New-Athens-Legal-Code/Readme.md

# New Athenian Legal Code

This repository contains the official **Legal Code** of the Free Nation of New Athens. It serves as the centralized, version-controlled system for publishing, organizing, and maintaining all statutory laws enacted under the authority of the Constitution.

The Legal Code is distinct from the Constitution, which defines the foundational structure of government, enumerates unalienable rights, and establishes the supreme principles of national governance. The Legal Code, by contrast, contains specific acts and regulations that implement, interpret, or expand upon powers already granted by the Constitution.

## Purpose

The New Athenian Legal Code is designed to:

- Serve as the authoritative public reference for all current laws outside the constitutional text  
- Provide a scalable and organized framework for future legislation  
- Maintain transparency and accountability through version history  
- Enable collaborative drafting, review, and amendment of statutory law  

## Legal Authority and Governance Model

New Athens is a constitutional monarchy. Under this system, the Constitution grants the Reigning Monarch broad executive authority, including the power to create ministries, appoint officials, and issue laws by royal decree.

However, Parliament, comprising all citizens with voting rights, also holds the authority to propose, deliberate, and pass legislation in all areas of national governance, provided the legislation:

- Does not contradict the Constitution  
- Receives a majority vote in accordance with Article XV  
- Receives Royal Assent by the Reigning Monarch before taking effect  

This model ensures that both the Monarch and the Parliament may legislate, with clearly defined roles:

- The **Monarch** may issue decrees and create ministries to manage executive and administrative functions  
- **Parliament** may legislate through the Legal Code to create policies, programs, and regulations for the nation, in addition to constitutional amendments  
- The **Legal Code** serves as the authoritative record of all such non-constitutional laws  

Laws recorded in the Legal Code may be repealed or revoked by either a royal decree issued by the Reigning Monarch or by parliamentary amendment passed in accordance with Article XV.

Only the currently active laws and policies are reflected in the living documents. Historical changes and repealed laws may be accessed through the Git version history.

## Structure

The Legal Code is divided into category-based documents. Each document is a living record of all active laws in its domain. New legislation is added to the relevant document as a new section, and any outdated provisions are directly modified or removed as necessary.

Each entry must begin with a standardized metadata header:

<pre>```
Title: [Full Title of the Act]  
Category: [Legal Code Category]  
Enacted By: [Parliament / Royal Decree / Ministerial Decree]  
Ratified By: Reigning Monarch  
Date Ratified: [Gregorian Date]  
NAD Date: [New Athenian Date]  
Status: [Proposed / Active / Failed / Vetoed / Repealed]  
```</pre>

Amendments are made by directly editing the relevant section of the living document. The repository's edit history serves as the complete legislative archive.

## Legal Code Categories and Acronyms

| **Code** | **Category Name**                | **Description**                                                                                 |
|----------|----------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| GOV      | Governance and Administration    | Internal government operations, appointments, records, and administrative policies             |
| CIT      | Citizenship                      | Naturalization, documentation, revocation, and related procedures                              |
| JUS      | Justice and Civil Order          | Legal systems, courts, enforcement, identification, and regulations on public behavior         |
| DIP      | Foreign and Diplomatic Affairs   | Diplomatic recognition, international treaties, and representation protocols                   |
| ECO      | Economy and Agriculture          | Fiscal policy, national economic programs, business regulation, and agricultural development   |
| EDU      | Education                        | Laws on public and private education, curricula, institutions, and educational standards       |
| HEA      | Health and Welfare               | Public health initiatives, medical regulations, and social well-being policies                 |
| INF      | Public Services and Infrastructure | Transportation, utilities, communications, and other essential public services              |
| SCI      | Science, Innovation, and Aerospace | Research, national scientific advancement, and aerospace initiatives                        |
| CUL      | Culture and National Identity    | National holidays, symbols, language, heritage, and ceremonial practices                       |
| ENV      | Territory and Environment        | Environmental protection, land use, geographic data, and territorial administration            |

Additional categories may be created as needed to support new legislation.

## Usage

This repository is intended for both public reference and internal legislative management. The public may browse the laws freely, while authorized legislative officials may propose edits or new legislation through tracked changes.

- To read the laws: Open the document corresponding to the category of interest  
- To propose changes: Submit a pull request or contact the Office of Legislative Affairs  
- To view legal history: Use the repository's commit history to review past versions and amendments  

## Contributing

Only authorized legislative personnel may directly modify this repository. Others may suggest changes by submitting pull requests, which will be reviewed in accordance with national legislative procedures.

## License

This repository is licensed under the [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).

You are free to:

- Share - copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format  
- Adapt - remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially  

Under the following terms:

- **Attribution** - You must give appropriate credit to the Free Nation of New Athens  
- **ShareAlike** - If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license  

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For questions or official requests, please contact the Speaker of the People at [speaker@newathensgov.org](mailto:speaker@newathensgov.org).

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