Civil Code 2025

Civil Code 2025

Part I - People and Entities

Article I. Provisions

§1. The Civil Code includes the legal provisions that determine the rights of individuals, as persons, their obligations, contracts and civil actions.

§2. Ignorance of the law is no excuse to disregard it.

Article II. Natural Person

§1. A natural person is any member of r/SimDemocracy that isn’t a bot, that's recognized as having rights and obligations under the law from the moment they join r/SimDemocracy and its associated servers.

§2. Every natural person has the capacity to acquire rights and assume obligations, except as limited by law.

Article III. Rights of a Natural Person

§1. The right to identity, including their name and personal data.

§2. The right to privacy and protection from unauthorized use of their image or information.

§3. The right to enter into legal agreements and own property.

§4. Right to the £1.50 steak bake.

Article IV. Legal Entity

§1. A legal entity is an organization or association recognized by law as having rights and obligations separate from its members.

§2. Legal entities include, but are not limited to:

§2.1. Private Entities, Corporations, associations, and foundations,

§2.2. Public Entities, Government agencies and institutions,

§2.3. Hybrid Entities, Organizations that function under both public and private law.

Article V. Rights of a Legal Entity

§1. A legal entity has the right to enter into contracts, and engage in legal proceedings.

§2. It must comply with the laws governing its formation, operation, and dissolution.

Part II - Obligations

Article I. Definitions

§1. An obligation is a legal relationship in which a debtor is bound to provide, do, or refrain from doing something for the benefit of a creditor, in accordance with the law or an agreement.

Article II. Sources of Obligations

§1. Obligations shall arise from any of the following;

§1.1. Legal Transaction: A declaration of will of one or more people that seeks to achieve a legal effect.

§1.2. Torts: Liability for harm caused to others due to negligence or intent.

§1.3. Legal Provisions: Duties imposed by law, including administrative and governance-related obligations.

Article III. Extinction of Obligations

§1. Obligations may be extinguished through any one of the following means;

§1.1. Performance: The debtor fulfilling their duty as agreed.

§1.2. Compensation: Mutual obligations canceling each other out.

§1.3. Remission: Voluntary forgiveness of the debt by the creditor.

§1.4. Force Majeure: When fulfillment is rendered impossible due to extraordinary circumstances beyond the debtor’s control.

Article IV. Liability for Non-Performance

§1. If a debtor fails to fulfill an obligation, they are liable for damages unless they prove that performance was impossible due to external causes beyond their control.

Part III - Contracts

Article I. Provisions

§1. A contract is a voluntary agreement between two or more people or legal entities to enter into a legal relationship to produce a legal effect.

§2. Valid contracts are legally binding and must be performed in good faith. They may only be modified or terminated by mutual agreement or by causes established by law.

§3. Contracts are rendered null and void if;

§3.1 The contract requires one or both parties to engage in illegal activity.

§3.2. One party deceives the other into signing the contract.

§3.3. A party to the contract was under duress or undue influence at the time of signing.

§3.4. The contract requires actions that are impossible to fulfill.

§3.5. Both parties misunderstand key terms of the contract.

§3.6. There is no exchange of value between the parties.

§4. Contracts must be interpreted according to the good faith of the parties, the common intention behind their terms, and prevailing customs in similar agreements.

Article II. Formation

§1. Contracts may be formed verbally or through writing, provided they fulfill the necessary legal requirements.

§2. A contract is valid only if it meets the following requirements:

§2.1. The voluntary and informed agreement of the parties.

§2.2. The legal ability of the parties to enter into a contract.

§2.3. A lawful, possible, and determined or determinable subject matter.

§2.4. A legitimate and lawful reason for the contract’s existence.

§3. A contract is formed when an offer is made and accepted without modification. Acceptance must be communicated through the agreed or customary means.

§4. Consent is invalid if obtained through,

§4.1. A fundamental mistake about the nature or terms of the contract.

§4.2. Deception intended to induce the other party into the contract.

§4.3. Coercion that forces a party into agreement against their free will.

§4.4. Taking advantage of a party’s vulnerable position to impose unfair terms.

§5. A government contract shall not be invalidated solely on the grounds of §4.4 unless;

§5.1. A preliminary judicial review by an inferior court determines that there is substantial evidence of improper government pressure,

§5.2. The plaintiff can demonstrate, with clear and convincing evidence, that the government applied undue pressure that left no reasonable alternative for the contracting party.

Article III. Termination of Contracts

§1. Contracts cease their legal effects by any of the following;

§1.1. When all obligations are fulfilled.

§1.2. When parties consent to end the contract.

§1.3. When a breach justifies dissolution.

§1.4. When the agreed term or condition for termination is met.

§2. When a contract is rescinded, the parties must restore what they received under the agreement unless restitution is impossible or unjust.

Article IV. Breach and Liability

§1. A breach occurs when a party fails to perform their contractual duties. The injured party may demand;

§1.1. Enforcement of the contract as agreed.

§1.2. Compensation for losses caused by the breach.

§1.3. Rescission of the contract with restitution where applicable.

§2. A party is not liable for breach if performance is rendered impossible due to unforeseen and unavoidable events beyond their control.

Article V. Modification

§1. A contract may be modified or replaced by a new one if all parties agree and the modification meets legal requirements.

Part IV - Civil Process

Article I. Civil Jurisdiction

§1. People and Entities of SimDemocracy may only have civil claims filed against them for the following reasons:

§1.1. The infractions of the law were committed in r/SimDemocracy and its associated territories,

§1.2. The infraction of the law directly affected r/SimDemocracy or its associated territories, or

§1.3. The infraction of the law occurred in direct messages between two or more members of r/SimDemocracy.

Article II. Burden of Proof

§1. The burden of proof in all civil cases is the balance of probabilities, defined as being more likely true than false.

§2. For a defendant to be found liable in a civil hearing, the plaintiff must prove on the balance of probabilities that their claim is truthful and that the defendant is liable for the damages incurred by the plaintiff.

§3. A rebuttable presumption is taken as true until proven false. It may be rebutted on the balance of probabilities, unless otherwise specified.

Article III. Civil Case Procedure

§1. The plaintiff will seek charges most applicable for the facts presented.

§2. In a case where one action fits many torts, all may be pursued by the plaintiff.

§3. If the tort pursued by the plaintiff is not appropriate for a given violation, but another tort is, the presiding judge has the duty to inform the plaintiff to refile their lawsuit under the more applicable tort.

§4. If there are multiple torts committed by an accused person; they are to be tried in a single civil hearing where practicable.

§5. The remedy is to be individually determined by whether the accused is liable for each tort; and the remedy is to be all of the remedies for all of the charges added together.

§6. By voluntary agreement of both parties, the civil case may be settled outside of court.

Article IV. Remedies and Damages

§1. Remedies may be given as damages, which are to be given in amounts of Tau and time in days to pay, or as an injunction, or both.

§2. A remedy issued by a court takes force the moment it is declared.

§3. The presiding judge will decide if the actions described warrant an injunction.

§4. In the initial filing of a suit, the plaintiff has the opportunity to declare desired damages.

§5. Damages are to be assigned if the defendant's actions have caused an undue financial or social burden on the plaintiff, or if the tort in question assigns such.

§6. The presiding judge decides on the final amount of damages to be assigned to the defendant if he is found liable.

§7. The final amount of damages will not exceed the amount stated in the plaintiff’s initial request.

§7.1. Should the plaintiff have no initial request for damages, the amount is not to exceed a month’s wages for the President of SimDemocracy, or an equivalent high-paying role should the President be unpaid.

§8. No provision regarding money and damages will apply when there is no economy in r/SimDemocracy.

§9. The presiding judge will rely on his best professional judgment to offer remedies within the bounds set by legislation and fair and proportional to the tort committed.

§10. No natural person or legal entity may be relieved of liability for violating the law only because it was unaware of its content.

Article V. Statutory Defences

§1. Statutory defenses contained are mitigating factors in considering remedies.

§2. Necessity is a statutory defence where a tort has been committed in order to prevent greater harm. To be accepted, the defendant must prove that

§2.1. The social harm of the tort he sought to avoid is higher than the social harm of the tort he has been charged with,

§2.2. The defendant had no reasonable alternative,

§2.3. The defendant ceased to engage in the prohibited conduct as soon as the danger passed, and

§2.4. The defendant did not himself create the danger he sought to avoid.

§2.5. If the defence of necessity is accepted, the remedy for a tort may be nullified entirely, or reduced at the discretion of the presiding judge.

§3. [Not included in legislation when passed]

§4. Consent is a statutory defence where a tort was done by the defendant to one who voluntarily and knowingly consented to it and remained consenting throughout the whole process of the action.

§4.1. If the defence of consent is accepted, the defendant is to be held not liable.

Part V - Torts

Article I. Defamation

§1. Defamation is the act of knowingly communicating false or misleading statements, or lying by omission, about a person or entity with the intent to cause harm.

§2. Statements made in jest or sarcastically without malicious intent are not defamation.

§3. Disseminating defamatory statements with the reasonable belief that they were true is exempt, unless the defendant was willfully blind to the statement’s defamatory nature.

§4. The damages available for defamation shall be payment for any salary or business lost if applicable along with payment for any reputational damage suffered as determined by the court based upon the following factors :

(a) the nature and gravity of the defamation;

(b) the conduct, position and standing of the plaintiff and the defendant;

(c) the mode and extent of publication;

(d) the natural indignation of the court at the injury caused to the plaintiff;

(e) the conduct of the defendant from the time the defamatory statement is published to the very moment of the verdict;

(f) whether an apology and retraction of the defamatory statement was made;

(g) the presence of malice; and,

(h) Such other factors as the court may consider necessary.

The Court may also require the defendant to retract the statement publicly.

Article II. Wrongful Dismissal

§1. Wrongful dismissal is the termination of an employee who did not warrant termination.

§2. The defendant must prove just cause for the termination.

§3. Damages for wrongful dismissal are payment for any salary or business lost.

Article III. Withheld Salary

§1.Withheld salary is the lack of complete payment to an employee of an entity for three (3) or more days following the expected payday.

§2. Damages for withheld salary are payment to the plaintiff of double the salary withheld.

§3. Withheld salary for the purposes of tax payment is not covered by this article.

Article IV. Breach of Contract

§1. Breach of contract is the infringement of the terms of a legal contract, including a failure to fulfill obligations.

§2. Damages for breach of contract is payment to the plaintiff up to double the demonstrated value of the contract.

Article V. Impersonation

§1. Impersonation is acting as another in order to mislead a legal entity of one’s identity or powers for malicious purposes.

§2. Remedies available for impersonation are an injunction against the actions resulting from impersonation as well as payment for any salary or business lost, if applicable.

Article VI. Violation of Privacy

§1.A violation of privacy is the release of non-public information about an entity without the consent of the entity.

Article VII. Uncompensated Expropriation

§1. Uncompensated expropriation is the direct or indirect expropriation of private property which has not been abandoned by the State without fairly compensating the affected parties.

§2. Damages for uncompensated expropriation are two times fair compensation for the private property and/or business lost.

Article VIII. Breach of Police Accountability

§1. The following constitute a breach of police accountability:

§1.1. Failing to follow procedure as required by law in exercising emergency banning powers,

§1.2. Exercising the powers of the SimDemocracy Bureau of Investigation in a way that constitutes gross misconduct, or

§1.3. Breaching a duty of care owed to the public to ensure that proper standards are enforced within the SBDI and that unlawful orders are not issued.

§2. Only the SDBI Director and the Attorney General have a duty of care under § 46.3. Breach of Civil Rights

Article IX. Breach of Civil Rights

§1. A breach of civil rights is committed when a government employee or employees, or a governmental body, violates a citizen’s or a group of citizens’ constitutional or statutory rights, and does so with intention or recklessness.

§2. A person may be held liable for breach of civil rights even if he was not acting in an official governmental capacity if he nevertheless exercised powers associated with a current or former governmental position, or if he had knowledge of the violation of civil rights but failed to report such, or if he was unaware of the violation of civil rights due to negligence, or if he failed to take reasonable action to prevent violations of civil rights.

Article X. Torts under Common Law

§1. If there is no appropriate statutory or common law tort, the plaintiff may propose for a new tort to be recognized under common law.

§2. In the announcement of the suit, the plaintiff must specify the proposed tort and the remedies sought.

§3. In the verdict, a judge may choose to recognize the proposed tort under common law, or not. If the proposed tort is recognized, the judge must specify the name of the tort and a definition in the verdict.

§4. All torts under common law are subject to appeal and review by the Supreme Court.

§5. This article is not to be construed to affect the statutory powers of the Senate, who may choose to codify common law torts into the Civil Code, and who may choose to repeal common law torts at its discretion.

Appendix

Appendix I

§1. The Civil Code 2020 is repealed in its entirety.

Appendix II

§1. Article 9 of the Commerce Actualizations Act is repealed in its entirety.

§2. The Government Contracts System Act shall be regulated under this Civil Code.

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Authored by u/Sorry_IamNotCreative

Passed by the Senate on 15 March 2025

Signed by the President on 16 March 2025