Procedures of the Landsraad
Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:22 pm
Note: The following document in this thread is obsolete. The Procedures of the Landsraad will furthermore be updated only on Microwiki at this location. This thread is preserved for historical purposes.
Article the First: Members of the Landsraad
Section A: The Charter
Clause 1. The membership of the Landsraad shall comply with the rules of membership for the Landsraad as set down by the Imperial Charter
Article the Second: Procedure of the Landsraad
Section A: The Submission of Bills
Clause 1. A bill may be presented to the Landsraad by any member, by the Praetor, or by the Kaiser. Any commoner who wishes to propose legislation to the Landsraad may do so only via one of these two sources. Each bill which would add a new law to the lawbook should have a name by which citizens can identify it, and this name should be the title of the Landsraad post proposing it. Each bill which would change a section of the lawbook already in place should have in its title the Article(s), Section(s), and Clause(s) which would be changed. Such Amendments do not require other titles.
Clause 2. New bills and acts submitted to the Landsraad shall be written in the form of a completed law, not in the form of a question or multiple questions; i.e., laws shall be written as statements of fact. In the case of a law being submitted without being in proper format, the law will be amended to be in proper format, either by the Praetor or the Landsraad itself, before voting begins. The placement of new bills into the Lawbook shall be decided by the Praetor after the bill is passed. Amendments to the Lawbook shall be proposed containing both the existing sections and the amended sections.
Clause 3. Bills and acts submitted to the Landsraad may include a short preamble to explain the purpose of the bill or act.
Section B: Voting Procedure for Standard Bills
Clause 1. A standard bill shall be on the voting floor for four (4) days. The Praetor may extend a standard bill to six (6) days if and only if ze believes that nobles with an active interest in it have not gotten a chance to vote, and that these nobles could significantly impact the outcome. Ze may do this at any point within the initial six days of the vote having been brought to the floor. When a bill has exhausted its respective time limit, the Praetor shall declare the vote passed or failed based upon the votes it has received, close it, and archive it. If the Praetor fails to do so, the vote is nevertheless considered unofficially closed.
Clause 2. Standard bills and acts submitted to the Landsraad shall be voted on by single "Aye", "Nay" or "Abstain" vote. A vote of "Abstain" shall count toward quorum. Nobles may not vote on parts of a bill or act; they must vote upon the bill as a whole. Each noble's vote shall be weighted according to the vote distribution as allotted by the Landsraad and confirmed by the Kaiser.
Clause 3: All bills and acts may be modified during the first three (3) days of the voting procedure. As such, all parties involved are encouraged to refrain from voting as long as possible.
Clause 4. In order for a bill or act to be considered passed, at least one half (50%) of all votes cast must be in the affirmative. In special instances of great importance, the Kaiser, the Praetor, or two Nobles may call a quorum-vote. If such a quorum-vote is called, at least 3/4 (75%) of all votes distributed to the Nobles must be cast, and at least one half (50%) of all votes cast must be in the affirmative. Any bill which fails to meet these requirements shall not be passed.
Clause 5. A Duke may change the votes ze provides zir subdivisions at any time, unless those votes are protected by a feudal contract. However, if a Baron has already cast votes for an active bill, those votes remain unchanged. In effect, the Baron maintains their votes for that bill only until the bill is resolved. This clause does not apply to Emergency Bills.
Section C: Voting Procedure for Emergency Bills
Clause 1. An emergency bill may be put before the floor by any noble with a voting period of two (2) days, if and only if the bill addresses a matter that is a serious and immediate threat to Shireroth's well-being. If the Praetor does not agree that an emergency bill meets these conditions, he may remove it from the floor and ask it to be resubmitted as a standard bill.
Clause 2. For an emergency bill, standard quorum is reduced to one third (1/3) of votes or one third (1/3) of nobles having voted. The Praetor, at the end of the two (2) days may choose to waive this quorum but one half (1/2) of all votes cast must be in the affirmative for the bill to pass.
Section D: Implied Summons
Clause 1. A bill proposed to the Landsraad that has demonstrable relation to the business of one or more Ministers may be so marked in the title of the bill by the proposing Noble, the Kaiser, or any noble who has not cast zir vote. Such an Implied Summons shall entitle the Minister or Ministers so indicated, without being summoned by the Pr�tor, to speak on said bill only.
Clause 2. Such an Implied Summons shall not automatically entitle any Minister to speak in the Landsraad other than to speak on the bill ze was summoned for; nor does it permit any Minister to propose bills if ze is not also a Noble.
Clause 3. The Praetor may, if there is doubt as to a Minister's relation to said bill, deny the summons and bar the Minister from speaking; otherwise, the summons shall have the same force as one issued by the Praetor zirself. The Nobles of the Landsraad may overturn this decision should three (3) or more Nobles agree that the Minister in question should be present for the duration of the bill.
Clause 4. Ministers being summoned by the above procedure shall be called by placing one of the following abbreviations in parentheses after the title in the title block:
* MiniInfo, or F
* MiniInt, or N
* MiniEx, or X
* MiniTrade, or T
* MiniImNat, or I
* MoRE, or R
* MoMA, or M
Section E: Leave of Absence and Emissaries
Clause 1. At any time, a voting noble may declare a leave of absence, which shall be valid for no less than four (4) days. The noble may specify how long his leave of absence shall last beyond this. The noble may also choose a citizen of zir fiefdom to serve as emissary.
Clause 2. If a noble on leave of absence has not declared an emissary, zir votes are not considered in the total number of votes, nor is ze considered eligible to vote. Any votes ze may cast during leave of absence shall be negated.
Clause 3. If a noble has declared an emissary prior to or concurrent with going on leave of absence, zir votes are still considered in the total number of votes, and zir emissary is considered eligible to vote. The noble's votes are reallocated to zir emissary, who shall be granted admission to the Landsraad, for the period of the leave of absence. An emissary cannot alter the vote distribution between a Duke and zir Barons, unless explicitly allowed by the absent noble and the Feudal Contract of the subdivision in question.
Section F: Contradictions to the Lawbook
Clause 1. Any amendment to the Lawbook that contradicts another section of the Lawbook shall not be passed by the Landsraad until the error is fixed.
Clause 2. If a contradiction is not found until after an amendment has been enacted, it shall immediately be repealed by the Pr�tor. The bill may then be fixed and resubmitted for voting.
Article the Third: The Praetor
Section A: Basic Powers of the Praetor
Clause 1. The Praetor shall be vested with the basic power outlined within the Imperial Charter.
Clause 2. The Praetor is empowered to represent the cause of law and order under the Kaiser in the Landsraad.
Section B: Express Powers Granted to the Praetor by the Landsraad
Clause 1. In the case of bad behavior and/or abuse of the Landsraad by any noble or minister, the Praetor may submit a recommendation to the Kaiser for removal of status, removal of territory, removal of voting power, banning, or another punishment. The Kaiser may, as usual, do what ze wants with such recommendations. The Praetor, though granted the ability to recommend, is not granted the ability to punish in any instance.
Clause 2. In the event of a tied vote in the Landsraad, where all nobles have voted, and where the full voting time for the vote has been extended, the Praetor may be granted two additional votes to break the vote, in the interest of law and order in the Imperial Republic. These two votes must be cast as a Yea or a Nay vote, and may not be cast as Abstains.
Clause 3. The Praetor may submit bills, voice zir opinion on a piece of legislation in the Landsraad, and may propose changes to existing legislation.
Clause 4. In the case of a bill having been submitted in improper format, the Praetor must reformat the bill to facilitate its inclusion into the Lawbook or the Landsraad Procedures as necessary.
Section C: Express Powers Denied to the Praetor by the Landsraad
Clause 1. The Praetor may not vote on legislation unless ze is a noble or is granted tie breaking votes as defined in Article III, Section A, Clause 2.
Clause 2. The Praetor may not incite others to vote one way or another, or demand that votes be changed one way or another.
Clause 3. The Praetor may not incite rebellion against the Kaiser in the Landsraad, under threat of impeachment.
Section D: Appointment of the Praetor
Clause 1. The appointment of the Praetor shall comply with the rules for appointment of a Praetor as set down by the Imperial Charter.
Section E: Removal of the Praetor
Clause 1. The Praetor may be impeached at any time before zir term is up by a supermajority of the Landsraad of 67%. This impeachment vote will be moderated by the Kaiser, and will be closed to votes from the Praetor zirself--if the Praetor is a ruling noble. If the vote passes, a new election for Praetor shall immediately be organized by the Kaiser to be held not more than four (4) days after the impeachment bill passes. The Kaiser may also choose to dismiss the Praetor, after which ze will be similarly responsible for organizing an election for a replacement.
Article the First: Members of the Landsraad
Section A: The Charter
Clause 1. The membership of the Landsraad shall comply with the rules of membership for the Landsraad as set down by the Imperial Charter
Article the Second: Procedure of the Landsraad
Section A: The Submission of Bills
Clause 1. A bill may be presented to the Landsraad by any member, by the Praetor, or by the Kaiser. Any commoner who wishes to propose legislation to the Landsraad may do so only via one of these two sources. Each bill which would add a new law to the lawbook should have a name by which citizens can identify it, and this name should be the title of the Landsraad post proposing it. Each bill which would change a section of the lawbook already in place should have in its title the Article(s), Section(s), and Clause(s) which would be changed. Such Amendments do not require other titles.
Clause 2. New bills and acts submitted to the Landsraad shall be written in the form of a completed law, not in the form of a question or multiple questions; i.e., laws shall be written as statements of fact. In the case of a law being submitted without being in proper format, the law will be amended to be in proper format, either by the Praetor or the Landsraad itself, before voting begins. The placement of new bills into the Lawbook shall be decided by the Praetor after the bill is passed. Amendments to the Lawbook shall be proposed containing both the existing sections and the amended sections.
Clause 3. Bills and acts submitted to the Landsraad may include a short preamble to explain the purpose of the bill or act.
Section B: Voting Procedure for Standard Bills
Clause 1. A standard bill shall be on the voting floor for four (4) days. The Praetor may extend a standard bill to six (6) days if and only if ze believes that nobles with an active interest in it have not gotten a chance to vote, and that these nobles could significantly impact the outcome. Ze may do this at any point within the initial six days of the vote having been brought to the floor. When a bill has exhausted its respective time limit, the Praetor shall declare the vote passed or failed based upon the votes it has received, close it, and archive it. If the Praetor fails to do so, the vote is nevertheless considered unofficially closed.
Clause 2. Standard bills and acts submitted to the Landsraad shall be voted on by single "Aye", "Nay" or "Abstain" vote. A vote of "Abstain" shall count toward quorum. Nobles may not vote on parts of a bill or act; they must vote upon the bill as a whole. Each noble's vote shall be weighted according to the vote distribution as allotted by the Landsraad and confirmed by the Kaiser.
Clause 3: All bills and acts may be modified during the first three (3) days of the voting procedure. As such, all parties involved are encouraged to refrain from voting as long as possible.
Clause 4. In order for a bill or act to be considered passed, at least one half (50%) of all votes cast must be in the affirmative. In special instances of great importance, the Kaiser, the Praetor, or two Nobles may call a quorum-vote. If such a quorum-vote is called, at least 3/4 (75%) of all votes distributed to the Nobles must be cast, and at least one half (50%) of all votes cast must be in the affirmative. Any bill which fails to meet these requirements shall not be passed.
Clause 5. A Duke may change the votes ze provides zir subdivisions at any time, unless those votes are protected by a feudal contract. However, if a Baron has already cast votes for an active bill, those votes remain unchanged. In effect, the Baron maintains their votes for that bill only until the bill is resolved. This clause does not apply to Emergency Bills.
Section C: Voting Procedure for Emergency Bills
Clause 1. An emergency bill may be put before the floor by any noble with a voting period of two (2) days, if and only if the bill addresses a matter that is a serious and immediate threat to Shireroth's well-being. If the Praetor does not agree that an emergency bill meets these conditions, he may remove it from the floor and ask it to be resubmitted as a standard bill.
Clause 2. For an emergency bill, standard quorum is reduced to one third (1/3) of votes or one third (1/3) of nobles having voted. The Praetor, at the end of the two (2) days may choose to waive this quorum but one half (1/2) of all votes cast must be in the affirmative for the bill to pass.
Section D: Implied Summons
Clause 1. A bill proposed to the Landsraad that has demonstrable relation to the business of one or more Ministers may be so marked in the title of the bill by the proposing Noble, the Kaiser, or any noble who has not cast zir vote. Such an Implied Summons shall entitle the Minister or Ministers so indicated, without being summoned by the Pr�tor, to speak on said bill only.
Clause 2. Such an Implied Summons shall not automatically entitle any Minister to speak in the Landsraad other than to speak on the bill ze was summoned for; nor does it permit any Minister to propose bills if ze is not also a Noble.
Clause 3. The Praetor may, if there is doubt as to a Minister's relation to said bill, deny the summons and bar the Minister from speaking; otherwise, the summons shall have the same force as one issued by the Praetor zirself. The Nobles of the Landsraad may overturn this decision should three (3) or more Nobles agree that the Minister in question should be present for the duration of the bill.
Clause 4. Ministers being summoned by the above procedure shall be called by placing one of the following abbreviations in parentheses after the title in the title block:
* MiniInfo, or F
* MiniInt, or N
* MiniEx, or X
* MiniTrade, or T
* MiniImNat, or I
* MoRE, or R
* MoMA, or M
Section E: Leave of Absence and Emissaries
Clause 1. At any time, a voting noble may declare a leave of absence, which shall be valid for no less than four (4) days. The noble may specify how long his leave of absence shall last beyond this. The noble may also choose a citizen of zir fiefdom to serve as emissary.
Clause 2. If a noble on leave of absence has not declared an emissary, zir votes are not considered in the total number of votes, nor is ze considered eligible to vote. Any votes ze may cast during leave of absence shall be negated.
Clause 3. If a noble has declared an emissary prior to or concurrent with going on leave of absence, zir votes are still considered in the total number of votes, and zir emissary is considered eligible to vote. The noble's votes are reallocated to zir emissary, who shall be granted admission to the Landsraad, for the period of the leave of absence. An emissary cannot alter the vote distribution between a Duke and zir Barons, unless explicitly allowed by the absent noble and the Feudal Contract of the subdivision in question.
Section F: Contradictions to the Lawbook
Clause 1. Any amendment to the Lawbook that contradicts another section of the Lawbook shall not be passed by the Landsraad until the error is fixed.
Clause 2. If a contradiction is not found until after an amendment has been enacted, it shall immediately be repealed by the Pr�tor. The bill may then be fixed and resubmitted for voting.
Article the Third: The Praetor
Section A: Basic Powers of the Praetor
Clause 1. The Praetor shall be vested with the basic power outlined within the Imperial Charter.
Clause 2. The Praetor is empowered to represent the cause of law and order under the Kaiser in the Landsraad.
Section B: Express Powers Granted to the Praetor by the Landsraad
Clause 1. In the case of bad behavior and/or abuse of the Landsraad by any noble or minister, the Praetor may submit a recommendation to the Kaiser for removal of status, removal of territory, removal of voting power, banning, or another punishment. The Kaiser may, as usual, do what ze wants with such recommendations. The Praetor, though granted the ability to recommend, is not granted the ability to punish in any instance.
Clause 2. In the event of a tied vote in the Landsraad, where all nobles have voted, and where the full voting time for the vote has been extended, the Praetor may be granted two additional votes to break the vote, in the interest of law and order in the Imperial Republic. These two votes must be cast as a Yea or a Nay vote, and may not be cast as Abstains.
Clause 3. The Praetor may submit bills, voice zir opinion on a piece of legislation in the Landsraad, and may propose changes to existing legislation.
Clause 4. In the case of a bill having been submitted in improper format, the Praetor must reformat the bill to facilitate its inclusion into the Lawbook or the Landsraad Procedures as necessary.
Section C: Express Powers Denied to the Praetor by the Landsraad
Clause 1. The Praetor may not vote on legislation unless ze is a noble or is granted tie breaking votes as defined in Article III, Section A, Clause 2.
Clause 2. The Praetor may not incite others to vote one way or another, or demand that votes be changed one way or another.
Clause 3. The Praetor may not incite rebellion against the Kaiser in the Landsraad, under threat of impeachment.
Section D: Appointment of the Praetor
Clause 1. The appointment of the Praetor shall comply with the rules for appointment of a Praetor as set down by the Imperial Charter.
Section E: Removal of the Praetor
Clause 1. The Praetor may be impeached at any time before zir term is up by a supermajority of the Landsraad of 67%. This impeachment vote will be moderated by the Kaiser, and will be closed to votes from the Praetor zirself--if the Praetor is a ruling noble. If the vote passes, a new election for Praetor shall immediately be organized by the Kaiser to be held not more than four (4) days after the impeachment bill passes. The Kaiser may also choose to dismiss the Praetor, after which ze will be similarly responsible for organizing an election for a replacement.