[Archived] Constitution of Bharat

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Bharat is a republic with a parliamentary government where this Constitution of Bharat is the supreme law. Parliament and the President of Bharat jointly exercise legislative power. The President and the Council of Ministers led by the Prime Minister exercise executive power. The Supreme Court exercises judicial power.

Article 1: President of Bharat

Section 1:The founder of the region will be the President of Bharat and, therefore, the ceremonial figurehead of regional politics. The President is the guarantor and defender of Bharat's sovereignty, independence and freedom.

Section 2:If at any time there is a clear and present danger to the region—from within or without—the President has full authority, power and duty to act to secure and defend the region.

Section 3:The President has the right to appoint ministers after elections or after consulting Bharat as a whole. He has the power to change the type of ministries within the government for the proper functioning of the government.

Section 4:The President has the reserve powers to withhold assent from bills, refer bills to the Supreme Court, to dissolve the Council of Ministers, to grant pardons, and to declare a State of Emergency. A pardon once granted is irrevocable and cannot be rescinded, undone or overturned by Parliament, the Council of Ministers, or the Supreme Court. A declaration of a State of Emergency expires automatically after seven days unless the President rescinds the declaration earlier. The President can extend a State of Emergency with the approval of Parliament.

Section 5:The President is the only citizen ordinarily without a vote in Parliament, except on constitutional amendments, regional referendums and any vote pertaining to regional sovereignty.

Section 6:The President serves until they resign, cease to exist, or formally and permanently leave Bharat. During temporary absences of the President, the Vice President/WA delegate serves as Acting President of Bharat. If the presidency becomes permanently vacant, he/she will immediately call an emergency session of Parliament to discuss the next course of action.

Article 2: Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (Cabinet)

Section 1:The Council of Ministers, also known as Cabinet, is the primary executive body of the region and is charged with administering and governing the region in good faith to the best of its abilities. It is chaired and headed by the Prime Minister(refer Article 3: Section 8,9,10) who sets its policy and direction.

Section 2:The Prime Minister and ministers serve so long as they command the confidence of a majority of Parliament or until they resign, cease to exist, leave the region without notice for more than seven days, or are impeached and dismissed by the President.

Section 3:The Council of Ministers is formally appointed by the President after its election by Parliament. Individual candidates can stand for the elections for whichever post they like. If one fails to win a particular ministry, he/she can still contest for other ministries.

Section 4: The Council is elected to a term of four months. Early elections occur if the Council loses a vote of confidence or if the Prime Minister advises the President to dissolve it early. The incumbent Council's term does not end early if the Prime Minister or an individual minister—for any reason—leaves the Council of Ministers. The Council's term can be extended in extraordinary circumstances with approval by a three-fifths majority of Parliament, or by decree of the President.

Article 3: Parliament

Section 1:Parliament consists of all citizens of Bharat except the President. It elects a Speaker whenever there is a vacancy. The Speaker presides over, ensures the good behaviour of, and represents, Members of Parliament. The Speaker serves until they resign, cease to exist, leave the region without notice for more than seven days, or are removed from office by Parliament through a vote of no confidence.

Section 2: The parliamentary sessions will take place in the Supreme Court of Bharat. The Speaker will send a puppet to that region and the puppet nation to preside over the parliamentary proceedings.

Section 3: All representatives running for different ministries(irrespective of the ministry) will be considered as Members of Parliament.

Section 4: Any Member of Parliament may propose legislation for the governance or regulation of the region. A majority vote of the attending members of Parliament will suffice to approve a bill and make it a law.

Section 5: A bill becomes law when the President grants assent by signing it. The President does not have a vote but can withhold assent by refusing to sign a bill, or by referring it to the judges of Supreme Court on the grounds of legality or constitutionality. If the President withholds assent, the bill may be returned to Parliament with objections noted, and Parliament can either amend the bill to accommodate these or otherwise pass the bill a second time unaltered. If a bill is passed a second time unaltered it will become law after seven days as if the President signed it. If a bill is referred to the Supreme Court and it finds the bill is legal and constitutional it will become law after seven days as if the President signed it. If, after seven days, a bill presented to the President has not been acted upon either by signing, returning or referring, then it becomes law as if the President signed it.

Section 6: Parliament has the right to scrutinize and question government policy and direction and may, from time to time as it deems necessary, establish committees or other working groups to questions ministers.

Section 7: Parliament can call for a vote of confidence in the Council of Ministers, the Prime Minister or an individual minister at any time. A vote of confidence motion must be sponsored by one-tenth of the total members of Parliament. If the Prime Minister or an individual minister fails to pass the vote of confidence, they will be removed from office by the President no later than seven days after the vote. If the whole Council of Ministers fails a vote of confidence, the President will dissolve the Council and new elections will take place within fourteen days.

Section 8: The voting of the WA delegate can be only done by citizens of Bharat. The WA delegate will also be the Prime minister of Bharat.

Section 9: Prime minister must have the maximum number of endorsements. No other nation should come close to the endorsement limit.

Section 10: The Prime minister has the power to eject and ban nations if they are found to offend the policies of the region. He/She also has the right to remove posts on the Regional Message Board that are found to be offensive.

Article 4: The Supreme Court

Section 1: The Supreme Court shall be responsible for ensuring that justice is seen to be done within Bharat. It shall have power to arbitrate civil disputes between members of the region, ensure constitutionality and legality of laws and executive authority, and ensure the compliance of members of the region with the Constitution, laws and rules of Bharat.

Section 2: The Court will be presided over by a full-time Chief Justice and one part-time Associate Justice. The Chief Justice will be appointed by the President on advice of the Prime Minister subject to the approval of Parliament.

Section 3: The Justices will serve until they resign, cease to exist, leave the region without notice for more than seven days, or are removed by the President. To preserve judicial independence, Justices cannot be removed from office by the same Prime Minister who advised their appointment. Parliament can vote to remove Justices from office at any time.

Section 4: Civil disputes between members of the region will be presided over by the Chief Justice alone. Criminal disputes, impeachments, constitutional and legal referrals by the President, Council of Ministers or Parliament, will be presided over by the Chief Justice and Associate Justice. Verdicts of the Supreme Court will be by majority decision. Verdicts in civic and criminal disputes can be overturned by a majority vote of Parliament. Verdicts on impeachments, legislative legality and constitutionality are final and cannot be overturned.

Article 5:Amendments

Minor amendments to formatting or grammar can be authorized and enacted by agreement of the President, the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice. All other amendments that seek to alter the meaning or can be proposed by the Council of Ministers or Parliament but must be approved by three-fifths of Parliament on a turnout of three-fifths of its total membership. Amendments come into effect no later than seven days after their approval.

Article 6: Citizenship & Charter of Rights

Section 1: Citizenship of Bharat will be extended to all nations who qualify by the provisions herein, publicly assent to, and agree to abide by, the values and laws of the region. Citizenship is voluntary, and may be announced or renounced by a nation at any time, or be removed by due process of law or in an emergency.

Section 2: For citizenship, the nations will have to fill the Citizenship form.

Section 3: Citizens will have certain inalienable rights. These will include but are not limited to:-

Freedom of Speech: The regional government will restrict the freedom of speech within Bharat beyond those rules governing all participation and etiquette in NationStates if and only if the comment is racist, discriminatory or against the sentiments of the people of Bharat.

Right to Justice: All members will be equal before the law and will have no right abridged or otherwise denied, and will have the right to a fair trial in accordance to the region's Constitution and laws, except in cases where it threatens regional security. In such cases, a post facto trial will be offered in the same manner and rules as normal. During all trials, there will be a presumption of innocence until guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt, and the burden of proof will be on the accuser and not the accused.

Right to Vote: All members of the region who hold citizenship will have a vote for any and all elected offices which they may exercise as and when required by this Constitution.

Right to Self-determination: The regional government will make no law governing or regulating the internal politics or operation of any member within the region. Each member will maintain its own right to govern itself in accordance with its own beliefs.

Reservation of Powers: Powers not specifically allocated to the regional government by this Constitution will be de- facto reserved to members. Disputes regarding the reservation of powers will be resolved by the Supreme Court.

Section 4: Every nation can have a maximum of one other puppet nation within Bharat unless specially requested by The Government of Bharat. Only one of the nations will receive citizenship.

Any nation found to be defying the above laws will first be given a warning by the Vice President. If the nation still violates the constitution, the matter will be taken to the Supreme Court. The degree of punishment will be decided by the CJB and his associate.