BE IT ENACTED by His Excellency The Lord High Chancellor, with the Advice and Consent of His Excellency's Council, and by the authority of the same, as follows—

Chapter 1 Preliminary

1 Short title

This Act may be cited as the Chancellery Act 2019.

2 Official name of Gabon

1. The official name of the country is the Chancellery of Gabon.
2. Any reference in any Act to the Grand Mercantile Republic of the Autonomous Free Sovereign State of Gabon, the Abode of Peace shall be taken as a reference to the Chancellery of Gabon.

3 Supremacy of Act

1. To the extent that there is any inconsistency between this Act and a relevant treaty, this Act shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, prevail.
2. In this section—
   relevant treaty means—
   1. The Treaty Effecting a Transition of Government for the Principality of Gabon through Cession of Lands to the Grand Duchy of Varkonia; and
   2. The Treaty of Peace for the Grand Mercantile Republic of the Autonomous Free Sovereign State of Gabon, the Abode of Peace; and
   3. The Treaty for a Transition of Government to bring to a conclusion to the Civil War in Gabon.

Chapter 2 The Heads of Gabon

Part 1 The Lord High Chancellor

4 Establishment

1. There is a Lord High Chancellor.
2. The Lord High Chancellor is the Head of State.
3. The Lord High Chancellor—
   1. is the symbol of the unity and permanence of Gabon; and
   2. arbitrates and moderates the regular functioning of the institutions, assumes the highest representation of Gabon in international relations and exercises the functions expressly conferred on him by the laws; and
   3. shall represent Gabon in all its relations with foreign countries, with the advice of the Lord’s Council.

5 Style

The Lord High Chancellor shall be referred to—

1. in text—as His Excellency The Lord High Chancellor of the Chancellery of Gabon; and
2. in conversation—
   1. for the first time—as Lord High Chancellor;
   2. otherwise—as Your Excellency.

6 International affairs

1. The Lord High Chancellor may negotiate treaties on behalf of Gabon.
2. Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Lord High Chancellor must not conclude a treaty without the prior approval of the Lord’s Council where—
   1. the treaty would cede territory of Gabon, alienate Gabonese property, or affect sovereign rights or prerogatives of Gabon; or
   2. impose a new burden on Gabon or its citizens; or
   3. assume an obligation that would limit the rights of the citizens of Gabon.
3. The Lord High Chancellor shall accredit ambassadors and envoys extraordinary to foreign powers, and foreign ambassadors and envoys extraordinary shall be accredited to him.

7 Powers

1. The Lord High Chancellor shall be vested with plenary executive power.
2. The Lord High Chancellor, without limiting the generality of subsection (1), may—
   1. conduct diplomatic affairs; and
   2. grant citizenship; and
   3. appoint representatives to the Varkonian senate; and
   4. delegate, in writing, any of the Chancellor’s powers or duties to any citizen of Gabon.
3. This section must be read in conjunction with section 6, the latter prevailing.

Part 2 The Vice Chancellor

8 Establishment

1. There is a Vice Chancellor.
2. The Vice Chancellor is the Head of Government.

9 Style

The Vice Chancellor shall be referred to—

1. in text—as The Right Honourable The Vice Chancellor of the Chancellery of Gabon; and
2. in conversation—as Vice Chancellor.

Chapter 3 The Lord’s Council

Part 1 Preliminary

10 Lord’s Council

There shall be a group of persons which shall be named the Lord’s Council.

Part 2 Membership

11 Constitution of the Lord’s Council

1. The Lord’s Council shall be composed of three councillors.
2. The Lord High Chancellor and the Vice Chancellor are ex officio members of the Lord’s Council but do not count towards the membership quota of the Council.

12 Qualifications of members

1. A person shall be eligible to be a councillor if they—
   1. are a citizen of Gabon; and
   2. are not a member of the government of any foreign nation; and
   3. are not currently serving a court-imposed sentence in relation to a criminal offence against Gabon’s laws; and
   4. have ordinarily been a resident of Gabon for at least three days immediately preceding; and
   5. have not been effectively resigned from the Council in at least three days immediately preceding.
2. The Council may make legislation to provide additional required qualifications of councillors

13 Vacancies

1. If a councillor becomes ineligible to remain a councillor, their place shall automatically become vacant.
2. A councillor may by writing addressed to the Lord High Chancellor resign their place which shall become vacant at its earliest five days after service.
3. The place of a councillor shall become vacant if for ten consecutive days the councillor fails to contribute to the Council.
4. The superior court of record may, on application of a councillor, provide a declaration on whether a councillor’s position became vacant under this section.
5. Whenever a vacancy happens in the Council, the Lord High Chancellor shall appoint a member to fill the vacancy with the appointment extending no longer than the original councillor’s term would have lasted.

Part 3 Powers

14 Legislation

1. The plenary legislative power of Gabon shall be vested in the Lord’s Council.
2. Any councillor shall be able to summon a meeting of the Council on an ad hoc basis for the purposes of tabling, debating and passing legislation.
3. The presence of at least half of the councillors and one of the Lord High Chancellor or the Vice Chancellor shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the Council for the exercise of its legislative powers.

15 Motions

There shall be no requirement for motions to be seconded after they are presented to the Lord’s Council.

Part 4 Elections

16 Timezone

The timezone for elections is Greenwich Mean Time.

17 Elections must be held

1. An election for all positions on the Lord’s Council must be held every 3 calendar months.
2. All councillors must resign their positions at the election.
3. The first election shall be held on 25 November 2019.

18 Polling

1. The polls must open on a Monday and remain open until close of business Wednesday.
2. All persons who are citizens of Gabon at the opening of the polls are eligible to vote.
3. The Lord High Chancellor must—
   1. prior to the opening of the polls, designate a building within the territory of Gabon to be the polling station; and
   2. within a reasonable time after designating the polling station, cause a sign (the polling sign) to be placed within the polling station reading “GABON ELECTION”, “POLLING STATION”, “[date the polls open]”; and
   3. declare in an announcement channel in the Gabon Discord that the polls are open, the dates of the polls and the name of the designated polling station.
4. To cast a vote in the election, a voter must, after the opening of polling but prior to the close of polling—
   1. take a screenshot of the voter standing in front of the polling station, with the text of the polling sign clearly visible; and
   2. send a copy of the screenshot to the election channel in the Gabon Discord accompanied with the names of the candidates the voter wishes to elect.

19 Counting

1. After the close of polling, the Lord High Chancellor must cause the votes to be counted.
2. As soon as possible after the votes have been counted, the Lord High Chancellor must inform the citizens of Gabon of the results of the election.
3. Councillors take office once the election results have been declared.

Chapter 4 Transition

20 Transition

At the time this Act takes effect—

1. the Lord High Chancellor shall remain in office;
2. the Leader of the Executive Council shall become the Vice Chancellor;
3. the members of the Executive Council shall become councillors of the Lord’s Council.

Endnotes:

This Act was enacted by His Excellency with the advice of the Lord's Council, and entered into force, on 9 January 2019.

This Act was repealed by the Constitution of Gabon 2020 on 6 November 2020.