Logocracy - Chapter 22: The Constituent Assembly

A permanent institution for a living law

The Danish Constituent Assembly (1864) Constantin Hansen.

In this chapter Lobaczewski briefly provides some features of a logocratic constitution, its creation and maintenance. It should, in brief,

• be based on knowledge of the laws of human nature and not any oversimplified schemas of humanity;

• be a living document, “undergoing the natural process of evolution and improvement”;

• be the supreme law of a nation, supra-parliamentary in nature, and superseded only by natural law;

• have the character of international law and govern the nature of international agreements;

• and be drafted by a permanent, supra-parliamentary institution, the constituent assembly, composed of various scholars and specialists (domestic and foreign) and experts in constitutional law.

Ideally, such a constitution would have developed naturally and thus remain unwritten, but because of the relatively recent development of the constitutional concept and out of practical needs (e.g. the development of 20th and now 21st century totalitarianisms), such a constitution will have to be written—like the vast majority of contemporary constitutions.

To ensure the constitution’s status as a living law, the constituent assembly will be a permanent institution, elected by the legislature and serving until retirement (like the wise council and education council). For Poland, Lobaczewski suggests around 40 members (33 domestic, 7 foreign). The assembly will meet yearly to discuss constitutional problems and make proposals to parliament, the wise council, and the constitutional court.

The constitutional court will be completely independent from the political branches, composed of judges appointed by the assembly from among its members and other eminent jurists. Its duty will be to uphold the constitutionality of all other legislation and government institutions.

As for the constitution’s initial drafting and adoption, the assembly will draft all three sections (preamble, part 1, and part 2). The preamble will be decided solely by the assembly. Part 1 will require a qualified majority in the senate and approval of the head of state. And Part 2 will be approved by national referendum. Constitutional changes should be relatively easy in regard to Part 2; changes to Part 1 should be rarer and require a lengthy process.

---

Chapter 22: The Constituent Assembly

The logocratic system, which is based on laws written in nature and on scientific knowledge of those laws, has its own permanent presuppositions, which do not depend on the will of the legislators and should remain so. If such a system had developed through a historical evolutionary process, the solutions and precedents developed and the logocratic consciousness of society could have sufficed in the absence of a written constitution. But if the development of historical conditions has gone in a different direction, leading to more primitive and doctrinaire forms of government, such an act, elaborated as it is, will be necessary, both because of the novelty of the constitutional concept and the need to present it to other nations and because of the practical need to establish the basis for detailed legislative solutions.

The characteristic refinement of law, the new style of thinking based on scientific knowledge of the laws of nature and on theoretical formulations of natural laws, as well as the new political solutions which the adoption of a logocratic system by a nation will bring about, should find their justification and establishment in a properly scientific and philosophically mature constitutional act. That is why I will continue to use the word “constitution” in the sense of such an act, and not, for example, in the sense of a state system, as it is sometimes understood in English.

Despite its unchanging foundations, the constitution of a logocratic state should remain a living law, undergoing the natural process of evolution and improvement that we recognize as a fundamental property of the logocratic system. This property will be properly inscribed in the logical structure of the constitution, which will be discussed in the next chapter. The fact that the constitution should be a living law will be represented by the permanent existence of a constituent assembly with the power to make improvements to this fundamental law.

The constitution is the supreme law of a country over which only natural law operates. Under these laws, all the authorities of the country operate and laws are passed by the parliament which cannot contradict them. The constitution is by its nature a supra-parliamentary law. It also regulates a country’s relations with other countries and international institutions. It is the basis for the ratification of international agreements. The constitution of any country has in part the character of international law. This property of the constitution will occur all the more clearly in a logocratic system. In federal states, the supra-parliamentary character of the constitution will be realized through the consent of the federated states for its amendments.

Can such a law be enacted by the same legislative bodies in the framework of which it is later to operate? Is a parliament composed of representatives of different political parties, representing the interests of different groups, often in a short-sighted manner, capable of legislating a constitution, especially a logocratic one? The answer is self-evident. The supreme law, which stands above the authorities of the country and determines the way they operate, should be drafted by a supra-parliamentary institution whose operation is subject to the criteria of scientific thinking. The proposed constitutional solution, therefore, adopts a method more consistent than, for example, the approval of the federal states, and appropriate also for non-federal countries, in the form of a constituent assembly that operates permanently and is an institution of a scientific nature.

A constitution that is to function efficiently without leaving loopholes and for as long as possible, perhaps centuries, must be drafted using all the available advances that modern philosophical thought, detailed science, and technology can provide. The constitution cannot be drafted even by the best experts in constitutional law, although they will be indispensable in its preparation. Their knowledge is turned to the past, which should pass as the logocracy develops. The constitution must also include eminent men of various contemporary specialties whose thought easily looks to the future.

Since the constitution of any country bears the characteristics of international law, and the logocratic constitution even more so, it could be drafted with the participation of scientists from friendly countries or, in the future, specialists delegated by a supranational authority. Their participation at this legislative level would represent the logocratic country’s bond with other nations of the world, and practically it would ensure the assistance of highly qualified scientists. Therefore, the stipulation that a constitution-making institution can be composed only of citizens of a country cannot be considered to be consistent with the nature of constitutional law and with the spirit of logocracy. Therefore, eminent philosophers, constitutionalists, representatives of biohumanities and other sciences also from abroad should be invited for this work.

One of the drawbacks of democratic constitutions is that their scheme oversimplifies and distorts complex social realities. Usually time and experience lead to some complexity in constitutional law. A logocratic constitution must at once be a law with a schema much more developed and organically complex, which can already be seen in the previously discussed concepts of constitutional solutions. Such a state of affairs must be regarded as arising from the laws of nature. Therefore, in the elaboration of this more complex pattern of dependencies in the operation of authorities, it will certainly be helpful to use modern electronic means.

How can these requirements be realized in practice? Every logocratic country should have a permanent and small council composed of eminent scientists with the participation of a few foreign scholars, which we have already called a constituent assembly. The members of the assembly are elected by the parliament or only by the senate from among the candidates put forward by scientific institutions, including foreign ones. The existence of such an assembly will be decided already in the first part of the constitution; its organization and the manner of electing its members will be determined in the second part. The activity of the members of this council should last for a long time so that they can benefit from their experience, usually until retirement age. They will be dismissed by the senate, possibly after consulting the council of the wise.

For Polish conditions I propose thirty-three members of this council, including seven foreign ones. In the beginning, the council will have to work hard; then, when the constitution comes into force, the members of the constituent assembly will take up various functions in scientific or social institutions. They will meet every year for a session, for a scientific discussion in the field of constitutional law problems, to study possible proposals of the parliament, the council of the wise, or the constitutional court, in order to improve the provisions of the constitution.

The constituent assembly would draft and enact all three parts of the constitution, the introduction, part one, and part two, the constitution act. These parts would be subject to different means of approval. The preamble would be passed by the constituent assembly alone, the first part would require a qualified majority vote in the senate and the signature of the president, or possibly the approval of a supranational power if it was structured in a fully trustworthy way. The second part, together with the previous parts, would be approved by a national referendum that would finally approve the introduction of a logocracy. The amendment of the first part will require a complicated and lengthy scientific procedure. The amendment of the second part will become easier and will be provided for by the provisions of the constitution.

The constituent assembly will uphold the constitutionality of the laws of parliament and the activities of state authorities, and will be the supreme appellate authority in this field. For the direct performance of these duties, the constituent assembly will appoint a constitutional court composed partly of members of the assembly and partly of other judges chosen from among eminent lawyers.

The constitutional court will thus act on behalf of the constituent assembly, which will give it complete independence from political factors, and will be based on the skills and authority of that institution. It will inform the constituent assembly directly about the difficulties of interpretation that have arisen and will be able to propose improvements to the wording of the constitution. With such a solution, the role of the constitutional court will fit better into the overall system of the logocratic state than it does in the existing democratic solutions.

The permanent existence of a constituent assembly will ensure the constitution of a logocratic state its scientific, supra-parliamentary character, based on natural law, independent of ad hoc political factors. Nevertheless, with such an institution, the constitution will remain a living law, capable of refinement of the first section and evolutionary amendment of the second.

Note: This work is a project of QFG/Red Pill Press and is planned to be published in book form.