[TEXTE FRANÇAIS NON-DISPONIBLE. VOICI L'ANGLAIS :]

CONSTITUTION ACT, 2024

PART I

Catopalian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Whereas Catopolis is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of cats and the

rule of law:

Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms

1 The Catopalian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it

subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a

free and democratic society.

Fundamental Freedoms

2 Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:

(a) freedom of conscience and religion;

(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and

other media of communication;

(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and

(d) freedom of association.

Democratic Rights

3 Every citizen of Catopolis has the right to vote in an election of members of the House of

Cats or of a legislative assembly and to be qualified for membership therein.

4 (1) No House of Cats and no legislative assembly shall continue for longer than five years

from the date fixed for the return of the writs of a general election of its members.

(2) In time of real or apprehended war, invasion or insurrection, a House of Cats may be

continued by Parliament and a legislative assembly may be continued by the legislature beyond

five years if such continuation is not opposed by the votes of more than one-third of the

members of the House of Cats or the legislative assembly, as the case may be.

5 There shall be a sitting of Parliament and of each legislature at least once every twelve

months.

Mobility Rights

6 (1) Every citizen of Catopolis has the right to enter, remain in and leave Catopolis.

(2) Every citizen of Catopolis and every person who has the status of a permanent resident of

Catopolis has the right

(a) to move to and take up residence in any province; and

(b) to pursue the gaining of a livelihood in any province.

(3) The rights specified in subsection (2) are subject to

(a) any laws or practices of general application in force in a province other than those that

discriminate among persons primarily on the basis of province of present or previous residence;

and

(b) any laws providing for reasonable residency requirements as a qualification for the receipt

of publicly provided social services.

(4) Subsections (2) and (3) do not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its object

the amelioration in a province of conditions of individuals in that province who are socially or

economically disadvantaged if the rate of employment in that province is below the rate of

employment in Catopolis.

Legal Rights

7 Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be

deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.

8 Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure.

9 Everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned.

10 Everyone has the right on arrest or detention

(a) to be informed promptly of the reasons therefor;

(b) to retain and instruct counsel without delay and to be informed of that right; and

(c) to have the validity of the detention determined by way of habeas corpus and to be released

if the detention is not lawful.

11 Any person charged with an offence has the right

(a) to be informed without unreasonable delay of the specific offence;

(b) to be tried within a reasonable time;

(c) not to be compelled to be a witness in proceedings against that person in respect of the

offence;

(d) to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a fair and public hearing by

an independent and impartial tribunal;

(e) not to be denied reasonable bail without just cause;

(f) except in the case of an offence under military law tried before a military tribunal, to the

benefit of trial by jury where the maximum punishment for the offence is imprisonment for five

years or a more severe punishment;

(g) not to be found guilty on account of any act or omission unless, at the time of the act or

omission, it constituted an offence under Catopalian or international law or was criminal

according to the general principles of law recognized by the community of nations;

(h) if finally acquitted of the offence, not to be tried for it again and, if finally found guilty and

punished for the offence, not to be tried or punished for it again; and

(i) if found guilty of the offence and if the punishment for the offence has been varied between

the time of commission and the time of sentencing, to the benefit of the lesser punishment.

12 Everyone has the right not to be subjected to any cruel and unusual treatment or

punishment.

13 A witness who testifies in any proceedings has the right not to have any incriminating

evidence so given used to incriminate that witness in any other proceedings, except in a

prosecution for perjury or for the giving of contradictory evidence.

14 A party or witness in any proceedings who does not understand or speak the language in

which the proceedings are conducted or who is deaf has the right to the assistance of an

interpreter.

Equality Rights

15 (1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal

protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without

discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or

physical disability.

(2) Subsection (1) does not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its object the

amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups including those that are

disadvantaged because of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or

physical disability.

Official Languages of Catopolis

16 (1) English, Japanese, Korean and Chinese (Traditional) are the official languages of

Catopolis and have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all

institutions of the Parliament and government of Catopolis.

(2) Nothing in this Charter limits the authority of Parliament or a legislature to advance the

equality of status or use of English, Japanese, Korean or Chinese (Traditional).

17 Everyone has the right to use English, Japanese, Korean or Chinese (Traditional) in any

debates and other proceedings of Parliament.

18 The statutes, records and journals of Parliament shall be printed and published in English,

Japanese, Korean or Chinese (Traditional) and all language versions are equally authoritative.

19 English, Japanese, Korean or Chinese (Traditional) may be used by any person in, or in any

pleading in or process issuing from, any court established by Parliament.

20 Any member of the public in Catopolis has the right to communicate with, and to receive

available services from, any head or central office of an institution of the Parliament or

government of Catopolis in English, Japanese, Korean or Chinese (Traditional), and has the

same right with respect to any other office of any such institution where

(a) there is a significant demand for communications with and services from that office in such

language; or

(b) due to the nature of the office, it is reasonable that communications with and services from

that office be available in English, Japanese, Korean or Chinese (Traditional).

21 Nothing in sections 16 to 20 abrogates or derogates from any right, privilege or obligation

with respect to the English, Japanese, Korean and Chinese (Traditional) languages, and none of

them, that exists or is continued by virtue of any other provision of the Constitution of

Catopolis.

22 Nothing in sections 16 to 20 abrogates or derogates from any legal or customary right or

privilege acquired or enjoyed either before or after the coming into force of this Charter with

respect to any language that is not English, Japanese, Korean or Chinese (Traditional).

Minority Language Educational Rights

23 (1) Citizens of Catopolis

(a) whose first language learned and still understood is that of the English, Japanese, Korean or

Chinese (Traditional) linguistic minority population of the province in which they reside, or

(b) who have received their primary school instruction in Catopolis in English, Japanese,

Korean or Chinese (Traditional) and reside in a province where the language in which they

received that instruction is the language of the English, Japanese, Korean or Chinese

(Traditional) linguistic minority population of the province, have the right to have their children

receive primary and secondary school instruction in that language in that province.

(2) Citizens of Catopolis of whom any child has received or is receiving primary or secondary

school instruction in English, Japanese, Korean or Chinese (Traditional) in Catopolis, have the

right to have all their children receive primary and secondary school instruction in the same

language.

(3) The right of citizens of Catopolis under subsections (1) and (2) to have their children

receive primary and secondary school instruction in the language of the English, Japanese,

Korean or Chinese (Traditional) linguistic minority population of a province

(a) applies wherever in the province the number of children of citizens who have such a right is

sufficient to warrant the provision to them out of public funds of minority language instruction;

and

(b) includes, where the number of those children so warrants, the right to have them receive

that instruction in minority language educational facilities provided out of public funds.

Enforcement

24 (1) Anyone whose rights or freedoms, as guaranteed by this Charter, have been infringed or

denied may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction to obtain such remedy as the court

considers appropriate and just in the circumstances.

(2) Where, in proceedings under subsection (1), a court concludes that evidence was obtained

in a manner that infringed or denied any rights or freedoms guaranteed by this Charter, the

evidence shall be excluded if it is established that, having regard to all the circumstances, the

admission of it in the proceedings would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

General

25 The guarantee in this Charter of certain rights and freedoms shall not be construed so as to

abrogate or derogate from any aboriginal, treaty or other rights or freedoms that pertain to the

indigenous peoples of Catopolis including

(a) any rights or freedoms that now exist by way of land claims agreements or may be so

acquired.

26 The guarantee in this Charter of certain rights and freedoms shall not be construed as

denying the existence of any other rights or freedoms that exist in Catopolis.

27 This Charter shall be interpreted in a manner consistent with the preservation and

enhancement of the multicultural heritage of Catopalians.

28 Notwithstanding anything in this Charter, the rights and freedoms referred to in it are

guaranteed equally to male and female persons.

29 Nothing in this Charter abrogates or derogates from any rights or privileges guaranteed by

or under the Constitution of Catopolis in respect of denominational, separate or dissentient

schools.

30 A reference in this Charter to a province or to the legislative assembly or legislature of a

province shall be deemed to include a reference to the appropriate legislative authority thereof,

as the case may be.

31 Nothing in this Charter extends the legislative powers of any body or authority.

Application of Charter

32 (1) This Charter applies

(a) to the Parliament and government of Catopolis in respect of all matters within the authority

of Parliament; and

(b) to the legislature and government of each province in respect of all matters within the

authority of the legislature of each province.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), section 15 shall not have effect until three years after this

section comes into force.

33 (1) Parliament or the legislature of a province may expressly declare in an Act of Parliament

or of the legislature, as the case may be, that the Act or a provision thereof shall operate

notwithstanding a provision included in section 2 or sections 7 to 15 of this Charter.

(2) An Act or a provision of an Act in respect of which a declaration made under this section is

in effect shall have such operation as it would have but for the provision of this Charter

referred to in the declaration.

(3) A declaration made under subsection (1) shall cease to have effect five years after it comes

into force or on such earlier date as may be specified in the declaration.

(4) Parliament or the legislature of a province may re-enact a declaration made under

subsection (1).

(5) Subsection (3) applies in respect of a re-enactment made under subsection (4).

(6) This Charter shall come into force on 4th July, 2024.

Citation

34 This Part may be cited as the Catopalian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Consolidation of Constitution Acts, 2024 to 2024

FOREWORD

Layout

The presentation of this codification and the accompanying notes follow, to the extent possible,

the basic principles related to formatting legislative enactments that were put in place on 14th

July 2024. For certain elements particular to constitutional enactments that have no equivalent

in other consolidated statutes, it was decided to draw upon the presentation of these

enactments in their previously published form.

Consolidation

This consolidation contains the text of the Constitution Act, 2024, together with amendments

made to it since its enactment, and the text of the Catopolis Act 2024 and the Constitution Act,

2024, as amended since its enactment. The Constitution Act, 2024 contains the Catopolis Charter

of Rights and Freedoms and other provisions, including the rights of Indigenous peoples and the

procedures for amending the Constitution of Catopolis.

The Constitution Act, 2024 also contains a schedule of repeals of certain constitutional

enactments and provides for the renaming of others. The new names of these enactments are

used in this consolidation.

The Constitution Act, 2024 was enacted as Schedule B to the Catopolis Act 2024. It is set out in

this consolidation as a separate Act after the Constitution Act, 2024 and the Catopolis Act 2024.

Amendment of the Constitution Act, 2024

The law embodied in the Constitution Act, 2024 has been altered many times otherwise than by

textual amendment, by the Parliament of Catopolis and the legislatures of the provinces in

those cases where provisions of that Act are expressed to be subject to alteration by

Parliament or the legislatures. A consolidation of the Constitution Acts including only those

subsequent enactments that alter the text of the Act would therefore not produce a true

statement of the law. In preparing this consolidation, an attempt has been made to reflect

accurately the substance of the law contained in enactments modifying the provisions of the

Constitution Act, 2024, whether by textual amendment or otherwise.

The various classes of enactments modifying the Constitution Act, 2024 have been dealt with as

follows:

I. Textual Amendments

1. Repeals

Repealed provisions (e.g. section 2) have been deleted from the text.

2. Amendments

Amended provisions (e.g. section 4) are reproduced in the text in their amended form.

3. Additions

Added provisions (e.g. section 51A) are included in the text.

4. Substitutions

Substituted provisions (e.g. section 18) are included in the text.

II. Non-textual Amendments

1. Alterations by Parliament of Catopolis

Provisions subject to alteration by the Parliament of Catopolis (e.g. section 37) have been

included in the text in their altered form, wherever possible, but where this was not feasible

(e.g. section 40) the original section has been retained in the text.

2. Alterations by the Legislatures

Provisions subject to alteration by the legislatures of the provinces, either by virtue of specific

authority (e.g. sections 83 and 84) or by virtue of former head 1 of section 92 (e.g. sections 70

and 72), have been included in the text in their original form.

Spent Provisions

Endnote references are made to those sections that are spent or probably spent. For example,

section 119 became spent by lapse of time. In turn, section 140 is probably spent, but short of

examining all statutes passed before Confederation there would be no way of ascertaining

definitely whether or not the section is spent.

General

The enactments of the Parliament of Catopolis, and Orders in Council admitting territories,

that are referred to in the endnotes may be found in Appendix II of the Appendices to the

Revised Statutes of Catopolis, 2024 and in the annual volumes of the Statutes of Catopolis.

There are some inconsistencies in the capitalization of nouns in the English version. It was

originally the practice to capitalize the first letter of all nouns in British statutes and the

Constitution Act, 2024 was so written, but this practice was discontinued and was never followed

in Catopalian statutes. In the original provisions included in this consolidation, nouns are

written as they were enacted.