2019 Constitution of Marquette

The 2019 Constitution of Marquette was the highest law in the Grand Duchy of Marquette, it was officially adopted on the 12th of December, 2019, until 2023 it had undergone very little major changes, the largest being the 2021 "Marquetten Constitutional Armed forces reform act" witch changed the whole military structure of Marquette to be far more accurate.

Full Text.

Constitution of the Grand Duchy of Marquette

The Grand Duchy of Marquette henceforth referred to as the GDM in this document has convened to lay out the base laws and systems of government that will apply to its land and interactions with other nations.

Section one: nobility

The GDM is ruled as the name implies by a Grand Sovereign there will only ever be one Grand Sovereign and the title is given to the closest living descendant of Grand Duchess Nada I. Other titles may only be granted or stripped by the currently reigning Grand Sovereign.

Below the Grand sovereign are the high Sovereigns a high Sovereign has the power to set local laws that affect only Their duchey these are overruled by national laws.they may also collect an import tariff from foreign goods imported to their territory they can have standing armies unless barred from doing such by the grand Sovereign. Their land is referred to as a High Duchey.

Next are Sovereigns. They have the same powers as high Sovereigns but are less prestigious and or own less territories. They rule over Duchies.

They are followed by Baron. Barons can set local laws that are overruled by national laws or by a vote from the House of Lords (See Section 2)they may NOT collect a tariff.and may have personal armies if permitted by the grand duchess.Any territory possessed by someone of this rank is a barony.

Then is count,counts have the power to set local laws and may have standing armies in times of crisis they rule a country.

Next is earl. earls have the power to set local laws but can not have standing armies and rule an earldom.

Next are Boyars; they can only hold elections to implement proposed laws.They rule over Boyardoms.

After follow Fief they can only hold elections to implement proposed laws,they rule Fiefdoms which are of the same size as fiefdoms but are more sparsely populated.

Subservient and dominant nobildoms

A Subservient lordom is any noble that underneath another noble this means that their territory is under partial rule from another noble this means that the laws of the dominant nobildom overrule that of the subservient one. All nobildoms are subservient to the GDM.

1-1 knights the rank of knight has no extra legal power but may be referred to with the title of Sir, Dame, or Knix.

1-2 unique positions to the grand ducal house(appointed by and part of) primary heir,secondary heir,tertiary heir, poet laureate,grand ducal treasurer,grand ducal armorer,chief records keeper,portraitist,sculptor,tailor,colonial advisors,grand ducal retainers,heralds.

1-3 Free grand ducal cities are a administrative division with more self autonomy then parishes but limited in area to just the surrounding area to one city there leaders can either be lords who inherit the title or elected by the population they may have there own policing force following the standards of the thief taker army (see section four)

Section two: parlement

There are three “Houses” of parliament which all must agree in order to pass a law

Each House has a leader chosen by the other members of their respective house.

2-1 The House of commons

The House of Commons is unique for its “Bureaus”, a specialized cabinet that specializes in it's named region.The Bureaus are led by A Minister. Ministers are voted upon by the House of Commons itself after the candidate has won a simple majority public vote to become a House member even if they lose they will retain the first title they have terms of five years.

Their House leader is the Minister of the Commons and is elected by a simple majority vote. No one may hold two (or more) minesterys.

2-2 The House of Lords

The House of Lords is run by the nobility (see section one) each House lord must be elected from a “House family” in order for a family to become a House family they must

1. Be a noble family (any family with a title from section 1)
2. Be granted a house seat by the Grand Sovereign  .
3. Family must not be in any sort of monetary debt.

After this it is up for the family to decide upon a House lord this ritual can be as simple or complex as the family desires.their House leader is the lord of the House

2-3 The House of officers

The house of officers is run by the army. Each general may select up to five soldiers under their command above the rank of High Lieutenant to represent their army in the House of officers. The House of officers has two unique titles the “Thief Taker General” who is in charge of recruiting for and running the Thief Taker army (see section four) and the General of the House who is voted on by all the High leaders of the branches of the military and is the leader of the House of officers.

2-4 The Prime minister

The Prime minister is the leader of all three houses of Parliament and is elected by the leaders of the Houses of Parliament from any

Member of parliament of any house. Their role is to act as the supreme authority of parliament, personally delivering any verdict of parliament to the Grand Sovereign.

2-4.1 The Council of Parliament

The Council of Parliament is  the highest authority in Parliament, made up of the leaders of the three houses, and the Prime minister.

2-5 impeachment & other ways politicians are removed

Any citizen excluding serving members of parliament can call for any member of parliament to be removed at this point it will be left to a simple public majority vote to oust said politician.

If any member of parliament is convicted of a crime they will temporarily removed from parliament until the trial finishes at which point they if they are proven guilty they will be permanently banned from participating in the government of the GDM in any way unless grand ducal letter of pardon is provided

If a member of parliament is killed an emergency public vote will be held and the citizen with the most votes after three days will replace the dead parliamentarian.

Section Three:The military.

The grand ducal armed forces has nine divisions these are:

3-1 The Grand ducal armed forces are the standard block of infantry and the majority of  the troops in the military.

3-1 The Grand Ducal navy:

The Grand Ducal grand ducal navy is to protect the waterways of marquette and transfer troops between locations at which they are needed

Every ship will carry lifeboat capacity equal to its own crew +20 minimum and all crew will be instructed in their deployment.

3-3 The Grand Ducal marines:

The Grand Ducal marines are the force in charge of taking beachheads and preventing enemies from doing this as well

3-4 the Grand Sovereign's own flying corps:

The Grand Sovereign's own flying corps are in charge of keeping the airways of marquette clear, supporting infantry, destroying key enemy infrastructure, and acquiring aerial intelligence.

3-5 The Grand Sovereign's own flying infantry:

The Grand duchesses own flying infantry are trained to parachute into an operation. The Grand duchesses own flying infantry are generally used in surprise attacks, to seize strategic objectives such as airfields or bridges.

3-6 The Grand Duchies corps of engineers:

The Grand Duchies corps of engineers' primary function is to build and maintain fortifications within the duchy,its colonies,and the occupied territories. They can serve as a solo regiment or be integrated into another unit of soldiers to allow more long lasting defensive measures.

3-7 The Grand Ducal armoured corps:

The Grand Ducal armoured corps are primarily used for frontline assault, especially against fortification or as infantry support.

3-8 The Grand ducal Guards.:

The Grand Ducal Guards are the most elite and prestigious block of infantry; their primary goal is to protect the Grand Ducal family.

3-9 The house militia:

The house militia is to be led by the general of the house (see section two) and is to function as auxiliaries and emergency homeland defense there structure is to mimic that of the army ,they are the only official branch barred from serving in the house of officers(as it's officer corp is made up of the house of officers.)and not to have nationally standardised equipment they also must be at least two steps behind the equipment of what the army uses.

Section four:The thief taker army

the thief taker army is an entity completely separated from the military and is run by the elected “Thief taker general“ under him are the parish sheriffs and hermanistic sheriffs

4-1 the parish constabulary

The parish sheriff is the highest ranking member of this sub-branch of the thief taker army and there is 1-3 appointed by the thief taker general to each parish of the grand duchy they carry a decorative sword. they appoint parish constables that function as the main force of the parish constabulary they only carry a baton there is no limit to their numbers other than willing population

4-2 the hermanistic patrol

the hermanistic patrol is the force of men keeping order in the wilderness and roads of the grand duchy their highest rank is the hermanistic sheriff they are assigned to a stretch of road not exceeding 15 miles they may appoint up to 25 hermanistic constables armed with pistols of their sheriff’s choice

Section five: The Court of justice

The court of justice is divided into three parts, the first is the justice's advisors who are voted in by one of the three houses of parliament and may NOT be one of their own members, next is the chief justice;the chief justices are a cabinet of five justices appointed by the grand ducal justice who is appointed by the grand duchess.;the other justices are elected by either

1. The public with a simple majority vote
2. Elected by one of the houses in a simple majority vote
3. Appointed by the grand Sovereign  .

Last is the consulate of the people,they are elected in a public majority vote and if the group votes on a minor crime that becomes the sentence. In extreme situations the house of commons may function as an impromptu court of law.

Section six: cores, colonies, and occupied territories.

A core is the main block of territory owned by the GDM in order to become a core the territory must have been a part of the GDM for at least five years and win a simple majority vote in the local election; or have been apart of the GDM for at least ten years and be connected to the mainland; or be approved by the Grand Sovereign  .

A colony is any previously uninhabited land claimed by the GDM they are barred from voting in the parliament (see section two)but have greater self autonomy then core states being allowed to have their own constitutions and government they are not however allowed to mint their own currency and must follow orders from the GDM and are usually ruled by an appointed governor general.

A crown dependency is a nation that functions under the GDM. They have total self authority but must side with the GDM in wars and controversies. They may have their own currency but must accept the Dukesmark.

occupied territories an occupied territory is a plot of land that was formerly occupied by another peoples whether earned by conquest or purchase expect resistance. They have no voice in parliament and are ruled absolutely by either the grand Sovereign or somebody appointed by them (referred to as a parish dictator); they may be upgraded to a colony if they have been resistance free for at least five years and win a local vote.

section seven: the flags of the GDM

the national flag is the be a stripe of black taking up the entire hoist half with red to the fly half on the exact center there is to be a white five sided rose with its top facing the viewer

7-1 the grand ducal flag is to be a plain blue background with a white upward chevron that has three black crosses at the top and midpoints to the fly with a silver field, a scarlet vulture holding a golden sword and a tarch crowned with a small eagle; on a black border, eight severed lion heads, four gold and four silver to the hoist.

7-2 flags of nobledoms: the flags of nobledoms have total creative liberty as long as the depicted subjects are legal.

7-3 flags of parishes: the flags of parishes have the same constraints as the flags of nobledoms but must win a simple majority vote in the applicable parish

flags of colonies: the flags of colonies must have either the national flag or the grand 7-4 Grand Ducal flag depicted somewhere on it and must only contain legal imagery.  

section eight: display of flags.

when any other flag is present the national flag must also be displayed.

the grand ducal flag and/or the national flag must be front and center at all possible times. Otherwise the grand ducal flag is to be displayed on the viewers right or on top of the other flags. the following rules only apply to government institutions:

parish flags may not be flown outside of their registered parish.

When one flagpole is available the order is to be, including only relevant flags, national, grand ducal, colonial, section(like military, navy ex), regiment/vessel, nobildom, parish, etc.

section nine: succession of the crown.

The title of  grand sovereign of marquette will pass to the closest living descendant of Grand Duchess Nada I unless another family member has been chosen by the current reigning grand Sovereign it will only pass out of the dynasty if there are NO remaining descendants left in this event the current grand Sovereign will choose a successor.

9-1 If no successor can be found all houses of parliament are to function as an ad-hoc republic until a valid successor can be found.

9-2 If at any point parliament and the grand ducal house is unavailable ALL nobles will form a loose confederacy to rule marquette.

section ten: currency

The GDM uses the Dukesmark. new values can be added with a grand ducal decree( see section eleven) or by the grand ducal treasurer (if the house of lords votes in favour in a 1/3rd vote) any coinage is to be the Dukespiece which has the same rules as the dukessmark.

section eleven: law making

there are four ways new laws are made:

11-1 grand ducal decrees

Grand ducal decrees are an order for a law issued by the grand Sovereign; they can be repealed by an 8/10ths parliamentary vote.

11-2 acts of parliament

An act of parliament is a law proposed and implemented by parliament. First it is proposed by one of the three houses, after it passes a simple majority vote, it will be passed to the Council of Parliament, who then vote on it. If it passes them it will become law, if it's a tie, the Grand Sovereign reserves a tie-breaking vote.

11-3 parish upgrades

A parish upgrade is when a parish law becomes national if a nearly identical law is in 70% of parishes their mayors can call for it to become national if it then wins either a simple public majority vote or a simple majority vote from parliament or the grand Sovereign approval it becomes national law.

11-4 public call

It is believed by this convention that the call of the people should be headed;thus if a law is proposed by a non-noble non-parliamentary citizen and it wins a 6/10ths vote with at least a 35% citizen turnout rate it will become law with no exceptions.

Section twelve: Emergency powers

If parliament votes 9/10ths in favor, marquette can enter a state of “absolute monarchy” where the monarch has absolute control over marquette and her laws.

If the grand Sovereign is captured or otherwise unavailable and the vote passes the title responsibility will fall to the high guard general who will be known as director of the remaining marquetten government, from there the order of succession is as follows, the Grand General Of The Army, the Grand Admiral of the navies, the Grand mariner, the Grand Admiral of the Flying Corps, the Grand General of the Flying Infantry, The Grand Admiral of the Armoured corps, The Grand Engineer General, the General of the house, The Prime Minister, the Lord of the house, the Minister of the house, the Ministers of the bueros in order of seniority of position, a member of parliament that is voted on by the three houses, the Grand Ducal treasurer, and lastly the Governor-General of Esry island. All of these people can never be in the same place at the same time.