The Charter of the Consilium of South Florida

Document Status: Ratified

Written by Zephyr.

Ratified on 3/4/2006.

PREAMBLE

         We the Awakened People of South Florida, in order to partake of the benefits of civilized society, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, maintain public order, protect the Secrecy, and guarantee equal rights for all, do establish this Charter as the basis for the Lex Magica for the Consilium of South Florida.

ARTICLE I. – Declaration of Rights

SECTION I. – Equality

         That all Awakened People, in the context of a social compact, are Equal; and have certain inherent and inalienable Rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending Life and personal Liberty; of acquiring and protecting Property and Reputation; of pursuing Knowledge of the Mysteries; and of pursuing their own happiness and enlightenment.

SECTION II. – Freedom of Speech, and Publication

         That every Member of the Consilium has the right to freely speak and publish his thoughts and sentiments on all subjects, to the extent that such speech does not jeopardize the Secrecy; and that no Law shall be passed to restrict such speech except to protect the Secrecy.

SECTION III. – Elections

         That all Elections shall be Free and Equal, with no Disqualification on the basis of Gender, Sexual Orientation, Race, Watchtower Path, or Order.

SECTION IV. – Choice of Order, Discrimination

         That every Member of the Consilium has the Right to choose his Order; and that no Law shall be passed requiring a Member to join or secede from an Order, other than to prohibit Membership in the Banishers, the Exarchs, or the Seers of the Throne; and that no preference under the Law shall be given to any Order, or to its Members on the basis of their Order.

SECTION V. – Trial

         That the Right of Trial by a Panel of duly elected or appointed Councilors remain inviolate.

SECTION VI. – Cruel and Unusual Punishment

                  That Excessive fines shall not be imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted, nor a Soul destroyed, taken, sold, or otherwise Altered against the will of its Person.

SECTION VII. – Possessions

         That the Members shall be secure in their Persons, Possessions, Houses, Sanctums, and Libraries from unreasonable Search and Seizure; and that no Warrant to search any place, or seize any person or thing, shall issue without describing the place to be searched, and the person or thing to seized, as nearly as may be, nor without probable cause, supported by Oath or Affirmation.

SECTION VIII. – Deprivation of Liberties

         That no Member shall be taken, imprisoned, or deprived of his life, liberty, or property, or outlawed or exiled, but by the Law of the Consilium.

SECTION IX. – The Courts

         That all Courts shall be Open, except in cases where Secrecy is required under the Law, and every Member, for an injury done to him, in his person, property, or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of Law; and Right and Justice shall be administered without Denial or Delay.

SECTION X. – The Right of Defense

         That in all Prosecutions, the Accused hath a Right to be heard by himself or counsel, or both; to demand and receive the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the Witnesses against him; to have compulsory processes for obtaining Witnesses in his favor; and in all Prosecutions by Indictment or Presentment a public, except where the Secrecy is determined to be required by two-thirds Consent of the Hall, and speedy Trial, by a Panel of duly elected or appointed Councilors of the Hall of the Consilium.

SECTION XI. – Habeas Corpus

         That the privilege of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended except in cases  of Treason or War where the security of the Consilium might require it.

SECTION XII. – Double Jeopardy

         That no Member of the Consilium shall, for the same Offense, be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.

SECTION XIII. – Appeals

         That one Convicted of an Offense may petition the Hierarch to overturn the Judgment of the Court, by Returning the Judgment in favor of a new Trial, or by granting Pardon to the Convicted.

SECTION XIV. – Compensation for Eminent Domain

         That no Property shall be taken for the Public use without Just compensation.

SECTION XV. – Ex Post Facto

         That retrospective laws, punishing acts committed before the existence of such laws, and by them only declared penal, or criminal, are Unjust, and incompatible with Liberty; wherefore, no ex post facto law shall ever be made.

SECTION XVI. – Validity of Contracts

         That no Law impairing the obligation of Contracts shall ever be made.

SECTION XVII. – Militia

         That no standard Army or Militia shall be kept without the Consent of the Hall, and no Member obligated to serve unless in a time of War as declared by the Hall.

SECTION XVIII. – Protection

         That no Member shall be allowed to receive Penalty or Injury to his person, property, reputation, or injury, from an outside Agency, including other Consiliums, foreign Cabals, sleeper Governments, and other Parties, and that should a Member be forcibly held against his will by any such Party, the Consilium shall, through both the passing of Law and the Orders of the Hierarch, take action to secure the Liberty of said Member and Return him safely to the Consilium.

SECTION XIX. – Sanctity of the Rights

         That to guard against transgressions against the Rights of the Members, we declare that every thing in this Article is excepted out of the general Powers of the Consilium, and shall forever remain inviolate; and that all Laws contrary thereto, or to the following Provisions, shall be void.

ARTICLE II. – Legislation

SECTION 1. – The Legislative Body

         All new legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Hall of the Consilium.

SECTION 2. – The Hall

         The Hall shall consist of three Councilors from each Order, and one Councilor from the Apostates, elected by the People thereof, in an election executed in a manner according to the internal Lex Magica of each Order and a general secret ballot vote for the Apostates, for three Years; and each Councilor will have one vote.

         The Consilium recognizes the Silver Ladder, the Mysterium, the Adamantine Arrows, the Guardians of the Veil, and the Free Council as Orders for the purposes of attaining seats within the Hall.

         No Person shall be a Councilor who has not attained the Age of sixteen Years, and who is not, when Elected, an Inhabitant within the border of the Consilium of South Florida, nor if that Person is a member of the Exarchs, the Banishers, or the Seers of the Thone.

         Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, the Seats of each Order shall be divided into three Classes. The Seats of the Councilors of the First class shall be vacated at the end of the first Year, of the Second class at the end of the second Year, and of the third class at the end of the third Year, so that one seat from each Order might be chosen every Year.

         The Seneschal of the Consilium shall be Chair of the Hall, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

         The Hall shall choose their other Officers, and also a Vice-Chair to serve in absence of the Chair.

         The Hall shall have the sole power to try all Impeachments. When the Hierarch of the Consilium is tried, the most senior of the Councilors will preside, seniority determined on the basis of number of Years served as a Councilor of the Consilium, and failing that to be determined on the basis of Age, and failing that to be chosen from among the eligible senior Councilors by the Chair of the Hall; and no Person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present.

         Judgment in cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any other Office of the Consilium, but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment, and Punishment according to the Lex Magica.

SECTION 3. – Meetings, Rules, Journals

         The Hall shall assemble at least twice each Year, and these meetings shall be on the first Saturday of January and the first Saturday of July, unless they shall by Law appoint different days.

         The Hall may determine its Rules of Proceedings and punish its members for disorderly Behavior.

         The Hall shall keep a Journal of its proceedings, and shall make this document available to all members of the Consilium, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy, and the yeas and nays of those present shall, at the Desire of at least one Councilor from each Order, be entered on the Journal.

SECTION 4. – Legislative Process

         Each Proposal which shall have passed the Hall, shall, before it become a Law within the Lex Magica, be presented to the Hierarch of the Consilium; If he Approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it with his Objections, to the Hall, who shall enter the Objections into the Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after reconsideration two-thirds of the Hall, as well as and including the Apostate Councilor, agrees to the Proposal, it shall become a Law. In all such cases that the Proposal be returned to the Hall, the name of each Councilor shall be recorded in the Journal along with a record of his yea or nay with regards to the Proposal. If any Proposal shall not be Returned by the Hierarch within twelve days after it shall be presented to him, it shall become a Law, in the same Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Hall by their adjournment prevent its Return, in which case it shall not be a Law.

SECTION 5. – The Powers of the Hall

         The Hall shall have the power to Lay and Collect Taxes, including Taxes on Mana, Tass, Persistent Effects, and Magical Items, to provide for the common Defense, and as necessary to provide for other Laws enacted by the Hall;

         To Establish relations with other Consiliums;

         To declare War, and make rules concerning Warfare;

         To define and punish Offenses, including offenses against the Law of Secrecy;

         To make laws Compelling the People of the Consilium to participate in Military service;

         To regulate Property;

         To regulate Trade within the Consilium, and between the Consilium and other Organizations;

         To Compel a Member of the Consilium to Act in accordance with a duly passed Law;

         To define and Prohibit Contraband;

         To Banish a Person from the Consilium, with the consent of the Hierarch;

         To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all the other Powers vested by this Charter in the Consilium, or any Officer thereof.

SECTION 6. – Requirements of the Hall

         The Hall shall, when it convenes for the first time, pass a Law making punishable the revealing of Secrets to Sleepers, and shall always have such a Law in effect.

         The Hall shall, in a time of War as declared by the Hall, unanimously pass any Proposal of the Hierarch as the Hierarch deems necessary for the successful Execution of the War, and as the Proposal is valid under this Charter, and Treaties.

ARTICLE III. – The Hierarch

SECTION I. – The Office of the Hierarch

         The Executive Power shall be vested in a Hierarch of the Consilium of South Florida. He shall hold his Office during the Term of Two Years, and, together with the Seneschal chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:

         Each Person within the borders of the Consilium, having been a Member of the Consilium for at least one Year, excepting the case of the first Election, shall be entitled to one Vote; a Proctor, Appointed by the Hall, or by general Consensus should the Hall be incapable of making an Appointment, shall two months prior to the Term Expiration of the current Hierarch, or immediately if this be the first election, or if the Hierarch be Impeached, make a call for Nominations; each Member receiving at least three Nominations shall be entered onto the Ballot to be provided by the Proctor to each Member; the ballots shall be returned to the Proctor within thirty days of being provided to the Member, and upon receiving all of the Ballots, or the Return period expiring, the Proctor shall make an accounting of the Votes before announcing the Results.

         No Person except a Member of the Consilium in good standing shall be eligible to the Office of the Hierarch, and who shall have attained the Age of at least Eighteen Years; and no member of the Exarchs, the Banishers, or the Seers of the Throne shall be eligible.

         In the Case of the Removal of the Hierarch from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the Office, a new Election shall be immediately begun, and the Seneschal shall take on the duties of the office of the Hierarch until such time as the Election is completed, or if the Seneschal is also incapable of Executing the Office, the Hall shall appoint an Officer to serve in the interim.

SECTION II. – Executive Powers

         The Hierarch shall be Commander-in-Chief of all Militias established by Law for the defense of the Consilium, and of all Executive Departments, and Agencies, established by Law;

         The Hierarch shall have the power to make Treaties, by and with the advice and two-thirds consent of the Hall;

         To grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the Consilium, except in cases of Impeachment;

         To Nominate and Appoint, with the consent of the Hall, Ambassadors, Ministers, Judges, and all other Officers of the Consilium whose Appointments are not herein provided for, and which shall be established by Law;

         To require that the Chairs of Executive Departments, to the Hierarch, provide Reports and Advice, in writing, upon Request;

         To require, during a time of War, that the Hall pass any Proposal that the Hierarch deems necessary for the successful Execution of the War;

         To fill all Vacancies in the Hall that occurs during Recess, by granting Commissions which shall Expire with the next Election of the Hall.

SECTION III. – Reporting, Convening the Hall

         The Hierarch shall from time to time give to the Hall information on the State of the Consilium, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the Hall; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; and he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully Executed.

SECTION IV. – Disqualification

         The Hierarch, the Seneschal, and all other Officers of the Consilium, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

ARTICLE IV. – Amendment

         The House, whenever two-thirds of its Councilors deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Charter, which shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes whenever three-fourths of the general Consensus shall ratify it; provided that no Amendment be made which shall revoke the Rights granted in Article I, or revoke or alter the clause in this Article pertaining to the revocation of Rights.

ARTICLE V. – The Consilium

         This Charter, and the Laws of the Consilium of South Florida that shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the Consilium, shall be the Supreme Law of the Lex Magica of the Consilium; and the Judges and Councilors and the Hierarch shall be bound thereby, any other Laws to the contrary notwithstanding.

         The Councilors before mentioned, and all the executive Officers, and the Hierarch, of the Consilium of South Florida, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation to support and uphold this Charter.

ARTICLE VI. – Scope

         The Consilium of South Florida shall encompass the borders spanning from the Northern border of Palm Beach County, FL, from the Western border of the Everglades, from the Eastern Border of the isle of New Atlantis, and from the Southern Border of Dade County. All Awakened residents therein at the Establishment of this Charter shall be considered Members of the Consilium.

ARTICLE VII. – Ratification

         The three-fourths Consensus of all known, and living, Awakened People within the scope of the Consilium shall be sufficient to Establish this Charter, and the Consilium.

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Done with Consensus by all Known and Awakened People in South Florida in the Year two thousand and six. In Witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names.

Zephyr

Rowan

Armin Ward

Anson Ward

D

Euclid

Darkstar

Lando