Local prerogative: The One Winged Angel form

[Ari Rahikkala]

Well, it's been a long time in the coming. Elwynn did most of the political work of convincing Iskander it's time to leave in their official duchal government. Straylight just doesn't fit in the feudal system no matter which way I try to jam it in. And Kildare, oh, Kildare actually has a legislature that can veto its Duke in the Landsraad. Yardistan and Brookshire are the only Duchies that haven't showed any signs of needing this reform so far, but the way the winds are blowing, I wouldn't be surprised if they were looking for a legal way to limit the powers of their Duke too.

This bill introduces duchal governments as the new guys at the top of the game, turning Shireroth into a real honest-to-goodness federal state (just one with terribly few constitutional protections for the member states). Dukes become merely the appointed representatives of their governments to the Landsraad. Kinda senator-ish, just named in a niftier way. However (and I put this bit in the bill itself too just as a matter of clarification although it's really allowed by default) Dukes will be the government of their Duchy by default. If you want to keep your autocratic power as a Duke, you can, and by default will - the difference is, if you give it away to a duchal government now, the power actually *will* pass to them, irrevocably unless they happen to want to give it back.

The bill is anything but complete yet. It just handles the basics and cleans up the first two places I thought of (local Judexes, and subforums). I tried to write it in a legally sound way, i.e. avoid the usual "x may do y" (the places where I put those in are essentially policy suggestions and clarifications - they have little legal significance). Also, it's full of bits where I might have said "except as set in the Charter" but, really, that's implied over all the laws anyway, so I couldn't be bothered to spam it everywhere.

Aaaaaalso, it removes quite a few random bits that don't really need to be removed but that could probably use a bit of rewriting (either in general or specifically for the implications of this bill), or some legal thought about whether they're really necessary at all. Noble marriage and the requirement that Dukes can't call for an overthrow of the government spring to mind.

Behold: It is big! It is complicated! It shakes things to the very core of Shireroth! It is perhaps the final form of development toward consistent local prerogative!

Chapters 1.2 (subdivision) and 1.3 (nobles) shall be stricken and replaced with the following:

Chapter 1.2 Duchies

A: Creation
1. Duchies may be created from pre-existing Shirithian land only by full consensus of the Landsraad.
a. Any bill to allow duchies to be created from pre-existing Shirithian land by less than full Landsraad consensus must itself be passed with full consensus.
2. Duchies may be created by the Landsraad according to its normal voting rules as part of the process of annexing land to Shireroth.

B: Dissolution
1. A duchy may be dissolved by its duchal government.
2. Otherwise a duchy may only be dissolved by full consensus of the Landsraad, excluding the duke of the duchy to be dissolved.
a. Any bill to allow duchies to be dissolved by less than full Landsraad consensus must itself be passed with full consensus.
3. The citizens of a dissolved duchy shall be considered to have no duchal citizenship until they register a new one or are selected one by the Ministry of Immigration and Naturalization.
4. The lands of a dissolved duchy shall be allotted between the remaining duchies unless they are not to remain Shirithian land. A duchal government dissolving its own duchy may preside over the allotment. Otherwise it shall be presided over by the Kaiser.
5. All other property of a dissolved duchy shall pass to the Imperial government.

C: Government
1. All duchies shall have a duchal goverment. A duchal government shall have complete sovereignty over its duchy, except for any restrictions enumerated in Imperial law.
2. In case a duchy already exists as an entity with a functioning government before becoming a duchy, the duchal government shall be organised by the current government. Otherwise, in case a duchy already exists as an entity with citizens before becoming a duchy, the duchal government shall be organised by its citizens. Otherwise the government shall be organised by the Kaiser.
3. The Landsraad may declare a new government for a duchy whose current government has become unable to effectively rule its duchy.
4. Duchies may not secede from Shireroth.

D: Alliances and Treaties
1. Duchies may not make alliances or treaties with each other, with the following exceptions:
a. Duchies may enter military alliances or treaties under SCIRA.
b. Duchies may enter economic and cultural alliances or treaties.
2. Alliances and treaties between duchies are under jurisdiction of the Landsraad and may be dissolved by it.
3. Duchies may not make alliances or treaties with powers outside of Shireroth.
4. Duchies may not conduct significant foreign policy.

E: Revolts and rebellions
1. If there is a revolt against the Kaiser or the Imperial government, it is the duty of all duchies to help suppress it.
2. If there is a revolt in a duchy against its legitimately appointed duchal government, it is the duty of the Imperial government to suppress it.

F: Territories
1. Territories are considered autonomous regions of Shireroth. Each Territory may be granted a forum with its flag and a link to its own board. For all purposes, Territories are considered under the direct supervision of the Kaiser, who may choose to control them directly, or to appoint a Governor. Citizens and Nobles of Territories are considered citizens of Shireroth, and nothing more.

G: Protectorates
1. Protectorates are those states and nations that are under the protection of Shireroth, but remain officially independent. The defense and foreign relations of a Protectorate shall be handled by Shireroth, but internal government shall remain untouched.
2. As an independent nation, a Protectorate is not bound to forfeit its sovereignty or any administrative privileges to Shireroth.
3. Any nation granted Protectorate status may choose to have that status lifted at any time after due consultation with the MiniEx and MoMA.


Chapter 1.3 Nobles

A: Requirements

1. Citizenship
a. A noble of Shireroth must be a citizen of Shireroth.
b. A noble of Shireroth may not be a minor as defined by the Ministry of Immigration and Naturalization.
2. A person may hold at most one Shirithian position of nobility.

B: Powers and privileges

1. Dukes shall be considered nobles. All Dukes are members of the Landsraad, with the privileges and duties enumerated in the Procedures of the Landsraad. Dukes represent their duchal government in the Landsraad.
2. Barons shall be considered nobles. Barons shall not be members of the Landsraad merely by right of being a baron.
3. Dukes and Barons may have other powers and privileges within their duchy as defined by their duchal government, up to and including actually being the duchal government.

C: Appointment and removal

1. Dukes shall be appointed by their duchal government. A duchy must have exactly one duke at any time.
2. Barons shall be appointed by their duchal government. A duchy may have any number of barons.
3. Dukes and barons may be removed by their duchal government at will.


Chapter VII. The Judex System, sections A and B, shall be edited as follows:

A. The Judex

1. The Judex is the system of Courts within the nation of Shireroth.
a. The Kaiser is the highest body of law and acts as final Arbiter for the nation of Shireroth and the Kaiser shall hold court in the Kaiser's Court forum.
b. The Arbiter is the officer of the Judex who deals with all cases not solely within the purview of a Duchy or Barony, the Arbiter holds court in the Judex forum.
c. Dukes act as Arbiter for their Duchy and have jurisdiction on any case solely within their Duchy, they hold court in their Ducal forum.
d. Barons act as Arbiter for their Barony and have jurisdiction on any case solely within their Barony, they hold court in their Baronial forum.
b. The Arbiter is the officer of the Judex who deals with all cases not solely within the purview of a single Duchy. The Arbiter holds court in the Judex forum.
c. Duchal governments shall operate their local Judex.
d. Duchal governments have freedom to appoint Arbiters for their local Judex. Unless otherwise declared by the Duchal government, the Duke shall be zir Duchy's Judex, and will have jurisdiction on any case solely within zir Duchy. The same applies to any Barons over their Baronies.


B. The Arbiter

1. The Arbiter is appointed by the Kaiser.
2. The Arbiter can be dismissed by the Kaiser or by a 2/3's vote of the Landsraad.
3. The Arbiter is not a political appointment, and as such, the position does not grant a say or vote within the Landsraad.
4. The Arbiter cannot be an officer of the Landsraad.
a. Ministers appointed by the Kaiser are not officers of the Landsraad, nor are Nobles.
5. Any law that violates the Charter of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth and that is brought before the Arbiter in an actual case can be overturned and stricken from the lawbook by the Arbiter.
a. For the purposes of sections B - 1 through B - 5, the Arbiter refers only to the officer known as the Arbiter and not to Dukes nor Barons.
a. For the purposes of sections B - 1 through B - 5, the Arbiter refers only to the officer known as the Arbiter and not to any officers appointed by duchal governments.
b. Only the Kaiser can overturn the Arbiter's decision on a law.
c. The Landsraad may not propose and pass the exact bill that has been overturned by the Arbiter.
d. The Arbiter has the ability to submit a Writ of Dissolution to the Kaiser, the Writ of Dissolution is a request that the Landsraad be dissolved for an indefinite period of time due to violation of the law and the Charter of Shireroth, when in violation of Section B - 5, subsection c.
6. The Arbiter may, with the consent of the Kaiser, appoint an Assistant Arbiter.
a. The Assistant Arbiter is to assist the Arbiter on cases, issue preliminary opinions on matters brought before the court, and to provide an additional point of view on cases.
b. The Assistant Arbiter shall act in stead of the Arbiter should the Arbiter not be available.
c. The Assistant Arbiter shall hear any case the Arbiter is unable or unwilling to hear.
d. When acting as Arbiter in the manner stated in b. and c., the Assistant Arbiter shall have all powers and duties of the Arbiter.
e. In 6. b., "not be available", and 6 c. "unable", shall be considered to mean either a stated leave of absence or if the Arbiter does not, within 48 hours, reply to an official question or case put before him.


Chapter XI: Electronic Holdings, section 4.7 shall be stricken and replaced with the following:

4.7. A Subdivisions category. Each Duchy shall have a forum. The duchal governments shall be leaders in their respective Duchies.
4.7.1. Duchal governments may choose their subforums, moderators, and forum visibility policy as they see fit. However, in case they have no local policy, the default policy shall be as follows: a. Each Barony gets a subforum under its Duchy's forum, with the Baron as its forum leader. b. Each County gets a subforum under its Barony's forum, with the Count as its forum leader. c. County forums shall not be visible from the board front page if they have neither a count nor any interesting activity, as decided on by the Board Administrators.

In case there's interest (or, rather, in case people don't hate this idea too much ) I'll be looking through the Lawbook a bit the next couple of days making it consistent with this...

... this will probably become our biggest bill ever...

[Jacobus Loki]

Federal Republic of Shireroth?

(shudders)

[Bacchus]

I second that shudder. However, I do like the term "local prerogative".

[Kaiseress Anandja I]

What problems are you fixing with this? I see no major problem with the duchies at the moment, therefore, a major bill like this seems redundant. I also object to the thought of turning Shireroth into a federal state. We are a feudal state, plain and simple.

And for the love of the Gods, it's "Ducal", not "Duchal".

[Jonas]

Federal? But everything is working with our current feudality.

But to not shoot down this idea directly: I will take the time to read your proposal ( ). But it looks quite similar as the old version...

[Kaiseress Anandja I]

I'm just gonna wait for a good motivation for why this bill should be passed.

[Erik Mortis]

I do not object.

[Scott of Hyperborea]

Ari, I don't always like your proposals, but I always like your crazy names for things. Even if I don't always understand them.

I'm split on this proposal. It's true that it's a common sense clarification of our current trend towards more complex ducal government. But micronations don't always work best when they have common sense and clear policies. There's something to be said for going crazy each time something goes wrong and having to come up with a new ad hoc solution to it every single scorching time. For one thing, it's more fun. For another, it works. I can't think of any serious conflict between a Duke and zir population that wasn't solved within a week or so to most people's satisfaction.

I am kind of worried that at some point most Dukes would end up transferring their power to a government, but governments would almost never reverse-transfer their power back to a single Duke. That means after a while all Duchies would end out kind of democratic, which would be a shame because the feudal system is interesting.

I would prefer either a removal of the "rebellion is illegal" clause, and letting the Kaiser support either the Duke or the government if things go bad, or else some sort of policy to make voting with your feet more effective. Even though it's already pretty effective.

[Jonas]

An interesting fact: nations who weren't meant to be federal states but have subdivisions, mostly develop there subdivisions quite well (cultural). While in (con)federal states it mostly falls apart. Maybe just because we have in fact a simple (undemocratic) system with one Duke ruling his part of Shireroth. I blame the government systems of the subdivisions for that, the federal states give their subdivisions too soon too many obligations. We, in the contrary, have develloped it through several years. I agree with Scott, this trend could become dangerous. But I'm sure we can rebel against it. Like we always do.

[Jacobus Loki]

Heck, we can't get the Landsraad to function regularly, let alone Landsraad x 5.

All this quasi-democratic (ugh) stuff is a fad. This too shall pass, and Her Niftyness and the Dukes will still be on there thrones.

And for the love of the Gods, it's "Ducal", not "Duchal

Except in Kildare , where it is "Dutchal"

[Kaiseress Anandja I]

I would prefer either a removal of the "rebellion is illegal" clause, and letting the Kaiser support either the Duke or the government if things go bad, or else some sort of policy to make voting with your feet more effective. Even though it's already pretty effective.

Perhaps a removal of the rebellion ban on the Duchy level, but keep it for rebellion against the Kaiser?

[Leo Fenrir]

Aww but we can still try right?

Not that I plan to do anything...

Well not yet at least...

[Scott of Hyperborea]

I really don't see why we need a clause making it illegal to rebel against the Kaiser. I mean, technically you could have been convicted of that yourself, back when Ari was the legal heir but you declared yourself Kaiser anyway. If you'd been convicted and stripped of your positions, or gods forbid banished from the country for that, you'd have a right to feel upset. Because our tradition is not to take rebellion against the Kaiser very seriously, and in fact it's an accepted and necessary part of the "game".

I once again propose the terms in my Decriminalization of Rebellion Bill

[Kaiseress Anandja I]

True. The same applies to several Kaisers during our history.

[Jacobus Loki]

Rebellion is an important part of the culture. If "rebels" were exiled or banned, the population would drop like a rock, and multiple "shireroths" might very well pop up like mushrooms.

But if rebellion became the norm, chaos of another kind would end in similar results.

[Erik Mortis]

All this really does it give duchies that option of having their government separate from the Duke, while maintaining the Duke as the voting official of the Duchy in the Landsraad. In many ways it just makes what we do now easier, but doesn't have a duchy reset every time we get a new duke.

[Kaiseress Anandja I]

But the duchies have that option already, being autonomous and all.

[Erik Mortis]

Kinda, sorta....not really.

The Imperial Government recognizes only the Dukes as the government of a Duchy, anything else created to govern the Duchy is ignored by the Imperial Government. Should there be a conflict between a duke and any government he creates, he auto wins under Imperial Law.

[Kaiseress Anandja I]

Good. Feudalism.

[Jonas]

May feudalism be used forever!

[Gman Russell]

Agreed. MASS will allways be fuedal!


...unless someone can beat me. <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/tongue.gif" alt=":p" title="razz" /