Constitution of Veligmar

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED COMMONWEALTH OF VELIGMAR
We, the Nobility and citizens of Veligmar, in the pursuit of national defence and glory, in order to establish a strong and united Commonwealth, and to form a fairer and more democratic society for all, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United Commonwealth of Veligmar.

Section I
Upon the death or retirement of the current King of Veligmar, the new King shall be elected by a Council of Electors, consisting of all Nobles and Villagers within Veligmar who wish to vote for the new King. All Villagers and Nobles shall be equal in the value of their vote.

Section II
Any Villager or Noble may relinquish their vote in order to Run for King instead (roll a d6 for each Villager, and on a 6, they Run for King). Any Villager or Duke who has not Run for King may then cast their vote, anonymously or otherwise, for who is to be King. They must choose someone who Ran for King in this election, or not vote at all (roll a die or dice to determine who each Villager votes for. In the roll, each candidate must have the same probability of being chosen, and the chance of the Villager abstaining from voting must be equal to the chance of it electing a particular candidate, e.g. if there are 5 candidates, roll a d6, and each of the numbers from 1-5 represents a candidate, but a 6 represents abstinence from voting). The winner of the election, and hence the new King of Veligmar, is the candidate with the highest number of votes. The King of Veligmar remains so until death or retirement (Villagers automatically retire after seven realtime days of Kingship). In the event of a tie in the elections, the King is chosen by a second vote where only the tieing candidates are available to be voted for.

Section III
The United Commonwealth of Veligmar shall be a Noble's Republic and a thoroughly Capitalist state. The power of the King shall be partially restricted by the contents of this CONSTITUTION; the Commonwealth shall therefore be an Elective Constitutional Monarchy.

Section IV
Unless they are themselves the King of Veligmar, all Villagers have the same rank: Villager. Villagers are the lowest rank within the Kingdom and are the subjects of whichever Noble rules over the land which they inhabit. However, the Noble in charge may not prevent any Villagers from voting or Running for King. All Players who are subjects of the United Commonwealth of Veligmar are automatically made Nobles, although their title depends on how much land they own and how many villagers they govern. A Noble with no land is a Gentleman. A Noble with land, but no subjects, may choose the title of Knight or Lord. A Noble with land and 1-5 Villagers is a Baron. A Noble with up to 1km^2 of land and 6-10 Villagers is a Viscount. A Noble with up to 2km^2 of land and 11-20 Villagers is an Earl. A Noble with up to 4km^2 of land and 21-40 Villagers living in two or more Villages is a Count. A Noble with up to 10km^2 of land and 41-100 Villagers living in three or more Villages may choose the title of Prince or Duke. A Noble with over 10km^2 of land and over 100 Villagers living in three or more Villages may take the title of Grand Prince or Grand Duke. The domain of a Noble is dependent on their title. A Knight rules over a Fiefdom. A Lord rules over an Estate. A Baron rules over a Barony. A Viscount rules over a Viscounty. An Earl rules over an Earldom. A Count rules over a County. A Duke rules over a Duchy. A Prince rules over a Principality. A Grand Duke rules over a Grand Duchy. A Grand Prince rules over a Grand Principality.

Section I
All Nobles within the Commonwealth are to be treated equally under law.

Section II
The King alone has the right to start and end a war at any time, but no territorial changes may be made without the consent of any Noble who either owns the land being lost, is adjacent to the land being gained, or took part in the battle(s) involving that piece of land. If the King and Noble(s) involved cannot agree to a resolution, a Judicial Council is to be formed by all Nobles and Villagers, with votes to be made in support either party in much the same way as detailed in Article I Section II of the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED COMMONWEALTH OF VELIGMAR.

Section III
The King may not force any Noble to take any part in any war involving the United Commonwealth of Veligmar. No Noble may force the whole nation into a war, but they may lead their own holdings into war separately without the consent of the King.

Section IV
The King of Veligmar may not pass any new law without first ordering a Council of Legislation containing all Nobles and any Villagers he chooses, which must then agree a majority vote to allow the King to pass the new law (Villagers follow the same voting rules, except that their vote is always decided by a coin toss: heads is in support of the King, tails against).

Section V
If a majority of the Nobles agree to order a Judicial Council, and the resulting vote is in favour of deposing the current King by 75% or more, the King is deposed and a new election begins.

Section VI
The King may demand up to 3 gunpowder and 3 iron per day from each Noble in the event of a war that said Noble(s) isn't/aren't participating in already.

Section VII
Each Noble may choose a villager to promote to the position of Deputy. The Deputy may vote twice in Councils.

Section VIII
Each Sunday an election is held to appoint a new King, but the reigning King can choose to remove the right of voting from one of the Nobles for this council.

Section IX
New Nobles may be admitted into the Kingdom if they, the King and at least 1 other Noble consent. The new Nobles keep their domain, which becomes a new Domain of the United Commonwealth of Veligmar.

Section X
No Noble may claim land near the land of any King or Noble without both parties coming to an agreement on the terms.

Section XI
Each non-landlocked domain must maintain a navy of at least one boat with at least one port to hold it in. Each domain must also maintain an army of at least 3 snow golems, maintaining at least one bow, one stack of arrows, a full suit of iron armour and an iron sword, to be available at any given time

Section XI
The King alone has the authority to approve alliances with other states and all Nobles must follow his decision. However, Nobles may propose alliances with other states, although the King must still approve any such alliance for it to become official.

Section XII
All Nobles must pay taxes to the Crown every Saturday. These taxes must take the form of emeralds. Gentlemen pay 1 emerald; a Knights pay 2; a Barons pay 3; Viscounts pay 4; Earls pay 5; Counts pay 6; Dukes and Princes pay 7; Grand Dukes and Grand Princes pay 8. These taxes do NOT go to the personal funds of the King of Veligmar, but instead go to the National Treasury.

Section XIII
All Nobles own whatever items are in their own chests (which are, in turn, in their own base/s), unless those items there were stolen from another Player. All items in the chests of Villages or other naturally occurring structures within the domain of a Noble belong to that Noble.

Section I
The punishment for murder of a King, Noble or Villager is death and the payment of 1/5 of the offender's resources (standard rounding, and there must be 1/5 of each resource the offender owns) to the victim or, if that isn't possible, to the state. The punishment for theft is to return what was stolen twice over, or if that isn't possible, payment in emeralds (the amount will depend on the ruling of a Judicial Council). The punishment for vandalism/destruction of property is to replace or repair what was damaged or destroyed, or if that isn't possible, payment in other forms (the amount will depend on the rulingmof a Judicial Council). The punishment for treason is death and the payment of 1/2 of the offender's resources to the state. Breaking any of the laws detailed in the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED COMMONWEALTH OF VELIGMAR is treated as treason and punishable as such.

Section II
The United Kingdom of Veligmar has no official religion, and the people of Veligmar can follow any religion they choose freely.

Section III
If used, the Flag of the United Commonwealth of Veligmar may be used alongside or without the flags of the Kingdom's composite nations wherever appropriate.

Section IV
The constituent nations of Veligmar may trade with each other and nations outside the Kingdom with no tariffs, and there shall be no border controls for Nobles or the King.

Section V
Any resident of Veligmar who commits a crime within the Commonwealth is to be punished under the laws of the Commonwealth whether or not they are within the Commonwealth at the time of the sentence or its execution. Any foreigner who commits a crime within the Commonwealth is to be killed, and all of their belongings nationalised.

Section VI
The King and Nobles may each set up one 'restricted zone'. Unauthorised entrance results in a charge for treason. The  Noble or King who declared the zone restricted is responsible for the authorisation of any request to access the zone.

Ratification
The CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED COMMONWEALTH OF VELIGMAR was approved by the following players on the following dates   (DD/MM/YY) :
 * 1) PrincessMiaow                                                                                                  21/07/2015
 * 2) LonerWolfy                                                                                                        21/07/2015
 * 3) willvoren                                                                                                            soon