Show me your constitution baby!

[Little Dragon]

Imagine you and 100 survivors of a shipwreck, are stranded on an uninhabited pacific island, you could be here for months maybe years.

You need an Island Constitution to maintain law and order on the island. Everyone is agreed on this.
You are asked to draw up a prototype constitution for everyone to ratify with a democratic vote.
What would be it's core principles and values? How would you frame it?

This thread idea was brought to you by memories of my 1st year at law school. This question was asked of us, by our tutor.

 

[Secret Chief]

Article 1.
Look at my cat in the wrong way and I'll bury you on the beach in the sand up to your neck and wait for the tide to come in.

The rest is details.

 

[SalixIncendium]

What would be it's core principles and values?

1. Ahimsa.
2. Stay out of Salix's wardrobe.

How would you frame it?

Probably with local wood and a matte, since there is likely no glass available.

Kinda like this...

 

[Sand Dancer]

1. Don't eat my food.
2. See rule 1.

 

[Eddi]

Imagine you and 100 survivors of a shipwreck, are stranded on an uninhabited pacific island, you could be here for months maybe years.

You need an Island Constitution to maintain law and order on the island. Everyone is agreed on this.
You are asked to draw up a prototype constitution for everyone to ratify with a democratic vote.
What would be it's core principles and values? How would you frame it?

This thread idea was brought to you by memories of my 1st year at law school. This question was asked of us, by our tutor.

That would depend very much on conditions on the uninhabited pacific island and what resources are (or are not) available

I would need more info

Constitutions are practical things that relate to reality they don't happen in a vacuum

I mean would people have to scavenge for food and water? Or would such things be in abundance?

And what about the group of people? Are they just random people who happened to all be caught up in the same shipwreck or is there some pre-existing relationship between them all?

 

[SalixIncendium]

Constitutions are practical things that relate to reality they don't happen in a vacuum

I don't think they're be anywhere to plug one in to begin with.

 

[Secret Chief]

1. Ahimsa.
2. Stay out of Salix's wardrobe.

I don't think you need worry about number 2.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

Rule 1. Don't talk about fight club
Rule 2. Don't talk about fight club
... etc.

 

[Quintessence]

I'd start with land rights, something conspicuously absent from most governance documents. And by land rights I don't mean that silly nonsense where humans think they own land, I mean the rights of the actual land to be itself and flourish. On a small island, recognizing land rights would be extremely important as a failure to respect the spirits of the land has more immediate and severe consequences for any human population attempting to live there.

 

[Revoltingest]

Your right to swing your arms ends
where your neighbor's nose begins.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Your right to swing your arms ends
where your neighbor's nose begins.

So wait until your neighbor is bent over and swing low?

 

[Revoltingest]

So wait until your neighbor is bent over and swing low?

"Nose" is poetic. Don't swing your arms
into other things, eg, buttocks, ears, junk,
eyes, ribs.

 

[SalixIncendium]

"Nose" is poetic. Don't swing your arms
into other things, eg, buttocks, ears, junk,
eyes, ribs.

I can’t wait to read the rest of your “poetic” constitution to see what else is subject to interpretation.

 

[Stevicus]

We the People of this uncharted desert isle, in Order to form some sort of workable life while we wait to get rescued from this godforsaken place, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of getting off this island for ourselves and our Posterity (who hopefully won't be born until we're out of here), do ordain and establish this Constitution for this Merry Band of Castaways.

Article 1: Gilligan will hereby be outlawed. There will be no Gilligans on this island, and Gilliganism will be prohibited.

 

[Eddi]

As it would only be a small group I would just get everyone to agree that we vote on all decisions and that we respect each other at all times

If a motion carries more than 50% then it should be adopted

There would really be no need to draw up a formal constitution or to have elected offices, etc. and hopefully we would all only be stuck on that remote island for a short while....

There would be no need for it to descend into The Lord Of The Flies

I'd run it as a direct democracy

But what if one person assaulted or killed some other person? How would we deal with that? I think this is a more exciting question. We couldn't put them to death because if we were to be rescued whoever was the executioner would probably be charged with murder. And there would probably be no means of imprisoning them. And would it be possible for the rest of the group to put the offender through some kind of trial????

Perhaps we could exclude such an offender from the group, or maybe even deny him (or her) food or water? Or maybe just agree to report them to the authorities for their crime once we were all rescued?

But what if someone killed someone? Surely that would make them a danger to the group who would need neutralising? Perhaps there could be a lottery to decide who puts them to death? Without suitable execution apparatuses any execution would most likely be brutal, bloody, and painful. Like bashing their head in with a stone or something, or perhaps forcibly drowning them in the ocean?

I know this sounds morbid but I think these are interesting questions, more interesting than what the group would do for a constitution

Edit: If the group was smaller than 100 then perhaps everyone could close ranks as to who executed the murderer? If everyone outright denied doing it themselves whilst not incriminating any other person then whoever did it would get away with it. But I doubt this would work with 100 people, especially if they were all strangers prior to being stuck on the island.