Unit One: Government Structure
Chapter One: Council
Intro
The Council is a ruling body made up of five members, which together rule over the Imperium. There are very few rules the council must abide by which allows for the Council to better respond quickly to the needs of the empire.
Section One: Purpose
The purpose of the council is to maintain order for the empire. The council's job includes, but is not limited to: protection of the empire, stimulation of the economy, supplying the general needs of the empire at large and responding to the pleas of the citizens of the Imperium.
Section Two: Power
The council contains five members who each individually carry power and responsibilities within their schools of government. Together, a unanimous vote within the council can do anything. In other words, the Council is the ultimate authority as a cohesive force. However, their power is limited in various ways when a unanimous vote can not be achieved. This is why the Council can be trusted.
Within the Council rest the highest ranking official from each of the schools of government. In this way, the Council is guaranteed to meet all of the needs of the empire as these needs are split between the schools. No one member of the council is more important or influential within the Council.
The Council convenes at least once a week. The Council may be called to order at any time by appointment or at the request of a majority of the Council.
The Council may appoint an Emperor by unanimous vote of the Council. The Emperor is a position that is not required by law but that the Council may deem necessary or desirable. The Emperor has all the power of the Council at his fingertips. His word is above all else. This position is extremely powerful and once appointed, the Emperor reigns supreme over all of the Imperium until his death or resignation. This is not an inheritable position.
The Council can pardon any citizen of any or all crimes, fines, and punishments with a majority vote.
Section Three: Constitution
The Council consists of five members. The council can never have a sixth member. The council can not operate with less than five members. In the event that there is no head of a school – leaving less than five members on the Council – the remaining members of the council may appoint someone to take an empty place on the Council. This requires a majority vote of approval. This interim member of the Council will assume all of the duties of their interim title until the school of government is able to produce a new head official or approve the interim official to remain in their appointed office.
The five members of the Council are as follows:
High Priest – The High Priest is the head of the Church. As such, he is charged with lawmaking, overseeing the courts and otherwise promoting morality and ethical conduct within the Imperium.
Archmage – The Archmage is the head of the School of Research. The observation, creation, and documentation of various sciences fall under his jurisdiction – including magical science.
Chief Scribe – The Chief Scribe is the main scholar and secretary of the Imperium. The duties of creating and maintaining records, conducting a periodical census and collection of taxes belong to the Chief Scribe.
General – The General is the head of the military branch of government. The General oversees training of military personel for various purposes within the empire. He holds the power to declare war, plan and execute attacks, apprehend citizens for imprisonment and perform other such military actions.
Grand Magistrate – The Grand Magistrate is the head of parliament. His basic purpose is to provide parliament with representation within the Council. His power is mostly honorary as he does not actually head any school of government. The power he does wield is a result of the fact that he is the key opportunity for the common citizen to be involved in the direction and leadership of the government.
Chapter Two: Parliament
Section One: Purpose
The purpose of Parliament is to provide the governors of the provinces with support from fellow provincial governors as well as to provide them with the ability to influence the higher tiers of government. Within parliament, the governors discuss leadership tactics, provential law, and issues that directly affect them or their subjects.
The main object of a meeting of Parliament is to pursuade the Grand Magistrate to promote a certain idea or present a request before the Council. Because of the fact that Parliament is mostly petitional, Parliament may choose to meet as little as only three times a year.
Parliament may meet by appointment or petition and does not require any number of individuals to attend. The exceptions to this are the three required meetings. There must be three required meetings which are defined as a meeting where a majority of the governors and the Grand Magistrate are in attendance.
Section Two: Power
The members of Parliament each have their individual power, but together parliament grants no greater power. The power Parliament does have is unique however. Parliament may unanimously vote to impeach a member of the council. In this way, Parliament, and thus the people, have some amount of check on the reigning powers of the schools and ultimately of the Council.
Parliament may also pardon any citizen of any or all crimes, fines, and punishments with a majority vote.
Section Three: Constitution
Parliament is composed of a governor from each officially designated province of the Imperium, including Promontorium. These governors convene to decide on a Grand Magistrate to be the head and representative of Parliament. This requires a majority vote. The Grand Magistrate can not be a governor of one of the provinces and hold both positions.
Chapter Three: Provinces
Each province conducts an annual election supervised by the Chief Scribe, where the voting citizens decide on a governor.
Voting:
The requirements for voting vary within the provinces as decided by the laws of the land. The Chief Scribe has the power to change these laws if he deems them unfair or inappropriate. However, one other member of Council must be present and in agreement for the Chief Scribe to perform these changes.
Governors
The governors must follow the system of government that is already in place when elected. Their detailed job description is determined by province. Their basic job description is to govern over their province and represent the needs of their people in meetings of Parliament. They also vote decide on the Grand Magistrate – a position on the Council.
Unit Two: Schools of Government
Chapter One: Church
Section One: Religious
The religious duties of the church are minimal. The church is charged with appeasing the gods. No person within or outside of the church may be required to believe in anything or participate in any religious activities.
Section Two: Judicial
The governors of the provinces should have in place some method of courts to deal with domestic disputes, accusation, judging, and sentencing of citizens, etc. If a citizen feels that some injustice has been done, however, they may take their case before the Church. The citizen may continue to find perceived injustice and may take their case higher in the Church until they reach the High Priest. If the High Priest rules against your case, this ruling can only be revoked by the Council, but the Council is not required to see your case.
The Church may also prosecute any member of society. In this case, the High Priest may be the prosecutor but may not be the judge. The defendant may choose two members of Council to be the judges for their case or they may allow for whichever two Council members are primarily available to be the judges, with the High Priest excluded except wherein there is not even one other member of Council willing to judge the case.
Section Three: Lawmaking
The Church can make, remove, or modify Imperial laws. Every citizen of the Imperium is subject to these laws except for the Emperor. Exceptions may only be made by liscenses.
Chapter Two: School of Science
Intro
The School of Science is devoted to learning about the world around us and the world within us. This knowledge is then shared with the Imperium for the furthering of this great empire. Knowledge gained within the School of Science may be taught in learning meetings or printed in newspapers.
Section One: Observational and Creative Science
One of the functions of the School of Science is to observe and record the natural order of things. The purpose of this would be to firstly gain us knowledge of the world we live in, and secondly to be able to manipulate the world around us to serve the Imperium.
Section Two: Magical Science
One branch of the School of Science is the Mage's Guild. The Mage's Guild is a collection of individuals interested in the study of magic. Mages share their knowledge of the arts with each other and practice their abilities together.
Mages may serve multiple purposes within the empire. A mage may be useful in the military, in helping farmers grow plants or in healing – just to name a few.
Chapter Three: School of Records
The School of Records is a collection of scribes dedicated to recording history, facts and various other forms of information. This school is composed of scribes dedicated to specific purposes. The Chief Scribe is the head of this school.
The School of Records also collects taxes and keeps a written record of all major events within the Imperium.
Chapter Four: Military
Section One: Imperial Guards
Imperial Guards are chosen by the General for their outstanding loyalty and impressive entourage of skills from within the military. They are the best soldiers the Imperium has, reserved for protecting the Council, carrying out important missions and otherwise serving the Council. This is truly the aspiration for any member of the military.
Section Two: Police Force
The Police Force protect the citizens of the Imperium and enforce laws.
Section Three: Army
The army protects the empire as a whole and is the Generals main force when dealing with outside threats to the empire.
Unit Three: Laws
Chapter One: Imperial Laws
Intro
Imperial Laws are laws created by the Church which must be followed by all citizens of the Imperium. These laws may affect the governments of the provinces or the actions of individuals.
Below is a basic list of laws. This list does not contain all laws of the land by any means, but is intended to give a basic knowledge of the general sense of morality that the Church strives to promote.
Law 1 : Killing is outlawed
Killing is an offense punishable by death except wherein the protection of self, property, or community are intrinsic factors. In such cases, the offense will be judged by the courts of the state which the victim was a member of. A policeman may be required to take action against a potential problem individual which may lead to a civilian casualty. In these cases, the intent will be judged to determine whether the offense was necessary, excusable, permissible, or an abuse of power.
Law 2 : Citizenship defined
Any individuals living on government designated state properties are citizens of the empire and subject to its edicts and are subject to the rule of those officials in power above them.
Law 3 : Trespassing outlawed
It is illegal to trespass into another citizen's house without permission. An official must have good reason before intruding into someone's house if a person denies access even once. If a soldier provides the courts with good reason to search the house and/or belongings then the courts may approve the search. If a citizen hinders the search even with the court's approval, then the case must be brought before the High Priest to decide whether or not the property should be searched. If the High Priest denies the search then the investigator must in the future of that investigation receive the High Priest's permission to search the property. If, however, the High Priest agrees that the property should be searched then the citizen must allow the search under punishment of short-term confinement.
Law 4 : Due process of law required for convictions
A person under investigation cannot be killed or punished without due process of law. An investigator must present the facts along with witnesses or other proofs enough to convict a citizen of a crime to the courts.
During investigation, a citizen is innocent until proven guilty and their rights are not to be withheld.
Law 5 : Stealing outlawed
Taking the property of another without permission is an offense punishable by fines/punishments valuing up to one and one half times the stolen property’s original value -- as judged by the courts. If they are unable to compensate to the degree prescribed by the courts, then they must compensate all that they can and the remaining debt must be paid through imprisonment in prison. The time spent in the prison may be no more than one day per shekel owed, and may be lessened or revoked by the High Priest or the victim of the original crime.
Law 6 : Special Licenses
Special Licenses may be awarded to specific individuals allowing them to perform certain actions which may otherwise be considered illegal.
A new type of license may only be created by the Council with a majority vote. The method of distribution for the license will be determined at this time.
Governors may create licenses for citizens of their province to excuse them from Provincial Laws. However, the governors can not give licenses to excuse Imperial Law.
A citizen in possession of a state issued license will not be charged with any crime the license may excuse them from.
Licenses may be revoked at any time by the distributor. If a license-revoked crime is committed and the license is subsequently revoked, that crime is still overlooked.
Law 7 : Court appointments mandatory
Failure to appear in court within one day of an issued appointment notice being delivered to an individual will be considered admission of guilt for the accused crimes and the court may pronounce sentence.
Chapter Two: Imperial Laws vs. Provincial Laws
Whereas Imperial Laws affect every citizen of the empire, Provincial Laws only affect those citizens who are a member of the state that the law applies to. These laws are state-specific, produced and enforced by that province's government.
In the event that a provincial law is defied over state boundaries, the laws of the land where the crime was commited are applied to the judgement.
