Constitution of the Kingdom of the Vatican States

# ***Preamble***

**We, the people of the Vatican States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, guarantee national tranquility, tend to the common defense, promote the general welfare and ensure the benefits of freedom for us and for our later life. We hereby promulgate and establish this Constitution for the Kingdom of the Vatican States.**

# ***Article I: the legislative branch***

### ***-First Section: The congress***

* **All legislative powers granted in this Constitution shall be vested in a Congress of the Vatican States, which shall be composed of a Senate and a House of Representatives.**

### ***-Second Section: The House of Representatives***

* **The House of Representatives will be made up of members elected every two years by the citizens of the various states, and the voters in each state must possess the conditions required for voters according to the largest sector of the local legislative assembly.**

* **Any person who has not reached the age of 25 and who has not been a citizen of the Vatican States for seven years, and who is not an inhabitant of the state in which he is appointed, at the time of the election, shall not be a representative.**

* **When vacancies occur in the representation of any state, the executive authority of the same will issue a decree by which elections will be called in order to fill them.**

* **The House of Representatives will elect its president and other officials and will be the only one empowered to declare that there is room to proceed in cases of official responsibilities.**

### ***-Third Section: The Senate***

* **The Senate of the United States will be composed of Four senators from each state, elected for six years by the legislative assembly of the same, and each senator will represent one vote.**

* **As soon as they meet by virtue of the initial choice, they will divide into three groups as evenly as possible. The minutes of the senators of the first group will remain vacant at the end of the second year; those of the second group, at the expiration of the fourth year; and those of the third group, at the end of the sixth year; in such a way that it is feasible to elect a third party every two years, and if vacancies occur, due to resignation or any other cause, during the recess of the legislature of any State, the Executive of the latter may make provisional appointments until the next session. of the Legislative Assembly, which will proceed to fill said vacancies.**

* **Any person who has not reached the age of 30 and who has not been a citizen of the Vatican States for nine years and who, at the time of the election, is not an inhabitant of the State by which he was appointed shall not be a senator*.***

* **Deputy Prime Minister of the Vatican States. he will be president of the Senate, but will have no vote except in the event of a tie.**

* **The Senate will elect its other Officials, as well as a president pro tempore, in the absence of the Deputy Prime Minister or when the latter is in the position of Prime Minister of the Vatican States.**

* **The Senate will have the exclusive right to judge on all the accusations made against a high official. When it meets for this purpose, its members must take an oath or protest. When the Prime Minister of the Vatican States is tried. the act shall be presided over by the president of the Supreme Court. And no person will be convicted if a two-thirds vote of the members present is not reached.**

* **In the cases of accusations made against a high position, the scope of the sentence will not go beyond the removal of the same from his position and the disqualification to occupy and enjoy any honorary, trust or remunerated employment of the Vatican States; the convicted individual will, however, be subject to being charged, prosecuted, judged and punished in accordance with the law.**

### ***-Fourth Section: Elections and Meetings***

* **The places, times and manner of holding the elections for senators and representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the respective Legislative Assembly, but Congress may formulate or alter the rules of reference at any time by means of a law, except as regards to the places of election of the senators.**
* **Congress will meet once a year, and this meeting will be the first Monday in December, unless another day is set by law.**

### ***-Fifth Section: Procedure***

* **Each Chamber will qualify the elections, the reports on scrutinies and the legal capacity of its respective members, and a majority of each one will constitute the necessary quorum to deliberate; but a smaller number can suspend the sessions from one day to the next and will be authorized to compel the absent members to attend, in the manner and under the penalties determined by each Chamber.**
* **Each Chamber may draw up its own internal regulations, punish its members for improper conduct and expel them from its bosom with the consent of two-thirds.**
* **Each Chamber will keep a diary of its sessions and will publish it from time to time except for those parts that in its opinion require confidentiality; and the affirmative and negative votes of its members with respect to any question will be recorded in the newspaper, at the request of a fifth of those present.**
* **During the session of Congress, neither of the two chambers may suspend them for more than three days or agree that they be held in a place other than that in which both chambers meet without the consent of the other.**

### ***-Sixth Section: Compensation, privileges, restriction of civil participation***

* **The senators and representatives will receive a remuneration for their services that will be fixed by law and paid by the Treasury of the Vatican States. In all cases, except those of treason, serious crime and disturbance of public order, they will enjoy the privilege of not being arrested during the time they attend the sessions of their respective Chambers, as well as when going to or returning from them, and they may not be the object of any inquisition in any other place due to any discussion or debate in one of the Chambers.**
* **No senator or representative will be appointed, during the time for which he has been elected, to occupy any civil employment that depends on the Vatican States, that has been created or whose emoluments have been increased during said time, and no person who occupies a position of the Vatican States may be part of the Chambers while it continues in office.**

### ***-Seventh Section: Bills***

* **Any bill whose purpose is to obtain income must first come from the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose reforms or agree to them in the same way as in the case of other projects.**
* **Any bill approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate will be presented to the King of the Vatican States before it becomes law; if he approves it, he will sign it; Otherwise, it will return it, along with its objections, to the Chamber of its origin, which will insert the objections in their entirety in its diary and will proceed to reconsider it. If after said new examination two-thirds of that Chamber agree to approve the bill, it will be forwarded, accompanied by objections, to the other Chamber, in which it will also be studied again and, if approved by two-thirds of said Chamber, will become law. But in all these cases that are discussed, the vote of both Chambers will be nominal and the names of the people who vote for or against the bill will be registered in the corresponding Chamber newspaper. If any project is not returned by the King within a period of 10 days (discounting Sundays) after being presented to him, it will become law, in the same way as if he had signed it, unless the suspension of Congress their sessions, prevent their return, in which case it will not be law.**
* **Any order, resolution or vote for which the concurrence of the Senate and the House of Representatives is necessary (except in matters of suspension of the sessions), will be presented to the King of the Vatican States and will not take effect before being approved by him or to be approved again by two thirds of the Senate and the House of Representatives, in the event that it rejects it, in accordance with the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.**

### ***-Eighth Section: Powers of Congress***

* **The Congress will have the power:** **+ To establish and collect contributions, taxes, duties and consumptions; to pay debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the Vatican States; but all the duties, taxes and consumptions will be uniform in all the Vatican States.** **+ To regulate trade with foreign nations, between different states.** **+ To mint coins and determine their value, as well as that of foreign currency.** **+ To provide what is necessary for the punishment of those who falsify the titles and currency of the Vatican States.** **+ To establish post offices and communication channels for postal services.** **+ To promote the progress of science and useful arts, assuring authors and inventors, for a limited time, the exclusive right over their respective writings and discoveries.** **+ To create courts lower than the Supreme Court.** **+ To define and punish piracy and other serious crimes committed on the high seas and violations of international law.** **+ To declare war, to grant marque and retaliation patents and to dictate rules regarding land and sea dams.** **+ To legislate exclusively in everything related to the District (which may not be greater than a square of 10 miles per side) that becomes the seat of the United States government, as a result of the cession of some States in which it is are located for the construction of forts, warehouses, arsenals, shipyards and other necessary buildings.** **+ To issue all the laws that are necessary and convenient to carry out the previous powers and all the others that this Constitution confers on the government of the United States or any of its departments or officials.**

# ***Article II: the executive branch (Not including the King)***

### ***-First Section: The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister***

* **The Executive Power will reside in the Prime Minister of the Vatican States. He will serve for a period of four years and will be elected, together with that of the Deputy Prime Minister, who will serve during the same period.**
* **Only persons who are citizens by birth or who were citizens of the Vatican States at the time this Constitution was adopted, shall be eligible for the office of Prime Minister ; Also, a person who has not reached the age of thirty-five and who has not resided in the Vatican States for fourteen years will be eligible.**
* **In the event of removal of the Prime Minister from his post, or if he dies, resigns or is unable to fulfill the powers and duties of said post, the Deputy Prime Minister will occupy it; and in the event of dismissal, death, resignation or incapacity of both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, Congress may determine by law which official will occupy the position, who will hold the position until the incapacity ceases or a Prime Minister has been elected.**
* **The Prime Minister will receive a remuneration for his services, on the dates to be determined, which may not be increased or decreased during the period for which he has been elected and he may not receive during that time any other emolument from the Vatican States or from any of the these.**
* **Before taking office, the Prime Minister shall take the following oath or promise: "I solemnly swear (or promise) that I will faithfully discharge the office of Prime Minister of the Vatican States and that I will keep, protect and defend the Constitution of the Vatican States. , using in it the maximum of my faculties ".**

### ***-Second Section: Powers of the Prime Minister***

* **He shall have the power, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to enter into treaties, provided that two-thirds of the senators present give their approval, and shall propose and appoint, with the advice and consent of the Senate, the ambassadors, the other ministers. public officials and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court and all other officials of the Vatican States whose appointment is not provided for in this document and who have been established by law. But Congress may confer the designation of the lower officials it deems appropriate, by law, only to the President, the Courts of Justice or the heads of Departments**.
* **The Prime Minister shall have the right to fill all vacancies that occur during the Senate recess, extending provisional appointments that will end at the end of the next session.**

### ***-Section Three: Prime Minister's responsibilities***

* **The Prime Minister is obliged to present, from time to time (not determined in the Constitution), a report to Congress on the state of the Union.**
* **The Prime Minister may summon one or both Houses of Congress in extraordinary session. If both Houses cannot agree on a date for the beginning of the recess period, the Prime Minister may suspend both, setting the date he deems appropriate for the resumption of sessions.**
* **The Prime Minister receives all foreign ambassadors.**
* **The Prime Minister has to "see to it that the laws are executed promptly."**
* **The Prime Minister instructs all officials of the Vatican States, including those of the Army and Foreign Services.**

### ***-Fourth Section: Impeachment***

* **The Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and all civil servants of the Vatican States will be removed from their posts upon being charged and found guilty of treason, bribery or other serious crimes and misdemeanors.**

# ***Article III: the judiciary***

### ***-Section One: Federal Courts***

* **The Judicial Power of the Vatican States will be deposited in a Supreme Court and in the lower Courts that the Congress institutes and establishes from now on. The judges, both of the Supreme Court and of the lower ones, will continue in their functions while they observe good behavior and will receive, in fixed periods, a remuneration for their services that will not be diminished during the time of their appointment.**

### **-Section Two: Federal Jurisdiction and Jury Trial**

* **The Judicial Power will understand in all controversies, both of written law and of equity, that arise as a consequence of this Constitution, of the laws of the Vatican States and of the treaties celebrated or that are celebrated under its authority; in all controversies that relate to ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; in all controversies of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; in controversies to which the Vatican States are parties; in disputes between two or more States, between one State and the citizens of another, between citizens of different States, between citizens of the same State claiming land under concessions from different States, and between a State or citizens of the same State and States , foreign citizens or subjects.**
* **In all cases relating to ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, as well as in those to which a State is a party, the Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction in the sole instance. In all the other cases mentioned above, the Supreme Court will hear on appeal, both the law and the facts, with the exceptions and in accordance with the regulations formulated by Congress.**
* **All crimes will be tried by means of a jury except in cases of accusation for official responsibilities and the trial in question will take place in the State in which the crime was committed; but when it has not been committed within the limits of any State, the trial shall be held in the place or places that Congress has provided by law.**

### ***-Third Section: Betrayal***

* **Treason against the Vatican States will only consist of waging war against them or joining their enemies, giving them help and protection. No person shall be convicted of treason other than on the basis of the testimony of two witnesses who have witnessed the same act openly perpetrated or of a confession in public session of a court.**
* **Congress will be empowered to fix the penalty corresponding to treason; but no sentence for treason may deprive the right to inherit or transmit assets by inheritance, nor will it result in the confiscation of their assets except during the life of the convicted person.**