The Crescent
News from Packilvania
Friendship Act Published for Public Comment
Rabeed Furmahad
Yesterday, the Minister of Home Affairs, Yadika Bedon, gazetted the Friendship Bill for public comment.
The Friendship Bill aims to “recognise and protect friendships, enable and formally recognise the sharing of responsibilities between and delegation of decision-making overs ones affairs to friends, and protecting friendship from being unfairly construed as a deviant relationship”.
The bill defines a formal friendship i.e., “luSolishme luBas” as “a relationship between two same-sex friends where they share a deep bond”. The basis for the act lies in scripture. The Bas Magdamar often places friendship at the centre of building community and manifesting the harmony and love that exists within the Hive while on Urth. There are social customs between friends and fatwas concerning friendship within the canon law of Paxism. However, this law aims to consolidate, formalise and add to that framework. It further aims to provide mechanisms for people to address challenges relating to modern-day problems, namely: living alone, unmarried, far from family without their support, and orphans, or people estranged from their families.
According to this bill, best friends would be allowed to
- Register their best friend as a dependent on private medical aid
- Register their best friend as a nominee on private retirement investments and as a beneficiary on investment and insurance accounts
- Register a best friend as an emergency contact for medical emergencies
- Delegate decision-making over emergency medical procedures where the primary is unconscious or unresponsive to a best friend
- Allow a best friend the same hospital visitstion rights as relatives
- Allow best friends to be treated as a joint pair when opening a bank account, leasing an apartment, purchasing property or taking out a loan
- Allow their best friend to be treated as a dependent for the purpose of sequestrating an estate without a will
- Allow their best friend to act as a legal guardian for their child if they are a single parent (i.e., the other parent is deceased, missing or imprisoned).
It amends the Sexual Deviants Criminal Laws Act by removing provisions for the following acts to be considered prima facie or admissible evidence for homosexuality:
- Living together with a same-sex friend for a long time
- Demonstrating public affection with a same-sex friend (this is to be handled under public decency laws, generally)
- Sharing a bed
- Spending money on lavish or even superficially romantic gifts on ones friends
- Written or verbal, public or private declarations of seemingly romantic love and affection.
It completely removes the validity of the witness testimony of four men evidence of sodomy. Instead, it requires videographic or DNA evidence, which can only be acquired by court order. Only the Imperial Procuratorate may bring charges. The witness testimony of eight adult men or 12 adult women is required to open a case, but cannot serve as evidence. Note that pedastry and pedophilia involving adults and minors of the same gender is to be handle by a different act.
The government would allow people to register as best friends under the act at a majhid, public library, police station, commissioner of oaths, or Home Affairs branch. Some provisions of the Marriage Act, Children’s Act, the Parent’s Act and Public Decency Act supercede the Friendship Act. The law does not prejudice rights between non-registered friends as afforded by other laws, acts and social customs.
Although mutual consent is required for two adults to be registered as best friends, one friend may unilaterally terminate the best friendship.