WHEREAS, the Constitution of Liberland, under Article 72 Section 1, provides for exceptional derogations from the Non-Aggression Principle, allowing for non-consensual democratic processes when circumstances necessitate;
WHEREAS, Article 72 Section 2/1 of the Constitution mandates the use of direct democracy as the standard modus operandi for legislative activities, empowering Citizens to directly influence state affairs;
WHEREAS, Art. 73 Section 1 of the Constitution designates the Referendum of all Citizens as the primary legislative instrument, encapsulating the principle of direct citizen involvement in governance, augmented by elements of representative democracy and corporate governance;
WHEREAS, the Constitution, under Art. 74, underscores the importance of legislative initiative being vested in individual Citizens, and under Art. 79, also in Congress; thereby fostering an inclusive legislative process;
WHEREAS, the utilization of Liberland Merits (LLM) as voting instruments and the deployment of blockchain technology for referendum organization are essential for ensuring transparency, speed, and security in the electoral process;
WHEREAS, Article 73 Section 2 of the Constitution mandates the formulation of a Referendum Law that establishes clear and reasonable guidelines for referendum organization and the adoption or rejection of proposals;
WHEREAS, Article 75 of the Constitution mandates that the foundational principles and operational aspects governing the voting requirements for the successful passage of legislative bills shall be delineated in the Referendum Law;
WHEREAS, Article 79 Section 1/2 prescribes that Laws and other motions proposed by Congress shall be easier to pass through the Referendum than popular proposals and that the Referendum Law shall set up the details;
WHEREAS, adherence to Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1955 is imperative, ensuring the conduct of genuine, periodic elections characterized by universal and equal suffrage, and safeguarded by secret balloting;
WHEREAS, Article 76 of the Constitution advocates for a referendum mechanism that allows each Citizen a single vote, crucial for the removal of undesirable laws and regulations and the dismissal of officials, thereby upholding the democratic legitimacy of all legislative acts;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED by the Citizens and the Government of Liberland.
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The Referendum, the primary instrument of democracy in Liberland, shall empower Citizens to make collective decisions.
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To that end, the Citizens may, using the Referendum, enact, repeal and amend the following instruments of legislation:
a. Instruments prescribed by the Art. 79 Section 1/1 of the Constitution, namely:
i. Laws; ii. Other types of Regulations where the Citizen or Congress proposing the bill, henceforth “Sponsor,” finds it necessary to overwrite the standard hierarchy of norms; and iii. other motions for action under this Constitution or existing Regulations, which shall take the form of Referendum Decisions.b. The instrument of internal ratification for the international treaties of the highest importance, as stipulated by Art. 79 Section 2 of the Constitution.
c. Constitutional Amendments according to Art. 80 of the Constitution, where
i. Congress proposes them; and ii. The result of the Referendum fulfils the voting requirement of Art 80 Section 3 of the Constitution.
The Referendum shall be open to participation by all Citizens 15 years of age or older.
- The Referendum, as the foremost decision-making mechanism within the Free Republic of Liberland and its Government, shall possess the highest authority. 2. Consequently, no alternative decision-making process shall generally possess the capacity to revoke or alter a decision rendered through a Referendum.
- In maintaining the accountability of the Executive Power to the Legislative Power, the Referendum shall retain the authority to supersede and supplant any decision-making process within the Legislative or Executive branches of the Government.
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Adhering to the principle of separation of powers as delineated in Article 14 of the Constitution of Liberland, the Referendum shall:
a. Not possess the authority to directly annul or interfere with any judicial decision.
b. Refrain from direct intervention in any ongoing case that is under the purview of a Court.
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Any Regulations established through a Referendum
a. Shall be subject to alteration or annulment by the designated Executive organ.
b. Shall explicitly identify the Executive organ empowered to modify or revoke such Regulations.
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The influence of the Referendum on the operations of the Senate shall be strictly confined to:
a. Constitutional Amendments, or
b. International Treaties.
- Conform with Art. 73 of the Constitution, the Meritocratic Referendum shall serve for the enactment, the amendment, and the repealing of the legislative instruments stipulated for the Referendum by this law.
- Taking the option given by the Constitution in Art. 73 Section 2/2, voting in the Meritocratic Referendum shall generally be conducted using voting instruments, which Citizens shall be able to purchase on the open market.
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The purpose of the Democratic Veto shall be to repeal legal instruments currently having legal effects in Liberland.
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There shall be two forms of Democratic Veto, namely:
a. The Public Veto conform with Art. 76/1 of the Constitution shall have the power to remove the legal effect from any of the legal instruments currently having legal effect in Liberland; and
b. The Dismissal conform with Art. 76/2 of the Constitution shall have the power to end the legal effect of the decision to Appoint an official, thereby removing them from office, where that decision to Appoint has been made by:
i. President or the Vice-President, ii. Congress, iii. Senate, or iv. an individual minister.
- The only form of voting instrument permitted for use in the Meritocratic Referendum shall be politically pooled Liberland Merit (LLM).
- A single LLM shall be usable in an open number of concurrent referenda and shall not require any cooldown period after voting in one referendum in order to be used in another referendum.
- Political pooling shall involve at least restricting the liquidity of LLM, such that they cannot be transferred to a different wallet. Political pooling shall in general last for an indefinite amount of time..
- Political pooling will be reversible, but only at the rate of 10 percent per year, collectable in twelve instalments, each releasing one-twelfth of one-tenth of the Citizen’s politically pooled LLM balance.
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Any Citizen can submit proposals for new or changed voting instruments or decisions they want to see enacted by the Referendum, henceforth “Proposal”. A Proposal submitted by a Citizen shall be known as a Citizen Proposal and the subsequent referendum shall be referred to as Citizen Referendum.
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In addition, Congress in its entirety can vote on submitting a Proposal according to its rules of decision-making. When the Proposal passes the required quorum, it shall become a Congress Proposal and the subsequent referendum shall be referred to as Congress Referendum.
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Procedurally, there shall be no difference between the Citizen Referenda and Congress Referenda, except for:
a. A Proposal Fee which shall only apply to a Citizen Proposal, which shall be established based on the current needs by the system and specified in a Regulation; and
b. In conformity with Art. 79 Section 1/2 of the Constitution, they shall differ in ways how the voting requirement is tallied.
- To initiate a Meritocratic Referendum, the Citizen or the Congress shall draft a Proposal in its final form. The draft shall be prepared to a professional standard.
- The draft shall adhere strictly to the Legislative Rules of the Government, both in content and form.
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The Citizen or Congress shall attach to the Proposal the following documents:
a. A comprehensive Regulatory Impact Assessment into the draft; and
b. A detailed Reasoning for each provision of the Proposal.
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Both the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) and the Explanation of individual articles (Reasoning) shall comply with the requirements set forth in the
Legislative Rules of the Government.
- The proposing party shall specify the category of the legal instrument being proposed, whether it be a law, regulation, or decision.
- If the Proposal serves as an amendment, the Citizen or Congress shall identify the existing legal instrument or specific section thereof that the Proposal aims to amend.
- The Citizen shall submit the Proposal under their own name and Congress shall select the option of a Congress Proposal. A proposing party shall make use of the designated form provided by the Government to realize the Proposal.
- The Citizen proposing a Referendum shall pay the transaction fee and any additional fees as stipulated by the system at the time of submission.
- All Citizens who possess at least 5000 politically pooled Liberland Merit (LLM) shall have the right to vote using their pooled LLM.
- Each citizen is permitted to vote with only one single LLM balance and may vote only once per referendum.
- In the event that a Citizen attempts to vote twice, the most recent vote shall supersede the earlier one.
- Referendum shall take in general place over a period of 14 days, which shall be known as Referendum Period.
- A new Referendum will start immediately after the previous Referendum Period ends. Multiple Referenda may run concurrently within one Referendum Period.
- A Referendum will take place during the Referendum Period immediately following the period in which the Sponsor submitted their Proposal.
- Referenda originating from Congress may include a motion in their Proposal to shorten the Referendum Period to a minimum of three days.
- This motion must be justified by an urgent and present need where the life, liberty, and property of identifiable individuals are objectively at a high level of risk in the event of a delay. If included, this motion will be accepted; however, the resulting Referendum will be tallied as if it were based on a Popular Proposal.
The outcome of the Referendum shall be determined based on the vote count at the moment the Referendum Period ends, that is, the last second of the Referendum Period for the given Referendum.
The Voting Requirement for the passing of a Congress Proposal through a Referendum shall be to receive at least 50 percent plus one voting instrument indicating the voter desire that the Proposal should pass, henceforth “Approve” than there are voting instruments indicating the voter desire that the Proposal should fail, henceforth “Against”, upon the moment the votes are tallied.
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The Voting Requirement for the passing of a Citizen Proposal through a Referendum shall be calculated by:
a. Dividing the votes for Approve by the square root of the total electorate,
b. Dividing the votes for Against by the square root of the actual turnout for this Referendum, and
c. Comparing the products of the two calculations.
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Where the product from under 1., e.g., the votes approve divided by the square root of the total electorate, is higher by at least one than the product from under 2., e.g., the votes against, divided by the square root of the actual turnout for this Referendum; the Citizen Referendum shall succeed.
- The Proposal will become legally binding after the completion of its Enactment Period. This period serves as the unified legisvacant period for all legal instruments enacted in Liberland and will last for an additional 14 days following the end of the Referendum Period.
- During the Enactment Period, the Proposal may be vetoed by the Senate, just as it can be vetoed during the duration of the Referendum.
- Congress Referenda may include a motion in their Proposals to either shorten this Enactment Period or eliminate it entirely.
- This motion must be justified by an urgent and present need where the life, liberty, and property of identifiable individuals are objectively at a high level of risk in the event of a delay.
- This option to shorten the Enactment Period can be combined with the shortening of the Referendum Period and will likewise be accepted by the system when invoked, alone or in combination with the shortening of the Referendum Period.
- Just like when the Referendum Period is shortened, a Referendum with a shortened Enactment Period will be tallied according to the rules for tallying Referenda based on Popular Proposals.
- Should the Proposal lack the requisite quality or omit the required Regulatory Impact Assessment, Reasoning or additional information as required by this law, Congress shall exercise its constitutional authority under Article 82 of the Constitution to cancel the Referendum, regardless of the merit of the Proposal’s content.
- Insufficient quality or omission of the mandatory RIA or Reasoning may also constitute a valid ground for cancellation initiated by the Senate.
- The Supreme Court shall hear disputes where the quality control performing organ stands as the defendant and the dispute subject matter is the performance of the quality control.
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A Citizen may initiate a Democratic Veto in the form of a Public Veto utilizing the tools provided for this purpose by the Government.
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The Citizen shall specify:
a. The category of the legislative instrument targeted for revocation;
b. The year and number of the legislative instrument as recorded in the official government repository, serving as unique identifiers;
c. Where applicable, the articles and the exact words which are to be repealed.
d. A reasoned justification for the revocation;
e. Supporting evidence and documentation that demonstrates the legislative instrument’s continued legal force:
i. Poses a significant, clearly identified risk for Liberland or for the life, liberty, and property of identifiable individuals; ii. Results in habitual violations of the Non-Aggression Principle as defined in Article 7 of the Constitution; iii. Significantly undermines the classically liberal political orientation of Liberland. -
Public Veto shall cost the same amount in Referendum Free as a Citizen-originated Meritocratic Referendum.
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A Citizen may also initiate a Democratic Veto in the form of a Dismissal using the Government-provided tools.
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The Citizen shall specify:
a. The category of the official targeted for dismissal;
b. The unique identifier of the official such as their LibID, publicly known Liberland Blockchain address or name and birth date in combination with their official address;
c. A reasoned justification for the dismissal;
d. References to evidence or documentation that clearly substantiates:
i. The official’s continued tenure poses a significant, clearly identified and present risk for Liberland or for the life, liberty, and property of identifiable individuals; ii. The official has habitually or severely acted against the life, liberty, or property of others, in violation of the Non-Aggression Principle as defined in Article 7 of the Constitution, and such actions have provably caused damage.
- Upon submitting the Proposal, it becomes a Democratic Veto immediately.
- Unlike the Meritocratic Referendum, the Democratic Veto shall run indefinitely until either the legislative instrument loses legal force by other means or the official is replaced on their position or until it succeeds.
- Voting on a Democratic Veto is conducted in the same system of electronic communication or, where the voting is done traditionally, using similar means as voting on a Meritocratic Referendum; however, each Citizen has only one vote instead of their Voting Instrument balance.
- Like when voting in a Meritocratic Referendum, one can vote in multiple Negative Referenda running concurrently. Likewise, where one votes twice in one Democratic Veto, only the last voting attempt shall be counted such as when one votes in a Meritocratic Referendum.
In order for a Proposal within a Democratic Veto to be deemed successful, it shall require a minimum of 50 percent plus one vote of the total possible votes.
- Where a piece of legislature is repealed, it shall lose legal force immediately. Where there are provisions in lower legislature dependent on this piece of legislature, these shall likewise lose legal force.
- Congress and the Minister of Justice shall ensure that the Public Veto is realized without delay, unconditional and complete with all the consequences.
- Where the Minister of Justice should delay or publish incorrect or incomplete information, the proposing Citizen may seek administrative recourse or, where this isn’t granted, a judicial recourse.
- Where an official is dismissed by a Dismissal, they shall immediately cease to hold the function from which they have been dismissed. This doesn’t in any way affect their future eligibility for a function, including the same function that they had been dismissed from.
- To protect the integrity of the judicial system, a dismissed Judge shall remain in function for as long as necessary according to the rules of their Court to finish their actively assigned cases; the Court shall not assign any more new cases to the dismissed Judge after the dismissal.
- The Parties in a Case where a dismissed Judge is active shall have the right to replace the Judge, but such a motion must be submitted unanimously. The Court shall in case this motion is submitted according to this Law replace the dismissed Judge with another Judge of comparable qualifications who is not dismissed.
- Democratic Veto Proposals that lack one or more of the required elements or are of manifestly unprofessional quality shall be subject to cancellation by Congress pursuant to Article 82 of the Constitution.
- Such deficiencies may also serve as grounds for cancellation initiated by the Senate.
- The Supreme Court shall hear disputes where the quality control performing organ stands as the defendant and the dispute subject matter is the performance of the quality control.
- The conduct of Referenda shall be facilitated through electronic means, utilizing a public blockchain system designed to accommodate governance functions.
- The blockchain system shall adhere to internationally accepted standards concerning election security, privacy, identification, and transparency in vote counting.
- The Government is responsible for either establishing or adopting a system that fulfills the requirements set forth by the Constitution and this Law, and shall ensure its regular maintenance.
- The system shall be designed to be sufficiently decentralized and secure to mitigate risks of unauthorized interference, while maintaining user-friendliness to facilitate ease of use by the majority of Citizens.
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The user interface shall be intuitive, allowing Citizens to:
a. Propose and vote in Referenda;
b. Monitor Referendum and Enactment Periods, including adjustments in duration;
c. Access historical Referendum data.
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For each Referendum, the interface must display:
a. Referendum title;
b. Required documents, including RIA and Reasoning for Positive Referenda;
c. Classification of legislative instruments for Positive Referenda;
d. Identification of instruments or parts thereof for Amendments or Repeals;
e. Necessary details for Negative Referenda, such as Public Veto or Dismissal reasons;
f. Referendum origin;
g. Proposer's identity in Citizen Referenda;
h. Voting prerequisites;
i. Current vote tally; and
j. Active or past Referendum and Enactment Periods."
This Law takes legal force on …