Old Procedures of the Landsraad
==Procedures of the Landsraad==
Contents
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:
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.
See also: The Charter, Lawbook, DecreeBook