Sikh Confederation, Constitution of
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PREAMBLE
- In the Name of the One Supreme Reality who is beyond space and time and without form.
- Based on respect for human dignity, liberty, and equality,
- Dedicated to peace, justice, tolerance, and reconciliation,
- Convinced that democratic governmental institutions and fair procedures best produce peaceful relations within a pluralist society,
- Desiring to promote the general welfare and economic growth through the protection of private property and the promotion of a market economy,
- Committed to the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of the United Sikh Provinces in accordance with international law,
- Determined to ensure full respect for international humanitarian law,
- The citizens of the United Sikh Provinces hereby determine that the Constitution of the United Sikh Provinces is as follows:
ARTICLE I - The United Sikh Provinces
1. Democratic Principles
- The United Sikh Provinces shall be a democratic state, which shall operate under the rule of law and with free and democratic elections.
2. Composition
- The United Sikh Provinces shall consist of the five Provinces of Rawalpindi, Amritsar, Gujrat, Faisalabad, Jalandhar, and the Federal District of Jahore.
3. Movement of Services, Capital, and Persons
- There shall be freedom of movement throughout the United Sikh Provinces. The United Sikh Provinces shall not impede full freedom of movement of persons, goods, services, and capital throughout the United Sikh Provinces. No Province shall establish controls at the boundary between the Provinces.
4. The Capitals
- The administrative capital of the United Sikh Provinces shall be Lahore. The judicial capital of the United Sikh Provinces shall be Amritsar.
5. Symbols
- The United Sikh Provinces shall have such symbols as are decided by its National Assembly and approved by the Presidency.
6. Citizenship
- There shall be a citizenship of the United Sikh Provinces, to be regulated by the National Assembly, and a citizenship of each Province, to be regulated by each Province, provided that:
- а) All citizens of any Province are thereby citizens of the United Sikh Provinces.
- b) No person shall be deprived of the United Sikh Provinces or Provincial citizenship arbitrarily or so as to leave him or her stateless. No person shall be deprived of the United Sikh Provinces or Provincial citizenship on any ground such as sex, race, color, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.
- c) All persons who were citizens of the five Provinces immediately prior to the entry into force of this Constitution are citizens of the United Sikh Provinces.
- d) Citizens of the United Sikh Provinces may not hold the citizenship of another state.
- e) A citizen of the United Sikh Provinces abroad shall enjoy the protection of the United Sikh Provinces. Each Province may issue passports of the United Sikh Provinces to its citizens as regulated by the National Assembly. The United Sikh Provinces may issue passports to citizens not issued a passport by a Province. There shall be a central register of all passports issued by the Provinces and by the United Sikh Provinces.
ARTICLE II - Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
1. Human Rights
- The United Sikh Provinces and the several Provinces shall ensure the highest level of internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms. To that end, there shall be a Human Rights Commission for the United Sikh Provinces.
2. Enumeration of Rights
- All persons within the territory of the United Sikh Provinces shall enjoy the following human rights and fundamental freedoms:
- a) The right to life.
- b) The right not to be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
- c) The right not to be held in slavery or servitude or to perform forced or compulsory labor.
- d) The rights to liberty and security of person.
- e) The right to a fair hearing in civil and criminal matters, and other rights relating to criminal proceedings.
- f) The right to private and family life, home, and correspondence.
- g) Freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
- h) Freedom of expression.
- i) Freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association with others.
- j) The right to marry and to found a family.
- k) The right to property.
- l) The right to education.
- m) The right to liberty of movement and residence.
3. Non-Discrimination
- The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms provided for in this Article shall be secured to all persons in the United Sikh Provinces without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, color, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.
4. Refugees and displaced persons
- All refugees and displaced persons have the right freely to return to their homes of origin. They have the right to have restored to them property of which they were deprived and to be compensated for any such property that cannot be restored to them. Any commitments or statements relating to such property made under duress are null and void.
5. Implementation
- The United Sikh Provinces, and all courts, agencies, governmental organs, and instrumentalities operated by or within the Provinces, shall apply and conform to the human rights and fundamental freedoms referred to in paragraph 2 above.
Article III - Responsibilities of and Relations Between the Institutions of the United Sikh Provinces and the Provinces
1. Responsibilities of the Institutions of the United Sikh Provinces
- The following matters are the responsibility of the institutions of the United Sikh Provinces:
- a) Foreign policy.
- b) Foreign trade policy.
- c) Customs policy.
- d) Monetary policy as provided in Article VII.
- e) Finances of the institutions and for the international obligations of the United Sikh Provinces.
- f) Immigration, refugee, and asylum policy and regulation.
- g) International and inter-Provincial criminal law enforcement.
- h) Establishment and operation of common and international communications facilities.
- i) Regulation of inter-Province transportation.
- j) Air traffic control.
2. Responsibilities of the Provinces
- a) The Provinces shall have the right to establish special parallel relationships with neighboring states consistent with the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United Sikh Provinces.
- b) Each Province shall provide all necessary assistance to the government of the United Sikh Provinces in order to enable it to honor the international obligations of the United Sikh Provinces, provided that financial obligations incurred by one Province without the consent of the other prior to the election of the National Assembly and Presidency of the United Sikh Provinces shall be the responsibility of that Province, except insofar as the obligation is necessary for continuing the membership of the United Sikh Provinces in an international organization.
- c) The Provinces shall provide a safe and secure environment for all persons in their respective jurisdictions, by maintaining civilian law enforcement agencies operating in accordance with internationally recognized standards and with respect for the internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms referred to in Article II above, and by taking such other measures as appropriate.
- d) Each Province may also enter into agreements with states and international organizations with the consent of the National Assembly. The National Assembly may provide by law that certain types of agreements do not require such consent.
3. Law and Responsibilities of the Provinces and the Institutions
- a) All governmental functions and powers not expressly assigned in this Constitution to the institutions of the United Sikh Provinces shall be those of the Provinces.
- b) The Provinces and any subdivisions thereof shall comply fully with this Constitution and with the decisions of the institutions of the United Sikh Provinces. The general principles of international law shall be an integral part of the law of the United Sikh Provinces and the Provinces.
4. Coordination
- The Presidency may decide to facilitate inter-Province coordination on matters not within the responsibilities of the United Sikh Provinces as provided in this Constitution, unless a Province objects in any particular case.
5. Additional Responsibilities
- a) the United Sikh Provinces shall assume responsibility for such other matters as are agreed by the Provinces or are necessary to preserve the sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence, and international personality of the United Sikh Provinces, in accordance with the division of responsibilities between the institutions of the United Sikh Provinces. Additional institutions may be established as necessary to carry out such responsibilities.
- b) Within six months of the entry into force of this Constitution, the Provinces shall begin negotiations with a view to including in the responsibilities of the institutions of the United Sikh Provinces other matters, including utilization of energy resources and cooperative economic projects.
Article IV - The National Assembly
1. The Chamber
- a) The National Assembly shall have one chamber known as the Sarbat Khalsa.
- b) Members of the National Assembly shall be directly elected from their Province in accordance with an election law to be adopted by the National Assembly.
- c) A majority of all members elected to the National Assembly shall comprise a quorum.
- d) The National Assembly shall be convened in Jahore not more than 30 days after its selection or election.
- e) The National Assembly shall by majority vote adopt its internal rules and select two of its members from different Provinces to serve as its Chair and Deputy Chairs. Members of these two Provinces shall be ineligible for these postitions the following year.
- f) All decisions shall be by majority of those present and voting.
- g) The National Assembly may be dissolved by the Presidency or by the National Assembly itself, provided that the National Assembly's decision to dissolve is approved by a majority that includes the majority of Delegates from at least three of the Provinces
- h) Decisions of the National Assembly shall not take effect before publication.
- i) The National Assembly shall publish a complete record of its deliberations and shall, save in exceptional circumstances in accordance with their rules, deliberate publicly.
- j) Delegates shall not be held criminally or civilly liable for any acts carried out within the scope of their duties in the National Assembly.
2. Powers
- The National Assembly shall have responsibility for:
- a) Enacting legislation as necessary to implement decisions of the Presidency or to carry out the responsibilities of the Assembly under this Constitution.
- b) Deciding upon the sources and amounts of revenues for the operations of the institutions of the United Sikh Provinces and international obligations of the United Sikh Provinces.
- c) Approving a budget for the institutions of the United Sikh Provinces.
- d) Deciding whether to consent to the ratification of treaties.
- e) Such other matters as are necessary to carry out its duties or as are assigned to it by mutual agreement of the Provinces.
Article V - The Presidency
1. Membership
- The Presidency of the United Sikh Provinces shall consist of one member from each of the five Provinces.
2. Election and Term
- a) Members of the Presidency shall be directly elected in each Province (with each voter voting to fill one seat on the Presidency) in accordance with an election law adopted by the National Assembly. Any vacancy in the Presidency shall be filled from the relevant Province in accordance with a law to be adopted by the National Assembly.
- b) The term of the Members of the Presidency elected in the first election shall be two years; the term of Members subsequently elected shall be five years. Members shall be eligible to succeed themselves once and shall thereafter be ineligible for five years.
2. Procedures
- a) The Presidency shall determine its own rules of procedure, which shall provide for adequate notice of all meetings of the Presidency.
- b) The Members of the Presidency shall appoint from their Members a Chair. For the first term of the Presidency, the Chair shall be the Member who received the highest number of votes. Thereafter, the method of selecting the Chair shall be determined by rotation in the following order: Rawalpindi, Amritsar, Gujrat, Faisalabad, and Jalandhar.
- c) The Presidency shall endeavor to adopt all Presidency Decisions by consensus. Such decisions may, subject to paragraph (d) below, nevertheless be adopted by two Members when all efforts to reach consensus have failed.
- d) A dissenting Member of the Presidency may declare a Presidency Decision to be destructive of a vital interest of the Province from which he was elected, provided that he does so within three days of its adoption. Such a Decision shall be referred immediately to the National Assembly. If the declaration is confirmed by a two-thirds vote of National Assembly within ten days of the referral, the challenged Presidency Decision shall not take effect.
3. Powers
- The Presidency shall have responsibility for:
- a) Conducting the foreign policy of the United Sikh Provinces.
- b) Appointing ambassadors and other international representatives of the United Sikh Provinces.
- c) Representing the United Sikh Provinces in international organizations and institutions and seeking membership in such organizations and institutions of which the United Sikh Provinces is not a member.
- d) Negotiating, denouncing, and, with the consent of the National Assembly, ratifying treaties of the United Sikh Provinces.
- e) Executing decisions of the National Assembly.
- f) Proposing, upon the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, an annual budget to the National Assembly.
- g) Reporting as requested, but not less than annually, to the National Assembly on expenditures by the Presidency.
- h) Coordinating as necessary with international and nongovernmental organizations in the United Sikh Provinces.
- i) Performing such other functions as may be necessary to carry out its duties, as may be assigned to it by the National Assembly, or as may be agreed by the Provinces.
4. Council of Ministers
- a) The Presidency shall nominate the Chair of the Council of Ministers, who shall take office upon the approval of the National Assembly. The Chair shall nominate a Foreign Minister, a Minister for Foreign Trade, and other Ministers as may be appropriate, who shall take office upon the approval of the House of Representatives.
- b) Together the Chair and the Ministers shall constitute the Council of Ministers, with responsibility for carrying out the policies and decisions of the United Sikh Provinces in the fields referred to in Article III(1), (4), and (5) and reporting to the National Assembly (including, at least annually, on expenditures by the United Sikh Provinces).
- c) The Chair shall also nominate Deputy Ministers (who shall not be of the same constituent people as their Ministers), who shall take office upon the approval of the House of Representatives.
- d) The Council of Ministers shall resign if at any time there is a vote of no-confidence by the National Assembly.
5. Standing Committee
- a) Each member of the Presidency shall, by virtue of the office, have civilian command authority over armed forces. No Province shall threaten or use force against another Province, and under no circumstances shall any armed forces of any Province enter into or stay within the territory of the other Province without the consent of the government of the latter and of the Presidency of the United Sikh Provinces. All armed forces in the United Sikh Provinces shall operate consistently with the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United Sikh Provinces.
- b) The members of the Presidency shall select a Standing Committee on Military Matters to coordinate the activities of the armed forces in the United Sikh Provinces. The Members of the Presidency shall be members of the Standing Committee.
Article VI - Constitutional Court
1. Composition
- The Constitutional Court of the United Sikh Provinces shall have nine members.
- a) Four members shall be selected by the National Assembly. The remaining five members shall be selected by the individual Provincial Assemblies.
- b) Judges shall be distinguished jurists of high moral standing. Any eligible voter so qualified may serve as a judge of the Constitutional Court.
- c) The term of judges initially appointed shall be five years, unless they resign or are removed for cause by consensus of the other judges. Judges initially appointed shall not be eligible for reappointment. Judges subsequently appointed shall serve until age 70, unless they resign or are removed for cause by consensus of the other judges.
2. Procedures
- a) A majority of all members of the Court shall constitute a quorum.
- b) The Court shall adopt its own rules of court by a majority of all members. It shall hold public proceedings and shall issue reasons for its decisions, which shall be published.
3. Jurisdiction
- The Constitutional Court shall uphold this Constitution.
- a) The Constitutional Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to decide any dispute that arises under this Constitution between the Provinces or between the United Sikh Provinces and a Province or Provinces, or between institutions of the United Sikh Provinces, including but not limited to:
- 1) Whether an Province's decision to establish a special parallel relationship with a neighboring state is consistent with this Constitution, including provisions concerning the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United Sikh Provinces.
- 2) Whether any provision of an Province's constitution or law is consistent with this Constitution. Disputes may be referred only by a member of the Presidency, by the Chair of the Council of Ministers, by the Chair or a Deputy Chair of the National Assembly, by one-fourth of the members of the National Assembly, or by one-fourth of the members of a Provincial.
- b) The Constitutional Court shall also have appellate jurisdiction over issues under this Constitution arising out of a judgment of any other court in the United Sikh Provinces.
- c) The Constitutional Court shall have jurisdiction over issues referred by any court in the United Sikh Provinces concerning whether a law, on whose validity its decision depends, is compatible with this Constitution or with the laws of the United Sikh Provinces or concerning the existence of or the scope of a general rule of public international law pertinent to the court's decision.
4. Decisions
- Decisions of the Constitutional Court shall be final and binding.
Article VII - Central Bank
- There shall be a Central Bank of the United Sikh Provinces, which shall be the sole authority for issuing currency and for monetary policy throughout the United Sikh Provinces.
- 1. The Central Bank's responsibilities will be determined by the National Assembly. For the first six years after the entry into force of this Constitution, however, it may not extend credit by creating money, operating in this respect as a currency board; thereafter, the National Assembly may give it that authority.
- 2. The Governing Board of the Central Bank of the United Sikh Provinces shall consist of five persons appointed by the Presidency, one from each Province, for a term of six years. The Board shall appoint, from among its members, a Governor for a term of five years.
Article VIII - Finances
- 1. The National Assembly shall each year, on the proposal of the Presidency, adopt a budget covering the expenditures required to carry out the responsibilities of institutions of the United Sikh Provinces and the international obligations of the United Sikh Provinces.
- 2. If no such budget is adopted in due time, the budget for the previous year shall be used on a provisional basis.
- 3. Each Province shall provide the revenues required by the budget proportional to the Province's own revenues, except insofar as revenues are raised as specified by the National Assembly.
Article IX - General Provisions
- 1. Compensation for persons holding office in the institutions of the United Sikh Provinces may not be diminished during an officeholder's tenure.
- 2. Officials appointed to positions in the institutions of the United Sikh Provinces shall be generally representative of the peoples of the United Sikh Provinces.
Article X - Amendment
1. Amendment Procedure
- This Constitution may be amended by a decision of the National Assembly, including a two-thirds majority of those present and voting in the House of Representatives.
2. Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
- No amendment to this Constitution may eliminate or diminish any of the rights and freedoms referred to in Article II of this Constitution or alter the present paragraph.
Article XI - Entry into Force
- 1. This Constitution shall enter into force upon ratification by the Assemblies of the five Provinces.
- 2. Within three months from the entry into force of this Constitution, the Provinces shall amend their respective constitutions to ensure their conformity with this Constitution in accordance with Article III.3 (b).
Amendment I
The Federal District of Jahore
- The Federal District of Jahore, which exists under the sovereignty of the United Sikh Provinces and is subject to the responsibilities of the institutions of the United Sikh Provinces as those responsibilities derive from this Constitution, whose territory is jointly owned by the Provinces, is a unit of local self-government with its own institutions, laws and regulations. The relationship between the Federal District of Jahore and the institutions of the United Sikh Provinces and the Provinces may be further regulated by law adopted by the National Assembly.
- The Constitutional Court shall have jurisdiction to decide in any dispute relating to protection of the determined status and powers of the Federal District of Jahore that may arise between a Province or more Provinces and the Federal District of Jahore or between the United Sikh Provinces and the Federal District of Jahore under this Constitution and the awards of the Arbitral Tribunal.
- Any such dispute may also be referred by a majority of the Members of the Assembly of the Federal District of Jahore.
