Government of Great Nortend
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The Government of Great Nortend, formally known as His Majesty's Government or in Court Latin Curia Regis, and also known as the Erbonian Government, the Nortish Government or in some contexts, the Crown, constitutes the government of the Kingdom of Nortend, Cardoby and Hambria. It is a „semi-constitutional” monarchy where the Sovereign, presently King Alexander II, holds ultimate power exercised principally by delegation to his various officers.
In practice the Government is often conceived as being split into three branches, although this makes for quite a poor analogy as there is little semblance of any separation of powers in Great Nortend. Nonetheless, these three branches are useful as they identify the day-to-day division of Government — the executive composed of the Privy Council, which advises the Sovereign and whose role is mainly delegated to the Cabinet and Ministry, led by the Lord High Treasurer; the legislative branch composed of the Parliament's House of Lords, House of Clergy, House of Burgesses, House of Knights; and the judicial branch composed of the various civil, regular and ecclesiastical courts, wardens, judges and justices. These divisions notwithstanding, there is no formal separation of powers, with the consequence being that many offices and institutions exercise power in two or even all three of the branches. Examples include Parliament, which has judicial and legislative powers and the Privy Council, which has executive, legislative and judicial powers.
The Crown
The Crown (Court Latin: Corona), represented physically by the Sovereign, is the sovereign superior over all of Great Nortend, being the feudal liege lord, and ecclesiastical ruler appointed by God over his subjects. It has been held by the head of the House of Anthord since 1519, with a brief interlude from 1762 to 1777.
The current Sovereign is Alexander II. The heir apparent (regulus apparens) is William, Prince of Rhise. The Crown, in its various forms, is the head of the Curia Regis, and the font of all government power and is thus the „head of government”. It has the final say in all executive, judicial and legislative matters. The Crown’s sovereign powers, rights and duties are split broadly between the five Officers of State, each being authorised to exercise certain powers, being the :—
- Lord High Steuard, to lead the Royal Household and keep the Great Seal;
- Lord High Chancellour, to lead the Royal Chancery and keep the Privy Seal;
- Lord High Treasurer, to lead the Royal Treasury and keep the Quarter Seal;
- Lord High Admiral, to command the Navy Royal; and
- Lord High Constable, to command the Royal Army.
Common Council
The Common Council, or Commune Concilium, is the body of the Royal Court consisting of the King along with his Privy Council, along with the other Lords, Clerks, Burgesses and Knights of the Shire. Under from the King, the senior-most officer of the Common Council is the Lord High Steuard who keeps the Great Seal of the Realm, which is necessary to give effect to writs addressed to „all whom these Presents shall come”. The formal function of the Common Council is to advise the King, and its consent is necessary to pass anything under the Great Seal without a writ from the Privy Seal.
The four estates represented split into houses, being the Houses of Lords, Clerks, Burgesses and Knights, each sitting separately. The consent of a majority of these houses became necessary for Acts of Parliament to pass under the Great Seal, which in practice means that Bills must pass both the Houses of Commons and the House of Lords before being granted Royal Assent by the King. Counsellors of State who are not otherwise qualified to sit in a house of Parliament may be entitled to sit in the House of Knights if summoned; however, they are never summoned.
Privy Council
The Privy Council, or Privatum Consilium, is a subset of the Common Council consisting of His Majesty's Officers, Ministers, Clerks and other Counsellours of State who formally give more privy advice and counsel to the Sovereign as to the matters of day-to-day government. It is presided over by the Lord High Chancellour who keeps the Privy Seal of the Realm which is necessary to give effect to letters addressed to a particular officer of the Crown already holding power. Counsellours are entitled to the style of 'The Right Honourable”.
In practice, the Privy Council is a body responsible for approving new regulations, government appointments, new charters, orders and other instruments which are in the ancient prerogative of the Crown as Sovereign as limited by the Charter of Liberties, or which are otherwise authorised by an Act of Parliament. By convention only Privy Counsellors who are government ministers or their appointees are summoned, as since the late 18th century counsellors generally retain their status for life until their death or until the demise of the Sovereign who appointed them. The Sovereign appoints his ministers based on the advice of the Lord High Treasurer who is appointed by him upon the advice of the Common Council (in practice always the Warden of the political party who holds a majority or confidence of the Houses of Commons.
Cabinet
The Cabinet serves as the main decision-making body of the Erbonian Government. It is constituted as a committee of the Privy Council, and by convention includes only those members thereof currently sitting in Parliament or entitled to do so. The Cabinet is headed by the Lord High Treasurer, primus inter pares holding the informal position of Prime Minister.
The Officers of State hold seats in Cabinet ex officio; however, it is rare for the Lords High Steuard, Admiral, Constable and Chamberlain to sit in Cabinet meetings, owing to their mostly ceremonial or administrative roles. Most Orders in Council of the Privy Council are made with the presence of at least one Cabinet member.
Not all cabinet members head a government ministry. In particular, the masters and lord masters of several important government boards do not head ministries, yet still form part of the Cabinet.
Utter Ministry
The Utter Ministry comprises of junior Ministers of the Crown who are not entitled to sit in Cabinet yet still form part of the serving government. As they are not members of Cabinet, they do not ex officio receive membership of the Privy Council. However, some junior ministers are nonetheless Privy Counsellours.
Legislature
The main legislature of Great Nortend is the Parliament of Great Nortend. The Parliament is a quadcameral legislature, with four formal chambers. In practice however, the House of Lords and the Houses of Commons, the latter comprising the formally separate House of Burgesses and House of Knights, effect a standard bicameral system. The ecclesiastical House of Clergy or Proctors only rarely meets and is often considered to be separate from the main secular Parliament, though Lords Spiritual do sit in the House of Lords.
Judiciary
Ministries
A ministry is a office of the Curia Regis headed by a minister of the Crown who is appointed by the Sovereign in camera. Ministers are always Privy Counsellours, whence they derive their name.
Presently, there are nine ministries in His Majesty's Government. The list does not include offices and boards subordinate to another ministry, such as the Board of Railways or the Board of Agriculture. It also does not include non-ministerial departments, such as the Lord High Treasurer's Office or departments unconnected to government.
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 | This page is written in Erbonian English, which has its own spelling conventions (colour, travelled, centre, realise, instal, sobre, shew, artefact), and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. |