Constitution of Yulis

The Constitution of Yulis is a document that was written in late 2279 and early 2280 by a Committee lead by Jéorkan Kendal. It comprises of six chapters and twenty-three articles. It begins by outlining the Government and how the Government should be elected and appointed, then it carries on into the Rights and Responsibilities of citizens, how the Empire of Yulis should henceforth be divided and organised, the internal structures of society (adulthood, marriage and sexuality) and finishes with national identity (national emblems, anthem, flag and languages).

Beginnings

In late 2279 (Martéance 2279), after Emperor Mærdek was crowned Emperor of Yulis, the idea for a constitution was conceived. The idea itself was indeed originally the Emperor's, who allegedly was so dismayed at the task in front of him that he wanted to create a government to do most of his work for him. A committee was formed and Jéorkan Kendal was put in charge. The Emperor was constantly consulted throughout the process.
Various formats were tried, with a basic draft being put into new templates. The so called "Final Design" was a skeleton-like document that referred to various Acts that explained each specific body, operation or right in more detail. This was eventually removed in favour of a more fleshed out version. The final constitution itself was actually intended to be even longer, but as a deadline closed in, some of the references to separate constitutional Acts were put back in. An example of this is the area of the Constitution concerning the Judiciary (the Legislative equivalent is explain in considerably more detail).

Chapters

The Constitution of Yulis is divided into Chapters and Articles. Each Covers a separate area concerning the basic operations of the Empire. The longest chapter is The Government of Yulis, which comprises of over half the Constitution.

The Government of Yulis

"Nations of any size must have an appropriate and functioning system of governance. The Empire of Yulis is no exception. The First Chapter of the Yulisian Constitution serves to outline the functions and processes of the Yulisian Government." - The Premise at the beginning of the Chapter.

The First Chapter outlines the duties of the Emperor, the tricameral legislature and the loose Judiciary. It is longer than all the other chapters combined and has ten Articles. The Government gives relatively little power to the people but it gave them more power than ever before. The First Chapter was the only chapter to be written over the whole time, with the other chapters being finished halfway through or being later additions.

Election and Appointment

"Government officials must be correctly appointed or elected. The Second Chapter of the Yulisian Constitution serves to define what must be fulfilled and what operations must be carried out to correctly raise officials to their positions and duties." - Premise

The Second Chapter was the last to be added. Before the decision to have the fully fleshed out Constitution the contents of the Chapter were simply in an Election and Appointment Act referenced in the previous article. When the various Acts were incorporated into the one document, the parts of the Act concerning the specifics of the Electoral Committee remained behind and became the Electoral Act.

The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizens

"Any citizen in a nation has their own rights. With their rights come responsibilities. The Third Chapter of the Yulisian Constitution serves to outline each citizen’s fundamental rights and fundamental responsibilities." - Premise

The Third Chapter was originally one of the Three Parts to the earlier draft of the Constitution. It was finished relatively early on in the writing of the Constitution and was the least edited. It outlines the basic rights and corresponding responsibilities of each citizen.

Political and Physical Organisation

"A nation as large as Yulis cannot simply be ruled by a single overlord government. Smaller governments and councils with lesser powers must govern the people at the lesser level. The Fourth Chapter of the Yulisian Constitution serves to outline the powers and limits of the lesser level governance." - Premise

The Fourth Chapter was originally the Second Part of the Constitution. The original idea conceived a two part constitution, one part outlining the Greater Government and the second outlining the Lesser State Governments. As more Articles were added, its contents were modified slightly and, at the request of the Emperor, it was moved further down the Constitution.

Internal Relations

"Among a nation, among society, there are relations, there are etiquettes, special guidelines that must be followed. The Fifth Chapter of the Yulisian Constitution serves to outline and define these etiquettes and guidelines." - Premise

The Fifth Chapter was the last to be written. It was written to define the basic structures involving adulthood, marriage and sexuality.

Identification

"A nation should be easily identifiable, by its flag, by its colours, by its people. The Sixth Chapter of the Yulisian Constitution serves to outline and define how the Empire of Yulis should be identified." - Premise

The Sixth Chapter was written at the request of the Emperor to preserve the history and identity of Yulis in the new more centralised and industrialised nation. It outlines the national emblems and the national official languages.

Signing =

The Yulisian Constitution was signed by Emperor Mærdek I, Orlando Mensark and Jéorkan Kendall on Kedréance 25 2280.

Full Constitution

The Full Constitution is, collectively, part of the Index of Yulisian Law. It is the first and longest document in the Index. The Full Constitution can be found here