The Hardest Part Of The OrgLaw To Amend Should Not Be This Amendment

[Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC]

WHEREAS the threshold for amendments to the Organic Law is given in OrgLaw XII.1:

"Amendments to this Organic Law may be proposed by two-thirds of the Cosa with approval of the Senäts. Approval of the Senäts shall be by simple majority, except that amendments to this article, amendments to the articles regarding election to and composition of the Senäts, and amendments to the article regarding territorial subdivisions require approval of two-thirds of the Senäts"

AND WHEREAS Organic Law XII.3 provides that these amendments must be approved by the people in referendum;

AND WHEREAS Organic Law XII.5 provides the special circumstance that amendments to the Covenants of Rights and Freedoms need a two-thirds majority in referendum;

AND WHEREAS Organic Law XII.4 states:

Proposed changes to this Organic Law that affect the representation of a province in the Senäts, or of the territory or equal sovereignty of a province, shall not take effect unless approved by a majority of participating voters in that province.

BUT WHEREAS there is credible legal argument to the effect that for the basis of election of the Senäts to be changed`away from provinces (for example, to an at-large system), OrgLaw XII.4 would require a positive referendum result in every single province;

AND WHEREAS this would be a greatly higher hurdle than abolishing the Senäts altogether;

AND WHEREAS anyone who wants to protect the Senäts should support removing a loophole where it is easier to abolish the Senäts than to reform it;

BE IT ENACTED that Organic Law XII.4 is amended to read:

Proposed changes to this Organic Law that affect the territory or equal sovereignty of a province, or affect a province's representation in the Senäts differently to that of other provinces, shall not take effect unless approved by a majority of participating voters in that province.

[Lee Kinrin]

I learned how to draft the bill here.