Merchant's Charter

The Merchant's Charter is the document outlining the legislative power, governmental process and freedoms of The Merchant Republic. It was created during The Times Of Occupation with the formation of The Merchant Republic.

## Article 1 - Composition Of the Government

### 1.1

The Government is to comprise of two parts, the Prime Ministership and the Senate.

### 1.2

The Senate is to be made up of 80 equal representatives. Senate elections are to be held every year. All citizens are allowed to vote for the Senatorship in public elections. The 80 different positions shall be decided by the regions of The Merchant Republic, the dominant families, and the dominant companies and organizations that go through the Legitimization Process. The position of senator is only to be held by people from Legitimized families, companies, and organizations. Should the democratic process decide it, the number of senators can rise or lower depending on the needs of The Republic.

### 1.3

The position of Prime Minister is to be held by one person, the election is to be held in the senate every ten years, one month after the years' Senator vote. The person with the majority or highest number of the senate votes is to be considered the victor. The Person who is voted into the Prime Ministership must be from a family, company, or organization that has been Legitimized.

### 1.4

If a Prime minister should die in office, a vote shall be held in the senate on the day of their death to choose a new Prime Minister for the remainder of the dead ministers term.

## Article 2 - Legitimization Process

### 2.1

The Legitimization Process shall be a process that any region of people, family, company, or organization must go through in order to be considered Legitimate.

### 2.2

The Legitimization Process shall consist of filing an official Legitimization form, submitted by a family, company, or organization. The form will then be reviewed by the senate and the Prime Minister, if both parties approve of the legitimization then the new Legitimized family, company or organization can run for an existing position, or an extra Senator position can be added.

### 2.3

Should a group of people wish to become a new or separate region of The Republic, a vote is to be held by all the people of the area and the majority vote is to be considered the victor. A new senate position should then be added to represent the new region.

## Article 3 - Freedoms

### 3.1

The freedom of trade is guaranteed to all citizens, companies and organizations operating in The Merchant Republic.

### 3.2

The freedom to own property is guaranteed to all citizens, companies and organizations operating in The Merchant Republic.

### 3.3

The freedom of religion is guaranteed to all citizens.

## Article 4 - Courts

### 4.1

All legal proceedings are to happen in official Merchant Republic courts.

### 4.2

All courts are to be headed by a judge who shall be the keeper of the law and the decider of sentences.

### 4.3

There is to be two levels of court, the city court and the region court, should any cases be too heavily disputed in the city court, the region court should then be the final keeper of law and decider of sentences.

### 4.4

All judges are to be elected by their city or region respectively in a public election held every 20 years.

## Article 5 - Armed Forces

### 5.1

The command of the Mercanti armed forces is to be held by four Branch Leaders, one for each branch, and they shall be the supreme commander for that branch, the Branch Leader for each branch shall be selected by the Prime Minister upon their election.

### 5.2

The Branch Leaders are to follow the orders given to them by the Mercanti Senate and the Prime Minister, should the orders ever conflict the Branch Leaders are able to make their own decisions.