Post by inhorto on Apr 24, 2020 15:48:45 GMT
Human Rights Act
Author: Joseph Yu (UCP)
Sponsors: Rutger de Vries-Lau (UCP), Floortje Cheung (UCP), Qiao Zexian (CP), Willem van Aldenkamp (Reform), Hubert Aarts (Ind.), Zhang Xiaoqing (SP),
To give all persons within Banduria the rights to life, bodily autonomy, privacy of belongings, free expression, suffrage, equality before the law, fair trial, and other rights.
BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED, as follows:
- The right to life is bestowed upon all persons upon birth and shall not be violated in any circumstance except to protect the lives of others in immediate, life-threatening peril, to punish egregious crimes against the life of another or against the dignity of Bandurian democracy and its people, or in wartime where the killing of enemy combatants is just under international law.
- All persons have the right to bodily autonomy and privacy; no person, personal effect, or person’s property—physical or digital—shall be forcibly detained, seized, searched, or otherwise violated except by an officer of the law for the purposes of protecting the health and safety of others, interrupting criminal activity committed in flagrante delicto, or pursuant to a warrant issued by a lawful judge of Banduria on the basis of probable cause.
- Torture, involuntary physical maiming, and psychological abuse of any form are prohibited without exception.
- No person shall be coerced, taken or sold into slavery, and no person shall be held against their will by a private citizen.
- All persons enjoy the right to free speech, peaceful assembly, free press, and petition for grievances inasmuch as such expressions or manifestations do not incite violence, do not jeopardize the health and security of others, and do not defame, slander, or libel a person, persons, or organization.
- All persons enjoy the right to speak the language or languages of their choosing in public and in private, to write in the language of their choosing as they please, and to instruct children and pupils in that language.
- All persons enjoy the right to celebrate culture and cultural identity, as well as to celebrate religious or cultural holidays with guaranteed paid leave.
- Banduria is a secular state; the government may not establish any religion nor favor any religious institution or creed above others.
- All citizens having seventeen years of age or greater shall have the right to freely vote or abstain from voting in a national election, or in the local elections of a locality in which they reside, and all votes in these elections cast shall be secret. The government of Baduria shall not institute a poll tax or attempt in any way to obstruct any citizen from voting.
- On request, ballots must be available to all persons in their native languages, and illiterate, blind, or disabled persons enjoy the right to receive assistance in casting their votes.
- All persons—regardless of sex, religion, culture, socioeconomic status, political identity, or any such factor—are equal before the government of Banduria and before the law.
- Religion, race, and ethnicity shall never be used to prevent the lawful marriage of one man and one woman.
- No person shall be detained for criminal offense except under substantial charge filed by a prosecutor of Banduria with the consent of the Ministry of Justice. Upon charge, all persons shall have the right to petition for a writ of habeas corpus to be seen by a court within forty-eight hours of their detainment. The right to habeas corpus may be justifiably suspended during grave internal or external unrest as declared by Parliament, and such suspensions shall only last until the period of unrest has lapsed.
- All persons are protected against self-incrimination or the incrimination of their spouse or children, and all persons are to be assumed innocent before the law until proven guilty.
- All persons have a right to a fair, unbiased, and expeditious trial in a court of law, and shall have unconstrained access to a trained barrister or barristers for their civil or criminal defense, and all communication between a person and their barrister shall be privileged beyond any subpoena; if a person cannot afford a private barrister, the state shall furnish one for them.
- All persons shall have the right to access and examine any evidence or testimony against them, as well as the right to bring forth and compel any evidence or testimony in their defense. All evidence or testimony offered in support of the innocence of the defense must be considered, regardless of the nature of such evidence or testimony.
- All persons found guilty shall have the right to petition for a writ of certiorari before a higher court, and no person shall be subjected to double jeopardy for the same offense unless substantial evidence suggesting their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt is unearthed.
- No law may be administered ex post facto, except those applying retroactively in mitius or any statute that enforces international peremptory norms, and no bill of attainder may be passed.
- The Human Rights Act shall apply to the government of Banduria and all constituent and local governing bodies therein, as well as within all chancelleries, consulates, and other extensions of the Government of Banduria abroad, as well as on all vessels of land or sea, public or private, that fly the Bandurian flag.