Imperial Decree 296

[Aurangzeb Khan]

In the name of Kaiser Ayreon I, and by his authority, I decree the following:


1. The Praetor of the Landsraad is instructed that all legislation presented before the Landsraad for which a majority vote of "aye" has been received shall be recorded as having "Passed" rather than been merely "approved".

2. If the Praetor is unwilling or unable to comply he shall be invited to tender his resignation from the post, allowing for another to be elected in his stead.

A correction has been made to point 2.

If the Praetor is unwilling or unable to comply he shall be invited to tender his resignation from the post, allowing for another to be appointed in his stead.

shall now read as

If the Praetor is unwilling or unable to comply he shall be invited to tender his resignation from the post, allowing for another to be elected in his stead.

[Malliki]

I feel forced to bring this to the attention of His Grace the Steward:

Article II, Section A of the Charter:
"The Landsraad may set its own rules for voting percentages and procedures, and internal decorum, without outside interference."

I also wish to point out that the Prætor is elected by the Landsraad, not appointed by the Kaiser.

[Erik Mortis]

My esteemed Assistant Arbiter colleague is correct. This decree is in violation, severely, of the Imperial Charter.

[Aurangzeb Khan]

This decree is suspended pending review.

[b3n|<3r|\|]

If this decree is deemed unlawful I will propose an Election Bill to remove Jonas from the Praetorship unless he conforms to the proper legislative terminology.

[Hesam Jayatar]

Ha!

[Aurangzeb Khan]

The Arbiter may, with unanimous consent of the Landsraad and the Prætor, nullify any order or decree of the Kaiser, which violates this Charter. Other than those specified, the Arbiter has no authorities over the Kaiser.

The decree stands.

[Hesam Jayatar]

But it specifies that the Praetor is elected by the Landsraad.

[Aurangzeb Khan]

I would like to thank all here present for their wise counsel. The error has been corrected.

[Malliki]

Ok. With that revision I still consider point 1 do be in blatant violation of the Imperial Charter.

[Aurangzeb Khan]

Your opinion is noted but shall only be heeded if you obtain the unanimous consent of the Landsraad.

[Malliki]

Where you, of course, will vote for Elwynn. I request that the Kaiser rectify this violation of the Imperial Charter.

[Aurangzeb Khan]

I shall of course defer to the Kaiser's will in all matters.

[Hesam Jayatar]

Let's look at this. The Steward is NOT saying he will fire Jonas if he does not comply, he is saying he will be invited to resign. That is not illegal.

If Jonas does not change the way he closes business in the Landsraad, he is not doing his job. As Ari pointed out, the Landsraad is not the MCS, and the Praetor does not decide whether an Act is approved or not. It's NOT his decision. Therefore, if he believes he is so important that he will not change "approved" to "passed", he is in violation of his responsibilities as Praetor. One could even stretch it to say that he is in violation of the charter.

While it might be heavy handed to threaten Jonas with an invitation to resign, Ardashir is doing nothing illegal here. Jonas could simply decide not to resign and carry on. And IF it is heavy handed to invite this, I'd say it only matches the arrogance shown by Jonas to a Duke of the Landsraad who simply suggested a correction to the Praetor.

[Malliki]

The illegal part of the decree is point 1. The Steward is meddling in the internal affairs of the Landsraad, as prohibited in the cited part of the Charter.

I wish to also point out this:

DecreeBook I-A-1a: "Imperial Decrees may not and cannot violate the Charter."

Given this, point 1 is in violation of the cited part of the DecreeBook. The Steward may not amend or repeal decrees made by the Kaiser. So, now it is not only the Judex saying that this decree is invalid, the DecreeBook says so as well. The Steward is of course correct that the Arbiter needs the support of a unanimous Landsraad and the Prætor to nullify an Imperial Decree, but if I were the Prætor, I would disregard this decree for the time being.

However, as a voting member of the Landsraad, the Duke of Elwynn could first propose an amendment to the Procedures allowing a majority or super-majority of the Landsraad to overrule the Prætor, and then ask for such an action.

[Hesam Jayatar]

Ardashir is in violation of nothing. He is NOT violating the charter. He is suggesting that the Praetor resign if he does not conform to the law.

[Malliki]

1. The Praetor of the Landsraad is instructed that all legislation presented before the Landsraad for which a majority vote of "aye" has been received shall be recorded as having "Passed" rather than been merely "approved".

To my knowledge, this part has not been removed. The Charter specifically states that no one, even the Kaiser or the Steward, may interfere in the internal workings of the Landsraad.

[Aurangzeb Khan]

The Kaiser/Steward is not an outside influence to the Landsraad but a superior one - if it were otherwise the power to veto the decisions and actions of the Praetor and Landsraad would not exist and we would per force no longer be an autocracy.

[Malliki]

That does not matter.

Again:
"The Landsraad may set its own rules for voting percentages and procedures, and internal decorum, without outside interference."

This is quite clear. No one outside the Landsraad, that includes the Kaiser and the Steward, may interfere with the Landsraad procedures. The Charter is supreme, not the Kaiser.

[Aurangzeb Khan]

Before we go too far down this road may I remind everyone that this decree was introduced to prevent the Praetor being irrationally contrary in the face of a reasonable request from a peer of the realm. I have invited His Grace the Duke of Yardistan to draft legislation to the same effect but until that time the decree will stand and nothing the arbiter or Praetor can say or do will change that.

This shall be the final word on the subject for now.