Constitution of LDU

The **Constitution of the Liberal Democratic Union** is the document that defines the nature, form, structure, activity and fundamental rules of the LDU. It came in effect on *13 January 2021* and it has been drafted by Ainland, with contributions from Chitral, Epilepsia, Erimea, Poland-bavaria and Sjevre. The Constitution has been revised two times, on 17 September 2021 and on 17 May 2023

The Constitution is composed of 1 Preamble and 9 Articles while Article 1 despite remaining in the constitution, it is deemed null and void as of 2 June 2021. The articles mainly declare the foundations of the LDU, the rights of citizens, the policy of the LDU, and the powers of the Government Officers.

## **Preamble**

*"The Liberal Democratic Union is founded on the principles of open debate, freedom of opinion, and a plurality of views and political positions, underpinned by a commitment to open, fair, compassionate society within a market economy where all people enjoy equal protection of civil rights and political freedoms."*

## **Article I - Founder [THIS ARTICLE IS DEEMED NULL AND VOID AS OF 2 JUNE 2021]**

The Founder of the Liberal Democratic Union is Ainland. It is the Founder’s intention that the Liberal Democratic Union be a democratic, member-led region. As creator of the region, the Founder retains ultimate administrative control of the region, however promises and agrees to act in accordance with the Constitution. The Founder will hold the following limited powers, in order to safeguard the Constitution, maintain the security of the region, and ensure the region remains true to its founding purpose:

1. Where an off-site Forum and/or Discord server is provided for the region, the Founder will hold administrator/ownership of such platforms.
2. The Founder may appoint Moderators to these forums to act on his behalf, and to provide continuity in the event of his absence.
3. The Founder may veto any amendment, or replacement of, to the Constitution of the Liberal Democratic Union. For the avoidance of doubt, this does not apply to the passing, amendment or repeal of laws*.*
4. The Founder may eject and/or ban any nation or user from the region, or off-site platforms, if the Founder believes the nation is acting in a manner which undermines the founding principles of the Liberal Democratic Union as stated in the preamble.

## **Article II - Common purpose**

The Liberal Democratic Union is a region dedicated to open debate, freedom of opinion, and a plurality of views and political positions. However, this is underpinned by a commitment to open, fair, compassionate society within a market economy where all people enjoy equal protection of civil rights and political freedoms. Therefore, the Liberal Democratic Union explicitly condemns fascism, communism, and all forms of dictatorship.

## **Article III - Congress**

***Membership***

All Member Nations are members of the “Congress” of the Liberal Democratic Union.

To attain citizenship, a nation must join, or be a member of, the World Assembly (WA) and endorse the region's WA Delegate (the President of the Liberal Democratic Union). If a nation cannot join the World Assembly, then his or her citizenship may be approved by registering with the Home Secretary.

The MINIMUM requirements for Member Nation status are as follows:

1. Hold citizenship in the Liberal Democratic Union
2. Post at least once on the Regional Message Board
3. Reside in the region for at least 8 days

***Rights of Members of Congress***

1. Freedom to participate in the Regional Message Board, in accordance with the other terms of this Constitution
2. Freedom to actively partake in role-play
3. Freedom to conduct their nation’s own government

Once a nation cease to exist, without giving the Home Secretary information on why they will be offline, the nation loses its member-state status and citizenship.

***Powers***

All members of Congress may propose amendments, or replacement of, to the Constitution. Proposed amendments or replacements must be submitted to the Speaker, who will provide a technical opinion on their legality and implications, before putting them to the Congress for debate. There will be a minimum debate period of five days, followed by a voting period of three days. An amendment, or replacement of, to the Constitution requires a vote of Congress by a 60% majority, plus the consent of the President. All members of Congress may stand for election as an officer of the region, subject to the terms of election for that office.

## **Article IV - Officers**

***\*All Government Officers (excluding Director of Role-Play) must hold and maintain World Assembly (WA) membership.***

***The President***

The President represents the Liberal Democratic Union in the World Assembly, serving as the WA Delegate, and presides over the Administration.

The President will be elected by the Congress of the Liberal Democratic Union by a poll on the Regional Message Board every four calendar months and may serve for a maximum of two consecutive terms. Eligibility for candidacy for President requires Member State status of at least one calendar month and membership of the World Assembly.

***The Vice President***

The Vice President will assist the President in every matter. In the absence of the President, he or she ceases to exist, or is inactive for more than seven days, the Vice President will act as the Executive. If the President becomes active again, their control of the region will be restored. If the President has not been active for more than fourteen days, any Member Nation may call for an impeachment trial.

During the initial election for President, the Vice President will be nominated by the Presidential Candidate, and will be elected as his or her running mate by the Congress of the Liberal Democratic Union through a poll on the Regional Message Board.

Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of Congress.

***The Administration***

Members of the Administration hold executive responsibility for their respective departments.

Members of the Administration will be elected by the Congress of the Liberal Democratic Union by a poll on the Regional Message Board every four calendar months and may serve for a maximum of two consecutive terms.

Members of the Administration and the responsibilities are as follows: ***Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary***

Members of the Administration may appoint deputies and delegate responsibilities to them.

The positions of Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary are not to be abolished, except by further constitutional change, and are always to be elected. No nation may be appointed to the position by the President, they must be elected to the position by the rest of the region. And, any nations elected to either position, may not resign their posts for another governmental post within the duration of their term (this does not apply to the election period, only after they are elected).

New positions must be created by a constitutional amendment, and existing positions must be abolished the same way. No positions may be arbitrarily defined or created, for any reason, and all must have a specific purpose in the regional government.

These rules do not apply to extra-governmental positions, such as Speaker.

***Defense Secretary***

The Defense Secretary is not a Member of the Administration but will act as an assistant and advisor to the Home and Foreign Secretary. The Defense Secretary is to be appointed by the President and the Administration and will continue to serve as long as he or she holds the 'confidence' or support of the Government.

***The Speaker***

The Speaker is the Leader of Congress, and not a Member of the Administration. The Speaker is responsible for receiving proposed bills from members of Congress, scrutinising them and providing a technical and legal opinion, submitting them to the floor of Congress for debate, setting up and administering votes, and maintaining the library of Congress. Additionally, elections to the offices of President and Members of the Administration will be administered by the Speaker.

The Speaker will be elected by the Congress of the Liberal Democratic Union by a poll on the Regional Message Board every four calendar months and may serve for a maximum of two consecutive terms. The election for Speaker is to take place one month after the start of the general election.

***The Director of Role-Play***

The Director of Role-Play is not a Member of the Government and deals with all affairs related to role-playing. The Director of Role-Play will be elected by the Congress of the Liberal Democratic Union by a poll on the Regional Message Board every four calendar months during the general election. If the position remains vacant, then they may be appointed by the acting administration. The Director of Role-Play may also be held by a government member, such as the Speaker, Home Secretary or Foreign Secretary, as long as they are willing to fulfill the role's duties.

## **Article V - Ejecting/Banning nations**

If the Speaker of Congress receives 2-3 complaints about a nation and this nation does not fix their behavior within one week of being notified by the Speaker, the Speaker may begin a trial with permission of the Executive Office.

In the event that a nation is being placed on trial for ejection, three members of Congress will be chosen by lot to act as jury in the trial (the lot will be hosted and needs will be declared by the President). These three members will be joined by a member of the Administration that has not shown any bias in the trial (excluding the President, Vice President, and Speaker of Congress). If none can be found, the President will chose an unbiased Member of Congress.

Presiding as the neutral judges, the offices of the President and the Vice President will be held responsible for maintaining order in the court and must ensure that the defendant and the prosecution will be able to propose their arguments in a fair and timely manner. They will also be responsible for deciding the ultimate punishment for defendant.

The Speaker will represent the members, and as such will reside as the prosecution for banning and ejection cases.

If the defendant wishes, they may elect to have a member of the Administration (excluding the President, Vice President, and the Speaker) or a citizen in good standing represent them as their defense lawyer.

The speaking part of the trial will consist of multiple parts as follows:

1. Preparing evidence and imposing the complainer's complaint on the accused
2. Opening Arguments
3. Presentation of witnesses and evidence (each side may present no more than 3 witnesses and confidants to the jury)
4. Closing Arguments
5. Jury Decides
6. The jury will have time to discuss what they witnessed and votes will be sent to the Judge. In the event of a tie, the judges will cast a tie breaking vote
7. Sentencing

If found guilty, a nation will be ejected for a time limit determined by the judges. If a nation rejoins before their sentence is over, joins with an alternative account, or does not fix their behavior, the nation in question risks being immediately banned from the region.

## **Article VI** **- Elections**

Elections to the offices of President and Members of the Administration will be administered by the Speaker. There will be a nomination period of three days, followed by a campaign period of three days, followed by a three-day voting period for each office. The Speaker will call elections early where the President or Member of the Administration has been inactive for fourteen consecutive days.

Elections to the office of Speaker will be administered by the Home Secretary. Should a Speaker’s term end close to the end of a Home Secretary’s term, the Speaker’s term may be extended by up to three weeks to allow the administration of the election process. There will be a nomination period of three days, followed by a campaign period of three days, followed by a three-day voting period. The Home Secretary will call elections early where a Speaker has been inactive for seven consecutive days.

## **Article VII - Impeachment and succession**

If a member of the Administration has been inactive for fourteen or more consecutive days, any Member Nation may request an impeachment trial and an election will be held for said position. If the nation in question is the President, the Vice President will assume the role of the President and a new Vice President will be elected by Congress.

Alternatively, an administering nation which is considered to have committed an egregious breach of office or has violated LDU law, an impeachment trial may be called. Any Member Nation of the LDU may submit a resolution of impeachment to the Speaker, explaining why the officer should be impeached, and the Speaker will then review it. If the target of the impeachment is the Speaker, then the President will review it. If an impeachment trial is called, a poll will be created and a simple majority vote by Congress will be needed to impeach the officer.

## **Article VIII - Knighthood**

A nation that has demonstrated superb devotion to the LDU may be nominated for *Knighthood*. Articles of commendation are to be submitted to the Speaker, who shall review it for these requisites:

1. Nominee has been nominated by a nation other than their own
2. Nominee has been a Member Nation of the LDU for at least two months
3. Nominator has been a Member Nation of the LDU for at least two months

For a Member Nation to become officially knighted, he or she must first be accepted by Congress in regional poll. A nation who has been knighted cannot have their knighthood revoked for any reason, even if it is later found that they did not entirely fulfill one or more of the above requisites.

## Article XI - Map claims

The map will be maintained by the Director of RP.

All member-states have the constitutional right to partake in role-play, thus they have a right for a place on the regional map, but before a nation can claim land on the map, that nation in question must state that "I have read and agree to the roleplay rules" in the RMB, for legal reasons. All nations should have at least one Factbook and remain active to maintain their spot on the map. Nations that do not participate in the regional role-play or have not posted on the RMB for 60 days or more will be removed at the discretion of the cartographer.

Once you want to claim land a nation already owns you need to have permission of set nation.