Gristol-Serkonos

The United Kingdom and Constitutional Union of the Kingdom of Gristol and the Duchy of Serkonos
Capital	Pontiac-Bernadotte
Largest city	Garafraxa
Official languages	Skaldanic, Kanienʼkéha
Recognised regional languages	Enyama, Omiat, Hugonaut,
Ethnic groups (2019)	Skaldanic Kahnawà꞉ke Enyama Mixed
Demonym(s)	Gristo-Serkonan
Government	Federal Parliamentary Constitutional Diarchy
• Queen of Gristol	Anna
• Grand Duke of Serkonos	Tehwehron
• Chancellor	Kaniehtí:io Fox
Legislature	Parliament
• Upper house	Council of the State
• Lower house	Council of Representatives
Establishment
• Oath of Union	TBA
• Constitution	TBA
• Revised Constitution	1925
Population
• 2020 estimate	64,834,000
GDP (nominal)	2019 estimate
• Per capita	30,678.85
Currency	Crown
Driving side	left

Gristol-Serkonos, officially the United Kingdom and Constitutional Union of the Kingdom of Gristol and the Grand Duchy of Serkonos, is a country located in <x>. The Constitutional Union is a multinational realm comprised of two countries: Gristol and Serkonos. The two countries have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Griswald and Donnacona, respectively. The union was a result of the Oath of Union and since then, it has been jointly-ruled by the House Eist of Gristol and the Clan of Konwatsi'tsiaienni of Serkonos.

Politics and Government

Due to the subsequent Pontiac Accord signed following the Oath of Union, the monarchies of the Kingdom of Gristol and the Grand Duchy of Serkonos also serves as co-Heads of State of the Constitutional Union. By protocol, the monarch ascends to the throne of their home country first before ascending to the Thrones of the Union. Political participation of the monarchs in areas of governance is limited. Most of their executive authority is held the High Council, a committee of ministers of the state responsible to the elected Council of Representatives and chosen and headed by the Chancellor, the head of government. Despite the constitutional restrictions in the monarchs, they remain the supreme executive authority in Gristol-Serkonos, as they can dissolve parliaments, veto legislation, or remove elected officials from power at their own will should the actions of the Parliament violate the Constitution and the rights of the People.

The legislative arm of the government is the bicameral Parliament comprised of two chambers; the upper house Council of the State and the lower house Council of Representatives. The members of the Council of Representatives is democratically elected, with 810 representatives, with 626 members elected though the FPTP method and 184 members elected through the PR method. The Council of the State consists of 200 senators appointed by the party leaders based on their seats. Members of the Council of the State are given an peerage which is effective as long as the Senator is elected.

Devolved Administrations

The country also has two devolved legislatures, representing the two states incorporated within Gristol-Serkonos. The authority of the devolved legislatures is limited over their relevant area. Meanwhile the Parliament can overrule sub-national authority, thus the state remains, de jure unitary. Legislation creating devolved parliaments or assemblies can be repealed or amended by central government in the same way as any statute.

Each country have their own government or executive, usually led by a High Minister and a devolved unicameral legislature. Under the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, the Parliament could, in theory, abolish the Diet of Gristol or the Longhouse of Serkonos. In practice, however, it would be politically difficult for the Parliament to abolish devolution to the Diet of Gristol or the Longhouse of Serkonos, given the political entrenchment created by referendum decisions.

Administrative Divisions

There is no consistent system of administrative or geographic demarcation across the Constitutional Union. The two constituent regions in Gristol-Serkonos has their own arrangements. These arrangements pre-date the unification and were ensured under the 1925 Constitution.

The organisation of the local government of the Kingdom of Gristol is divided into five crown lands, with a wide variation of both size and population. Below the crown lands, some have county and district councils while others have unitary authorities. Councillors on the local council are elected by either the first-past-the-post system or multi-member plurality system. Organization within the Grand Duchy of Serkonos is divided into twelve crown lands. Below these crown lands there are longhouse councils, members of these longhouse councils are elected by first-past-the-post.

Added through the first revision of the Constitution, Ridings are boundaries in which the citizens within that Riding elect one member for the devolved governments and one for the Council of Representatives, the lower house of the Parliament of Gristol-Serkonos. These ridings are adjusted by an independent government agency, which are changed after taking into account the results of a population census held every five years.

Law Enforcement

Law enforcement is handled in the national level. There are two national police forces in the Sovereign Empire which are the Royal Gendarmerie and the Metropolitan Police Service. These two forces has their own areas of responsibility. The Gendarmerie handling smaller towns, rural areas, and due to its military status, it also fulfills a range of military and defense missions as well as policing the military bases of the RGSAF. The Metropolitan Police Service meanwhile is in charge of cities and large towns. These two forces also operate their own specialized forces that act as soldiers in the event of war or security threats, namely the Gendarmerie's 18 Battalion and the Police's Special Tasks Group respectively. These two forces are part of the Imperial Office of Internal Affairs.

The existence of two national police forces with similar goals and attributions, but somewhat different zones of activity, has at times created friction or competition between the two. Their merging has sometimes been suggested.

Additional security in government buildings and ports of entry are handled by the operating branches of the State Security Agency. (The SSA is also part of Internal Affairs.)

Incarceration

Prisons are operated and managed by the Office of Correctional Services. There are 51 correction facilities in the Constitutional Union capable of holding 24,000 inmates each.

Military

The Royal Gristol-Serkonos Armed Forces is the professional military of the Constitutional Union. The military has five primary commands; the Army (Gristo-Serkonan Army), the Air Force (Royal Gristo-Serkonan Air Force), the Navy (Royal Gristo-Serkonan Navy), the Directorate of Special Operations, the Strategic Arms Operations Group (which handles the country's unconventional arsenal), and the Health Services Command (which fulfills all the military health system functions).

Managed by the Office of National Defence and controlled by the Royal High Command, chaired by the Minister of National Defence. The Diarchy appoints, in the advice of the Chancellor, the Lord High General. The Lord High General serves as Chief of the Armed Forces as the highest commissioned officer.

The RGSAF has an active military strength of 156,340 with the reserve force (the Territorial Army) reaching 47,000. Paramilitaries such as the Royal Militia, Gendarmerie, Coast Guard, and armed units within the State Security Agency reach 57,000.

Law

The Constitutional Union does not have a single legal system. The Constitution and subsequent revisions provided for the continuation of Gristol and Serkonos' separate legal systems. Today, the country has two distinct systems of law; the Gristol Law, and the Serkonos Law. In 2011, the Supreme Court of Gristol-Serkonos was formed to replace the Supreme Judicial Council of the Council of the State. The new Supreme Court is responsible in all matters under the two systems of law in Gristol-Serkonos. It is the court of last resort and the highest appellate court in the Sovereign Empire. It also has jurisdiction to resolve disputes relating to devolution in the Sovereign Empire and concerning the legal powers of the two devolved governments or laws made by the devolved legislatures.

Gristol Law, which is based on common-law principles, subject to statute, the law is developed by judges in courts, applying statute, precedent and common sense to the facts before them to give explanatory judgements of the relevant legal principles, which are reported and binding in future similar cases (stare decisis). The courts in Gristol are headed by the Senior Courts of Gristol, consisting of the Court of Appeal, the Civil Court (for civil cases) and the Criminal Court (for criminal cases). The Serkonos Law is a hybrid system based on both common-law and civil-law principles. The chief courts are the Court of Session, for civil cases, and the Court of Justiciary, for criminal cases.

Foreign Relations

Due to its complicated and violent history, successive governments has maintained anti-communist stance though in recent years has softened as markets and diplomatic relations begun to form. The Union is regarded as a reliable partner to its allies and in the past supported royalist or democratic causes. The country has historically been neutral to its immediate neighbours, though has aligned itself with <x> in recent years.

Economy

The country's mixed economy is dominated by the services sector, followed by the manufacturing, and agricultural sectors. The Constitutional Union's economy of the two combined economies of the Kingdom of Gristol and the Grand Duchy of Serkonos. The Royal Office of Finance, led by the Minister of Finance, is responsible for developing and executing the Union Government's public finance policy and economic policy. The Royal Central Bank of Gristol-Serkonos is the country's central bank and is responsible for issuing notes and coins in the nation's currency, the Gristo-Serkonan Crown. Banks in Serkonos and the Gristol retain the right to issue their own notes, subject to retaining enough Bank of Gristol notes in reserve to cover their issue.

Since 1997 the Royal Central Bank of Gristol-Serkonos's Monetary Committee, headed by the Governor of the Royal Central Bank of Gristol-Serkonos, has been responsible for setting interest rates at the level necessary to achieve the overall inflation target for the economy that is set by the Finance Minister each year.

Energy

The country is an energy exporter in the region, exporting x million barrels of oil annually. The largest exporters of energy are the Royal Oil Company, a statutory corporation, and GaxaPetro, a private company. Corporations interested in establishing fuel extraction facilities must meet the government's environmental regulations and use the approved methods in extracting the crude oil. The Empire is also a nuclear energy producer, with over 50 nuclear power facilities across the country. The Empire is not dependent on oil for energy production and the recent resurgence of fuel efficient vehicles. Recent government environmental policies includes energy conservation and renewable energy commercialisation. Energy efficiency has been improving since the early 1970s; the government aims to meet the country's electricity demands using 40% renewable sources by 2050.

Historically, the Empire was well known for its whale oil-producing industries. During its height in the 1895, the Empire has a whaling fleet of 490 ships. The sudden rise of prominence of petroleum-based fuel during the early 20th century saw the decline of whale oil use.

Infrastructure and Communications

The country's vast motorway network is known for its lack of speed limits and is among the largest in the region in terms of length. Gristol-Serkonos also has a network of high-speed trains. Its Royal Railway Network connects all of the Empire's cities as well as neighbouring country with its high-speed trains. Its largest airports are the Pontiac-Bernadotte International Airport and Griswald International Airport.

The Union has a developed and robust internet infrastructure with an average download speed of 1Gb/second with a penetration rate of 98.9%. In high density metropolitan areas such as Garafraxa, or Pontiac-Bernadotte, VDSL is the most common DSL which allows faster internet speeds. This contrasts greatly in smaller metropolitan areas such as Saari or Kahnawake where ADSL is the standard. In 2006, 98.7% of all mobile phones have internet access. High speed broadband is provided through a communications network built in 2007 consisting of kilometres of optical fibre networks and satellite-based communications.

There are presently four major Internet Service Providers and at least 326 registered minor Internet Service Providers. In major cities, 4G LTE is the most common network technology in the country's wireless broadband network. Many public places and restaurants are mandated by law to provide free WiFi access during business hours. The incumbent government is currently in the process selecting the contractor for implementing the wireless 5G network.

Despite all the measures to advance internet technology, the incumbent government is criticized for its restrictions on freedom of speech and expression. This followed the ban on certain websites and social media accounts containing or accused of spreading anti-royalist, republican and far-left ideologies. With the new legislation designed the curb cyberbullying and increase police powers set to take effect this autumn, several backbencher Patriotic People's Front MCEs pushed for a proposal to stamp out anonymity. This proposal however was unanimously rejected by the government and the opposition parties following the first reading.

Transport

The national flag carrier is RGS, a public limited company.

Demographics

Healthcare

Healthcare in Gristol-Serkonos is handled by the devolved legislatures. Each countries has its own system of private and publicly funded health care. Public healthcare is provided to all of the Sovereign Empire's permanent residents and is mostly free at the point of need, being paid for from general taxation.

Regulatory bodies are organized on a nationwide basis such as the National Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and non-governmental-based, such as the Royal Colleges. However, political and operational responsibility for healthcare lies with four national executives; healthcare in Pontiac-Bernadotte is the responsibility of the Parliament of Gristol-Serkonos; healthcare in Gristol is the responsibility of the Diet of Gristol; and healthcare in Serkonos is the responsibility of the Longhouse of Serkonos.

Each healthcare system uses General Practitioners (GPs) to provide primary healthcare and to make referrals to further services as necessary. Hospitals then provide more specialist services, including care for patients with psychiatric illnesses, as well as direct access to Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments. Community pharmacies are privately owned but have contracts with the relevant health service to supply prescription drugs. Each public healthcare system also provides free (at the point of service) ambulance services for emergencies, when patients need the specialist transport only available from ambulance crews or when patients are not fit to travel home by public transport. These services are generally supplemented when necessary by the voluntary ambulance services (Royal Red Cross, and the Saint-Maarten Ambulance Association.)

Drug Policy

A drug policy was enacted by the Parliament in December 2000, taking effect in January 2002. The new law maintained the status of illegality for using or possessing any drug for personal use without authorization. The offence was changed from a criminal one in 2005, with prison a possible punishment, to an administrative one if the amount possessed was no more than ten days' supply of that substance. Cannabis is exempt to this law, as it is legalized in December 1999.

Drug addicts are aggressively targeted with therapy or community service rather than fines or waivers. Even if there are no criminal penalties, the law does not legalize use of drugs (except for cannabis) in Gristol-Serkonos. Possession has remained prohibited by Gristol-Serkonosean law, and criminal penalties are still applied to drug growers, dealers and traffickers.

A study was published in 2009 regarding the decriminalization of drugs. Empirical data from that report indicate that decriminalization has had no adverse effect on drug usage rates. However, drug-related pathologies - such as sexually transmitted diseases and deaths due to drug usage - have decreased dramatically.

Amount Limits

• 10 g Opium
• 2 g Cocaine (Hydrochloride)
• 2 g Morphine
• 1 g MDMA
• 1 g Heroin
• 1 g Methadone
• 1 g Amphetamine
• 0.5 g Pure THC
• 0.3 g Cocaine (Benzoylecgonine)
• 0.1 g PCP
• 500 µg LSD