openıng

This text is not a proclamation.

It writes down that the record opened on 14 October 1878 continues, that the Valen people govern themselves by this record, and how this is done.

It demands nothing of anyone.

the twelve precepts

These precepts are the core of the constitution. Every article below derives from them; in doubt, one returns to them.

I. Valen exists to make its people legible to themselves.

II. The presumption is that a thing remains in the state in which it stands.

III. A ruling whose source is not shown is void.

IV. The unknown is not zero.

V. What is written is not erased; a ruling expires, the record remains.

VI. Human dignity is from birth.

VII. Authority is not property but a trust.

VIII. Innocence is the presumption.

IX. Harm is not done; necessity is measured by its own extent.

X. What human bandwidth cannot bear is not legitimate.

XI. Nothing may be greater than the country.

XII. No one may judge their own cause.

fırst book — purpose and the unchangeable

Article 1 — Purpose The purpose of Valen is not to rule. Valen exists to make its people legible to themselves.

It keeps a record; for a people can see itself only in its own record.

A government that loses this purpose loses its legitimacy, even if it performs its work flawlessly.

Article 2 — Name and character Valen Zvor is a threshold. It does not call itself a state, a republic, or a kingdom. This is not an admission of weakness but a chosen stance.

Article 3 — The founding does not end In Valen there is no distinction between a founding phase and an operating phase. The session opened in 1878 has not closed; that it has not closed is not a deficiency but the sole mode of operation.

Article 4 — The right to exist Valen's right to govern arises from record-keeping and governance sustained for one hundred and forty-eight years without interruption, openly, without objection, and in good faith.

The condition suspended in 1878 is counted as continuing until the contrary is established by due process.

Article 5 — Source Meaning cannot be created from nothing.

A ruling whose source is not shown is void. It is not punished — it is not counted.

The unknown is not zero. If there is a gap in the record, the gap is written; it is not filled in.

Article 6 — Interpretation This constitution and the laws are interpreted according to their purposes. If the letter yields a result contrary to the purpose, the purpose prevails.

The purposes of Valen law: life, mind, dignity, livelihood, record, and measure.

No interpretation may destroy one of these six in order to protect another.

Article 7 — The rule of generation This constitution is not a list of rules but a rule of generation. It is not held that an unenumerated right does not exist.

A situation without provision in the constitution is resolved according to the purpose in Article 1 and the purposes in Article 6.

Article 8 — The nature of restraint The prohibitions in this constitution are not threats of punishment but rules of structure. What is prohibited does not happen — not because it is punished, but because it cannot be constructed.

Article 9 — There is no suspension There is no state of emergency. The law is not suspended under any circumstance.

A state of necessity operates only under a law written in advance, measured by its own extent, limited in duration, and entered into the record.

If the law needs a patch, the law was written wrong; no patch is made, the law is changed.

Article 10 — The unchangeable The following articles may not be changed, limited, or suspended by any procedure:

Article 1 (purpose) · 5 (source) · 9 (prohibition of suspension) · 12 (dignity) · 17 (opinions not recorded) · 18 (legibility) · 21 (prohibition of torture and the death penalty) · 30 (the right of return) · 44 (disarmament) · 46 (the inerasability of the record) · 49 (measure) · and this article.

Article 2 is not on this list. How Valen names itself remains open to the people's decision.

Article 11 — Supremacy This constitution is supreme. Every regulation, act, and custom contrary to it is void.

second book — justıce

Article 12 — Dignity Human dignity is from birth. The state does not grant it, cannot take it, cannot condition it, and cannot measure it.

Article 13 — Equality All are equal in this dignity. No distinction may be made by hearth, guild, banner, place of birth, language, belief, sex, disability, or wealth.

Article 14 — Trust and account Authority rests with the hearths. The hearths lend authority to the Council; they do not transfer it.

Authority is not property but a trust. Anyone may demand an account of governance from any public official. The account is given by the record.

Article 15 — The right to be recorded Everyone has the right to be recorded. Every child born is entered into the record within forty days. Recording is free of charge.

Article 16 — The right to call The House of Memory is not a warehouse but an address space.

Everything in the state's hands has a name, and everything that has a name can be called. A record without a name cannot be kept.

The citizen's right is not to receive information but to be able to call it.

Article 17 — The limit of the record The House of Memory records events; it does not record opinions.

What anyone thinks, whom they voted for, what they believe, and whom they have met may not be entered into the record.

This article is the limit of the principle of record.

Article 18 — Legibility No decision, act, or record that human bandwidth cannot bear is legitimate.

If a justification cannot be written that a citizen can read and understand in a reasonable time, that decision cannot be constructed.

Article 19 — One's own record Everyone may see their own record and may ask that its errors be corrected. Correction is made not by erasure but by an additional record.

Article 20 — Trial Innocence is the presumption; everyone is innocent until guilt is proven.

No judgment may be rendered without hearing the other side. Everyone has the right to a defense. Trials are open and are entered into the record.

No one may be accused under a retroactive law.

Article 21 — Absolute prohibitions Torture, degrading punishment, and the death penalty are prohibited. They may not be applied on any grounds.

Article 22 — Harm and measure Harm is not done; harm is not answered with harm. Harm that arises is repaired.

Necessity renders the prohibited permissible; but necessity is measured by its own extent. Grave harm is remedied by the lesser harm.

Article 23 — Prohibition of judging one's own cause No one may judge their own cause.

In a dispute over the truth of a record, the House of Memory is a party, not a judge. Such disputes are decided by the Constitutional Board.

Article 24 — Objection is an organ Every law the Council adopts is entered into the record together with a counter-justification written against it.

The counter-justification is not embellished, not softened, and is published in the same place as the law. A law without a counter-justification does not enter into force.

thırd book — freedom

Article 25 — General freedom Freedom is the ability to do everything that does no harm to another. Only the law draws its limit.

Nothing the law does not prohibit may be hindered; no one may be compelled to do what the law does not command.

Article 26 — Speech Speech is free. Thinking, speaking, writing, and publishing may not be made subject to permission.

Article 27 — Belief Belief is free. The state has no religion. No one may be compelled to declare their belief.

Article 28 — Assembly Assembling and founding associations and guilds are free. No permission is required; notice suffices.

Article 29 — Private life The home, correspondence, and private life are inviolable. They may be limited only by a judge's decision, with the justification written down.

Article 30 — Leaving and returning Everyone may leave the country. Everyone who leaves may always return.

The record of a Valenli abroad is kept open. The right of return may not be limited in time, does not diminish with the count of generations, and may not be bound to any condition.

Article 31 — Property Property is secure. It may not be taken except for the public good; if taken, it is paid for in advance and in full.

Article 32 — Work and craft Everyone works and rests. Everyone may learn a craft.

Joining a guild is not compulsory; no work may be conditioned on joining a guild.

Article 33 — Education Education is free of charge and compulsory until the age of eighteen. Craft apprenticeship counts as education.

Article 34 — Health Health care is free of charge. For treatment that cannot be performed in the country, the state is obliged to arrange referral, and this obligation may not be bound to any political condition.

Article 35 — Language The official language is Valen-se. Everyone is free to speak their own tongue, to teach it to their children, and to ask for an interpreter in official matters.

fourth book — unıon

Article 36 — The presumption of competence Authority belongs to the settlement, unless the law provides otherwise.

The municipality does what the settlement cannot; the banner does what the municipality cannot; the Council does what the banner cannot. The higher level enters into the record the justification for every authority it takes.

Article 37 — Division The country is divided into three banners, the banners into municipalities, the municipalities into settlements.

Article 38 — The settlement board Every settlement has a board. No decision concerning a settlement may be taken without hearing its board.

Article 39 — Custom Established custom is a source of law. What is known by custom is counted as written in the contract.

Custom is void where it is contrary to this constitution and the law; where it is not contrary, it binds.

Article 40 — Citizenship A Valenli is one whose record is open in the House of Memory.

Citizenship is acquired by birth, by adoption, or by the period and conditions written in the law. No one's citizenship may be stripped.

Article 41 — Diaspora A Valenli living abroad is a Valenli. Their record is kept open, their right to vote is preserved, and they are represented in the Council.

Article 42 — Land The land may not be divided, sold, or leased.

Article 43 — Common wealth Forest, water, air, and shore are no one's property. Nor are they the state's.

They are held in the name of those not yet born. They may not be sold, divided, or pledged as security.

Every tree that is felled is entered into the record and replaced by planting.

Article 44 — Disarmament Valen has no army and none may be founded. The Mountain Watch is a search, rescue, and border unit; it carries no arms.

Article 45 — The obligation of notice Valen does not request recognition; it presents its record.

The House of Distant Relations continues to send notice even when no answer comes. The sending of notice may not be stopped, even by decision of the Council.

fıfth book — contınuıty

Article 46 — The record does not expire No record is erased. An error is corrected not by erasure but by writing over it. A wrong record is also a record.

Article 47 — The ruling expires No ruling is without term.

Punishments, prohibitions, debts, and administrative decisions lose their effect within the period written in the law. The record stays in place; its ruling expires. An expired ruling may not serve as evidence against anyone.

Article 48 — Closed record No one's record may be erased, even at their own wish. Whoever wishes may have their record closed; a closed record opens after one hundred years.

Article 49 — Measure In Valen, nothing may be greater than the country.

Article 50 — Balance The population of the capital may not exceed one quarter of the country's population. If the threshold is crossed, no new construction is permitted in the capital.

Article 51 — Four hundred No enterprise may exceed four hundred workers.

Article 52 — Generations The state may not borrow. In a state of necessity the Council may borrow, by a two-thirds majority and for a single year only.

No generation may place upon the next a burden that binds it.

Article 53 — The record year The years are counted from 1878. The year in which this text is written is record year 148.

Article 54 — Reading This constitution is read aloud from beginning to end in the Orim-Valen square on every Record Day.

If the reading exceeds one hour, the constitution is counted as having grown too long, and the Council is obliged to shorten it.

Article 55 — Amendment The constitution is amended by a two-thirds majority of the Council followed by a vote of the people.

Those enumerated in Article 10 may not be changed by any procedure.

Article 56 — Symbols The flag of Valen is a white ring on a dark blue field with a gold point at its center. The seal bears the unclosed ring.

The symbols are protected by law; they belong to no one.

sıxth book — structure

Article 57 — The vote Every Valenli who has completed eighteen years votes. The vote is secret, the count is open.

Article 58 — The Council The Council consists of sixty-one seats. It is elected every four years by proportional representation. Its sessions are open and are entered into the record in full text.

Article 59 — The Council's work The Council makes law, approves the budget, elects the Speaker, and oversees the Houses.

Article 60 — The Chief Warden The Chief Warden is elected directly every seven years and may be elected once. The Chief Warden has no executive power.

Article 61 — The Chief Warden's power The Chief Warden has two powers: to send back once a law they find contrary to the constitution, and to halt an act contrary to Article 45.

Article 62 — The Speaker The Speaker of the Council is the head of government. The Speaker is elected for four years from among the five House directors and answers to the Council.

Article 63 — The Five Houses The executive consists of five Houses: the House of Memory · the House of Distant Relations and the Sea · the House of Treasury and Craft · the House of Science and Forest · the House of Word and Communication.

Article 64 — The House of Memory The House of Memory is independent. Its director is appointed for nine years and may not be removed during that term.

In case of an accusation of falsifying the record, the Council may remove the director by a two-thirds majority in an open vote.

Article 65 — The judiciary The judiciary is independent. Judges are appointed for life from a list prepared jointly by the Council and the House of Memory.

Article 66 — The Constitutional Board The Constitutional Board consists of seven persons; it reviews the conformity of laws with the constitution and decides the disputes in Article 23. Its decisions are final and are published with their justification.

Article 67 — Tax Tax may be imposed only by law.

Article 68 — The budget The budget is published openly. Where every Sinel goes is entered into the record and may be seen by everyone.

Article 69 — Entry into force This constitution enters into force on the day it is presented to the Council and is entered into the record on that day.

End of text · 69 articles, twelve precepts

Duration of reading aloud: 47 minutes

Article 2 is among the amendable articles. It is the article that has been debated in the Council for twenty-two years.