The constitution of the Principality of Aigues-Mortes
The men and women united by the love of our city and in the desire to work for its happiness, declare by the grace of our good rosé: The creation of their playful, united and enterprising micronation which they name Principality of Aigues-Mortes.
Article 1: Definition of our Micronation
a) The Principality of Aigues-Mortes is a Micronation exercising its activities on the sole municipal territory of the City of Aigues-Mortes. Its establishment is linked to its mission to support and promote all local initiatives by relying on the creativity, solidarity, fraternity, genius and humor of its fellow citizens.
b) The regime of the principality is the constitutional monarchy exercising direct democracy. There can be no political parties to represent its citizens who all have the right to vote within the General Assembly as long as they register each year on the register of members of the LOUPAM Association. The first principle of the Principality is to be a citizen and apolitical.
c) The Principality of Aigues-Mortes establishes its governance and its management in an associative way to benefit from a legal status established by the French Republic on which it depends.
Article 2: Sovereignty of our Micronation and interaction with the French State
a) The Principality of Aigues-Mortes does not claim its sovereignty. However, its status as a micronation is declared to assert its own identity in order to stimulate, organize and finance the actions of its citizens in an independent and coherent manner.
b) Citizen action favored by the Principality of Aigues-Mortes is apolitical. It must be constructive and complementary to the local public authorities in the sole interest of advancing the city and the quality of life of its inhabitants. Whatever the municipality elected by the acute-mortais, the principality undertakes in its activities to be a force of proposal and not of contestation. The Principality cannot express political instructions and observes absolute neutrality during French electoral campaigns.
c) The governmental activity of the Principality must not interfere with that of the Commune. Its government focuses on micro-national affairs and the organization of the activities of the principality. When the interest of the Commune and its inhabitants requires it, the Principality can collaborate in a constructive and united spirit.
d) The Principality of Aigues-Mortes has the principle of seeking citizen action rather than the public authorities to create and carry out its collective projects, this is why it positions itself as an alternative and complementary citizen entity . Consequently and in accordance with this fundamental principle, subsidies from public authorities cannot be accepted by the Crown treasury, meaning the treasury of the LOUPAM Association.
e) The law recognized and applied by the Principality of Aigues-Mortes remains French law. In addition, the internal regulations of the LOUPAM association include rules to ensure respect, security and proper functioning within our community of people.
f) Principality citizenship cannot be opposed to the origin of each individual. It is only complementary to the latter.
Article 3: Fundamental Values and Principles
a) The Principality of Aigues-Mortes is faithful to universal human rights and rejects any form of discrimination against any human being.
b) The Principality of Aigues-Mortes owes its autonomy thanks to the action and solidarity of its citizens that it arouses to energize its territory of activity.
c) The citizens of the principality are deemed and recognized by the latter "Noble de coeur", therefore no citizen of acute-mortais can be a commoner and in accordance with our principle of equal rights, each acute-mortais can claim a title of nobility that he will be granted according to his place of residence or his deserving action. Equality is thus made from above.
d) The Principality of Aigues-Mortes values the respect and protection of the environment and makes every effort to ensure the proper application of these values
Section 4: Governance
a) The Sovereign and representative of the Principality of Aigues-Mortes is a Prince or a Princess.
b) The office of Sovereign is exercised for life and is hereditary. The first born child, male or female, is designated as the heir to the throne.
c) If the heir to the throne cannot be of direct descent, the Sovereign may adopt or designate his successor, however, a vote of the General Assembly must be pronounced in his favour. The vote of refusal must comprise 2/3 of the votes cast and the Corum must be reached. In case of refusal, the General Assembly will have the right to elect among two candidates that it will have selected beforehand. A period of one year must be observed between the session of the Designating General Assembly and that of the Electoral General Assembly. If the Sovereign dies between the two Assemblies, the Regency is ensured by the Princess his wife, if she dies in her turn, it is the Chancellor who must ensure the regency until the General Electoral Assembly.
d) In the event of physical or mental incapacity, the Sovereign has the right to abdicate. If the Sovereign were to suffer from a mental illness rendering him unfit to perform his duties and of which he is not aware, the General Assembly may be convened by the Chancellor in an extraordinary session to dismiss the Sovereign and allow a transfer of power to his heir. The impeachment vote must include 2/3 of the votes cast and the Corum must be reached. If there is no designated heir, the regency applies according to article 4c.
e) The governmental body of the Principality is called: "the Cabinet of the Prince" (or of the Princess). It is composed of :
A Chancellor to coordinate the actions of Cabinet members and assist the Sovereign on matters of internal affairs.
A Chamberlain for protocol matters and official communication from the Prince's Palace.
Several secretaries of the Prince according to the needs of the Cabinet.
f) The Chancellor is chosen and presented by the Prince before the General Assembly which gives his approval by vote for a period determined during the vote. Once approved, the Chancellor is in charge of forming and submitting a Cabinet to the Prince. A Chancellor may be appointed as many times as the Prince deems useful and the General Assembly approves.
g) Cabinet secretaries are presented to the Prince by the Chancellor, who is in charge of pre-selecting them to form the Prince's Cabinet. The Sovereign validates and retains the right to dismiss any secretary of the Prince who does not fulfill the function he/she occupies in a satisfactory manner.
h) A secretary to the Prince no longer wishing to serve in the Cabinet must submit his resignation to the Chancellor who is responsible for the organization of the Cabinet of the Prince. The Chancellor must then find his replacement and present him to the Prince for approval within his cabinet.
i) A secretary to the Prince ends his mandate at the end of that of the Chancellor who introduced him to the Prince to join his Cabinet.
j) In accordance with article 1c of the constitution, the legal responsibility of the principality is endorsed by the Sovereign and the Chancellor, in turn President and Secretary General of the association of the Principality of Aigues-Mortes known as name of LOUPAM. the other members of the Cabinet not having legal status, the latter cannot be decision-makers on budgetary questions and are subject to the safety of persons during events organized by the Principality.
k) The interaction between the General Assembly of citizens (the parliament), the Sovereign and the Chancellor is governed by the statutes of the association LOUPAM which are considered as an integral part of the Constitution.
l) The treasurer of the association LOUPAM, known as "Treasurer of the Crown", must receive the approval of the General Assembly to take office. His integration process is identical to that of the other secretaries of the Prince.
m) The Keeper of the Seals is the Prince's Secretary for Justice. He is the guarantor of the correct application of the rules of procedure and all their modifications voted by the General Assembly. Due to the size of our micronation, he is the representative of Justice and alone in charge of leading a judgment and applying a sanction as provided for by the rules of procedure.
n) The nobiliary code and all that refers to the Aigues-Mortese nobility and the management of titles remain the prerogative of the Prince and not of the Minister of Justice. However, the Sovereign cannot interfere with the loss of a rank linked to the non-annual re-registration of a citizen.
Section 5: Citizenship
a) Aigues-mortese citizenship is acquired for all people who recognize themselves in the values of the principality and wish to support its action by becoming a member of its association LOUPAM.
b) Citizenship is acquired from the first contribution to the LOUPAM association. It is kept for life from the first membership which is accompanied by an entry payment of €20 to participate in the Common Treasury of the Crown, thus called the Treasury of the association. It is lost by death, by the will expressed or by mail of an individual.
c) The rules of procedure of the LOUPAM integrate the moral values observed by our micronation, the non-respect of its values can be a reason for revocation and loss of citizenship if behaviors offend or incite unrest within our community of individuals.
d) Citizens who have renewed their annual memberships with the LOUPAM association, obtain the status of "member-citizen". Citizen members sit in the General Assembly in which they have the right to vote.
e) Citizens of the Principality who do not renew their membership in the LOUPAM association lose their voting rights and their rights of precedence. They cannot be part of the Cabinet or sit in the General Assembly. Their citizenship status is retained but their title is re-evaluated to be placed at that of Knight for men and Dame for women. .
f) In accordance with article 3c of the constitution, all citizens of the principality are entitled to a title of nobility according to their place of residence. This is granted by letter patent signed by the Sovereign. Only the Sovereign has the authority to grant or withdraw a title in cases of high treason or crimes.
g) Citizens have the right to choose their coat of arms to match their title. If this choice is not expressed, the service of the nobility proceeds to a study of the name of the person concerned to assign him his coat of arms.
h) Titles of nobility are a constitutional right granted to every citizen who cannot be charged for benefiting from them.
i) The title is officially recognized within the Principality of Aigues-Mortes only at the time of delivery of the letter patent to its holder.
Article 6: National symbols and identity
a) The official language of the Principality of Aigues-Mortes is French. the recognized heritage languages are Occitan and Provençal.
b) The national motto is "I see life in pink!"
c) The national anthem of the Principality of Aigues-Mortes is the "Coupo Santo", anthem of the Felibre nations.
d) The national flag of the principality is as follows:
The blue, royal and navy color represents both King Saint Louis, founder of the city and the port open to the sea. The white symbolizes the salt which made the city's fortune. Finally the Camargue cross recalling the Camargue culture and its values of faith, charity and hope.
e) The Grand Coat of Arms of the Principality are as follows:
The large coat of arms are for use in official and princely ceremonies. They are also used for the Prince's official correspondence with other micronations. They embody the principality.
f) The coat of arms or small coat of arms is as follows:
The small coat of arms is used by the Cabinet and other official institutions like consulates and embassies.
Article 7: Law and legislation
a) The law applied in the Principality of Aigues-Mortes is French law. The Principality of Aigues-Mortes has the status of a non-profit association under the 1901 law. This association bears the name of LOUPAM (Lou Principat Aigo Morto)
b) The Prince and the Chancellor are President and Secretary General of LOUPAM. This implies their civic responsibility for all activities carried out by the Principality of Aigues-Mortes in the form of an association.
c) The laws of the French Republic prevail over the laws of the principalities which only apply within its community framework. The law of the country of residence always takes precedence over that of the principality which is not recognized as a sovereign state.
d) Parliament legislates and consults on issues related to the management and life of the LOUPAM association, which de facto constitutes the crown treasury.
d) The principality's constitutional law only applies within the community it constitutes.
Article 8: State Religion
a) The Principality of Aigues-Mortes de facto attributes an additional state religion to all its citizens: Catalcoholism.
b) Catalcoholism is a religion created to unite and fraternize men and women regardless of their religion of origin. It is therefore considered a pillar of national unity.
c) Every citizen has the right to keep and practice their original religion if they so wish. He cannot, however, derogate from the practice of catalcoholism, the basic precept of which is: "Love your neighbor and drink his wine!"
d) The princely family is designated legitimate according to the precepts of the catalcoholic religion and of no other, hence the fact that the Sovereign is recognized as such "By the Grace of our good rosé" and not "by the grace of God".
Article 9: Defense of territory and institutions
a) Declaring itself neutral and not being a sovereign state, the Principality of Aigues-Mortes does not have an army.
b) The Prince's Guard is the only body of militia available to the Principality. Its purpose is to follow and protect the princely family in its ceremonial functions, but also to participate in specific charitable actions.
c) The Prince is the supreme head of the princely guard. He designates and appoints a Captain of the Prince's Guard to lead it on his behalf.
d) The Captain of the Prince's Guard must be of aigues-mortese citizenship to be able to hold this position.