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 Clerks, 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, legislative and theoretical executive powers, and the Privy Council, which has executive, legislative and theoretical 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 appointed to the head of certain offices, being the :—
- Lord High Steuard, to head the Royal Household and keep the Great Seal;
- Lord High Chancellour, to head the Royal Chancery and keep the Privy Seal;
- Lord High Treasurer, to head the Royal Treasury and keep the Quarter Seal;
- Lord High Admiral, to head the Navy Royal; and
- Lord High Constable, to head the Royal Army.
Common Council
The Common Council, or Commune Concilium, is the body of the Royal Court consisting of the King with his Privy Council, along with the four estates of the 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 acts as the speaker of the House of Lords and 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 the consent of its estates is necessary to pass anything under the Great Seal without a writ under the Privy Seal.
The four estates represented are split into houses, being the Houses of Lords, Clerks, Burgesses and Knights. By virtue of the Charter of Liberties, the consent of a majority of these houses, as well as the Privy Council, is 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.
The Common Council is also the highest judicial court in the land, sitting as the Court of Counsellours. It has original jurisdiction over members of Common Council, and appellate jurisdiction from all subordinate courts where there is a right to appeal to the King-in-Council. The presiding judge is by right the Lord High Steuard, but in practice, the Lord High Chancellour deputises for him, except in cases trying members of the House of Lords. By convention, only specially appointed Law Counsellours sit and vote on the court.
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.
The Court of the Privy Council is defunct and has not sat since at least the late 17th century after it was criticised for being an authoritarian political court.
Cabinet
The Cabinet serves as the highest decision-making body of the Government. The Cabinet is headed by the Lord High Treasurer who keeps the Quarter Seal which is required for the Lord High Chancellour to affix the Privy Seal to certain instruments presented at the Privy Council[1], originally as a certification that the Treasury was able to afford an expense incurred thereby, and in effect acting as a safeguard and accountability measure against the Government of the day. Members of the Cabinet are appointed by the Lord High Treasurer and usually are Ministers or Clerks of State. 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 are members of the Cabinet.
The rules of the Cabinet are determined by the Lord High Treasurer of the day, but usually there is a requirement of secrecy of Cabinet meetings, and of Cabinet solidarity, such that all members of the Cabinet in public support the majority decision of the Cabinet. Being a committee convened and constituted by the Lord High Treasurer under his authority, it has no formal or legal existence. The Lord High Treasurer is empowered to affix the Quarter Seal to any document he wishes to have sealed with the Privy Seal without seeking the consensus of Cabinet, provided that the Treasury has sufficient funds. However, the necessities of government and maintaining the confidence of one’s Ministers of State mean that this is a rare occurence.
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.
The public service ....
Judiciary
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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. |
- ↑ By law, all instruments which appropriate funds from the Treasury, and all instruments passed by delegated authority by statute. By custom, all instruments approved by the Cabinet receive the Quarter Seal.