Old Procedures of the Landsraad

Proceduresof the Landsraad

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 or by the Prætor. 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. The placement of new bills into the Lawbook shall be decided by the Prætor 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 Prætor may extend a standard bill to seven (7) days if and only if he or she 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. He or she may do this at any point within seven days of the vote having been brought to the floor. When a bill has exhausted its respective time limit, the Prætor shall declare the vote passed or failed based upon the votes it has received, close it, and archive it. If the Prætor 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, or any other response that clearly states a noble's position and 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 in Chapter

IV, Section B of the Imperial Decreebook.

Clause 3.

Standard bills and acts may not be modified in any way after votes regarding its passage have been cast, except to fix errors in grammar or spelling.

Clause 4.

In order for a standard bill or act to be considered passed, one half (1/2) of all votes distributed to the Nobles must be cast in the affirmative or both one half (1/2) of all nobles eligible to vote must have cast their votes, and one half (1/2) of all votes cast must be in the affirmative. Any bill which fails to meet these requirements shall not be passed.

Clause 5.

If the national level of activity is unusually low, and said inactivity prevents bills from being passed, the Landsraad members present may petition the Prætor to ignore the laws regarding the quorum until enough nobles are active to reach the quorum. If at least three members of the Landsraad publicly petition, the Prætor is authorized to pass a bill which does not meet the standard quorum, provided that one half (1/2) of all votes cast shall have been cast in the affirmative.

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 days, if and only if the bill addresses a matter that is a serious and immediate threat to Shireroth's well-being.

If the Prætor 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. Generally emergencies should be dealt with by the Kaiser anyway, and this sort of thing should only be resorted to if the Kaiser is away or if the Kaiser *is* the emergency.

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 Prætor, at the end of the three 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 reltion to the business of one or more Ministers may be so marked in the title of the bill by the proposing Noble. Such an Implied Summons shall entitle the Minister or Ministers so indicated, without being summoned by the Prætor, 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 zie was summoned for; nor does it permit any Minister to propose bills if zie is not also a Noble.

Clause 3.

The Prætor 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 Prætor zirself.

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 seven (7) days. The noble may specify how long his leave of absence shall last beyond this. The noble may also choose a citizen of his fiefdom to serve as emissary.

Clause 2.

If a noble on leave of absence has not declared an emissary, his votes are not considered in the total number of votes, nor is he considered eligible to vote. Any votes he 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, his votes are still considered in the total number of votes, and his emissary is considered eligible to vote. The noble's votes are reallocated to his emissary, who shall be granted admission to the Landsraad, for the period of the leave of absence.

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 Prætor. The bill may then be fixed and resubmitted for voting.

Article the Third: The Prætor

Section A: Basic Powers of the Prætor

Clause 1.

The Prætor shall be vested with the basic power outlined within the Imperial Charter.

Clause 2.

The Prætor is empowered to represent the cause of law and order under the Kaiser in the Landsraad.

====Section B: Express Powers Granted to the Prætor by the Landsraad==== Clause 1.

In the case of bad behavior and/or abuse of the Landsraad by any noble or minister, the Prætor may levy a fine of up to 15 against the disruptive noble or minister. Alternately the Prætor may submit a recommendation to the Kaiser for, banning, or otherwise punishing the

perpetrator. The Kaiser may, as usual, do what he wants with such recommendations. Weather the Prætor chooses not to make such a recommendation it is NOT within his powers to take any punitive actions beyond the per-mentioned fine.

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 Prætor may be granted two additional votes to break the vote, in the interest of law and order in Imperial Republic.

Clause 3.

The Prætor may voice their opinion on a piece of legislation in the

Landsraad, and may propose changes to it.

Section C: Express Powers Denied to the Prætor by the Landsraad

Clause 1.

The Prætor may not ordinarily vote on legislation unless he or she is a noble.

Clause 2.

The Prætor may not incite others to vote one way or another, or demand that votes be changed one way or another.

Clause 3.

The Prætor may not incite rebellion against the Kaiser in the Landsraad, under threat of impeachment.

Section D: Appointment of the Prætor

Clause 1.

The appointment of the Prætor shall comply with the rules for appointment of a Prætor as set down by the Imperial Charter.

Section E: Removal of the Prætor

Clause 1.

The Prætor may be impeached at any time before his or her term is up by a supermajority of 67%. This impeachment vote will be moderated by the Kaiser, and will be closed to votes from the Prætor him/herself if the Prætor is a ruling noble. If the vote passes, a new election for

Prætor shall immediately be organized by the Kaiser to be held not more than seven days after the impeachment bill passes. The Kaiser may also choose to dismiss the Prætor, after which he will be similarly responsible for organizing an election for a replacement.

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See also: The Charter, Lawbook, DecreeBook