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Mundialist Summa

booklet n° 30

DRAFTS OF A WORLD CONSTITUTION

The proposals for a world constitution are legion. if there have been 150, let us say that we are presenting the 151st, which will be a sort of "pot-pourri" of those preceding, with particular emphasis on the Minorities Council.

If we can arrive a a point where no single man or group of men is persecuted by the community of which he is a part by virtue of the hazard of historical events, humanity will have attained the goal toward which it should strive.

This proposed constitution will be essentially federalist. From the base to the summit, it must ensure the limited byt real delegation of powers to the next highest level for all decisions which go beyond the jurisdiction of the group in question, right up to the level of the entire planet.

And, from the summit downwards, passing through all levels, the federal authority should have competence, in order to prevent the basic needs common to all men and to every simple man from being taken lightly.

World constitutions were proposed by Umano in 1907, Privat in 1942, Larmeroux in 1946, de Meutter in 1947, Borghese in 1949 and Bossin in 1961 …

But what is a constitution ? Let us take the definition of Borghese : It is a manifesto proclaiming the basic principles. For mundialists, the basic principles will be a world organization, a political body and a mechanism for justice.

It is obviously impossible for the politician to satisfy all men completely, because of the great diversity of thought and way of life, but he must satisfy the greatest number possible while, at the same time, giving his attention to le most deprived cases to see that they are assured a human existence.

The constitution is the law which serves as the organizational framework for citizens of a town, a region, a country of the world. It should emanate from all citizens. It should be subject to reform at any time because of the constant scientific evolution of the world.

The World Constitution will not seek to harmonize the diverse interest which oppose Nation-States, buyt will ask these latter to recognize a minimum of protection for all men on a world scale in such areas as the atom, the cosmos, electronics, data processing, bacteriology, chemistry, in short all areas which have a great influence on the life and behavior of men.

Mundialists have always felt that a world constitution should be prepared by a world constituent assembly of the peoples, inspired by such precedents as the French Revolution or the creation of the 4th French Republic, in 1946. We also have examples of constitutions which have been prepared on a different basis, such as that of Switzerland or the 5th French Republic : however, all were subject to approval by the people.

How should this world constitution be made up ? It should have a preamble and the three powers : legislative, executive and judiciary. The legislative will have two chambers and other councils ; the executive will have an information body, and the judiciary will have several courts.

Before this constitution becomes workable, however, certain unifying factors will have to be resolved to ensure a working basis ; of these, location and language seem the most important. All the central bodies should be located on neutral territory and outside of all spheres of influence, in a desert or on an island, perhaps. By the same token, a working language will have to be agreed upon rendered obligatory for all elected delegates and world official : Esperanto would be possibility, unless computerized translators can facilitate communication in any language.

- The preamble will be a sort of description of the rights of man and the duties of the world citizen. The rights of man were established in 1948 ; as for the duties of the world citizen, they have yet to be established, for the individual who lives in society owes it to himself to respect a certain number of responsibilities. For example, in a democracy, he has the duty of voting, of serving on a jury and or participating in the organization of human brotherhood.

- The legislative chamber or chambers. It would seem, a least in the beginning, that two chambers will be required, because it will be necessary for a certain time to have representatives of Nation-States meet in a sort of world senate. But it appears that in the far off future only the people' chamber only will suffice.

This world senate could be formed of a hundred or so delegates representing groups of a least two to five million people, which would lead to some regrouping among the smaller nations.

The World Peoples' Assembly, directly elected by the people of the world by universal suffrage, should not have more than 1000 delegates, as a larger number would make discussion difficult. In the beginning, mundialist had thought of having one delegate per million inhabitants, but it might be necessary to designate one delegate per million voter or per million families.

It might also be useful, at the beginning, to plan for a certain balancing of votes, because of the demographic influence of certain Nation-States.

This balancing could speed up the erosion of national sovereignty. It might also be useful to modify the criterion of universal suffrage (1 man - 1 vote) to include certain professional, scientific and educational qualifications which would introduce the multiplicity of the human being into the choice of its elected delegates.

- Besides these two chambers, a certain number of councils would be created. These assemblies would not establish laws but would make surveys and studies on particular subjects and then submit them to the chambers.

A wise men's council would teach the principal quality of mundialism : tolerance, or the respect of the opinion of others to ensure this diversity in the federal unit. This council would, in the worlds of Jules Romains, help humanity make spiritual progress when at present it only makes material progress.

A Council of Human Rights and Duties of World Citizens would ensure that the declarations issues are in harmony with the evolution of society.

A social and economic council, an information council and others could be considered, but especially a council of minorities which would study not only the federal grouping of small countries or regions but most important, would protect ethnic or religious groups against larger human entities in the midst of which they are oppressed.

- Once world laws have been formulated, they must be applied by an executive, a World Federal Government composed of world ministers and with ramifications at each stage of the federation. A body of world inspectors would inform the government of transgressions against world laws such as the clandestine fabrication of atomic or bacteriological bombs or arms or the preparation of a violent revolution.

Naturally this government should apply sanctions pending the evolution of individuals to the point where they can apply self-discipline.

- Sanctions normally lead to speaking of the third power which should prevent abuses : a federal judiciary power. Its primary role will be to ensure the respect of the world constitution with the help of the federal judiciary chamber. It would resolve conflicts which might arise between the assemblies and the government and between the government and the various Nation-States. A federal court of justice would deal with disputes between the federated states and, finally, regional federal courts would deal with disputes between different levels of the federation. One of its principal roles would be the protection of the citizen who, having been a world official, returns to his country.

In these few lines, we have not described all the machinery which should be included in a world constitution. The constitution's only objective should be to protect man as an individual and prevent his being crushed by the weight of a society conceived for the momentary satisfaction of a small minority.

Here after the reader will find an article from Philip Isely and Reighard Ruge of the World Constitution and Parliament Association, and one from Aake Ander-rding of the World Federal Authority Committee.


WORLD CONSTITUTION AND PARLIAMENT ASSOCIATION

POLITICAL UNITY OF THE WORLD

A World Parliament and a World Government

We are living theses days an epoch of great International Anarchy on our planet Earth. We call this "NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY" and the Nations mean by this, that they have the right to do as they please within their Territorial limits.

This might have been a valid thesis at other times of development in Human history, but certainly not at the end of the 20th Century, when most of human activities of any consequence are World Wide and make the Nations of the World a family of Interdependent human beings, which have to live together on our Spaceship Earth and solve the problems common to all, especially those related to Overpopulation, Pollution, Depletion of Resources and most of all, those related to Armament, war and Armies.

Towards the end of the Second World War the Charter of the United Nations was signed by the victorious countries, and each year the General Assembly of the United Nations, tries to solve the urgent World Problems. Although many of the Specialized Agencies of the UN are devoting their time and money to successfully solve some of humanities troubles, the main political forum has been standing in dismay before the ever more threatening destruction of the human race, be it by Hydrogen bombs - which are lurking at us from every corner of our planet, - be it by overpopulation and slow starvation or just by disease which overcomes humanity in a ever more polluted and degenerated biosphere.

To solve all these pressing global problems we need World Government. The sooner the better ! Lets hope we have the time to still realize it !

We have municipal governments to solve our problems in the villages, We have State Government to solve problems of our provinces and territories. We have National Governments to solve problems of the Nations. Why are we reluctant, why we are waiting to establish World Government to solve global problems ?

People who advocate World Government and the formation of Unio of all Nations, have been for long considered Utopian, crazy or just not realistic by times are changing.

It has been a strong movement among the visionary members of the United Nations to start discussions on Charter Review. An ad hoc committee of forty two, appointed by the President of the General Assembly, has attempted to examine government proposals in this respect and has reported to the General Assembly. This year again, item 110 on the Provisional Agenda of the Thirty-First Regular Session of the UN General Assembly reads : Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization. Res. 3499 of 15 Dec. 1975.

Immediately after the Second World War, it was easy to see and agree upon the need for World Government, Actions for World Government originated independently on several continents, converging rapidly into an organized movement. The mushroom clouds from the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and from the subsequent testing of ever more-devastating nuclear bombs, loomed over the entire earth as symbols of the extreme danger to all, and the conclusive argument was World Government.

Today the threat of destruction by nuclear war is many times greater than in 1948. Yet during each of the major high-level international conferences among governments from Dakar in 1974 - on natural resources - to the law of Sea conference in Caracas and to the most recent one on Human Settlements in Vancouver, emphasis is each time put again and again on National Sovereignty, National Defense, National Interest, etc. The same holds true for the Declaration of the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States and the Soviet Peace Committee.

Disarmament is the objective of many proposals and actions, that is, disarmament prior to or without world Government. But if the long and futile history of disarmament negotiations, and conferences proves anything, it proves that sovereign nations will not disarm. Look at the astronomic figure of money, which is spent every year on the arms race, and which is constantly increasing - not decreasing. Agreement to subordinate national sovereignty to world Authority is the prerequisite of disarmament.

Saving the Oceans from death by pollution will require strict regulations or elimination of offshore oil-well drilling as well as elimination of oil transport in supertankers. Otherwise in a few years most life in the oceans may be smothered by oil films, not to mention other sources of pollution. But saving the oceans from death by oil also requires a world wide shift from a fossil-fuel-based energy economy to a solar-power-based energy economy, together with other safe power sources. The manifold aspects of saving the oceans, which ties into dozens of other problems, cannot conceivably be dealt with negotiations among nations that intend to remain sovereign.

Feeding the hungry is another top-priority world problem. But the solution requires vastly more than emergency relief, a global grainery, or zero population growth, which sovereign national governments have been unable to agree upon. A virtual revolution in fertilization methods is also required, not only because the oil and gas to make artificial fertilizers are becoming scarce and the quadrupling of prices for such fertilizers has set agricultural development programs for the hungry nations of the Third World back by more than a decade, but also because continued use of artificial nitrate and phosphate fertilizers results in the death of streams, lakes and coastal waters, by strophication and poisoning following the excessive leaching of the inorganic fertilizers. Further, a worldwide revolution in pest control is also required to avert the disastrous disruption of lifecycle chains by DDT and related chemicals, which become globally dispersed no matter where used. Again, a comprehensive approach to this complex of problems is required that transcends the capabilities of nations intending to remain sovereign or fragmented attempts to establish international institutions for particular problems.

The list of problems and arguments is interminable. But what can we do, the people that see the problems and are willing to act to save our planet from destruction in the face of reluctant Governments who ponder over their sovereign rights and privileges ?

First : Lets cross off what we cannot do :

We cannot expect national governments to initiate any move for a Democratic world Government, although some members of national legislatures are ready to assist.

We cannot expect to achieve world government, particularly a democratic one devoted to the cause of universal human welfare and social justice, by amendment of the UN charter, for the United Nations as it stands, is only the extension of the foreign policies of sovereign national governments and each permanent member of the Security Council holds veto power over any proposed amendment.

We cannot expect to make progress by the fragmented transfer of sovereignty to specialized international agencies.

We cannot depend on initial support by a widely based popular mass movement, although this needs to be developed in due course.

We cannot depend upon a long-range educational program before taking action, when most of the factors in the present political environment are educating people to be nationalistic.

Time is running out.

In contrast to all the above mentioned problems and failure of most current discussions on world problems, a very definite proposal, plan of action and strategy for achieving world government before the end of the century is now being introduced by the World Constitution and Parliament Association, with members in more than 30 countries. This strategy is defined in the recently published "call for a World Constituent Assembly".

Nineteen seventy-seven, at Innsbruck, Austria from June 16 to June 29, is the target for convening the World Constituent Assembly Stated objectives of the assembly are

  • A.- World Constitution. Its discussion and adoption
  • B.- Ratification Campaign
  • C.- World Parliament Campaign and Preparations.
  • D.- Provisional World Government.
  • E.- Proposed Legislation on World Problems.

In preparation for the Assembly, the draft of a World Constitution is now being circulated for discussion throughout the World. Work upon the draft was begun in 1968 by a commission that included twenty-two men women from eleven countries. Among them the Deputy Speaker of Rayja Sabba (Senate) of India, the Judge of Supreme Court of Bangladesh, the author of the Constitution of Ghana, etc. The Commission met as part of the first session of the Peoples World Parliament and World Constitutional Convention at Interlaken, Switzerland and Wolfach, Germany. Behind the 1968 sessions were ten years of work that begun when four persons undertook to find an international group willing to convene a World Constitutional Convention. Following 1968, the drafting commission held a long working session in 1972, and the draft was finally completed and printed in November 1974 titled :


A CONSTITUTION FOR THE FEDERATION OF EARTH

In September 1976, the Drafting Commission of the Constitution issued a revised edition taking into consideration hundreds of opinions.

A number of Constitutions for World Government or World Authority have been written. Among the features that distinguish this draft are the following :

  1. Proposition is made for adequate powers and means to cope with the multitude of interrelated world problems that must be solved to serve the needs of humanity today and in years to come, not merely to "keep the peace" of a status quo.
  2. The World Government is specifically empowered and equipped to deal with all of the most urgent supranational problems that have come to the forefront in recent years.
  3. Both world elections and world administration are based upon "World Electoral and Administrative Districts" which emphasize world citizenship and equal rights for everybody, but do not interfere with the concurrent jurisdiction over the internal affairs of nations reserved to national government.
  4. The World parliament consists of a House of Peoples, a House of Nations, and a House of Counselors for particular purposes.
  5. The World Executive, with a five-member rotating Presidium, is at all times responsible to the World Parliament.
  6. The Federation of Earth is nonmilitary.
  7. The concept and procedures for distributive justice are given emphasis.
  8. Specific provisions is made for an Agency for Research and planning, an Institute for Governmental Procedures and World Problems, an Agency for Technological and Environment Assessment, and World Ombudsmen.
  9. Other unique features are incorporated in the several organs of the World Government, not as a replica of national governments, but for the particular purposes of a universal democratic government for Earth.
  10. this World Constitution is designed so that it can be implemented in stages - beginning with a provisional world Government and proceeding, according to built-in constitutional provisions, from stage to stage to full government.

Philip Isely, Secretary General
Reinhart Ruge, President


WORLD FEDERAL AUTHORITY COMMITTEE

The initiative to have this Committee established was taken by Dr. Max Habicht in a meeting in Zurich in December 1968 called by the World Constitution and Parliament Association. The formal establishment of the Committee took place in Horgen, Zurich, in December 1972 with the task, in cooperation with governments, to promote the development of an international institute for documentation and research on a democratically controlled world federal authority.

The tasks of the Institute are described to be as follows : Compiling and making better known proposals already made for the creation of a World Federal Authority, possibly by changes in existing international institutions.

Engaging in research on the structure and the powers of a World Federal Authority which could play an effective role in the elimination of war and its causes, the removal of social and economic disparities, the safeguarding and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the solution of ecological, demographic and other problems which are of common interest to all nations ; and presenting its conclusions in the form of a Draft World Constitution, or draft proposals for the setting up of a World Federal Authority, possibly by changes in existing institutions, for submission to the United Nations, the nation governments and the peoples of the world.

Exploring the possible ways and means for the realization of such a World Federal Authority.

The Institute shall be established with the financial support of governments and contributions from private sources from all parts of the world without geographical political, ideological or similar limitations. The Institute shall fulfill its task independently and act exclusively on its own responsibility.

The list of members and contacts is composed of 285 qualified individuals from 35 countries covering all continents. They include politicians on the highest levels, professors of law and social science and international problems and people in leading positions of national and international non-governmental organizations.

Financial support of the work of the Committee to have the Institute established has so far been received from the following 4 governments : The governments of Norway, of the Federal Republic of Germany, of Denmark and of Mexico, and from such a well known fund as Day oy Sten Hammarsköolds Fund which is conducted by the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament.

A first documentation on relevant material, including 517 books from 21 countries, has been produced by two Norvegian political scientists with financial support from the Nordic Cooperating Committee on Conflict and Peace Research in Stockholm. A growing number of contacts is being established with other efforts in the field. The known peace researcher Dr. Hanna Newcombe, Canada, has recently presented a manuscript "Design for a Better World" which on 340 pages offers the Institute a valuable introduction to the research work to be done.

The last general assembly of the Committee was held at Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen in September 1975 under the sponsorship of the foreign minister of Denmark K.B. Andersen. At this assembly the earlier secretary general advocate Aake Anker-Ording, Norway, was elected president of the Committee. Greetings of support were received by the assembly from people like Willy Brandt, the Federal Republic of Germany, senator Hubert H.Humphrey, USA, and Jeans Otto Krag, the earlier prime minister of Denmark.

The steering body of the Committee is now as follows :

Hon. President : Dr. Max Habicht, Switzerland

UN Liaison : Luther H.Evans, Pres. of World Federalists USA, former Dir. Gen. of UNESCO and Congress Librarian, USA

Vice-President : Professor Josif Antochi, Romania, Dean Stellan Arvidson, Sweden, Robert Y.Gromet, MD, USA, Sinichi Kato, World Cit. Ass., Japan, Advocate Hermod Lannung, Denmark, Professor Marion Mushkat, Israel, Ambassador, R.K. Nehru, India, Dr. Hanna Newcombe, Canada, Werner Steltzer, Federal Republic of Germany.

Additional Members of the Executive Board : Puran Singh Azad, MA.LLB. India, Professor Göran V.Bonsdorff, Finland, Chief William J.Falaiye Nigeria, Rev G.G.Grand, SJ, USA, Dr Santiago Gutierrez, Colombia, Philip Isely, Sec.Gen. World Constitution and Parliament Association, USA, Sir Lance Mallalieu QC, MP, England Guy Marchand, S.G. Com. Peoples' Congress, France, Theodore C.Pontzen, Dir. ARUWF, France, Civ. Engineer Reinhard Ruge, Mexico, Dr Milan Sahovic, Inst. of Internat. Pol and Econ. Yugoslavia, Advocate Ahmed K.Said, Egypt, Dr Nagendra Singh, Judge Internat. Court of Justice, the Hague, India.

Address of the Committee : President Aake Anker-Ording, Geimyrsveien 48, Oslo 4, Norway.

The Institute is now in the course of being established in Oslo.

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