Marine Corps Management Commission
Marine Corps Management Commission (Shinasthana: 𤔲徹冗人吏, sle-rʼit-nunk-ning-reqs; abbr. E) is a statutory body established by the Commissions and Statutory Competences Act of 1948, as the most senior office with general responsibility over the Themiclesian Marine Corps. The same law reformed 41 different government institutions, in the main abolishing complicated ad hoc regulations accumulated since Medieval times to meet more modern requirements and in their stead substituting clearer lines of responsibility and communication.
Abbreviation
The Marine Corps Management Commission has no statutory abbreviation in Anglian, but by general consensus E is used as an acronym. E is the acronym on account of the equation E=MC², which is elaborated by a faulty application of the distributive property to be E=MC²=(MC)(MC). This is attributed to a proposal by Lieutenant-Colonel Sning (1899 – 1970) in honour of Lord M'reng, the second Themiclesian person to advance to the degree of a Philosophiae Doctor in mathematics, who also happened to be Captain-general of Marines from 1868 to 1870. However, Captain Mip spoke to the press in 1988 that this is an insult to Lord M'reng, because a doctor of mathematics would never see MC² as (MC)(MC): the correct evaluation is M·C·C.
History
Prior to the passage of the Commissions and Statutory Competences Act of 1948, there were three agencies of the Exchequer Department—the Exchequer Department Forces and Militia Committee, Home Victuals Board, and the Consolidated Resources Board—that had "ordinary" powers over Marines units, and these three reported to the War Secretary, President-Baron of the Admiralty, and Air Secretary. Other statutes provided that, under limited circumstances, the Marines units were to submit their requests to still other authorities. But even amongst the three, jurisdictional divide them was never quite clear as more composite tasks appeared, and most Mairnes officers chose to send requisite information to all three and allow them to sort out their differences and avoid the ire of any of them. This fracture of responsibility, chiefly a result of the preference of piecemeal emendations over large-scale rewriting of statutes, was not uncommon in the Themiclesian government of the early 20th century. After the report of a committee of jurists, this 1948 act repealed 2,540 separate statutes for one codified law and the 41 commissions it created.
The inaugural session of E sat on June 10, 1948, at the South Committee Room in the Exchequer Palace.
Procedure
Like normal commissions in Themiclesian understanding, E is a statutory body that consists of multiple individuals of different office and unequal rank, who have both collective and individual duties. The interaction between members of the commission is therefore a strictly regulated one to ensure that all affairs delegated to it are discharged lawfully.
The origin of this mode of deliberation is not completely clear, but in early history it is most frequently associated with the the Chancery Assembly (廷集). When the sovereign wished to be advised on a certain subject, the usual practice was to ask his court to deliberate it. The court then retired to the chancellor's palace, where they would trade opinions on the subject. On the one hand, there is an undeniable difference in rank between the chancellor and the other officials; on the other hand, there would be no use in deliberation if the chancellor's opinion nullified everyone else's opinions. Therefore it is the chancellor's duty to preside over the deliberation and make a cogent report of the views presented, including views countervailing to the prevailing view (or his own view) if there were any. Before the chancellor, in this occasion, his erstwhile subordinates (provided they were also members of the court) may speak freely and without regard for his opinions. This mode of deliberation then became the standard for boards of multiple members of unequal status. As E consists of multiple members of different office and unequal rank, this is the same mode of deliberation that is implied by the act of Parliament that constituted it.
It is the custom here as elsewhere that the most junior member of the commission speaks first, and here this distinction is held by the Commander, Internal Security Command. This mirrors the Chancery Assembly practice of allowing the Baron-in-Waiting Watcher of the Fire the first speech: as he kept watch over the bonfire (assemblies were held very early before dawn) he was also responsible for the safety of the assembly from nocturnal criminals; the position was granted to whomever the youngst baron in attendance was. For E, however, the Internal Security Command position is held by whomever is appointed to this office on a permanent basis. The speaking order then goes in order of seniority, from less to more senior. The penultimate speaker is the Master of the Privy Wardrobe, and the last is the Captain-general of Marines. The order is certainly intentional, as a junior person would not contradict a more senior person's expressed opinion; a senior speaker will also speak when fully informed of other opinions.
After the first round of speeches conclude, which is mandatory for everyone present, members may speak at will but still in order; that is, when a person finishes speaking, the floor passes to the next more senior person, and so forth.
After views have been presented, a member may make an unqualified agreement (附議, lit. "linked opinion") by simply stating they agree with the views presented by another person, or a qualified disagreement (駁議, lit. "traversing opinion") by stating the reasons why they oppose the opinion. An unqualified disagreement, by stating one disagrees but without giving a reason, is not permitted; this is because an unqualified agreement is made meaningful by the substantive views to which it is linked, while an unqualified disagreement has no substantive meaning. If one agrees with a qualified disagreement, one expresses an unqualified agreement with that qualified disagreement. When one's opinion is subject to disagreement, one is entitled to a response (抗議, lit. "resisting opinion"); a response may generally not be responded to. Thus, dialogues are capped at three entries—an initial speech, a disagreement, and a response. If further responses are to be made, they are deemed an initial speech; this is not always possible spontaneously because frequently the commission has other business arranged.
Public viewing
In principle, public business in Themiclesia proceeded upon by commission is open to public viewing. For E, this is less true because much of its subject matter is confidential, but still the sessions of E are public albeit only parts of speeches are delivered in full to avoid disclosure of sensitive material. If a sensitive disagreement is made, it is simply noted as "delivered in writing"; as soon as the Commission votes to acknowledge it, it is entered onto the record as though delivered verbally. Thus, much of the deliberation can seem missing at times. Some aspects of its business are also formulaic and non-controversial in nature, such as approving and submitting the marine corps's budgets and clearing reports (the controversial parts would have been internally resolved already) or endorsements of individual units' command papers for approval by ministers or Parliament (in many cases, these command papers are already drafted by ministers and ordered to be submitted to them for formal approbation).
Nevertheless, E is still a popular commission for the press and individuals with some interest in the armed forces, as its members do present previously-unknown information, often without prior acquaintence.