Code of Belgememnon

Founding document of the Tasnica Republic, created by Belgememnon the Unforgettable. One of the first declarations of human rights in the Web, and the foundation of democracy in Tasnica.

Code of Belgemmemnon

I. Now all the duties of the government are contained in this one sentence: the will of the people is the supreme law.

II. No Tasnican shall be made slave.

III. No Tasnican shall be imprisoned without fair trial.

IV. The right of the people to peaceably assemble and express themselves freely shall not be infringed.

V. The government`s powers for the regulation of private property are restricted to the following: taxation, criminal investigation, wartime, and such cases where the use of private property causes damaging effects outside that property.

VI. The government does not have the power to kill its citizenry.

VII. The right to own and hold private property and conduct business enterprises shall always be protected.

VIII. The government shall make no law respecting one sentient species over another.

IX. People may only be stripped of their property if they are convicted of criminal wrongdoing.

X. Every Tasnican who stands accused of an offense has the right to a just and speedy tribunal. They have the right to be confronted by the witnesses for and against them and the right not to testify against themselves.

XI. No sentient, adult citizen of the Republic shall be denied the right to participate in public affairs.

XII. The government exists solely so that all Tasnicans shall be free.

Commentary

I Guarantee is the most famous, and forms the foundation for the government the Tasnicans built not he basis of the Code, including the Senate and the office of Prime Minister. It`s enforced through the government mainly through elections, but also through a rarely used procedure known as the Writ of Accountability where two thirds of the Tasnican states demand an issue in the Senate be resolved as a public referendum.

The modern Populist party believes that the modern proliferation of corporate interests into the government has betrayed the spirit of I Guarantee. The Conservatives, closely aligned with big business, dissent; what`s good for the corps is good for the Tasnican people. The clash between the Tasnican democratic ideal and the corporate culture is central to modern Tasnican politics.

II Guarantee puts an end to all slavery in Tasnica from the very start. If the government exists to allow people freedom, it should not tolerate anyone being forced to relinquish that freedom.

III, IX and X Guarantees form the basis of the Tasnican legal system. People can not be imprisoned or stripped of property until a fair trial. To insure fairness, Tasnican courts are run as tribunals, with three judges. The three judges tend to be placed together because it is known that they have different backgrounds and opinions. A Tasnican does not have to incriminate himself. Fair is now interpreted to mean that every accused person has the right to a lawyer to defend himself.

These Guarantees were even honored during the Omnisent threat, as other nations rounded up and shot suspected `Senters without so much as a formal indictment.

IV Guarantee protects free expression and assembly. Not only is this essential in a democracy, but restricts the government`s power over a very broad area.

V and VII are sometimes called "the capitalist guarantees" because they indicate the strong Tasnican belief that capitalism is a right of the people. Communist movements in Tasnica face great difficulty as they must first surmount the awesome respect commanded by the Code. Arguably, however, these guarantees have allowed the modern Tasnican corporations to get far too large and powerful.

VI speaks volumes of the Tasnican ideology of government. At a first glance, it simply looks as though the government can`t kill people at random on the street or execute them on a whim. But VI Guarantee provides no `due process of law` clause; capital punishment in Tasnica is prohibited. The sentiment: A government constituted to protect the rights of its citizenry should never have the power to kill them. It is no a matter of whether or not the criminal deserved it; it is simply something the government has no right to do.

VIII allows the numerous different species of the Republic to coexist. This also provided Tasnica to sustain its expansion despite bringing many new races into their borders during imperialism`s heyday.

X Guarantee's prohibition of self-incrimination is why evidence gained from the defendant's mind through the use of psionics or magic is inadmissable in court.

XI is usually interpreted to mean the right to vote and run for public office. A special commission sets the "adult" ages for all the different races, although some half-breeds can be problematic. This Guarantee insures that the Republic is a people`s government. There is not a separate caste set aside of the governors and the governed; all are the people.

This had interesting implications when the Royalist party of the Tasnican Senate voted to instill a hereditary monarchy (picking, of course, their own party leader). This was because it was felt that a King was needed to unite the people and deal with foreign monarchs, who tended to give the common born Prime Minister short shrift. The Tasnicans, however, never vested much official power in the monarchy but they did become fond of the ceremony associated with royalty, and having a King around did give Tasnica more status in the eyes of the governments of the day (all monarchies). This ended in 25 WR with the death of Georgethor Cartier V, the Last King of Tasnica.

Modern Tasnicans think of the whole royalty experiment as kind of silly. Even when the King was around Tasnicans were adamant that they were the REPUBLIC of Tasnica, not the kingdom, and anyone characterizing Tasnican government as a constitutional monarchy would have an argument on their hands from any Tasnican in earshot.

XII sums up the whole ideology. The people birth the government to maintain freedom, and it is essential that the government never suppress that freedom. The Tasnican government cannot have any power that is not derived from the goal of protecting rights or popular will.