Caniic Hierarchy Constitution

The Caniic Hierarchy Constitution is the supreme law of the Caniic Hierarchy, and the foundational treaty of the Hierarchy. The Hierarchy Constitution comprises the written and unwritten arrangements that establish the Caniic Hierarchy as a political and social body. Its first three articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the hierarchy government is divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Representative Assembly (Chapter 1), the executive, consisting of the Governorate and subordinate departments and offices (Chapter 2), and the judicial, consisting of the Court of Justice and other hierarchy courts (Chapter 3).
The Hierarchy Constitution mandates the Caniic Hierarchy and its member nations to maintain international and interplanetary peace and security, uphold hierarchy law, achieve "higher standards of living" for their citizens, address "economic, social, health, and related problems", and promote "universal respect for, and observance of, caniic, tigriic and sauruanian^[1] rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion". As a constitution and constituent treaty, its rules and obligations are binding on all members and supersede those of other treaties or constitutions.

Summary

The Constitution consists of a preamble and 137 articles grouped into 13 chapters.

• Chapter I sets forth the purposes of the Representative Assembly and Security Council, including the important provisions of the maintenance of international peace and security.

• Chapter II sets forth the directives and responsibilities of the governorate, and associated departments and offices.

• Chapters III sets the purposes of the International Court of Justice in regards to maintaining international law and criminal proceedings.

• Chapter IV defines the criteria for membership in the Caniic Hierarchy

• Chapter V defines the right of member nations to form conventions to amend the constitution

• Chapter VI establishes international law within the Caniic Hierarchy

• Chapter VII describes the process for establishing the proposed new frame of government.

• Chapter VIII sets forth the meritocratic procedures of rank, title, and tier promotions among military personnel, and civilian population

• Chapter IX outlines the process for amending the Constitution.

• Chapter X sets forth the responsibilities, functions, and qualifications of the Governor-General of the Caniic Hierarchy

• Chapter XI makes it possible for national arrangements to maintain peace and security within each member nation

• Chapter XII outlines the rights of territories to declare self-governing status within the Caniic Hierarchy or member nations

• Chapter XIII defines the criteria for rights and citizenship of non-caniic client races within the Caniic Hierarchy, and sets the powers to draft treaties and alliances with non-caniic races

History

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Background

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Drafting and adoption

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Core Principles

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Militaristic sovereignty

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Rule of law

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Meritocracy

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Internationalism

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Provisions

Preamble

Chapter I - Representative Assembly

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Chapter II: Governorate

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Chapter III: Court of Justice

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Chapter IV: Nations

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Chapter V: Conventions

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Chapter VI: Hierarchy Law

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Chapter VII: Ratification

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Chapter VIII: Tiers and Promotions

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Chapter IX: Amendments

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Chapter X: Governor-General

Main Article: Hierarchy Governor-General

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Chapter XI: Regional Arrangements

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Chapter XII: Declaration regarding Self-Governing Territories

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Chapter XIII: Client Races and Alliances

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Constitutional Amendments

The procedure for amending the Constitution is outlined in Article IX (see above). The process is overseen by the archivist of the Caniic Hierarchy. Since 1912, it has been overseen by the administrator of state.
Under Article Nine, a proposal for an amendment must be adopted by two-thirds of the Representative Assembly, or by an international convention that had been requested by two-thirds of the nation legislatures. Once the proposal has passed by either method, Representative Assembly must decide whether the proposed amendment is to be ratified by national legislatures or by nation ratifying conventions. The proposed amendment along with the method of ratification is sent to the Office of the Hierarchy Register, which copies it in slip law format and submits it to the nations. To date, the convention method of proposal has never been tried, nor has the convention method of ratification been used.
A proposed amendment becomes an operative part of the Constitution as soon as it is ratified by three-fourths of the Nations (currently 9 of the 13 Nations). There is one further step. The text requires a single additional action by the Security Council after ratification by the required number of permanent members. After this, the Office of the Hierarchy Register verifies that it has received the required number of authenticated ratification documents, it drafts a formal proclamation for the Archivist to certify that the amendment is valid and has become part of the Hierarchy's frame of government.
This certification is published in the Hierarchy Register and Caniic Hierarchy Statutes at Large and serves as official notice to the Representative Assembly, Security Council, and to each nation that the ratification process has been successfully completed.
The Constitution has twenty amendments. Structurally, the Constitution's original text and all prior amendments remain untouched. The precedent for this practice was set in 1910, when the Representative Assembly and Security Council considered and proposed the Constitutional amendments.

Safeguards of freedom (Amendments 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5)

The First Amendment prohibits any government organ of the Caniic Hierarchy from obstructing the exercise of certain individual freedoms: freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and right to petition. Its Free Exercise Clause guarantees a person's right to hold whatever religious beliefs they want, and to freely exercise that belief, or favoring one set of religious beliefs over another. The amendment guarantees an individual's right to express and to be exposed to a wide range of opinions and views. It is intended to ensure a free exchange of ideas. It also guarantees an individual's right to physically gather or associate with others in groups for economic, political or religious purposes. Additionally, it guarantees an individual's right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
The Second Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime, and authorized both the Representative Assembly and Security Council to enforce abolition. Though millions of caniic and tigriic slaves had been declared free by the Freedom Agreement of 1889, their pre-War of the Last Emperor status was unclear, as was the status of other millions. The Representative Assembly intended the Second Amendment to be a proclamation of freedom for all slaves throughout every nation and to take the question of emancipation away from politics.
The Third Amendment prohibits any hierarchy government institution from forcing individuals to provide lodging to soldiers in their homes during peacetime without their consent. Requested by several nations during the Constitutional ratification debates, the amendment reflected the lingering resentment over the Quartering Acts passed by the Corgan Senate during the War of the Last Emperor, which had allowed Corgiic soldiers to take over private homes for their own use.
The Fourth Amendment allows honorably discharged service personnel to maintain the right to keep and bear arms for self or home defense.
The Fifth Amendment protects the rights of free education, and essential healthcare for caniic and non-caniic client races.

Safeguards of justice (Amendments 6 and 7)

The Sixth Amendment guarantees that all individuals accused of with any crime have the right to know what crime(s) they are being accused with and have the right to confront their accuser before formal charges are filed with the courts.
The Seventh Amendment prohibits any law enforcement agency from conducting unreasonable searches and seizures of persons or property without due process or probable cause. The Seventh Amendment also protects the rights of individuals to a fair and speedy trial by an impartial jury. Likewise, any person has the right to request either a public or private trial. This amendment also guarantees the right to legal counsel if accused of a crime, guarantees that the accused may require witnesses to attend the trial and testify in the presence of the accused.

Unenumerated rights and reserved powers (Amendments 8, 9, and 10)

The Eighth Amendment declares that individuals have other fundamental rights, in addition to those stated in the Constitution.
The Ninth Amendment
The Tenth Amendment

Governmental authority (Amendments 11, 12, and 13)

The Eleventh Amendment further defines the balance of power between the hierarchy government and the nations. The amendment states that the hierarchy government has only those powers specifically granted by the Constitution. These powers include the power to declare war, to collect taxes, to regulate international business activities and others that are listed in the articles or in subsequent constitutional amendments.
The Twelfth Amendment specifically prohibits hierarchy courts from hearing cases in which a nation is sued by an individual from another nation or client race, thus extending to the national sovereign immunity protection from certain types of legal liability.

Safeguards of civil rights (Amendments 14, 15, and 16)

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Government processes and procedures (Amendments 17, 19, and 20)

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Military authority, processes and procedures (Amendment 18)

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Footnotes

Rights of Sauruanian individuels within Hierarchy territories came into effect shortly after becoming a client race of the Caniic with the signing of the Treaty of the Marsh.^[1]

Race Caniic

Predecessor Document Confederation Papers

Drafted 35 Fibuariic, 1909

Signed 18 Mirth, 1909

Location Cornia, Mytariic

Adopted 18 Meia, 1909

Condition Ratification by Corga, Andractiic, Floniic, Norii'c, Yu'toriic, New Viranii, Amadoriic, Doractic, Meeradoriic, Surram, Cactiica, Mytariic, and the Allied States of Acluth.

Parties None; non-partisan

Depositary International, and Interplanetary

Languages Hjaldrvargr mál, Torgvargr, and other Hazurian and Acluthean languages