[PROPOSAL] - The Belacostan Unified Statute (BUS) Act

[Mic’haglh Autófil, O.Be]

It's time to get on the BUS!

THE BELACOSTAN UNIFIED STATUTE (BUS) ACT

WHEREAS prior experience in both national and provincial administration would indicate having a single legal corpus is beneficial for provincial citizens and legislators alike, and

WHEREAS it would appear that at least one prominent Belacostan has attempted such an undertaking before, and

WHEREAS we're trying to keep our provincial renaissance going and this is a logical next step, then

BE IT RESOLVED that all previously-enacted Belacostan laws are hereby repealed, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following be enacted as the Belacostan Unified Statute, a single legal code for the Province, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it is the desire of the Provincial Assembly and Council that all further legislation take the form of Amendments to said Statute.

TITLE A: State
1. Subdivisions
    1.1. As per El Lexhatx and the Provincial Constitution, the Province is subdivided into two Cantons. The northern Canton is Mazzini and the southern Canton is Garibaldi, with the demarcation between the two running in an east-west line along the center of East Park Place across the entirety of the Province.
        1.1.1. The capital of the Province shall be Mazzini, with Riverside High School in that Canton serving as the provincial capitol building.
        1.1.2. This status as capital confers no special benefit and is merely for ceremonial and symbolic purposes.
    1.2. The province is further subdivided into Sixths, known in Talossan as "Sextieirs" and in Italian as "Sestiere".
        1.2.1. The Sextieir of Kenwood shall consist of all provincial lands north of the centerline of East Linnwood Avenue, extrapolated across the entirety of the Province.
        1.2.2. The Sextieir of Locust shall consist of all provincial lands south of the centerline of East Linnwood Avenue and north of the centerline of East Locust Street, extrapolated across the entirety of the Province.
        1.2.3. The Sextieir of Riverside shall consist of all provincial lands south of the centerline of East Locust Street and north of the centerline of East Park Place, extrapolated across the entirety of the Province.
        1.2.4. The Sextieir of Webster shall consist of all provincial lands south of the centerline of East Park Place, north of the centerline of East Bradford Avenue, and east of the centerline of North Oakland Avenue.
        1.2.5. The Sextieir of Prospect shall consist of all provincial lands south of the centerline of East Bradford Avenue and east of the centerline of North Oakland Avenue.
        1.2.6. The Sextieir of Lorentzio shall consist of all provincial lands south of the centerline of East Park Place and west of the centerline of North Oakland Avenue.
    1.3. The province is yet further subdivided into Wards, known in Talossan as Bairïu and in Italian as Rione.
    1.4. Geographic Assignment
        1.4.1. Citizens living within the territory of the Province shall be assigned to the Canton and Sextieir in which they reside.
        1.4.2. Citizens living outside the territory of the Province shall be assigned to the Canton of their choosing upon their naturalization as a citizen of Talossa and of Belacostă, or upon their reassignment to Belacostă from another province by the Chancery.
            1.4.2.1. Citizens who do not choose a Canton within two months of their assignment or reassignment to Belacostă shall be assigned by the Governadeir to the Canton with the smaller number of citizens currently assigned; should the Cantons be equal in population, this assignment shall be random.
            1.4.2.2. Extant citizens who have not yet received a Cantonal assignment will likewise have a two-month period to choose one, with said period beginning upon the effectivity of this Statute; citizens who fail to choose within that period will be assigned using the method described in 1.4.2.1.
            1.4.2.3. Citizens will be free to modify their Cantonal assignment within this two-month period.
        1.4.3. Citizens shall likewise be assigned by the Governadeir to a Sextieir within the Canton of their assignment, following the same method for Cantonal assignment.
        1.4.4. There shall be no limits to the population of a Canton or of a Sextieir, nor requirements that people do not join a Canton or Sextieir that has too many people in it.
        1.4.5. Dandelions shall be considered citizens of the Canton and Sextieir of their parents, and any Dandelion that arises to full citizenship shall be empowered to choose a different Canton and Sextieir as per 1.4.1., 1.4.2., and 1.4.3.
        1.4.6. Belacostans shall have an additional right to petition the Governadeir, no more than once per year, for their assignment to a Canton and/or Sextieir to be changed. Said petition shall specify a reason for changing the assignment, and the new assignment requested. The Governadeir shall have full discretion to grant the petition or refuse to do so.
        1.4.7. Assignment to a given Canton or Sextieir shall not be construed to affect the equal rights and privileges of all Belacostan citizens.
2. The tertiary language of the Province shall be the Italian language.

TITLE B: Symbols
1. Flag
    1.1. The flag of the province is five units in height and eight units in length.
    1.2. The flag is composed of a field of Savoy Blue two units width in the hoist and a field of Bicoloreu Red five units width in the fly, separated by a wavy-edged field of white one unit in width.
        1.2.1. Savoy Blue is defined as #4B61D1 and shall symbolize the Manaweg and the connection to both the Italian heritage of the Province's territory and the many contributions by Italian-born Belcostans to the Province's history.
        1.2.2. Bicoloreu Red is defined as #E20308 and shall symbolize the Belacostan people and their tenacity.
    1.3. Centered in the red field shall be a circle of three white stars of five points each, tops pointing outward, evenly spaced such that one star is centered at the right-most point of this circle.
2. Holidays
    2.1. Lombardi Day, to be observed on Super Bowl Sunday, commemorating the longtime coach of the Florencia Packers, for whom the Super Bowl Trophy is named after.
    2.2. Constitution Day, February 22, to celebrate the promulgation of our provincial Constitution by King Txec.
    2.3. Mazzini Day, March 22, commemorating the birthday of the Italian patriot and politician for whom our northern Canton is named. This is Canton Mazzini's Cantonal Holiday.
    2.4. Cjovani Heritage Week, April 1 to April 7, commemorating the Cjovani Belacostans of Ohio and their unique contributions to our provincial culture and history.
    2.5. Founders' Day, to be observed the first Sunday after April 20, commemorating the establishment of Belacostă as a province of Talossa on April 20, 1982.
    2.6. Garibaldi Day, July 4th, commemorating the birthday of the Italian patriot and politician for whom our southern Canton is named. This is Canton Garibaldi's Cantonal Holiday.
    2.7. Province Day, December 28, encouraging the Belacostan citizenry to be involved in provincial life.
3. The motto of the Province is "Sürvixhilind Delmás l'Espuendă", or in English, "Standing Watch Along the Water's Edge".
4. The nickname of the Province is "The province so nice, they renamed it twice."

TITLE C: Honours
1. Order of Belacostă
    1.1. The Order of Belacostă is an order to be bestowed upon Talossan citizens who provide exemplary service to the Province.
    1.2. Recipients of the Order of Belacostă are entitled to use the title of "Don" for men or "Donna" for women.
    1.3. The Order of Belacostă is bestowed on the prerogative of the Governadeir.
    1.4. To falsely claim membership in the Order of Belacostă, or to use the title of "Don"/"Donna" without authorization, shall constitute a misdemeanor punishable prescribed by the Cort pü Inalt and/or by expulsion from the Provincial Assembly for the remainder of the present term.
    1.5. The Order of Belacostă is conferred in two grades.
        1.5.1. The upper grade shall be the Order of Belacostă, First Class, also known as the Commander of the Order of Belacostă.
            1.5.1.1. This grade shall entitle the recipient to the post-nominal "C.O.Be".
            1.5.1.2. This grade shall entitle the recipient to the wearing of a ribbon consisting from left to right of a thick stripe of Savoy Blue, a thin stripe of white, a thick stripe of Bicoloreu Red, a thin stripe of white, and a thick stripe of Bicoloreu Green, bearing upon it a golden oak leaf emblem.
            1.5.1.3. This grade shall only be awarded for extraordinary service to the Province, or for extraordinary service to the Nation by a Belacostan.
        1.5.2. The lower grade shall be the Order of Belacostă, Second Class, also known as the Officer of the Order of Belacostă.
            1.5.2.1. This grade shall entitle the recipient to the post-nominal "O.Be".
            1.5.2.2. This grade shall entitle the recipient to the wearing of a ribbon consisting from left to right of a thick stripe of Savoy Blue, a thin stripe of white, a thick stripe of Bicoloreu Red, a thin stripe of white, and a thick stripe of Bicoloreu Green.
    1.6. All prior recipients of the Order of Benito or the Order of Belacostă are hereby confirmed to have retained their membership in the Order as constituted under this Statute, including but not limited to:
        1.6.1. Sieu Garp Ian, Duke of Lupul (First Class)
        1.6.2. Istefan Perþonest (Second Class)
        1.6.3. Flip Molinar (Second Class)
        1.6.4. Timoþi M. Asmorescu (Second Class)
        1.6.5. Lüc da Schir (Second Class)
        1.6.6. Mic'haglh Autófil (Second Class)
    1.7. Membership in the Order of Belacostă may be revoked by a two-thirds majority of the Provincial Assembly in cases of flagrant fraud or conduct unbecoming to a member of the Order.
2. Styles
    2.1. The Viceroy shall be styled "[His/Her] Excellency, The Most Honourable [Name], Viceregal Representative to the Free and Sovereign Province of Belacostă".
    2.2. The Governadeir shall be styled "The Right Honourable [Name], Governadeir of Belacostă".
    2.3. Provincial Consuls shall be styled "The Right Honourable [Name], Consul of Belacostă".
    2.4. Members of the Provincial Assembly shall be styled "The Honourable [Name], [Assemblyman/Assemblywoman] of Belacostă".
    2.5. Citizens of the province shall be entitled to the post-nominal "Esq." during service as an Arbiter.
    2.6. No provision of this Title shall prohibit the use of any style or title awarded by the King, the Ziu, the Uppermost Cort, any other provincial government, political subdivisions thereof or in accordance with statutes governing the offices of the aforementioned bodies.

TITLE D: Judiciary
1. The Judiciary of the Province is hereby established as a system of binding, voluntary, and citizen-led arbitration.
2. In the case of a conflict over provincial law, the aggrieved shall publicly declare their grievance and the two shall find a mutually agreeable party to function as Arbiter.
3. An Arbiter may be any Belacostan citizen in good standing.
4. Should the parties be unable to agree on an Arbiter, the Governadeir shall be charged with finding an Arbiter, from outside the province if necessary.
5. Upon appointment of an Arbiter, each side shall plead their case. The Arbiter shall not issue a ruling until both sides of the case have been heard.
6. The Arbiter shall base their decision on appropriate provincial and national law as well as custom and judicial precedent with an eye toward fair play.
7. The Arbiter's decision is final and binding upon all parties, though all such decisions may be appealed to the national court system.
8. While conducting Judiciary business, the Arbiter shall wear a special hat of their own devising. For the interests of cultural legacy, the Province will maintain a registry of all such hats.

[Mic’haglh Autófil, O.Be]

This is the fruit of the research I mentioned in my other topic. I will admit this is not likely a compilation of every law passed throughout our provincial history, though I suppose it is hard to see many laws having been passed prior to our first constitution's promulgation.

[Mic’haglh Autófil, O.Be]

May not be a bad idea to ask @Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP for a glheþ check:

3. The motto of the Province is "Sürvixhilind Delmás l'Espuendă", or in English, "Standing Watch Along the Water's Edge".

[Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP]

May not be a bad idea to ask @Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP for a glheþ check:

3. The motto of the Province is "Sürvixhilind Delmás l'Espuendă", or in English, "Standing Watch Along the Water's Edge".

It should probably be adelmás, or perhaps lalungă dal espuendă.

[Mic’haglh Autófil, O.Be]

May not be a bad idea to ask @Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP for a glheþ check:

3. The motto of the Province is "Sürvixhilind Delmás l'Espuendă", or in English, "Standing Watch Along the Water's Edge".

It should probably be adelmás, or perhaps lalungă dal espuendă.

So we have Sürvixhilind Adelmás l'Espuendă or Sürvixhilind Lalungă dal Espuendă. I'm fine with either of these, what do others think?

[Mic’haglh Autófil, O.Be]

Bumping with the O.Be ribbons as I envisioned them based on the description in C.1.5.

First Class:


Second Class: