The Commonwealth of Tasman en van Dieman Land

Preamble

To protect the peace of our homes and to ensure the prosperity and common weal, we the good people of this land submit ourselves to these articles in order to provide a fundament from which to build.

We, the leading burghers of our land, also commit ourselves to its defence in times of war and peace.

Section I: The Land, the Shires, and Boroughs

Article 1.
The Land is a matter for the people and is of the people, so that its rule can not be seen as separate from that of their will.

With authority being granted and emanating from the agreement of the people, the Land may be governed by those so appointed by them.

Article 2.
The territory of the Land consists of the territories of the shires and boroughs. Other territories may be incorporated in the Land by a commonwealth law, if their populations so desire by virtue of the right of self-determination.

Article 3.
The commonwealth colours are green-white-orange, to represent the verdant fields, clear diamonds, and rugged rock of our Land. The commercial flag is white-red with the commonwealth colours in the upper inside corner, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Fellowship of the Ringsea.

Article 4.
The flags and symbols of the shires and boroughs shall be respected as senior and superior to that of the commonwealth flag and symbols.

Article 5.
Political power shall be exercised, in matters pertaining to the Land, through the organs of the Land on the basis of the Articles of Governance, and, in matters pertaining to the shires, through the organs of the shires on the basis of the constitution of the shire as executed by the apparatus of each shire, and, in matters pertaining to the boroughs, through the organs of the boroughs on the basis of the charter of the borough as executed by the apparatus of each borough.

To this effect, the stadtholdersrat and burgherrat are named as the organs deemed fit to exercise ultimate authority in matters executive and legislative in their competences, with the stadtholdersrat also being granted the sole right to act as the highest court of appeal in matters legal. Original jurisdiction is only granted to the stadholdersrat for cases relating to treason.

Article 6.
The Land shall have the exclusive power of legislation in respect to:

(1) Foreign relations.

(2) Colonies.

(3) Immigration and emigration.

(4) The commonwealth's defence.

(5) Currency.

(6) Customs, including uniformity in customs and commercial districts and the free transit of goods.

(7) Posts and telegraphs, including telephones.

Article 7.
The Land shall have power of legislation in respect to:

(1) Civil law.

(2) Criminal law.

(3) Judicial procedure, including the execution of justice; as well as official assistance by one public authority to another.

(4) Passports and police supervision of aliens.

(5) Poor relief and vagrancy.

(6) Public health, veterinary regulations, and protection of plants against disease or injury.

(7) The right to work, insurance and protection of workers and other employees, and employment exchanges.

(8) The organisation of professional associations extending over the Land.

(9) The care of discharged soldiers and their dependents.

(10) The law of expropriation.

(11) Socialisation of natural resources and of economic undertakings, as well as the manufacture, production, distribution, and price-fixing of economic goods destined for public use between public authorities.

(12) Commerce, weights and measures, the issue of paper money, banking, and stock and produce exchanges.

(13) Commerce in foodstuffs and food luxuries, as well as in commodities of daily use.

(14) Industry and mining.

(15) Insurance.

(16) Maritime commerce, deep sea and coast fisheries.

(17) Railways, internal navigation, motor traffic by land, sea, and air, and the construction of roads for commonwealth's defence.

Article 8.
The Land shall have an exclusive right to set, collect, and administer all duties, customs, and tariffs which may be levied between the shires and boroughs and outside entities.

Article 9.
In so far as it is necessary to issue uniform regulations, the Land shall have the power of legislation in respect to:

(1) Burgher qualification.

(2) Protection of public order and safety.

Article 10.
The Land may by law seek to request a one time tax be levied to make up any budgetary shortfalls that might have occurred through the consent of the majority of shires and boroughs.

Article 11.
In so far as is necessary the realm may by law prescribe fundamental principles with respect to the imposition and collection of provincial taxes in order to safeguard important commercial interests, or in order to prevent:

(1) Prejudice to the commonwealth revenues or the commercial relations of the commonwealth.

(2) Double taxation.

(3) Levies on public communications or institutions which are excessive or which interfere with communication.

(4) Discriminatory taxes upon imported goods as against domestic products in interstate or local commerce.

(5) Export premiums.

Article 12.
As long as, and in so far as, the Land is not ascribed powers of legislation, the shires and boroughs shall retain the power of legislation. This does not apply to the power of legislation which belongs exclusively to the realm.

Article 13.
Commonwealth laws are superior to the laws of the boroughs and shires.

Should any doubt or difference of opinion arise as to whether a provincial regulation is compatible with a law of the Land, the competent commonwealth or local authority may request a decision from the stadtholdersrat in accordance with the more specific requirements of a commonwealth law.

Article 14.
Commonwealth laws shall be executed by the authorities of the shires and boroughs in so far as the commonwealth laws do not otherwise provide.

Article 15.
The stadtholdersrat shall have the right to supervise those matters in respect to which it has the power of legislation.

Insofar as commonwealth laws are to be executed by the authorities of the shires and boroughs the stadtholdersrat may lay down general directions. The stadtholdersrat shall have power to appoint agents in order to supervise the execution of the commonwealth laws, pursuant to approval by the peoples of the shires and boroughs, and with their concurrence to subordinate authorities.

It is the duty of the shires and boroughs to remedy, on the request of the stadtholdersrat, deficiencies which may have appeared in the course of the execution of commonwealth laws. In case of dispute, the stadtholdersrat may call for a special session to address any issues raised in a court of law by the shires and boroughs.

Article 16.
The stadtholdersrat is to be made up of a body of men who have been elected to office in equal measure by the burghers and residents of the Land, through a method whereby each man is given a vote for every candidate that is present to be elected and has been acclaimed by his fellow men, which he may in turn use as he sees fit to vote for all such candidates that he believes are good or only one.

The votes of the burghers and residents are to be tallied separately, with the weight of each vote being adjusted to ensure that the two bodies are at all times in equal power relative to each other.

Article 17.
Each member of the stadtholdersrat is to be held responsible by his own constituents and is to serve in his capacity until such a time as he is recalled by a one third vote of no-confidence.

Article 18.
Every shire and borough must have a government independent from that of the commonwealth, which shall in turn be constituted by the landowners who are duty bound to provide taxes and military service and the burghers who have taken it upon themselves to willingly pay income taxes and furnish themselves with rifle, ammunition, and horse for the good work of war. Those unable to provide for their warlike duties will be excluded from the vote, unless they can show they have previously served in the commonwealth's defence voluntarily.

The burgherrat shall be organised by and from these men, with all of them having a right to serve in it without need for election or acclaim, and is responsible for all matters which concern the locality and its administration, but may not set taxes beyond sales tax. Their funding is to be further supplemented by an equal share of the taxes collected by the Land which are not marked for use within the budget as well as funding leftover from the previous budget.

Article 19.
The division of the Land into shires and boroughs shall serve the highest economic and cultural progress of the people, with due regard to the wishes of the population affected. The alteration of local boundaries and the creation of localities within the Land shall take place by virtue of strong majority vote within the stadtholdersrat and the consent of at least one of the parties involved or a majority in the event of there being more than two.

Where the localities directly affected consent, an announcement to the commonwealth and their peoples will suffice.

If a dispute arises on the occasion of a union or a separation of territory in respect to property rights, it shall be decided by the stadtholdersrat at the request of either party.

Article 20.
If constitutional controversies arise within a shire or borough, for the decision of which there is no competent court, or should controversies of a public nature arise between different shires or boroughs or between the commonwealth and a single polity, the stadtholdersrat shall decide the controversy on the appeal of either of the contesting parties, if no other court of the Land is competent.

Section II: The Burghers and Residents

Article 21.
The burgher is hereby defined as any man who owns land and thusly is forcibly enrolled to serve in the military and pay income taxes or any man who voluntarily agrees to take on the commonwealth's defence and chooses to enroll to serve in the military and to pay income taxes.

Article 22.
During times of peace, the military is to made up of only volunteers, but those enrolled as burghers are to have their marksmanship checked yearly by those who are regarded amongst the ranks of the burghers as the most competent and steady in their aim.

Soldiers are to be restricted to their barracks, training grounds, and parade grounds while under-arms unless they receive permission from the local burgherrat to enter their lands or they are transiting and do not intend to stop within the shire or borough. Burgherrats may choose to fund and raise their own men under-arms, but they are likewise to be restricted in where they may go outside of their own shire or borough.

Article 23. 
During times of war, each man is to find his way to the nearest village green or other public meeting place and is to there organise himself into a band. Within each such militia force, a vote is to be held and a coronet selected to lead the men for the duration or until he is killed, with a new coronet being selected as necessary. Should he be found incompetent by his commissioned peers, the band shall be required to select his replacement.

It is to be permitted that the burghers may organise themselves in times of peace, so as to make the assembly and command of these militias a familiar process to them.

Once assembled and number no less than a hundred and no more than three-hundred, the coronets will in turn be asked assemble and either choose from their number a leader to command the army or pledge themselves to the army of an officer provided from the ranks of the volunteers.

Article 24.
The resident is hereby defined as any man who is legally permitted by the burgherrat to reside within a locality and work there. He is to be afforded all the rights and protections that a burgher might have, except for those explicitly granted to the burghers in these articles or through a commonwealth law.