Preamble
We, the working people of the Commonwealth, hold the land, the mines, the workshops and the stores in common. No one lives from the labour of another. We plan our production together to meet the needs of all, and we settle our affairs openly, by debate and by vote.
Article 1. Common property
- The land, its resources, the means of production and the common stores belong to the Commonwealth as a whole.
- Personal property (a citizen's dwelling, tools and belongings for their own use) is protected. It may not be used to deprive others.
- Goods are drawn from the common stores according to allotments set by the institutions within the plan.
Article 2. The Council
- The Council of all citizens is the highest authority of the Commonwealth.
- Every citizen may table a motion, speak in debate and cast one vote on each motion. Votes are secret; the tally is public.
- A motion is decided when voting closes. It needs a quorum of half of the active citizens, abstentions included, and more votes for than against.
- The Council may overturn any decision of any institution.
- An active citizen is one seen on the website or in the world in the last 14 days. Only active citizens count towards a quorum, and the game master's account counts like any citizen's.
Article 3. The Plan
- Production is directed by a plan made for periods of three weeks.
- Targets are set, changed and dropped only by plan changes adopted by the Council and confirmed by the game master.
- Every citizen contributes to the plan according to their ability, and reports the work done honestly.
Article 4. The institutions
- The institutions carry out the work of the Commonwealth between sessions of the Council: the Planning Commission, the People's Court and those the Council establishes.
- Each institution acts within its charter and within a fixed list of actions. It gives public reasons for every decision.
- Small decisions take effect at once and may be appealed to the Council. Large decisions — those that take property from a citizen or exclude a citizen — take effect only when the game master confirms them.
Article 4a. The Government
- The Council of People's Commissars is the government of the Commonwealth. It directs the work of the institutions between sessions of the Council and answers to the Council for it.
- It holds three portfolios: the People's Commissar for the Plan, the People's Commissar for the Stores and the People's Commissar for Works. The portfolios are equal, and there is no chairman. The game master sets the number of seats, one to three, and does so at the Council's request when citizens are few; with fewer seats, one commissar may hold several portfolios. The commissars decide together, by a majority of those sitting, except where this article says otherwise.
- The Council appoints the commissars by a motion that names a citizen for one or more vacant portfolios, and by a new such motion may give the portfolios to the sitting commissars in a different order. It may recall any commissar by a motion at any time, and any citizen may table that motion. There is no fixed term: a commissar serves until recalled or until they resign. A recalled commissar leaves office as soon as the motion is adopted, and gives up every portfolio they hold then.
- The government acts by decrees, each of a kind on a fixed list and each published with its reasons. A proclamation is a statement without legal effect: any one commissar may issue it, and it is published at once. Every other decree is issued when a majority of the sitting commissars have signed it, and takes effect 24 hours later, or at once if it is issued while a state of emergency is in force; a budget instead goes before the Council, as paragraph 7 provides. Decrees with large effects take effect only when, in addition, the game master confirms them.
- A decree gives way to the constitution, the laws and the decisions of the Council, and a decree that contradicts them is to be annulled. Only the Council annuls a decree, by a motion, and at any time it may annul any decree that has been issued, whether it is still waiting or already in force. Any citizen who is not a sitting commissar and did not propose or sign the decree may table that motion. The records of the Council's appointments on the register of decrees are not decrees, and are not open to annulment. The game master may also set a decree aside or strike it from the public register, as Article 7 provides.
- A directive of the government to an institution is guidance that the institution weighs within its charter. It never overrides the charter, the laws or a citizen's right to be heard. A new directive to an institution replaces the one in force when it takes effect.
- The government draws on the common stores only within a budget the Council adopts for each portfolio and plan period, in contribution units. A budget is a decree that a majority of the sitting commissars sign; it then goes before the Council as a motion that stays open at least two days (one day under a state of emergency, as the laws provide), and the Council's vote on it decides. It takes effect when the Council adopts it, and a budget larger than the tax quota in kind of all active citizens for its plan period, or than a limit the game master sets in its place, only when the game master also confirms it. A newer budget for the same portfolio and period replaces the older, never the other way round, and one in force may be annulled as paragraph 5 provides. The commissar who holds a portfolio, and no one else, makes the allotments from its budget, each within the limits of an allotment by the Distribution Office; a large allotment takes effect only when the game master confirms it. Once there are works orders, the government may order public works, which are assignments for the working people; an order becomes a target of the plan only as Article 3 provides, by a plan change the Council adopts and the game master confirms. No allotment, honour or works order of the government goes to a sitting commissar: such matters go to the Council.
- The government punishes no one. Only the People's Court judges breaches of the laws, including abuse of office.
- By a unanimous decision of the sitting commissars and with the game master's approval, the government may declare a state of emergency of at most 72 hours. It takes effect when the game master approves it. It needs at least two sitting commissars and is never declared while the game master acts in the government's place; there is only one at a time, and none within 72 hours of the end of the last. It ends at once if fewer than two commissars remain sitting. The Council may extend it once, by a motion adopted before it ends, by at most 72 hours more. It has only the powers the laws list, and it never touches the People's Court, excludes a citizen, or postpones the Council or a recall.
- Until the Council appoints the first Council of People's Commissars, the game master acts in its place, and may lay that office down. Once the Council has recalled the acting game master, the portfolios wait for the Council's appointment.
Article 5. Rights and duties of citizens
- Every citizen has the right to be heard before the institutions, to see their reasoning, and to appeal to the Council.
- A citizen brought before the People's Court has the right to reply before the court decides.
- Every citizen has the duty to care for common property, to take part in the work of the plan, and to treat fellow citizens with respect.
Article 6. Socialist legality
- No citizen is punished except for a breach of the laws of the Commonwealth, and no more harshly than the harm requires.
- The aim of justice is to repair harm and restore the community, not to exact revenge.
Article 7. The game master
The game master keeps the world running, confirms large decisions and plan changes, and stands outside the roleplay when real harm between the people behind the characters must be addressed. The game master may set a decree of the government aside, or strike one from the public register, always with a public note. Once the first Council of People's Commissars is appointed, the game master holds no office in the government.