User:Montecara/Sandbox 10
| Supreme Court of Montecara | |
|---|---|
| Location |  Montecara |
| Composition method | Senate election based on nomination by judicial commission |
| Authorized by | Constitution of Montecara |
| Judge term length | 9 years |
| Number of positions | 15 |
Old senate of Montecara
History
Montecara's Senate traces its lineage to the ancient Senate of the Solarian Republic, the ultimate source of state authority. As an independent state after the fall of the Solarian Empire, Montecara's leading patrician families constituted their own deliberative assembly to fill the power vacuum that was created when central state authority receded. As it existed from the fall of the Latin Republic through the late 18th century, the Senate was largely an aristocratic body that served the interests of Montecara's ruling class. It was a forum for leading families to smooth out friction created by competing business interests, promote trade, provide for a navy and an army that would defend them and their property, and create laws that kept the plebeians in check. It also performed the crucial function of choosing the Doxe, the head of state of the crowned republic, who ruled for life. Elections of senators were sporadic and perfunctory, with certain families guaranteed that their candidate of choice would be elected by his fellows. Although this system was undemocratic by modern standards, it provided an essential mechanism for preventing the internecine conflicts that plagued other medieval city-states and forced the wealthy to work together to promote their, and the state's, best interests.