You are on the archive wiki. The new wiki is here.

Constitution of the LiberalAcademicRevolutionaryParty ?

Preamble

In the names of God the Almighty, of his Son the Redeemer, of his virgin mother Maria, of the saints and of the Most Holy Roman Catholic Church, we pray for guidance. May the Lord God have mercy on our souls and on our nation and on our people.

We form a party by the name of the LiberalAcademicRevolutionaryParty ?, declare ourselves members thereof and bind a solemn pact to lead the country to peace and stability, fearing only God and no man save the Son of God.

Notwithstanding this, the LiberalAcademicRevolutionaryParty ? respects freedom of religion and tolerates other beliefs and lack of belief, expecting only tolerance of the Roman Catholic Church in return.

Article 1: Principles

The principles of the LiberalAcademicRevolutionaryParty ? are liberalism, freedom and principled revolution.

Article 2: Programme of Action

The party shall further its principles by engaging in political activity in the Republic of Guevaria.

The party will seek seats in the Cortes and other assemblies; and the party will seek to form the government of the RepublicOfGuevaria ?, its provinces and its districts. The party will address the legitimate grievance of the people by allowing them to obtain constitutional redress, if at all possible.

Article 3: Legal personality and powers

The Party shall be a legal person with perpetual succession and shall be capable of suing and being sued in its own name. The Chairman of the Party shall represent the Party in all legal proceedings by or against it, but shall be entitled to delegate the power of suing or being sued or otherwise to represent the party in legal proceedings, to the Chairman of a province.

The Party may own, purchase, sell hire, lease, mortgage, pledge or in any other way alienate or deal with both movable and immovable property and furthermore perform all such legal activities normally associated with a legal person or specifically authorised by this constitution.

All monies received and collected in the name of the Party vest in the Party itself and are administered by the Treasury subject to review by the Party in Congress.

Article 4: Membership of the Party

Every member of the LiberalAcademicRevolutionaryParty ? must subscribe to the Principles and the Programme of Action of the Party and agree to abide by the constitution of the Party.

Every member must comply with other conditions set by the Executive of the Party.

The Executive of the Party may at any time suspend membership the Party of anyone who

fails to carry out his or her duties and responsibilities according to standards set by Congress,
wilfully brings the good name of the Party into disrepute,
acts in a manner that is contrary to the internal co-operation of the Party, or
fails to comply with or rejects decisions of the official structures of the Party

provided that such a public representative, whose membership has been suspended, shall have a right of appeal to the plenary Congress of the Party which shall consider such appeal at its first meeting at or after such appeal has been received. If the plenary Congress of the Party confirms the suspension by the Executive, that membership is terminated finally.

Article 5: Party Congress

The highest authority of the Party vests in the plenary Party Congress. The powers of Congress are supreme and are not limited except by this Constitution.

The Chairperson of the Party is the Chairperson of Congress. The Chairperson of Congress has a tie-breaking vote in Congress.

The majority of legitimate delegates to plenary Congress, including its officers, shall constitute a quorum. All Congress decisions are by absolute majority vote in the quorum, except for

motions to change this Constitution,
motions affecting the Rules of the Conduct of Congress and
other decisions as laid down by rules agreed by Congress

which are by two-thirds majority vote in the quorum.

Congress elects its executive officers and the Party Council.

Article 7: Party Council

The Party Council shall constitute the Congress when plenary Congress is not in session.

The Party Council shall be elected by the Party Congress when plenary Congress is in session. The Party Council lapses when plenary Congress convenes. The Party Council shall consist of the executive officers of the Party, plus four Party members who are not members of the executive.

The General Secretary or, if he or she is not available, the Chairperson of the Party is the Chairperson of the Party Council. The Chairperson of the Party Council has a tie-breaking vote in Council.

The Council only has functions and powers given to it in this constitution.

The majority of the members of the Council, including its chairperson, shall constitute a quorum. All Council decisions are by majority vote. The Council may not change this Constitution, nor appoint or elect officers of the party.

The Council may administer the Party with the aim of furthering its Principles and Programme of Action, and defending its Legal Personality and Powers. The Council may hire and dismiss staff and spend and raise party monies.

Article 6: Delegates to Congress

The RevolutionaryConvention may send four delegates to the plenary Congress of the LARP.

The University of Ancuna may send three delegates to the plenary Congress of the LARP.

The University of San Angelina may send one delegate to the plenary Congress of the LARP.

The CortesOfTheCastilianDelegation ? may send four delegates to the plenary Congress of the LARP.

Each delegate to plenary Congress has an equal vote.

Rules for the Conduct of Congress

Agreed at the 1989 Congress of the Liberal Academic Revolutionary Party.

Motions in Congress have the following precedence, from highest to lowest:

Debatable Privileged Not always privileged

 Incidental Subsidiary Can be amended Requires 2/3 vote Motion

X a - - X - Fix the Time to which to Adjourn
X b - - - - Adjourn
X c - - X - Take a Recess
X - - - - - Raise a Question of Privilege
X - - - - - Call for the Orders of the Day
- - - X - - Lay on the Table
- - X - - - Raise a Question of Order or Appeal
- - X - - X Suspend the Rules
- - X - - X Object to Consideration of a Question
- - X - - - Divide the Question
- - X - - d Divide the Assembly
- - X - - - Nominate
- - - X - X Previous Question
- - - X X X Limit or Extend Limits of Debate
X - - - X X - Postpone to a Certain Time

X - - - X X - Commit or Refer
X - - - X X - Amend X - - - X - - Postpone Indefinitely
X - - - - X - Main Motion

a Privileged only when made while another question is pending, and in an assembly that has made no provision for another meeting on the same or the next day.

b Loses its privileged character and is a main motion if in any way qualified, or if its effect, if adopted, is to dissolve the assembly without any provision for its meeting again.

c Privileged only when made while other business is pending.

d Decided by 20% of delegates in favour of a division.

Explanations

Privileged questions. Such questions may interrupt the debate of a Main Question at any time, and must be settled before debate of the Main Question is resumed. They do not have any direct bearing on the subject matter of the Main Question.

Incidental questions. Such questions may interrupt the debate of a Main Question at any time, and must be settled before debate of the Main Question is resumed. They have direct bearing on the means of settling the Main Question.

Subsidiary questions. Such questions may interrupt the debate of a Main Question at any time, and must be settled before debate of the Main Question is resumed. They have direct bearing on the subject matter of the Main Question.

Note how no Privileged or Incidental Questions are debatable, and only a few Subsidiary questions are debatable. This forces these questions to be settled speedily so that the Main Question can be addressed again.

Fix the Time to which to Adjourn. The delegate moving to fix a time must also propose a time. Other delegates may propose other times as amendments. All amended times must be subsequent to the proposed time, or to any previously amended time.

Adjourn. Finishes Congress in this session.

Take a Recess. Congress retires from its business for no more than 10 minutes, after which the Chairman reconvenes.

Raise a Question of Privilege. Such questions relate to the privileges of the assembly, or of personal privilege. The following questions are examples of questions of privileges of the assembly: the organization of the assembly; the comfort of its members such as the heating, lighting, ventilation, etc., of the hall, and freedom from noise and other disturbance; the conduct of its officers or employees; the punishing of a member for disorderly conduct or other offence; the conduct of reporters for the press; the accuracy of published reports of proceedings.Questions of personal privilege must relate to membership of the assembly, or else relate to charges against his character which, if true, would incapacitate the delegate for membership.

Call for the Orders of the Day. The delegate moving a Call for the Orders of the Day wishes that other questions raised during Congress are put aside, and Congress returns to the published agenda.

Lay on the Table. The delegate asking to lay a question on the table is asking that whatever is under debate be postponed. The question may be taken up from the table at any time subsequently.

Raise a Question of Order or Appeal. If these rules are infringed, the Chairman must rule the speaker out of order. Another delegate may also appeal to the Chairman if he or she believes the rules have been infringed.

Suspend the Rules. If any of these rules interfere with the debate of a certain question, the assembly can vote to suspend the rules while that question is considered.

Object to the Consideration of a Question. This motion can only be presented after a question has been put but before it has been debated. If the objection is sustained by the assembly, the previous question is put aside altogether.

Divide the Question. The question is divided into two or more parts.

Divide the Assembly. The vote is taken in public. This motion needs the support of only 20% of the assembly.

Nominate. When the Main Question concerns candidates for election, this motion allows delegates to nominate candidates. The motion behaves like an undebatable amendment.

Previous Question. The delegate moving the Previous Question is calling for an immediate vote on the question. If the motion for the Previous Question is accepted, no more debate is possible on the question under consideration. The motion for the Previous Question requires a 2/3 vote, though the vote on the question itself is subject to normal rules.

Limit or Extend Limits of Debate. Normally the debate on a question is limited to the matter under consideration, and a delegate is out of order if he or she digresses. The motion to Limit or Extend Limits allows Congress to rule that discussion of other matters is in order after all.

Postpone to a Certain Time. This motion puts off discussion of the question until some stated time.

Commit or Refer. The delegate moving to commit or refer is proposing that the question be debated in a committee of the assembly, rather than in the assembly proper. The question will therefore only be decided after the committee has reported back.

Amend. The question is to be changed in one of the following ways: it may have words inserted; it may have words deleted; it may have some words deleted and others inserted. Amendments may be amended.

Postpone Indefinitely. This motion puts off discussion of the question altogether.

A Main Motion. This is the initial question put to the assembly. In the absence of any other business, it is taken from the agenda in the order in which the agenda is published.

Duties of officers of the LiberalAcademicRevolutionaryParty ?

The Chairman adjudicates the conduct of Congress. The Chairman maintains order in Congress, and must settle Questions of Privilege and Order as requested by delegates. All delegates must address the Chair in their debate. The Chair gives delegates the floor in order of precedence, but with regard to fairness. The Chairman has very great powers, but only during plenary Congress.

The General Secretary accredits delegates before Congress, accredits members of the Party, administers the party between plenary Congresses, chairs the Council, represents the party and offers himself or herself as the Party's principle public representative. The General Secretary is ultimately responsible for all actions of the Party between plenary Congresses. The General Secretary must report on the state of the Party to plenary Congress.The General Secretary has very great powers, but only when plenary Congress is not sitting.

The Treasurer maintains the finances of the Party, organises fundraising, disburses monies, keeps the books and acts as paymaster. The Treasurer must include report on the Party's finances in the General Secretary's address to plenary Congress, or make the report himself.

The above officers are known as the Executive of the LiberalAcademicRevolutionaryParty ?.

Members of the Council act as permanent delegates to Congress.

Delegates to plenary Congress are elected from the provinces as prescribed in the ByOtherMeansConstitution.

ByOtherMeansConstitution

Constitution of the LiberalAcademicRevolutionaryParty?