of the Constitution ARTICLE I  Section I. All legislative powers herein delegated shall be vested in the Confederate Parliament, the successor legislature to the prior Provisional Confederate Parliament, which shall consist of a House of Members and a House of Representatives.

Sec. 2. (I) The House of Representatives shall be composed of Representatives chosen every second year by the people of the Confederate States; and the electors in each State shall be citizens of the Confederate States, and have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature; but no person of foreign birth, not a citizen of the Confederate States, shall be allowed to vote for any officer, civil or political, State or Confederate.

(2) No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained the age of twenty years, and be a citizen of the Confederate States, and who shall not when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which they shall be chosen.

''(3) Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the Confederate States, which may be included within this Confederacy, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to indentured servitude, including forced servitude as the result of debt or recompense for criminal acts against the state or people thereof, for a term of years, with those persons presently without such freedom, be they imprisoned, or otherwise denied liberty. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Parliament of the Confederate States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every fifty thousand, but each State shall have at least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of the Zarkan Kingdom shall be entitled to choose six; the State of Princeland ten; the State of Erastan nine; the State of Adin-Morin two; the State of Westland seven; the State of Selandia six, the State of Toman five, the State of the Drelan River six, the State of Norland five; and the State of Sothland eight.''

(4) When vacancies happen in the representation from any State the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.

(5) The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment; except that any judicial or other Confederate officer, resident and acting solely within the limits of any State, may be impeached by a vote of two-thirds of both branches of the Legislature thereof.

Sec. 3. (I) The House of Members of the Parliament of the Confederate States shall be composed of two Members of the Confederate Parliament from each State, chosen for six years by the Legislature thereof, at the regular session next immediately preceding the commencement of the term of service; and each Member of the Parliament shall have one vote.

''(2) Immediately after they shall be assembled, in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the Members of the Confederate Parliament of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year; of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year; and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year; so that one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or other wise, during the recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.''

(3) No person shall be a Member of the Confederate Parliament who shall not have attained the age of twenty-three years, and be a citizen of the Confederate States; and who shall not, then elected, be an inhabitant of the State for which he shall be chosen.

(4) The High Chancellor of the Confederate States of Earth shall be the leader of the Parliament, and shall oversee Parliamentary proceedings, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided.

(5) The House of Members shall choose their other officers; and also a president pro tempore in the absence of the High Chancellor, or when they shall exercise the office of President of the Confederacy.

''(6) The House of Members shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the Confederacy is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.''

(7) Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold any office of honour, trust, or profit under the Confederate States; but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgement, and punishment according to the law of the Confederate States.

''(8) The design and creation of the government, military and civil flags of the Confederate States shall be undertaken by a government organisation called the "Confederate Vexillographic Institute", the Institute shall be headed by the office of the "Chief Vexillographer", who shall sit on the Confederate Cabinet. The Institute shall also process designs of flags for this Confederacy delivered by the citizens of the Confederate States and decide upon a selection of flags to be viewed by the Parliament for approval, the Institute may design its own flags to take part in Vexillographical competitions, but may not discount the flags provided by the citizenry in favour of the flags produced by itself.''

''(8b) The Confederate Vexillographic Institute may not impede on the rights of other Vexillographers to design and create personal flags of their own creation, be they based upon governmental flags or otherwise. The Institute also does not have the right to force, or in some way come to gain, flags produced by other Vexillographers to be provided to the Institute by the aforementioned Vexillographers without their approval.''

(8c) Vexillographers not related to the Institute also have the right to provide their flags to the Confederate Parliament directly, without giving said flags to the Institute, should that be their desire

Sec. 4. (I) The times, places, and manner of holding elections for Members of the Confederate Parliament and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof, subject to the provisions of this Constitution; but the Parliament may, at any time, by law, make or alter such regulations, except as to the times and places of choosing Members of the Parliament.

(2) The Parliament shall assemble at least once in every year; and such meeting shall be on the first New Week in End Year, unless they shall, by law, appoint a different day.

Sec. 5. (I) Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorised to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each House may provide.

(2) Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behaviour, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of the whole number, expel a member.

(3) Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House, on any question, shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.

(4) Neither House, during the session of the Parliament, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

''Sec. 6. (I) The Members and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of the Confederate States of Earth. They shall, in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place. No Member or Representative shall, during the time for which they were elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the Confederate States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no person holding any office under the Confederate States shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office. But the Parliament may, by law, grant to the principal officer in each of the Executive Departments a seat upon the floor of either House, with the privilege of discussing any measures appertaining to his department.''

Sec. 7. (I) All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the House of Members may propose or concur with amendments, as on other bills.

''(2) Every bill which shall have passed both Houses, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President of the Confederacy; if they approve, they shall sign it; but if not, they shall return it, with their objections, to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases, the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (End Week excepted) after it shall have been presented to them, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if they had signed it, unless the Parliament, by their adjournment, prevent its return; in which case it shall not be a law. The President may approve any appropriation and disapprove any other appropriation in the same bill. In such case they shall, in signing the bill, designate the appropriations disapproved; and shall return a copy of such appropriations, with their objections, to the House in which the bill shall have originated; and the same proceedings shall then be had as in case of other bills disapproved by the President.''

(3) Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of both Houses may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the Confederacy; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by them; or, being disapproved by them, shall be repassed by two-thirds of both Houses, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in case of a bill.

Sec. 8. The Parliament shall have power-

(I) To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises for revenue, necessary to pay the debts, provide for the common defence, and carry on the Government of the Confederate States; but no bounties shall be granted from the Treasury; nor shall any duties or taxes on importations from foreign nations be laid to promote or foster any branch of industry; and all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the Confederate States.

(2) To borrow money on the credit of the Confederate States of Earth.

(3) To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the Confederate States, and with native tribes; but neither this, nor any other clause contained in the Constitution, shall ever be construed to delegate the power to Parliament to appropriate money for any internal improvement intended to facilitate commerce; except for the purpose of furnishing lights, beacons, and buoys, and other aids to navigation upon the coasts, and the improvement of harbours and the removing of obstructions in river navigation; in all which cases such duties shall be laid on the navigation facilitated thereby as may be necessary to pay the costs and expenses thereof.

(4) To establish uniform laws of naturalisation, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout the Confederate States; but no law of Parliament shall discharge any debt contracted before the passage of the same.

(5) To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures.

(6) To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current currency of the Confederate States.

(7) To establish post offices and post routes; but the expenses of the Post Office Department, after the 1st day of Year's Height in the first year of Confederate independence, shall be paid out of its own revenues.

(8) To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.

(9) To constitute tribunals inferior to the Confederate High Court.

(10) To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the laws of nations.

(11) To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water.

(12) To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years.

(13) To provide and maintain a navy.

(14) To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces.

(15) To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Confederate States, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.

(16) To provide for organising, arming, and disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the Confederate States; reserving to the States, respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by the Parliament.

(17) To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of one or more States and the acceptance of Parliament, become the seat of the Government of the Confederate States; and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings.

(18) To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the Confederate States, or in any department or officer thereof.

Sec. 9. (I) The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

(2) No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.

(3) No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State, except by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses.

(4) No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another.

(5) No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.

(6) Parliament shall appropriate no money from the Treasury except by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses, taken by yeas and nays, unless it be asked and estimated for by some one of the heads of departments and submitted to the Parliament by the President; or for the purpose of paying its own expenses and contingencies; or for the payment of claims against the Confederate States, the justice of which shall have been judicially declared by a tribunal for the investigation of claims against the Government, which it is hereby made the duty of Parliament to establish.

(7) All bills appropriating money shall specify in Confederate currency the exact amount of each appropriation and the purposes for which it is made; and the Parliament shall grant no extra compensation to any public contractor, officer, agent, or servant, after such contract shall have been made or such service rendered.

(8) No title of nobility shall be granted by the Confederate States; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, without the consent of the Parliament, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.

(Amendment 8b) Jane Zarkan, Queen of the Zarkan Kingdom, Empress of the Zarkan Empire, Founder of the Confederate States of Earth and President at the time of the writing of this document, shall be exempt from the aforementioned law, on account of her being awarded the position of President of the Confederacy at the strong desire of the Parliament, her descendants, despite being of the nobility, shall be eligible to be elected to the position of President by the popular vote of the People of the Confederate States, and with the blessings of the Parliament.

''(9) Parliament shall have the right to pass a law concerning the establishment of a national religion for the Confederate States, should the national populace wish for such an establishment to occur. The Parliament shall not, however, have the right to pass laws concerning the prohibiting of the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the Government for a redress of grievances.''

(10) A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

(11) No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

(12) The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, 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.

(13) No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

(14) In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favour; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence.

(15) In suits at Common Law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty Confederate Pounds, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved; and no fact so tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the Confederacy, than according to the rules of the Common Law.

(16) Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

(17) Every law, or resolution having the force of law, shall relate to but one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title.

''Sec. 10. (I) No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, or ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts; or grant any title of nobility.''

(2) No State shall, without the consent of the Parliament, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports, or exports, shall be for the use of the Treasury of the Confederate States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of Congress.

''(3) No State shall, without the consent of the Parliament, lay any duty on tonnage, except on seagoing vessels, for the improvement of its rivers and harbours navigated by the said vessels; but such duties shall not conflict with any treaties of the Confederate States with foreign nations; and any surplus revenue thus derived shall, after making such improvement, be paid into the common treasury. Nor shall any State keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. But when any river divides or flows through two or more States they may enter into compacts with each other to improve the navigation thereof.''

ARTICLE II

''Section I. (I) The executive power shall be vested in a President of the Confederate States of Earth. They and the High Chancellor shall hold their offices for the term of four years; and both the President and the High Chancellor shall be re-eligible for an unlimited amount of terms. The President and High Chancellor shall be elected as follows:''

(2) Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole number of Members and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Parliament; but no Member or Representative or person holding an office of trust or profit under the Confederate States shall be appointed an elector.

''(3) The electors shall meet in their respective States and vote by ballot for President and High Chancellor; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as High Chancellor, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as High Chancellor, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the Government of the Confederate States, directed to the Grand Speaker of the Houses; the Grand Speaker shall,in the presence of the House of Members and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted; the person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the 4th day of Birth Season next following, then the High Chancellor shall act as President, as in case of the death, or other constitutional disability of the President.''

(4) The person having the greatest number of votes as High Chancellor shall be the High Chancellor, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have a majority, then, from the two highest numbers on the list, the House of Members shall choose the High Chancellor; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Members, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice.

(5) But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of High Chancellor of the Confederate States.

(6) The Parliament may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the Confederate States.

(7) No person except a natural-born citizen of the Confederate States, or a citizen thereof at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, or a citizen thereof born in the Union of Earth States prior to the 9th of New Year of the First Year of Confederate Independence (9th January, 60 Years of Union within the Union's Calendar), shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the limits of the Confederate States, as they may exist at the time of their election.

(8) In case of the removal of the President from office, or of their death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of said office, the same shall devolve on the High Chancellor, except the President on a prior occasion having devolved the powers and duties aforementioned on an appointed Provisional President of the Confederacy until a new President can be elected; the Parliament may, by law, provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and High Chancellor, declaring what officer shall then act as President; and such officer shall act accordingly until the disability be removed or a President shall be elected.

(9) The President shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which they shall have been elected; nor they shall receive within that period any other emolument from the Confederate States, or any of them.

(10) Before they enter on the execution of their office they shall take the following oath or affirmation:

Sec. 2. (I) The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the Confederate States, and of the militia of the Confederate States, when called into the actual service of the Confederate States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the Executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices; and they shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the Confederate States, except in cases of impeachment.

(2) They shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the House of Members, to make treaties; provided two-thirds of the Members present concur; and they shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the House shall appoint, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Confederate High Court, and all other officers of the Confederate States whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law; but the Parliament may, by law, vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

''(3) The principal officer in each of the Executive Departments, and all persons connected with the diplomatic service, may be removed from office at the pleasure of the President. All other civil officers of the Executive Departments may be removed at any time by the President, or other appointing power, when their services are unnecessary, or for dishonesty, incapacity. inefficiency, misconduct, or neglect of duty; and when so removed, the removal shall be reported to the House of Members, together with the reasons therefore.''

(4) The President shall have power to fill all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the House of Members, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session; but no person rejected by the House shall be reappointed to the same office during their ensuing recess.

Sec. 3. (I) The President shall, from time to time, give to the Parliament information of the state of the Confederacy, and recommend to their consideration such measures as they shall judge necessary and expedient; they may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them; and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; they shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; they shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the Confederate States.

Sec. 4. (I) The President, High Chancellor, and all civil officers of the Confederate States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours.

ARTICLE III

''Section I. (I) The judicial power of the Confederate States shall be vested in one Confederate High Court, and in such inferior courts as the Parliament may, from time to time, ordain and establish. The judges, both of the High and Low Courts, shall hold their offices during good behaviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.''

Sec. 2. (I) The judicial power shall extend to all cases arising under this Constitution, the laws of the Confederate States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the Confederate States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more States; between a State and citizens of another State, where the State is plaintiff; between citizens claiming lands under grants of different States; and between a State or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens, or subjects; but no State shall be sued by a citizen or subject of any foreign state.

''(2) In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the High Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the High Court shall have appellate jurisdiction both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Parliament shall make.''

(3) The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury, and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Parliament may by law have directed.

''Sec. 3. (I) Treason against the Confederate States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.''

(2) The Parliament shall have power to declare the punishment of treason; but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted.

ARTICLE IV

Section I. (I) Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State; and the Parliament may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.

Sec. 2. (I) The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the Confederate States; and shall have the right of transit and sojourn in any State of this Confederacy, with their property; and the right to own said property shall not be thereby impaired.

(2) A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime against the laws of such State, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.

(3) No prisoner or indentured person held to service or labour in any State or Territory of the Confederate States, under the laws thereof, escaping or lawfully carried into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labour; but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such person owes their employment, or to whom such service or labour may be due.

Sec. 3. (I) Other States may be admitted into this Confederacy by a vote of two-thirds of the whole House of Representatives and two-thirds of the House of Members, the House of Members voting by States; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State, nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned, as well as of the Parliament.

(2) The Parliament shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations concerning the owning of property of the Confederate States, including the lands thereof.

''(3) The Confederate States may acquire new territory; and Parliament shall have power to legislate and provide governments for the inhabitants of all territories belonging to the Confederate States, lying without the limits of the Confederate States; and may permit them, at such times, and in such manner as it may by law provide, to form States to be admitted into the Confederacy. In all such territory the institution of indentured servitude, be it voluntary, as in to remove debt or service performed out of loyalty to the master, mistress, or employer of the servant, or involuntary, as in to reimburse the state or person to whom the indentured person committed acts of criminality including, but not limited to, murder, thievery, banditry, treachery, trickery or damages against the state, the person, or the property belonging to said person, until the indentured person having provided adequate servitude to sate the desire for justice from the wronged party, and thus having their liberty restored to them, as the legal concept of "Indentured Servitude" presently exists in the Confederate States, shall be recognised and protected by the Parliament and by the State or Territorial legislature; and the inhabitants of the Confederate States and Territories shall have the right to take to such Territory any servants lawfully held by them in any of the States or Territories of the Confederate States.''

(4) The Confederate States shall guarantee to every State that now is, or hereafter may become, a member of this Confederacy, a republican form of government; and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the Legislature or of the Executive when the Legislature is not in session) against domestic violence.

''(5) In regards to indentured servants, no employer to whom said servants owes their labour, be such labour voluntary, or otherwise, may imprison, keep hold of, or otherwise take permanent possession, of a servant without their will, neither may a servant be held beyond the expiration of the duration of their servitude, as written in a Writ of Servitude, unless clearly stated by said servant, with no suspicion of forcefulness on the part of the employer. A servant may not be forced, physically, or otherwise, into continued servitude by their employer against their will, providing that they have undertaken no such action as to warrant continued servitude.''

(5b) If such a possession be taken of the aforementioned servant in opposition to the free will of the servant, or in violation of the compact agreed upon by the servant and the employer, or if such a possession is illegal under the laws governing indentured servitude in the state or territory in which it has occurred, the local body politic, or an agent acting on behalf of the local legislature or court of law, reserves the right to issue a warrant for the arrest of the employer, and charge said employer with unlawful servitude, and, or, any other charges related to the particular case.

ARTICLE V

''Section I. (I) Upon the demand of any three States, legally assembled in their several conventions, the Parliament shall summon a convention of all the States, to take into consideration such amendments to the Constitution as the said States shall concur in suggesting at the time when the said demand is made; and should any of the proposed amendments to the Constitution be agreed on by the said convention, voting by States, and the same be ratified by the Legislatures of two- thirds of the several States, or by conventions in two-thirds thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the general convention, they shall thenceforward form a part of this Constitution. But no State shall, without its consent, be deprived of its equal representation in the House of Members.''

ARTICLE VI

I. The Government established by this Constitution is the successor of the Provisional Parliament of the Confederate States of Earth, and all the laws passed by the latter shall continue in force until the same shall be repealed or modified; and all the officers appointed by the same shall remain in office until their successors are appointed and qualified, or the offices abolished.

2. All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid against the Confederate States under this Constitution, as under the Provisional Government.

3. This Constitution, and the laws of the Confederate States made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the Confederate States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

4. The Members of the Confederate Parliament and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the Confederate States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the Confederate States.

5. The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people of the Confederate States.

6. The powers not delegated to the Confederate States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people thereof.

ARTICLE VII

I. The ratification of the conventions of ten States shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same.

''2. When ten States shall have ratified this Constitution, in the manner before specified, the Parliament under the Provisional Constitution shall prescribe the time for holding the election of President and High Chancellor; and for the meeting of the Electoral College; and for counting the votes, and inaugurating the President. They shall, also, prescribe the time for holding the first election of members of the Parliament under this Constitution, and the time for assembling the same. Until the assembling of such Parliament, the Parliament under the Provisional Constitution shall continue to exercise the legislative powers granted them; not extending beyond the time limited by the Constitution of the Provisional Government.''

Adopted unanimously by the Parliament of the Confederate States of the Zarkan Kingdom, the United Provinces of Adin and Morin, the Kingdom of Princeland, the Republic of Selandia, the Toman Republic, Erastan, the Kingdom of Westland, Norland, the Sothland Republic and the Confederation of the Drelan River on the 17th Day of New Year of the First Year of Confederate Independence (17th January, 60th Year of Union)

Signatories

JANE ZARKAN, Provisional President of the Confederate States of Earth

EDWARD ROBERT STEPHENS, Provisional High Chancellor of the Confederate States of Earth

ADASH MORIDANI, Governor-in-Chief of the United Provinces of Adin and Morin

ELLIOT IV, King of the Kingdom of Princeland

SAMUEL BARON, President of the Republic of Selandia

TUFAR TENGI, President of the Toman Republic

JASHA ROGANI, Lord of Erastan

ERIC XI, King of the Kingdom of Westland

JORGUN II, King of Norland

HENRY P. KENTON, Chief Governor of the Sothland Repubic

FREDERICK EOFOR, Chief Minister of the Confederation of the Drelan River