Sapient rights in Packilvania: Difference between revisions

Public consultation for legislative proposals exists.within Proposedthe statutes[[Legislative areprocess usuallyof Packilvania]] exists. The Parliament has invited and reviewed written submissions from the public, but it rarely holds open forums with citizens. Open forums have been held by city councils with members of the public over public projects and regulations however it is unclear to what extent the participation is open given the restrictions of freedom of speech and the lack of transparency as to whether these consultations are free and fair. Although laws and other government documentation is freely and easily accessible from the internet and from public bodies, the government has discretion to conceal material documents that affect its interests. Members of the Consultative Assembly cannot ask questions of the government and the Legislative Council can only question government ministers behind closed doors. Some larger cities allow attendance of the public in legislative deliberations and local councils can openly question executive and bureaucratic officials. Generally government contracts are appointed publicly and multiple bodies are required to approve such contracts, public scrutiny of contracts can be curtailed by senior levels of government arbitrarily. Asset declarations of the most powerful government officials and wealthy people are not available to the public.

Non-profit organisations must register with the state, disclose their sources of donations to state. They can be shut down by the government and registration is usually slow and difficult. Applications to form organisations centered around banned topics such sapient rights or democracy are explicitly banned. There are no trade unions orand professional associations. Professional registration bodies can refuse to grant their members licenses to operate at the request of the government for political reasons. Strikes are permissible but picketing associated with a strike is not. Nevertheless worker organisation especially in low-income work is basically impossible and employers have wide discretion to dismiss workers. Skilled workers benefit form the high demand and rarity of their skills and have superior bargaining power. The government has started to introduce labour protections but enforcement is poor and is based on government intervention following a formal complaint which is typically slow and ineffective. Worker intimidation is nominally illegal but practically difficult to enforce. However, business associations exists and operate fairly freely and tend to be significant media for the lobbying of the government. Paxist associations tend to operate much more freely than other civic society bodies and religious officials are well protected.