adopted unanimously by the General Assembly
on December 10, 1948
Preamble
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 4.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6.
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 7.
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8.
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
Article 9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10.
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
Article 11.
(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
Article 12.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Article 13.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
Article 14.
(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 15.
(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
Article 16.
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 17.
(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
Article 18.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Article 19.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 20.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21.
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen Representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
Article 22.
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
Article 23.
(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
Article 24.
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25.
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
Article 26.
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
Article 27.
(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
Article 28.
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
Article 29.
(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 30.
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
published by the International Law Commission
on July 29, 1950
Principle I. Any person who commits an act
which constitutes a crime under international law
is responsible therefore and liable to punishment.
Principle II. The fact that internal law does not impose a penalty
for an act which constitutes a crime under international law
does not relieve the person who committed the act
from responsibility under international law.
Principle III. The fact that a person committed an act
which constitutes a crime under international law
acted as Head of State or responsible Government official
does not relieve him from responsibility under international law.
Principle IV. The fact that a person acted
pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior
does not relieve him from responsibility under international law,
provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him.
Principle V. Any person charged with a crime
under international law has the right to a fair trial
on the facts and law.
Principle VI. The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable
as crimes under international law:
a. Crimes against peace:
i. Planning, preparation, initiation or waging
of a war of aggression or a war in violation
of international treaties, agreements or assurances;
ii. Participation in a common plan or conspiracy
for the accomplishment of any of the acts
mentioned under (i).
b. War crimes:
Violations of the laws or customs of war which include,
but are not limited to, murder, ill-treatment
or deportation to slave-labor or for any other purpose
of civilian population of or in occupied territory,
murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war
or persons on the seas, killing of hostages,
plunder of public or private property,
wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages,
or devastation not justified by military necessity.
c. Crimes against humanity:
Murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation
and other inhuman acts done against any civilian population,
or persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds,
when such acts are done or such persecutions are carried on
in execution of or in connection with any crime against peace
or any war crime.
Principle VII. Complicity in the commission of a crime
against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity
as set forth in Principle VI is a crime under international law.
approved by the Earth Charter Commission in March 2000
Preamble
We stand at a critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations.
Earth, Our Home
Humanity is part of a vast evolving universe. Earth, our home, is alive with a unique community of life. The forces of nature make existence a demanding and uncertain adventure, but Earth has provided the conditions essential to life's evolution. The resilience of the community of life and the well-being of humanity depend upon preserving a healthy biosphere with all its ecological systems, a rich variety of plants and animals, fertile soils, pure waters, and clean air. The global environment with its finite resources is a common concern of all peoples. The protection of Earth's vitality, diversity, and beauty is a sacred trust.
The Global Situation
The dominant patterns of production and consumption are causing environmental devastation, the depletion of resources, and a massive extinction of species. Communities are being undermined. The benefits of development are not shared equitably and the gap between rich and poor is widening. Injustice, poverty, ignorance, and violent conflict are widespread and the cause of great suffering. An unprecedented rise in human population has overburdened ecological and social systems. The foundations of global security are threatened. These trends are perilous—but not inevitable.
The Challenges Ahead
The choice is ours: form a global partnership to care for Earth and one another or risk the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life. Fundamental changes are needed in our values, institutions, and ways of living. We must realize that when basic needs have been met, human development is primarily about being more, not having more. We have the knowledge and technology to provide for all and to reduce our impacts on the environment. The emergence of a global civil society is creating new opportunities to build a democratic and humane world. Our environmental, economic, political, social, and spiritual challenges are interconnected, and together we can forge inclusive solutions.
Universal Responsibility
To realize these aspirations, we must decide to live with a sense of universal responsibility, identifying ourselves with the whole Earth community as well as our local communities. We are at once citizens of different nations and of one world in which the local and global are linked. Everyone shares responsibility for the present and future well-being of the human family and the larger living world. The spirit of human solidarity and kinship with all life is strengthened when we live with reverence for the mystery of being, gratitude for the gift of life, and humility regarding the human place in nature.
We urgently need a shared vision of basic values to provide an ethical foundation for the emerging world community. Therefore, together in hope we affirm the following interdependent principles for a sustainable way of life as a common standard by which the conduct of all individuals, organizations, businesses, governments, and transnational institutions is to be guided and assessed.
1. Respect Earth and life in all its diversity.
a. Recognize that all beings are interdependent and every form of life has value regardless of its worth to human beings.
b. Affirm faith in the inherent dignity of all human beings and in the intellectual, artistic, ethical, and spiritual potential of humanity.
2. Care for the community of life with understanding, compassion, and love.
a. Accept that with the right to own, manage, and use natural resources comes the duty to prevent environmental harm and to protect the rights of people.
b. Affirm that with increased freedom, knowledge, and power comes increased responsibility to promote the common good.
3. Build democratic societies that are just, participatory, sustainable, and peaceful.
a. Ensure that communities at all levels guarantee human rights and fundamental freedoms and provide everyone an opportunity to realize his or her full potential.
b. Promote social and economic justice, enabling all to achieve a secure and meaningful livelihood that is ecologically responsible.
4. Secure Earth's bounty and beauty for present and future generations.
a. Recognize that the freedom of action of each generation is qualified by the needs of future generations.
b. Transmit to future generations values, traditions, and institutions that support the long-term flourishing of Earth's human and ecological communities.
In order to fulfill these four broad commitments, it is necessary to:
5. Protect and restore the integrity of Earth's ecological systems, with special concern for biological diversity and the natural processes that sustain life.
a. Adopt at all levels sustainable development plans and regulations that make environmental conservation and rehabilitation integral to all development initiatives.
b. Establish and safeguard viable nature and biosphere reserves, including wild lands and marine areas, to protect Earth's life support systems, maintain biodiversity, and preserve our natural heritage.
c. Promote the recovery of endangered species and ecosystems.
d. Control and eradicate non-native or genetically modified organisms harmful to native species and the environment, and prevent introduction of such harmful organisms.
e. Manage the use of renewable resources such as water, soil, forest products, and marine life in ways that do not exceed rates of regeneration and that protect the health of ecosystems.
f. Manage the extraction and use of non-renewable resources such as minerals and fossil fuels in ways that minimize depletion and cause no serious environmental damage.
6. Prevent harm as the best method of environmental protection and, when knowledge is limited, apply a precautionary approach.
a. Take action to avoid the possibility of serious or irreversible environmental harm even when scientific knowledge is incomplete or inconclusive.
b. Place the burden of proof on those who argue that a proposed activity will not cause significant harm, and make the responsible parties liable for environmental harm.
c. Ensure that decision making addresses the cumulative, long-term, indirect, long distance, and global consequences of human activities.
d. Prevent pollution of any part of the environment and allow no build-up of radioactive, toxic, or other hazardous substances.
e. Avoid military activities damaging to the environment.
7. Adopt patterns of production, consumption, and reproduction that safeguard Earth's regenerative capacities, human rights, and community well-being.
a. Reduce, reuse, and recycle the materials used in production and consumption systems, and ensure that residual waste can be assimilated by ecological systems.
b. Act with restraint and efficiency when using energy, and rely increasingly on renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.
c. Promote the development, adoption, and equitable transfer of environmentally sound technologies.
d. Internalize the full environmental and social costs of goods and services in the selling price, and enable consumers to identify products that meet the highest social and environmental standards.
e. Ensure universal access to health care that fosters reproductive health and responsible reproduction.
f. Adopt lifestyles that emphasize the quality of life and material sufficiency in a finite world.
8. Advance the study of ecological sustainability and promote the open exchange and wide application of the knowledge acquired.
a. Support international scientific and technical cooperation on sustainability, with special attention to the needs of developing nations.
b. Recognize and preserve the traditional knowledge and spiritual wisdom in all cultures that contribute to environmental protection and human well-being.
c. Ensure that information of vital importance to human health and environmental protection, including genetic information, remains available in the public domain.
9. Eradicate poverty as an ethical, social, and environmental imperative.
a. Guarantee the right to potable water, clean air, food security, uncontaminated soil, shelter, and safe sanitation, allocating the national and international resources required.
b. Empower every human being with the education and resources to secure a sustainable livelihood, and provide social security and safety nets for those who are unable to support themselves.
c. Recognize the ignored, protect the vulnerable, serve those who suffer, and enable them to develop their capacities and to pursue their aspirations.
10. Ensure that economic activities and institutions at all levels promote human development in an equitable and sustainable manner.
a. Promote the equitable distribution of wealth within nations and among nations.
b. Enhance the intellectual, financial, technical, and social resources of developing nations, and relieve them of onerous international debt.
c. Ensure that all trade supports sustainable resource use, environmental protection, and progressive labor standards.
d. Require multinational corporations and international financial organizations to act transparently in the public good, and hold them accountable for the consequences of their activities.
11. Affirm gender equality and equity as prerequisites to sustainable development and ensure universal access to education, health care, and economic opportunity.
a. Secure the human rights of women and girls and end all violence against them.
b. Promote the active participation of women in all aspects of economic, political, civil, social, and cultural life as full and equal partners, decision makers, leaders, and beneficiaries.
c. Strengthen families and ensure the safety and loving nurture of all family members.
12. Uphold the right of all, without discrimination, to a natural and social environment supportive of human dignity, bodily health, and spiritual well-being, with special attention to the rights of indigenous peoples and minorities.
a. Eliminate discrimination in all its forms, such as that based on race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, language, and national, ethnic or social origin.
b. Affirm the right of indigenous peoples to their spirituality, knowledge, lands and resources and to their related practice of sustainable livelihoods.
c. Honor and support the young people of our communities, enabling them to fulfill their essential role in creating sustainable societies.
d. Protect and restore outstanding places of cultural and spiritual significance.
13. Strengthen democratic institutions at all levels, and provide transparency and accountability in governance, inclusive participation in decision making, and access to justice.
a. Uphold the right of everyone to receive clear and timely information on environmental matters and all development plans and activities which are likely to affect them or in which they have an interest.
b. Support local, regional and global civil society, and promote the meaningful participation of all interested individuals and organizations in decision making.
c. Protect the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly, association, and dissent.
d. Institute effective and efficient access to administrative and independent judicial procedures, including remedies and redress for environmental harm and the threat of such harm.
e. Eliminate corruption in all public and private institutions.
f. Strengthen local communities, enabling them to care for their environments, and assign environmental responsibilities to the levels of government where they can be carried out most effectively.
14. Integrate into formal education and life-long learning the knowledge, values, and skills needed for a sustainable way of life.
a. Provide all, especially children and youth, with educational opportunities that empower them to contribute actively to sustainable development.
b. Promote the contribution of the arts and humanities as well as the sciences in sustainability education.
c. Enhance the role of the mass media in raising awareness of ecological and social challenges.
d. Recognize the importance of moral and spiritual education for sustainable living.
15. Treat all living beings with respect and consideration.
a. Prevent cruelty to animals kept in human societies and protect them from suffering.
b. Protect wild animals from methods of hunting, trapping, and fishing that cause extreme, prolonged, or avoidable suffering.
c. Avoid or eliminate to the full extent possible the taking or destruction of non-targeted species.
16. Promote a culture of tolerance, nonviolence, and peace.
a. Encourage and support mutual understanding, solidarity, and cooperation among all peoples and within and among nations.
b. Implement comprehensive strategies to prevent violent conflict and use collaborative problem solving to manage and resolve environmental conflicts and other disputes.
c. Demilitarize national security systems to the level of a non-provocative defense posture, and convert military resources to peaceful purposes, including ecological restoration.
d. Eliminate nuclear, biological, and toxic weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
e. Ensure that the use of orbital and outer space supports environmental protection and peace.
f. Recognize that peace is the wholeness created by right relationships with oneself, other persons, other cultures, other life, Earth, and the larger whole of which all are a part.
The Way Forward
As never before in history, common destiny beckons us to seek a new beginning. Such renewal is the promise of these Earth Charter principles. To fulfill this promise, we must commit ourselves to adopt and promote the values and objectives of the Charter.
This requires a change of mind and heart. It requires a new sense of global interdependence and universal responsibility. We must imaginatively develop and apply the vision of a sustainable way of life locally, nationally, regionally, and globally. Our cultural diversity is a precious heritage and different cultures will find their own distinctive ways to realize the vision. We must deepen and expand the global dialogue that generated the Earth Charter, for we have much to learn from the ongoing collaborative search for truth and wisdom.
Life often involves tensions between important values. This can mean difficult choices. However, we must find ways to harmonize diversity with unity, the exercise of freedom with the common good, short-term objectives with long-term goals. Every individual, family, organization, and community has a vital role to play. The arts, sciences, religions, educational institutions, media, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and governments are all called to offer creative leadership. The partnership of government, civil society, and business is essential for effective governance.
In order to build a sustainable global community, the nations of the world must renew their commitment to the United Nations, fulfill their obligations under existing international agreements, and support the implementation of Earth Charter principles with an international legally binding instrument on environment and development.
Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace, and the joyful celebration of life.
formulated by Sanderson Beck in 1982
1. The Earth is one world, and its human beings must learn to live in peace with each other or perish.
2. The human race is one and interdependent; the good of each depends on the good of all and our love for each other.
3. The way of love and peace is nonviolent and does not hurt anyone.
4. The uniting power of love, peace, and friendship is stronger than the divisive strife of hatred, war, and enmity.
5. The conversion of a hostile and militaristic world into a peaceful global society is primarily an educational process of changing consciousness from fear, suspicion, and mistrust to love, confidence, and trust in the human capacity to solve problems, cooperate, and establish justice.
6. Every human being has the equal right to life, liberty, security, and justice.
7. Respect for individual freedom and dignity requires the protection of all human rights by means of a universal system of justice.
8. Justice in human affairs evolves through democratic means and due process of law.
9. The use of force is justified only when a legal authority, designated by consent of the people, is required to restrain and bring to justice a violator of the law.
10. A law enforcement official has legal authority only within the territory of the people who designate that official. No nation has the sovereign right to use any force outside its national borders.
11. War, the use of force outside one's territory, the threat to use such force, and the sale or transfer of military weapons outside one's territory should be prohibited by international law.
12. International wars and internal oppression of human rights are allowed to occur because there is no enforceable world law.
13. Enforceable world law and justice may be established by instituting a democratically elected federal world government to protect human rights and solve international disputes through a compulsory system of jurisprudence.
14. In a federal world government each nation would maintain sovereignty over its own internal affairs, except that the federal world government would have legal authority to protect human rights and settle international disputes.
15. Education, communication, democratic process, and nonviolent protest of wrongs are the purest and most effective means of social reform. Peace and justice are attained only by peaceful and just means.
16. Biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons are so horrendously deadly to people and damaging to the environment for such long periods of time that only deluded minds seriously contemplate their use.
17. Belief in deterrence of war by massive armaments and nuclear weapons is based on fear, suspicion, mistrust, and insecurity; this weapons policy perpetuates more fear, suspicion, mistrust, and insecurity in the world.
18. Those people who have moral courage and faith in the justice of their economic and political philosophies and in the nonviolent social change of democratic processes will support enforceable world law instead of massive national armaments.
19. Huge expenditures on massive armaments of destruction are a colossal waste of human and material resources, causing poverty, inflation, and a lowering of the quality of life. Such resources could otherwise be used for improvement of the environment, food production and distribution, education, health, and other beneficial purposes.
1. To awaken the inner peace that dwells in the hearts of all beings.
2. To create the consciousness of world peace and to foster friendship and harmony among all people.
3. To promote and protect the human rights of all people, regardless of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, as delineated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations.
4. To assure international justice and universal human rights by developing ways to preserve them, such as a federal world government, democratically elected by all the people of the Earth with a world court of justice having compulsory jurisdiction to decide all cases of international disputes and violations of world law and human rights, and with a world peacekeeping force of individuals from all countries who would be dedicated to the whole of humanity and who would enforce world law and the decisions of the world court of justice by the most peaceful means possible.
5. To achieve disarmament and the total elimination of all biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons in the entire world.
6. To purify and maintain a clean and ecologically balanced environment for our health and prosperity and for future generations.
7. To alleviate poverty and hunger, and to improve the health, education, and living conditions of all people on Earth.
8. To encourage all schools from the primary grades to the university to offer peace education from a global perspective.
1. To live peacefully and lovingly as examples to all.
2. To educate ourselves and others by every means to increase awareness of the oneness of life, the interdependence of all beings, the ecological unity of the environment, the way of love and nonviolence, and the urgent need for transnational attitudes, programs, and institutions for the sake of mutual survival.
3. To communicate by every means the truth and the facts which reveal and nourish world peace.
4. To pray and meditate and expand the consciousness of peace.
5. To respect and nurture human rights with tolerance and understanding.
6. To refrain from contributing to the preparations and activities of war and from hostile and aggressive attitudes.
7. To protest nonviolently against oppression, militarism, nuclear weapons, pollution, and violations of human rights.
8. To work for the total elimination of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons in every country.
9. To promote and practice world citizenship, and to work to organize a world constitutional convention to plan the democratic institution of a federal world government.
10. To use all human wisdom, sciences, and technologies in developing and purifying the environment, eradicating hunger and sickness in all countries, and making global education available to all people.
11. To communicate closely with all peace organizations and dedicated peace workers to facilitate the forming of a united worldwide network to bring about the establishment of world peace.
(Second draft by Sanderson Beck)
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish democracy and justice, assure domestic tranquility, provide for the common security, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Democratic Constitution for the United States of America.
Article I
Section 1
All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States consisting of a Senate, House of Representatives, and the Registered Voters. Residents in the District of Columbia shall have the same rights as those in the states. All citizens of the United States eighteen years of age or older are qualified to register as voters.
Section 2
The House of Representatives shall be composed of members elected from districts of no more than one million people each elected to terms of two years in even-numbered years by the people of the states and the District of Columbia. States with less than one million residents according to the recent census shall elect one Representative. Other states shall elect one Representative for each million people in their state plus one for the remaining portion. House districts shall be apportioned based on the recent census by computer calculations equally and compactly without consideration for party affiliation.
Each Representative shall have one vote and must be at least twenty-five years of age, must have been a citizen of the United States for at least ten years, and when elected, must be an inhabitant of that state and district represented.
When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, elections shall be held to fill such vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall elect their Speaker and other officers, and the House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment.
Section 3
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of Senators elected by the people in each state and the District of Columbia. Each state or the District of Columbia with less than 3 million people based on the recent census shall elect one Senator. Those states with between 3 million and 9 million people shall elect two Senators each; states with between 9 million and 15 million people shall elect three Senators each; states with between 15 million and 21 million people shall elect four Senators each; states with between 21 million and 27 million people shall elect five Senators each; states with between 27 million and 33 million people shall elect six Senators each; states with between 33 million and 39 million people shall elect seven Senators each; and any state with more than 39 million people shall elect eight Senators. Senators shall be elected for four years in even-numbered years not divisible by four. States with more than one Senator shall have senatorial districts apportioned based on the recent census by computer calculations equally and compactly without consideration for party affiliation. An official census of the population of each state shall be taken in years ending in zero.
Each Senator shall have one vote and must be at least thirty years of age, must have been a citizen of the United States for at least fifteen years, and when elected, must be an inhabitant of the state (or the District of Columbia) and district in which one is elected.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall choose their other officers and also a President pro tempore in the absence of the Vice President or when he or she shall exercise the office of President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside; 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 office of honor, trust or profit under the United States; but the person convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment according to law.
Section 4
General elections for all Representatives shall be held on the first Wednesday of November in even-numbered years and for all Senators in even-numbered years that are not divisible by four.
Primary elections by political parties shall be held regionally in even-numbered years on the first Wednesday of March, April, May, and June. The East region shall include the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia, and the District of Columbia; the South shall include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia; the Central shall include Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin; and the West shall include Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. In the first election after the ratification of this Constitution the order shall be East, South, Central, and West. Every four years the region that went first shall become last as the other regions move forward one month.
Representatives and Senators shall be elected by district with instant runoff voting using first, second, and third choices in both the primary and general elections. As candidates with the least number of votes are eliminated, the second (and if necessary the third) choices of those voters shall take effect until one candidate has more votes than all the remaining candidates.
Section 5
Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as each house may provide.
Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, discipline its members for disorderly behavior and with the concurrence of two thirds expel a member for a felony conviction or a serious ethical violation.
Each house must vote on any bill sponsored by one third or more of the members unless it is withdrawn by those sponsors.
Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings and from time to time publish the same; the yeas and nays of the members of either house on any question shall at the desire of one fifth of those present be entered in the journal.
Neither house during the session of Congress shall without the consent of the other adjourn for more than three days nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting.
Section 6
The Senators and Representatives shall receive compensation for their services to be ascertained by law and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.
Senators and Representatives shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective houses and in going to and returning from the same.
No Senator or Representative shall during the time for which he or she was elected be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; no person holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either house during his or her continuance in office.
Section 7
All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills.
Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives or the Senate, before it becomes a law, shall upon passing be presented to the registered voters of the United States, and they shall have seven days to vote on the bill. Their votes shall be recorded electronically in total and by districts with tallies by party affiliation included. Any bill which receives a majority by the voters and which has been passed by both houses shall be presented to the President of the United States. If the President approves, he or she shall sign it; but if not, the President shall return it with his or her objections to that House in which it shall have originated and which shall enter the objections at large in their journal and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent together with the objections to the other house by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if it is approved by two thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered in the journal of each house. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him or her, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he or she had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law. If a majority of those registered voting reject a bill, it shall be returned to both houses. If three-fifths of both houses approve it, it shall be presented to the President for his or her approval. If the President vetoes a bill rejected by a majority of voters, it shall not become a law.
Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the voters and the President of the United States, and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by the President, or being disapproved by him or her, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
Section 8
The Congress shall have the following powers:
to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the security and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
to borrow money on the credit of the United States;
to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the states, and with the Indian nations;
to establish a uniform rule of naturalization and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;
to coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
to provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;
to establish Post Offices and post roads;
to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
to constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;
to provide for calling forth the National Guard to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;
to provide for organizing, equipping, and disciplining the National Guard and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively the appointment of the officers and the authority of training the National Guard according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
to provide for organizing, equipping, and disciplining the Coast Guard in order to protect maritime safety, security, and stewardship;
to regulate and ban fire-arms, explosives, poisons, and other dangerous weapons;
to provide for immigration of persons from other nations and the requirements by which they may be naturalized as citizens of the United States;
to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over the District of Columbia and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be for needed buildings; and
to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States or in any department or officer thereof.
Section 9
The immigration of persons any of the states shall think proper to admit shall not be prohibited by the Congress.
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.
No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid.
No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.
No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to or from one state be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.
No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law, and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.
No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States, and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall without the consent of the Congress accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever from any king, prince, or foreign state.
Section 10
No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
No state shall without the consent of the Congress lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection laws; the net produce of all duties and imposts laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress.
No state shall without the consent of Congress lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another state or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.
Article II
Section 1
The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He or she shall hold this office during the term of four years and together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected in years divisible by four by a majority of all the citizens in the United States using instant runoff voting in both the primary and general elections as described in Article I Section 4.
All persons who are at least thirty-five years of age and have been citizens for at least twenty years shall be eligible for the office of President.
The Ministers of the fifteen executive departments of the United States of America shall be elected by a majority of all the citizens in the United States using instant runoff voting in both the primary and general elections as described in Article I Section 4. In the first election after the ratification of this Democratic Constitution the Ministers of all fifteen departments shall be elected. The first Ministers of the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Communication, Education, and Energy shall serve for two years; the first Ministers of the departments of Environment, Health, Housing & Welfare, Justice, and Labor shall serve for four years; and the first Ministers of the departments of Peace, Science & Technology, Security, Transportation, and Treasury shall serve for six years. In each succeeding election one third of the Ministers shall be elected to terms of six years. Ministers must be at least thirty years of age and must have been citizens for at least ten years.
In case of the removal of the President from office or of his or her death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both houses of Congress.
Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his or her written declaration that he or she is unable to discharge the powers and duties of this office, and until he or she transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of the Ministers of the executive departments transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of this office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, the Congress shall determine by two-thirds vote of both houses if and when the President shall resume the powers and duties of this office.
The President, Vice President, and Ministers shall receive compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which they shall have been elected, and they shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States or any of the states.
Before entering on the execution of their offices, the President, Vice President, and Ministers shall take the following oath or affirmation: “I solemnly promise that I will faithfully execute the office to which I have been elected and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Democratic Constitution of the United States.”
The terms of the elected President, Vice President, Ministers, Senators, and Representatives shall begin at noon on January 3 following their election.
Section 2
The President shall be the chief executive officer of the United States and commander in chief of the Coast Guard and of the National Guard of the states when called into the actual service of the United States.
The President may require the opinion in writing of the Minister in each of the executive departments upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.
The President shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.
The President shall have power by and with the advice and consent of the Senate to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur.
The President shall nominate and by and with the advice and consent of at least three-fifths of the Senate shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the Ministers of departments.
The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate by granting commissions which shall expire one month after the end of their recess.
Section 3
The President shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union and recommend for their consideration such measures as he or she shall judge necessary and expedient; he or she may on extraordinary occasions convene both houses or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them with respect to the time of adjournment he or she may adjourn them to such time as he or she shall think proper.
The President shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers.
The President shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed and shall commission all the officers of the United States.
Section 4
The President, Vice President, Ministers, and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
Article III
Section 1
The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, three appellate courts in each of the four regions and in at least one district court in each state as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges of the Supreme Court, the twelve appellate courts, and the district courts shall hold their offices during good behavior for ten years, after which time they may be appointed again, and they shall receive for their services compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. Upon ratification of this Democratic Constitution any federal judge who has already served more than ten years may be replaced by a new appointment.
Section 2
The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and equity arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made or which shall be made under their authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; and to controversies between two or more states, between citizens of different states, between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants of different states, and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects.
In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a state shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.
The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury, and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any state, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.
Section 3
Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war or in adhering to the enemies of the United States. No Person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or on confession in open court.
The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted.
Article IV
Section 1
Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state, and the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved and the effect thereof.
Section 2
The citizens of each state and the District of Columbia shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states.
A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice and be found in another state, shall on demand of the executive authority of the state from which he or she fled be delivered up to be removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime.
Section 3
New states may be admitted by the Congress into this union; but no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state, nor shall any state be formed by the junction of two or more states or parts of states without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States; nothing in this Democratic Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any particular state.
The United States shall not possess nor occupy any territory that is not a part of one of the United States or the District of Columbia.
Section 4
The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government and shall protect each of them against invasion and on application of the legislature or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.
Article V
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Democratic Constitution or on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the states shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which in either case shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of this Democratic Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states or by a majority vote of the citizens in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress.
Article VI
All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adoption of this Democratic Constitution shall be as valid against the United States under this Democratic Constitution as under the previous Constitution.
This Democratic Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof and all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority of the United States shall be the supreme law of the land, and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, the members of the state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the states shall be bound by solemn promise to support this Democratic Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
Article VII
Section 1
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
No soldier shall be quartered in any house without consent of the owner.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
No person shall be held to answer for a felony unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall any person be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against oneself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.
In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against one; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in one’s favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for one’s defense.
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed one thousand dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States than according to the rules of the common law.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor capital, cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
Section 2
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the United States.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, sex, religion, political association, sexual orientation, or previous condition including a criminal conviction.
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes from whatever source derived without apportionment among the States and without regard to any census or enumeration.
No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than once.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President and Vice President or Ministers or for Senator or Representative in Congress shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of age.
Section 3
The right of citizens of the United States to attend free public schools and use free public libraries shall not be denied nor abridged by the United States nor by any state.
The right of citizens of the United States to receive free health care shall not be denied nor abridged by the United States nor by any state, and Congress shall make no law interfering with a patient’s right to be treated by a physician.
Those serving in the offices of President, Minister, Senator, Representative, and Judge shall not receive any other income during their term of public service.
The election campaigns of candidates for the offices of President, Minister, Senator, and Representative shall be publicly financed. Citizens may also contribute up to one hundred dollars to one candidate in each office for which they are qualified to vote during each primary and general election. No other person, group, organization, or business may contribute to any election campaign for any of these offices. The contributions from citizens not spent by the campaign by the primary or general election day shall go into the Treasury of the United States, which shall finance the debates broadcast for each office and for the sample ballots mailed to the registered voters that shall give equal time and space to all candidates on the ballots. Whenever and wherever primary or general elections for officers of the United States are held, that day shall be a federal holiday.
Article VIII
The ratification by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states or by a majority vote of the citizens in three fourths of the states shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Democratic Constitution between the states so ratifying the same.
(first draft by Sanderson Beck)
We the people living on the Earth, in order to establish justice and peace among nations, provide for the common security, resolve international disputes, regulate international trade, preserve the environment, protect human rights, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United Nations Democracy. The powers of the United Nations Democracy shall be limited to those designated in this Constitution, and all other powers shall be reserved to the sovereignty of the people and their nations.
Article I
Section 1
All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in the Congress of the United Nations Democracy, which shall consist of a General Assembly, a House of Delegates, and the people of the world.
Section 2
The General Assembly shall consist of one Ambassador from each nation.
Section 3
The House of Delegates shall be elected by the people in each nation and be apportioned in districts by population with larger nations having 140 million people or more electing one Representative per twenty million people. Nations with 110 million people and less than 140 million shall elect five Delegates each. Nations with 80 million people and less than 110 million shall elect five Delegates each. Nations with 60 million people and less than 80 million shall elect four Delegates each. Nations with 40 million people and less than 60 million shall elect three Delegates each. Nations with 20 million people and less than 40 million shall elect two Delegates each. Nations with 10 million people and less than 20 million shall elect one Delegate each. Nations with 4 million people and less than 10 million shall elect one Delegate each with a half vote. Nations with more than 300,000 people and less than 4 million shall be formed into groups by legislation of the Congress with no group having more than 20 million people. The people in each group of nations shall elect one Delegate who has one vote.
The House of Delegates shall be composed of members elected for terms of two years by the people of the nations. Nations of twenty million people or more shall elect more than one Delegate from districts which shall be apportioned based on the recent census by computer calculations equally and compactly without consideration for party affiliation.
Each Delegate must be at least twenty-five years of age, must have been a citizen of the nation represented for at least ten years, and when elected, must be an inhabitant of that nation represented.
Primary elections for the House of Delegates shall be held on the first Wednesday of May in odd-numbered years, and general elections for the House of Delegates shall be held on the first Wednesday of November in odd-numbered years.
Delegates shall be elected with instant runoff voting using first, second, and third choices in both the primary and general elections. As candidates with the least number of votes are eliminated, the second (and if necessary the third) choices of those voters shall take effect until one candidate has more votes than all the remaining candidates.
The House of Delegates shall have the power to impeach federal officers by a two-thirds vote.
Section 4
All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Delegates, but the General Assembly may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills.
Every bill which shall have passed the House of Delegates or the General Assembly, before it becomes a law, shall upon passing be presented to the people of the world who are 18 years of age or older, and they shall have seven days to vote on the bill. Their votes shall be recorded electronically in total and by nations with tallies by party affiliation included. Any bill which receives a majority by the voters and which has been passed by both houses shall be presented to the Executive Council of Nine Presidents. If five or more Presidents approve, they shall sign it; but if not, the Presidents shall return it with their objections to that House in which it shall have originated and which shall enter the objections at large in their journal and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent together with the objections to the other house by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if it is approved by two thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered in the journal of each house. If any bill shall not be returned by the Presidents within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to them, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if they had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law. If a majority of the people voting reject a bill, it shall be returned to both houses. If three-fifths of both houses approve it, it shall be presented to the Presidents for their approval. If the President vetoes a bill rejected by a majority of voters, it shall not become a law.
Delegates of the nations shall be elected by district with instant runoff voting using first, second, and third choices in both the primary and general elections. As candidates with the least number of votes are eliminated, the second (and if necessary the third) choices of those voters shall take effect until one candidate has more votes than all the remaining candidates.
The House of Delegates shall be the judge of their own elections, returns and qualifications of their own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business.
Section 5
The House of Delegates and Ambassadors in the General Assembly shall receive compensation for their services to be ascertained by law and paid out of the Treasury of the United Nations Democracy. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective assemblies and in going to and returning from the same.
No Delegate shall during the time for which he or she was elected be appointed to any civil office under the authority of any nation or state; no Delegate during his or her continuance in office shall hold any office under any national or state government.
Section 6
Every bill which shall have passed the General Assembly or the House of Delegates, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Council of Nine Presidents. If two thirds or more approve, they shall sign it; but if not, they shall return it with their objections to that assembly in which it shall have originated and which shall enter the objections at large in their journal and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that assembly shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent together with the objections to the other assembly by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if it is approved by two-thirds of that assembly, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both assemblies shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered in the journal of each assembly respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the Council of Nine Presidents within ten days after it shall have been presented to them, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if they had signed it.
Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the House of Delegates and the General Assembly may be necessary shall be presented to the Council of Nine Presidents, and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by at least two thirds of them, or not being approved by two-thirds of them, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the House of Delegates and the General Assembly, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
Section 7
The Congress of the United Nations Democracy shall have the following powers:
to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the security and general welfare of the people; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform everywhere on Earth;
to borrow money on the credit of the United Nations Democracy;
to regulate commerce between nations;
to coin money and regulate the value of currencies;
to provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United Nations Democracy;
to fix the standard of weights and measures;
to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
to protect the environment and living organisms on land, in the seas, and in the air;
to constitute tribunals inferior to the World Supreme Court of the United Nations Democracy;
to provide for the inspection, investigation of disputed treaties, disarmament agreements, and suspected violations of the laws of the United Nations Democracy;
to provide for organizing, equipping, disciplining, and missions of the United Nations Democracy peacekeepers and police to resolve international conflicts;
to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the United Nations Democracy or in any department or officer thereof.
Section 8
The immigration of persons any of the nations shall think proper to admit shall not be prohibited by the Congress.
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.
No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid.
No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one nation over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to or from one nation be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.
No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law, and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.
No title of nobility shall be granted by the United Nations Democracy, and no person holding any office of profit or trust under it shall without the consent of the Congress accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever from any monarch or nation.
No nation shall without the consent of Congress and the Council of Nine Presidents send troops, military forces, weapons or ships of war outside their national borders, enter into any military agreement or compact with another nation or other power, or engage in war.
Article II
Section 1
The executive power shall be vested in a Council of Nine Presidents of the United Nations Democracy. They shall hold these offices during the term of six years and be elected in odd-numbered years by a majority of all the voters in the nine regions using instant runoff voting in both the primary and general elections as described in Article I Section 4.
All persons who are at least thirty-five years of age and inhabitants of the region when elected shall be eligible for the office of President.
Section 2
The nine regions electing the Presidents shall be China, India, Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and West Asia, Southeast Asia, North Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.
The China region shall include China with Hong Kong.
The India region shall include India, Maldives, and Sri Lanka.
The Sub-Saharan Africa region shall include Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Réunion, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Sao Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The North Africa and West Asia region shall include Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara, and Yemen.
The Southeast Asia region shall include Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Indonesia, Kiribati, Laos, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Myanmar (Burma), Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.
The North Asia region shall include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Georgia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, Russia, South Korea, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
The Europe region shall include Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the Vatican State.
The North America region shall include Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Greenland, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and the United States.
The South America region shall include Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Netherlands Antilles, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Luda, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela, and the Virgin Islands.
In the first year of elections after the ratification of this Constitution the Presidents from the regions of India, North America, and North Asia shall be elected to terms of two years, the Presidents from the regions of China, North Africa and West Asia, and South America to terms of four years, and the Presidents from the regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Europe to terms of six years. Thereafter during every odd year three Presidents from three regions shall be elected to terms of six years. Presidents may be re-elected once, but no President shall serve for more than 12 years.
In case of the removal of a President from office or of his or her death or resignation, the Delegates from that region shall elect an Acting President until the next election can fill the vacancy for the balance of the term.
The Presidents shall receive compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which they shall have been elected, and they shall not receive within that period any other emolument from any nation or state.
Before entering on the execution of their offices, the Presidents, Ambassadors, and Delegates shall promise the following: “I promise that I will faithfully execute the office to which I have been elected and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United Nations Democracy.”
The terms of the elected Presidents and Delegates shall begin at noon on January 3 following their election.
Section 3
The Council of Nine Presidents shall execute the laws of the United Nations Democracy by a two-thirds majority.
The Council of Nine Presidents may require the opinion in writing of the Minister in each of the executive departments upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.
The Council of Nine Presidents by a two-thirds majority shall have power by and with the advice and consent of the House of Delegates to make treaties between nations, provided the governments of those nations and two thirds of the House of Delegates present concur.
The Council of Nine Presidents by a two-thirds majority shall nominate and with the advice and consent of at least three-fifths of the House of Delegates shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, Judges of the World Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United Nations Democracy, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the Council of Nine Presidents alone, in the courts of law, or in the Ministers of departments.
The Council of Nine Presidents shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the House of Delegates by granting commissions which shall expire one month after the end of their recess.
Section 4
The Council of Nine Presidents shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state Democracy and recommend for their consideration such measures as they shall judge necessary and expedient; they may on extraordinary occasions convene both assemblies or either of them.
The Council of Nine Presidents shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed and shall commission all the officers of the United Nations Democracy.
Section 5
The Presidents and all civil officers of the United Nations Democracy shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
Article III
Section 1
The judicial power of the United Nations Democracy shall be vested in one World Supreme Court and inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The nine Judges of the World Supreme Court and the judges of the inferior courts shall hold their offices during good behavior for nine years, after which time they may be appointed again, and they shall receive for their services compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. Eight of the first nine judges shall serve terms limited by the annual appointments. Each year one President shall appoint a Judge from that region approved by a majority of the Delegates representing that region with the advice and consent of three-fifths of the House of Delegates. The sequence of annual replacements shall be China, South America, North Africa and West Asia, India, North America, North Asia, Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Europe.
Section 2
The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and equity arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United Nations Democracy, and treaties made or which shall be made under its authority, to all cases affecting international relations, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; and to controversies between two or more nations, between citizens of different nations, between citizens claiming lands under grants of different nations, and between a nation or the citizens thereof and other nations.
In all cases affecting international relations and those in which a nation shall be party, the World Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the World Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.
Section 3
Treason against the United Nations Democracy shall consist only in levying war. No Person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or on confession in open court. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason.
Any federal officer impeached by the House of Delegates shall be tried before the World Supreme Court, and a two-thirds vote is required for conviction.
Article IV
Section 1
Full faith and credit shall be given in each nation to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other nation, and the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved and the effect thereof.
Section 2
The people of each nation shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens as described in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
A person charged in any nation with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice and be found in another nation, shall on demand of the executive authority of the nation from which he or she fled be delivered up to be removed to the nation having jurisdiction of the crime.
Section 3
New nations may be admitted by the Congress into the United Nations Democracy; but no new nation shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other nation, nor shall any nation be formed by the junction of two or more nations or parts of nations without the consent of the legislatures of the nations concerned as well as of the Congress.
If a nation shall be divided, the new nations admitted into the United Nations Democracy having between four and ten million people shall have one Delegate with one-half vote and those having less than four million people shall be assigned to a group of small nations with one Delegate.
The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory and boundaries of nations in the United Nations Democracy.
Section 4
The United Nations Democracy shall guarantee to the people in every nation in this union human rights and a republican form of government and shall protect each nation against invasion and on application of the legislature or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.
Article V
The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both assemblies shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the nations with more than one million people, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which in either case shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of this Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the nations with more than one million people or by a majority vote of the citizens in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress.
Article VI
This Constitution and the laws of the United Nations Democracy which shall be made in pursuance thereof and all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority of the United Nations Democracy shall be the supreme law, and the judges in every nation shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any nation to the contrary notwithstanding.
The Delegates, Ambassadors, and all executive and judicial officers of the United Nations Democracy shall be bound by promise to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United Nations Democracy.
Article VII
Section 1
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
No soldier, police, or peacekeeper shall be quartered in any house without consent of the owner.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
No person shall be held to answer for a felony unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall any person be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against oneself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.
In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses against one, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in one’s favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for one’s defense.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed; neither capital nor cruel punishments shall be inflicted.
The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the nations and the people.
The powers not delegated to the United Nations Democracy by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the nations, are reserved to the nations respectively, or to the people.
Section 2
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist on the Earth.
All persons are citizens of the United Nations Democracy and of the nation where they were born. No nation shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of the citizens; nor shall any nation deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
The right of citizens of the United Nations Democracy to vote shall not be denied or abridged by any nation on account of race, color, sex, religion, political association, sexual orientation, or previous condition.
The right of citizens of the United Nations Democracy to vote in any primary or other election for President or Delegate shall not be denied or abridged by any nation by reason of failure to pay poll tax or other tax.
The right of citizens of the United Nations Democracy, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by any nation on account of age.
No law varying the compensation for the services of the Presidents and Delegates shall take effect until an election for that office shall have intervened.
Section 3
Every person on the Earth has the right to attend free public schools and use free public libraries.
Every person on the Earth has the right to receive free health care, and Congress shall make no law interfering with a patient’s right to be treated by a physician.
Those serving in the offices of President, Delegate, and Judge shall not receive any other income during their term of public service.
The election campaigns of candidates for the offices of President and Delegate shall be publicly financed. Citizens may also contribute up to one hundred dollars to one candidate in each office for which they are qualified to vote during each primary and general election. No other person, group, organization, or business may contribute to any election campaign for any of these offices. The contributions from citizens not spent by the campaign before the primary or general election day shall go into the Treasury of the United Nations Democracy, which shall finance the debates broadcast for each office and the sample ballots mailed to the voters that shall give equal time and space to all candidates on the ballots.
Article VIII
The ratification by the legislatures of three fourths of the nations with more than one million people or by a majority vote of the citizens in three fourths of the nations with more than one million people shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the nations so ratifying the same and the nations with less than one million people choosing to join.