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DRAFT OF A CITIZENS'
CONSTITUTION OF CZECH REPUBLIC
PREFACE
The reason why we present for discussion a
Draft of a Citizens Constitution.
First of all, let's ask the question: What is
a Democratic Constitution?
Answer: A Democratic Constitution is a
document setting the framework for the institutions and procedures to which all
people living in the country have to conform so as to enable, as far as
possible, all citizens to really participate in the management of their own
affairs with the view of achieving the highest possible living standards~
maintaining law and order, assuring personal safety and peace, and sustaining
life preserving environment.
Isn't it necessary that any Constitution be
formulated or revised by lawyers?
The participation of lawyers in the formulation of a Constitution is useful, but
not imperative. Their participation becomes only necessary for writing the laws
based on the Constitution and presented for voting. The formulation of a
Constitution does not require any special qualification, except average level of
education, general political insight and the will to work for the good of
society as a whole. A Constitution does not express any eternal truth, but only
its creators' conviction and interests. On the basis of these interests, they
delegate power to those groups of people who are closest to them, most often
those to whom they belong. Therefore, it is the citizens themselves who must
enforce their own right to adopt a Constitution.
Who exactly is entitled and qualified to
compile and adopt a Constitution by voting?
Answer: Only the citizens themselves are entitled and qualified to do this.
On lower level of social development, the citizens were unable to avail
themselves of this right directly., For practical reasons, they were forced to
entrust elected representatives to compile and vote for a Constitution.
Experience has shown, however, that if this right is delegated to
representatives in Parliament or Senate, they invariably write and adopt a
Constitution assuring unjust privileges for the MPs, Senators and members of
Government to the detriment of grassroot citizens. This has been the case in all
times and in all countries. It is still the case at present.
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In Europe, the classical DD country is
Switzerland, but the strongest and best organized movement is active in Germany (Mehr
Demokratie e. v: ). In Europe, deliberation is not yet systematically
integrated in the I&R process. DD organizations now exist in almost all
European countries and they form a loose network called NDDIE (Network of
Direct Democracy Initiatives in Europe), inspired by the Pribram Conference
of 1998. Members of this network, speaking about Direct Democracy, mean
almost only the process of Citizen Initiative and Referendum. So far. Structured
Deliberation has been neglected. However, a deliberation procedure ideally
suited for European conditions has been developed by the German sociologist Prof
Peter C. Dienel (Burgergutachten or planungszelle /Planning
Cell/). The institution of Citizen Commissions we propose in this Citizens'
Constitution is in fact Prof. Dienel's Planungszellen renamed by a
word more understandable for the Czechs. This deliberation model has been used
with great success in Germany for more than 30 years. It has also been practised
in Spain. It is a well known concept in international sociological literature,
even in countries like Japan, Italy, South Korea and Turkey.
How does it work in practice?
Citizen Commissions (model
Planungszelle ) When it becomes necessary to deal with a certain issue,
25 citizens are randomly selected, half men, half women. There are no
requirements concerning education or social standing. This means that a
commission can consist of teachers, nurses, students, janitors, doctors,
brick-layers -anybody. They all gather together to discuss the issue in
question. The session takes one week (five days). For this period of time, the
participants are excused from their jobs with full salaries. The session is
moderated by two persons, one man and one woman. During the first 3-4 days, the
participants receive a maximum of relevant information from unbiased and
independent experts who also answer questions. On the fourth or fifth day, they
form five circles of five persons who discuss and try to find the best solution.
An important rule is to always organize 10 parallel commissions dealing with the
same issue. (In small towns and communities, it will be necessary to reduce the
number of commissions in proportion to the respective number of inhabitants.)
The random selection and simultaneous treatment of the same issue by ten
commission is a guarantee of incorruptibility by special interests and perfect
representativity. Nobody is allowed to sit on a commission more than once in a
lifetime. Everybody is, of course, free to refuse participation. In this case, a
substitute takes his/her place.
Experiences: The
evaluation of the results of dozens of such sessions arrives always at the same
conclusion.
1. Having received sufficient and understandable information, the participants,
regardless of their qualification, are able to penetrate the problem as
thoroughly as experts and to form a well founded opinion. Their assessment is
always much more qualified than any assessment made by Parliament because the
:MPs are forced to judge dozens of issues during a very short period of time. In
spite of mostly good intentions, they have no chance of getting acquainted with
the problems involved as well as the members of a Planning Cell/Citizen
Commission. When voting, for lack of time, the :MPs are mostly forced to follow
the recommendations of their respective party leaderships. This means that, in
practice, power is concentrated in the hands of a few party bosses. This power
concentration is further increased in European countries after accession to the
EU. Studies of parliamentary decision-making show that bills coming from
Brussels pass through national parliaments almost without debate and are being
approved more or less automatically. The Citizen Commissions provided by our
draft involve thousands of citizens in the deliberative phase of the legislative
process, thus becoming a controlling and correcting mechanism of the whole
system.
2. Time.. and again, experience also shows that
the awareness of social responsibility, engendered by participation in Planning
Cells, creates the ability to disregard one's own personal interests one might
otherwise have when dealing with a certain issue. The conclusions arrived at are
therefore drawn so as to benefit society as a whole. In this respect, too, the
Planning Cells perform better than Parliament. It is common knowledge that the
MPs are often corrupted by vested interests that lobby in favor of small groups
and organizations to the detriment of the citizenry. Besides, the parliaments
have their own vested interest in preserving their own power monopoly as ruling
elites. In the Planning Cells / Citizen Commissions, such corrupting influence
is excluded by their very nature.
A permanent integration of Citizen Commissions
into the respective political system will bring about a much deeper
transformation of the system than the mere enactment of the right to I&R. So
far , such a demand has never been put forward for discussion and voting
anywhere. Our Citizens' Constitution is the first one sui generis in
history. We adhere to the best American and European traditions constituted in
the Enlightment period.
SELECTED PARTS OF THE DRAFT OF
THE CITIZENS CONSTITUTION
(The draft is a comprehensive amendment to the
Constitution adopted by Czech Parliament in 1993. In our draft, the original
text is printed in ordinary letters. Our amendments are printed in fat letters,
while the formulations we propose to abolish are put into brackets.)
Introduction:
Legislative power belongs to Parliament, the institution of popular
initiative and referendum, as well as -in a precisely defined area -to the
institution of Citizen Commissions. The organization of these two last mentioned
institutions belongs to the independent Referendum and Citizen Commissions
Authority.
Article I
(I) ...
(2) Czech Republic fulfills the obligations imposed by international law in
so far as they are not contrary to the principles expressed in this Citizens'
Constitution. In controversial cases, the citizens have the right to demand that
the proposed obligations be assessed by Parliament and Citizen Commissions. The
final decision can be made by national referendum.
Article 2
( I) The people is the source of all state power; it exerts it by the
intermediary of legislative, executive and judicial power or directly, by the
plebiscite, popular initiative and referendum, and, in a precisely defined area
also by Citizen Commissions.
(2) (A constitutional law can determine the
cases when the people exerts state power directly. ) The Citizens'
Constitution guarantees that the people can exert state power directly, if this
is demanded in a petition supported by at least 1% of citizens of Czech Republic
within six months. The petition has to be organized without financial support by
the authorities and big private or state enterprises. The details will be
determined by law.
There are two kinds of referendum:
a) Plebiscite, i.e. referendum proclaimed by the Government, Parliament, or a
local council.
b) Popular referendum, proclaimed on the basis of successful iniciative of a
citizen, a group of citizens, or a citizen movement.
In both cases, to pass the proposal, a majority of the referendum participants
is sufficient.
Referenda can be organized on the national, regional or local level. Referenda
can be obligatory (in some explicitly defined cases), or ad
hoc.
Article 5
The political system is based, in the legislative area, on free and
voluntary establishment and free competition of political parties (respecting
basic democratic principles and rejecting violence as a means to promote their
interests), on popular initiative and referendum according to Art. 2, on
direct election of the head of state by all citizens every 5 years, on the
separation of legislative and executive power, and on an independent judicial
power
...... Every measure taken by the police is subject to control by Citizen
Commissions. The use of armed forces has to be sanctioned by Citizen\
Commissions and national referendum......
Article.7
Major cases of encroachment upon natural environment have to be controlled by
Citizen Commissions.
Article..9
(1) The Constitution can be amended or changed only by constitutional laws. These
laws have to be first assessed by Citizen Commissions and then enacted by
referendum.
Art. 10a
(1) ...
(2) The ratification of international treaty according to paragraph I has to be
approved by Parliament, (unless a constitutional law stipulates that that
ratification requires approval by referendum.) The citizens can require that
such a treaty has to be presented for assessment to Citizen Commissions and
approved by referendum.
Art. 15
(1) In Czech Republic, legislative power belongs to Parliament and national
referendum, in some cases after assessment by Citizen Commissions. In case of
difference between voting in Parliament and referendum, it is referendum that
decides.
(2) ....
Art. 18
( 1) Parliamentary elections are general, equal and direct, by secret ballot
according to the (principle of proportional representation) majority
principle. In each constituency, the candidate who has obtained most votes is
elected, regardless of whether he/she presents him/herself as a private person,
representative of a political party, or a citizen movement. Exact rules are
determined by election law formulated by Citizen Commissions and approved by
referendum.
Art. 39
.......
(3) Any decision concerning declaration of war, sending troops abroad or
receiving foreign troops on Czech territory, as well as any decision to join
international defense systems has to be approved by (a majority of all MPs and
senators) a majority of participants of national referendum held on this
issue. If so required by a national initiative organized in accordance with the
Constitution, the issue has also to be assessed by Citizen Commissions.
Article 53A
The Institution of Citizen Commissions
Chief Principles: The Citizen Commissions' function is only advisory. Decisions
are made in representative bodies and referenda. The only exception are
Administrative Citizen Commissions organized once a year, to make irrevocable
decisions concerning salaries and other prerogatives of politicians and high
civil servants on all levels. Both politicians and civil servants are the
citizens' employees. Their salaries are paid by the citizens through taxes. In
all other situations, it is the employers who decide salaries, even if mostly
after negotiations with unions. It is inadmissible that politicians, as the only
employees in existence, are allowed to use taxes for deciding the level of their
own salaries and prerogatives. This right must be reserved for the citizens as
taxpayers, through the intermediary of regularly organized Citizen Commissions.
Vorgelegt von:
MDD -Movement for Direct Democracy
Czech Republic
Citizens
Constitution of Czech Republic
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