The Constitution of the Republic of Inora

Preamble

We, the citizens of the Republic of Inora, are the source of all governmental authority.

We establish this government as our instrument—not our master. All power it wields is leased from us, revocable upon breach, and exists solely to perform functions we cannot accomplish individually.

We reject governments that claim authority independent of consent, that rule rather than serve, and that treat citizens as subjects rather than sovereigns.

This Constitution establishes invariant limits on governmental authority. All future laws, doctrines, policies, and institutions must conform to these limits regardless of their form, name, or claimed justification. No entity may circumvent these boundaries through relabeling, reclassification, or creative interpretation.

This is our Republic. This is our contract. This is our law.

ARTICLE I: SOVEREIGNTY

Section 1: Nature and Source of Authority

All governmental authority originates from and belongs permanently to the citizens of the Republic.

Authority is universal. Every citizen possesses the full authority of government within their immediate sphere of action.

Competence is conditional. Exercise of authority requires knowledge of proper procedures and consequences. The Republic provides training freely; citizens bear responsibility for using it.

Liability is absolute. No person, whether citizen or official, receives immunity for violations of rights or abuse of authority.

The government possesses no inherent power. It acts only as retained agent of the people, executing authority delegated for convenience, continuity, and professional specialization—not supremacy.

Delegation is not alienation. When citizens delegate governmental functions to officials, they do not surrender the authority to perform those functions themselves. They merely hire continuous, professional execution.

Citizens retain the right to exercise any governmental authority not requiring collective process, subject to the same standards and accountability as officials exercising that same authority.

Section 2: Revocable Delegation

Citizens delegate authority to government to perform functions requiring collective action, uniform judgment, or centralized coordination.

This delegation is conditional. When government fails to fulfill its obligations or exceeds its authority, the leased power reverts immediately to the people to the extent necessary to secure rights and continuity of life and safety, subject to review through lawful process.

Section 3: Retained Authority

Citizens retain all authority not explicitly delegated to government.

Where government may not act, citizens may act.

Where government will not act, citizens may act consistent with this Constitution.

Where government fails to act, authority returns to citizens without delay.

ARTICLE II: THE GOVERNMENTAL CONTRACT

Section 1: Government Obligations

In exchange for delegated authority, the government assumes the highest duty to:

• Protect rights enumerated in this Constitution through just laws, enforcement, and due process, and to hold violators accountable
• Administer justice through fair, uniform, and public process
• Provide services it has monopolized, reliably and without failure
• Operate transparently with all actions, laws, and proceedings public
• Remain accountable to citizens through regular review and correction

Section 2: Monopoly and Obligation

The government holds exclusive authority only over functions requiring collective legitimacy:

• Creation of law
• Adjudication of guilt
• Imposition of punishment
• Declaration of war
• Permanent deprivation of rights or property

Where government claims monopoly over any service beyond these core functions, it assumes absolute obligation to provide that service.

If government monopolizes and fails to deliver, citizens may provide for themselves without permission or penalty.

Section 3: Breach of Contract

Government that:

• Violates the rights enumerated herein
• Refuses to fulfill assumed obligations
• Exceeds delegated authority
• Operates in secrecy without justification
• Grants immunity to officials

...has breached this contract and forfeits lawful authority.

ARTICLE III: THE CIVIC CONTRACT

Section 1: Citizen Responsibilities

Citizenship is a contract between the individual, the Republic, and fellow citizens.

Citizens who accept this contract assume responsibility to:

• Know the law — Ignorance is not innocence
• Respect rights — Violate no person's boundaries
• Contribute — Pay dues owed to the commons
• Participate — Fulfill civic duties with competence
• Accept consequences — Face justice when boundaries are crossed

Section 2: Civic Competency Requirement

The Republic requires demonstration of civic competency as a condition for exercising full civic privileges, including voting, holding office, serving on juries, and maintaining citizenship past age of majority.

The standards for competency, the means of assessment, and procedures for appeal shall be established by law. All standards shall be public, uniform, and equally applied to all persons regardless of birth or origin.

Limited exemptions shall be available only where an impairment materially prevents completion of competency requirements despite reasonable accommodation. Exemptions must be narrowly defined, publicly documented, and granted through uniform procedure.

Study materials and training shall be freely available to all.

Competency requirements are verification of capability to participate in self-governance, not punishment or exclusion.

Section 3: Breach of Civic Contract

Citizens who:

• Persistently refuse civic duties
• Violate the rights of others
• Reject the competency requirement
• Fail to contribute as required by law

...have breached this contract and may face loss of privileges or, for severe violations, exile.

ARTICLE IV: RIGHTS

Section 1: Nature of Rights

Rights are boundaries. They define what no person—government or citizen—may do to another.

Rights are negative by default. A right protects you from interference. It does not entitle you to the labor, property, or resources of others. The government assumes no responsibility for providing a citizen with the means to exercise their rights; it only guarantees non-interference.

The government may choose to provide services or benefits. Such provision does not transform privileges into rights unless this Constitution is amended to make them so.

Section 2: Non-Infringement

The government shall not violate any right enumerated in the Bill of Rights except:

• To stop imminent harm to others
• As lawful consequence of conviction
• Where explicitly authorized by this Constitution

All infringements must be proportional, justified in public record, and subject to challenge.

Section 3: Self-Defense and Self-Provision

A. Self-Defense

Every person possesses the inherent right to defend themselves, others, and their property from violation using proportional force.

This right may not be infringed.

B. Self-Provision

Every person possesses the right to provide for their survival, safety, health, and household needs through their own effort.

The government may regulate self-provision only to prevent:

• Depletion of shared resources
• Deprivation of others' equal access
• Direct harm to persons or property

Personal provision for reasonable household needs cannot be prohibited or conditioned upon licensing, and shall not be taxed as a privilege.

C. Reversion During Failure

When government monopolizes a service and fails to provide it—whether through systematic neglect or emergency circumstances—all restrictions on self-provision immediately cease.

Citizens may then act without permission. No punishment shall apply for lawful self-provision undertaken during governmental absence or failure.

Where protected or regulated resources are taken under genuine survival necessity, restorative obligations may be imposed but criminal penalties shall not apply.

D. Private Assumption of Obligation

Where any non-domicile entity restricts exercise of a right that serves protective or provisionary function, thereby creating vulnerability, that entity assumes obligation to address the vulnerability created.

This obligation applies only where the restriction materially increases risk beyond baseline conditions and reasonable alternatives are not provided.

Specific applications and requirements shall be established by law.

Section 4: The Bill of Rights

Specific rights guaranteed to all persons shall be enumerated in the Bill of Rights, which is incorporated into this Constitution by reference and holds equal authority.

ARTICLE V: DISTRIBUTED SOVEREIGNTY

Section 0: Inherent Authority

Authority to act in defense of rights, prevention of harm, provision of aid, enforcement of law, and protection of life and property is inherent to all citizens by virtue of sovereignty.

No law, office, credential, license, certification, training, or governmental status is required to possess such authority.

Law governs the consequences of action, not permission to act.

Section 1: Citizens as Government

Every citizen is the government in distributed form.

Citizens possess the same authority as individual government officials to act in defense of rights, enforcement of law, and provision of services—subject to the same standards, training, and accountability.

Section 2: The Civic Equivalence Principle

Any authority exercised by a government official without collective process may be exercised by a citizen under identical legal standards.

No role, office, profession, or institution may claim exclusive authority to act where the same act would be lawful if performed by a citizen.

This principle is unamendable. It ensures that power remains distributed and that no separate "authority class" emerges.

Section 3: Individual vs. Collective Authority

Citizens may exercise any governmental authority that does not require collective process.

Authority requiring collective process includes:

• Determination of guilt through trial
• Imposition of punishment
• Declaration of war
• Creation of law
• Permanent deprivation of rights or property

The governing principle: If a governmental function requires committee, vote, or jury, citizens must use that same collective process. All other governmental functions may be performed by individual citizens under the same standards of accountability as individual officials.

Individual authority is not limited to emergencies, exigent circumstances, or temporary absence of officials. The existence, presence, or availability of government personnel does not negate or suspend citizen authority.

Section 4: Training and Accountability

A. Government Provides Training

The government shall provide free, public access to comprehensive training and documentation on:

• Constitutional rights and civic duties
• Lawful use of force and proper procedures
• Limits of individual authority
• Consequences for abuse of power

All governmental procedures shall be documented and publicly accessible.

B. Citizens Bear Responsibility

Training is available. Using it is the citizen's choice. Ignorance is not a defense.

Citizens who exercise governmental authority without proper knowledge bear full legal responsibility for their actions.

C. Equal Consequences

Citizens exercising authority lawfully within established procedures are protected.

Citizens exercising authority unlawfully or violating rights face the same penalties as government officials would for identical acts.

D. No Prerequisite to Action

Availability of training, documentation, or procedure does not constitute a prerequisite to lawful action.

Lack of training does not invalidate authority.

Training exists solely to reduce error, harm, and liability, not to condition or restrict action.

Section 5: Non-Delegation of Moral Responsibility

No law, office, emergency, or instruction absolves any person of moral responsibility for their actions.

Every individual remains answerable for the choices they make.

Section 6: Yielding to Constituted Authority

Citizens exercising distributed authority must yield to duly constituted government authorities once they arrive, unless those authorities are themselves violating rights.

Yielding constitutes coordination, not submission. Yielding does not imply inferiority of authority, nor does it absolve officials of accountability.

Specific procedural requirements, including time limits for citizen detention, shall be established by law.

Section 7: Universal Recall of Authority

Any individual exercising governmental authority is subject to removal by the citizens.

Recall authority applies to all offices, roles, and agents without exception.

No office, title, mandate, emergency status, or term of service grants immunity from recall.

Recall may be exercised for loss of trust, abuse of authority, failure of duty, or persistent disregard of the public will.

The procedures, thresholds, and safeguards governing recall shall be established by law and applied uniformly.

Section 8: Citizen Veto of Governmental Acts

All governmental acts derive legitimacy from the continuing consent of the citizens.

Citizens retain the authority to veto any act of government, including legislation, declarations of war, treaties, and policies, through lawful collective action.

A citizen veto nullifies the governmental act in whole or in part.

The thresholds, procedures, and safeguards governing citizen veto shall be established by law and shall require a supermajority sufficient to demonstrate clear and sustained public opposition.

No veto may infringe rights enumerated in this Constitution or bypass due process.

ARTICLE VI: GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE

Section 1: Three Branches

The government shall operate through three independent branches:

• Legislative — Creates law
• Executive — Enforces law
• Judicial — Adjudicates disputes

No person may hold office in multiple branches simultaneously.

Section 2: Universal Accountability

No official receives immunity by title, statute, policy, or prosecutorial refusal to enforce the law.

Officials who violate rights are immediately removed from office and prosecuted under the same laws as any citizen.

Officials convicted of rights violations face equal or greater penalties than ordinary citizens and are permanently barred from office.

Section 3: Merit Requirement

Only citizens who demonstrate rational thinking, good-faith engagement, and just reasoning may hold office.

Merit standards and assessment procedures shall be established by law using transparent, publicly-defined criteria. All decisions are subject to appeal.

Section 4: Term Limits

All offices have maximum term limits. No person may serve indefinitely in any position of power.

Specific limits shall be established by law.

Section 5: The Legislature

A. Powers

The Legislature may:

• Propose and vote on laws
• Approve the budget
• Declare war
• Ratify treaties

B. Limitations

The Legislature may not:

• Pass laws violating rights enumerated in Article IV
• Exempt themselves from laws they create
• Grant immunity to any person
• Suspend this Constitution

Section 6: The Executive

A. Powers

The Executive may:

• Enforce laws passed by the Legislature
• Administer government operations
• Command defense forces

B. Limitations

The Executive may not:

• Create laws
• Suspend rights enumerated in Article IV
• Grant pardons or commutations
• Alter sentences determined by the justice system

Section 7: The Judiciary

A. Powers

The Judiciary may:

• Try criminal and civil cases
• Review laws for constitutional compliance
• Issue warrants based on evidence

B. Limitations

Judges may not:

• Alter sentences determined by the sentencing system
• Create law through interpretation
• Refuse to hear cases based on political considerations

ARTICLE VII: JUSTICE

Section 1: Due Process

No person shall be punished without:

• Formal accusation with supporting evidence
• Fair trial by jury drawn from citizens meeting lawful civic competency requirements
• Determination of guilt through lawful process

Section 2: Deterministic Sentencing

Punishments for crimes shall be:

• Proposed through legislative process
• Debated publicly with citizen input
• Approved by democratic vote
• Codified into deterministic sentencing system established by law

Upon conviction, punishment shall be determined automatically based solely on the crime committed and factors explicitly approved by citizens.

No judge, official, or human may alter a sentence. Same crime equals same punishment, always.

The sentencing system shall never consider wealth, status, political connections, public sympathy, or identity characteristics.

Sentences shall include both restorative elements (restitution, community service) and punitive elements (fines, imprisonment, exile) as appropriate.

Economic penalties shall be proportional to the offender's capacity such that the punitive impact is equal regardless of wealth or status.

The sentencing system shall calculate economic penalties to produce equivalent burden across all economic circumstances.

Only citizens through supermajority vote may pardon or commute a sentence.

Section 3: Individual Accountability

No person may be punished for crimes committed by another.

Guilt is individual. It cannot be inherited, transferred, or assigned by association, ancestry, or group identity.

Section 4: Appeals

Verdicts may be appealed for procedural violations, new evidence, or jury misconduct.

Sentences may be appealed only for error in calculation or application of the sentencing system.

Specific appellate procedures shall be established by law.

ARTICLE VIII: CITIZENSHIP

Section 1: Voluntary Nature

Citizenship is voluntary. No person is compelled to become or remain a citizen.

Section 2: Acquisition

Citizenship may be acquired by:

A. Birth

Persons born within the Republic or to citizen parents, subject to civic competency requirement upon reaching age of majority.

B. Application

Any person may apply for citizenship. Application does not entitle acceptance.

Citizenship shall be granted only upon satisfying requirements established by law, including civic competency and oath of citizenship.

All standards and procedures shall be public, uniform, and equally applied, with stated reasons and appeal available upon denial.

Section 3: Renunciation and Exile

A. Renunciation

Citizens may renounce citizenship at will, effective upon resolution of pending lawful obligations.

B. Exile

Citizenship may be revoked only as punishment following full due process for severe or persistent violations of rights.

Exile is the complete severance of all bonds between individual and Republic. It is the gravest sanction, reserved for the gravest offenses.

Specific criteria for exile and procedures for its imposition shall be established by law.

C. Humane Process

Voluntary renunciation of citizenship shall never constitute punishment.

The Republic shall provide reasonable assistance to any individual who voluntarily relinquishes citizenship, including documentation, travel coordination, and facilitation of lawful residency or visa access where reasonably possible.

Such assistance shall be limited to facilitation and coordination and shall not obligate the Republic to secure acceptance by another sovereign state.

Where exile is imposed as lawful punishment:

• It shall occur only following full due process
• It shall never apply to violent crimes except where the law expressly designates exile as an alternative to imprisonment and where public safety is not compromised
• It shall include reasonable measures to ensure the individual is not rendered stateless

No person shall be expelled into abandonment.

D. Prohibition of Commodification

No citizen or former citizen may be sold, traded, exchanged, auctioned, or otherwise commodified by the Republic.

Renunciation, exile, or transfer of jurisdiction shall never involve financial bidding, population exchange, diplomatic trade, or coercive relocation agreements.

Human beings are not currency.

Section 4: Non-Citizen Residents

The rights, limitations, and pathways to citizenship for non-citizen residents shall be established by law, consistent with this Constitution.

Section 5: Minors

Persons under age of majority possess all rights enumerated in Article IV.

They participate in civic life through their parents or guardians until reaching adulthood.

Upon reaching age of majority, they must complete civic competency requirements to maintain full citizenship.

ARTICLE IX: TRANSPARENCY AND CIVIC OWNERSHIP

Section 1: Transparency

All laws, governmental proceedings, and official actions shall be public and accessible, except where secrecy is narrowly required to prevent direct and immediate harm.

All governmental expenditures and all citizen contributions shall be publicly recorded.

Section 2: Civic Ownership

All citizens in good standing receive a baseline dividend from the collective prosperity of the Republic, acknowledging their status as stakeholders rather than subjects.

This dividend represents shared ownership of the commons and may not be withheld except as lawful consequence of conviction or voluntary renunciation of citizenship.

Specific dividend amounts and funding mechanisms shall be established by law.

ARTICLE X: AFFECTED CONSENT AND SHARED BURDEN

Section 1: Principle of Affected Consent

No law, policy, or governmental act may impose a material burden upon a class of persons without the consent of that class.

A burden includes, but is not limited to:

• Financial obligation
• Loss of liberty
• Risk of bodily harm
• Compulsory service
• Deprivation of property
• Restriction of lawful conduct

Consent requirements and procedures shall be established by law and must be public, uniform, and subject to review.

Section 2: Prohibition of Asymmetric Burden

No citizen may vote to impose a burden upon others that they themselves do not bear in kind.

Where a law distributes burdens unevenly, only those subject to the burden may authorize it, or those authorizing it must accept equivalent and proportional exposure.

Section 3: Voluntary Benefits and Collective Provision

Any benefit, service, or entitlement not enumerated as a right in this Constitution shall be voluntary.

Voluntary benefits require one of the following:

• Voluntary participation and contribution
• Approval by those funding the benefit
• Proportional contribution by those authorizing it

No benefit may be funded through compulsory extraction from non-consenting citizens.

Section 4: Shared Risk in Decisions of Harm

Any collective decision involving:

• War
• Lethal force
• Mandatory service
• Severe deprivation of liberty

...requires that those authorizing the decision bear proportional personal risk.

No citizen may vote to expose others to grave harm while remaining categorically exempt from that exposure.

Section 5: Economic Neutrality of Law

This Constitution endorses no economic ideology.

All lawful economic arrangements—market-based, collective, cooperative, or hybrid—are permitted provided they comply with:

• Affected consent
• Shared burden
• Voluntary participation
• Equal application of law

No system may override these principles by name, doctrine, or moral claim.

Section 6: Proportional Economic Penalties

All economic penalties shall be proportional to the offender's capacity, such that the punitive impact of the sentence is equal regardless of wealth or status.

The goal of economic punishment is equal accountability, not equal numbers.

Specific calculation methods and implementation shall be established by law.

ARTICLE XI: AMENDMENT

Section 1: Process

This Constitution may be amended only through deliberate public process and supermajority approval.

Specific procedures for proposal, deliberation, and ratification shall be established by law.

Section 2: Unamendable Core

The following principles may never be amended:

• Citizens as permanent holders of all governmental authority (Article I, Section 1)
• Inherent authority of citizens (Article V, Section 0)
• Affected consent and shared burden (Article X, Sections 1–2)
• Proportional economic penalties (Article X, Section 6)
• Voluntary nature of citizenship (Article VIII, Section 1)
• Civic competency as requirement for full participation (Article III, Section 2)
• Rights are negative by default (Article IV, Section 1)
• Equality before the law (Article VII, Section 2)
• No immunity for officials (Article VI, Section 2)
• Civic equivalence principle (Article V, Section 2)
• Individual moral responsibility (Article V, Section 5)
• Universal recall of authority (Article V, Section 7)
• Citizen veto of governmental acts (Article V, Section 8)
• Right to self-provision when government fails (Article IV, Section 3.C)
• Due process (Article VII, Section 1)
• Individual accountability for crimes (Article VII, Section 3)
• Prohibition of human commodification (Article VIII, Section 3.D)

These are the foundation. They cannot be bargained away.

ARTICLE XII: SUPREMACY

This Constitution is the supreme law of the Republic.

All laws, policies, and governmental actions derive authority from it and must conform to its terms.

Where law conflicts with this Constitution, the Constitution prevails.

Where government breaches this contract, authority returns to the people.

This Constitution shall not be interpreted to imply permissions where it establishes accountability, nor to imply authority where it establishes limits. Any interpretation that conditions lawful action on prior authorization is void.

We are the Republic of Inora. We govern ourselves.