Structure of East Pacifican Law
- by Bachtendekuppen (August 2013)
- The Concordat
The core of our law system is the Concordat: it is the first building block of our legal system. All other laws derive their authority from this single document. Our current Concordat came to be in the first months of 2009 and has rarely been amended. The Concordat, briefly put, outlines the executive, legislative and judiciary powers. Furthermore it describes the function of the Viziers, Citizenship, rights of Citizens and lastly the correct procedures for amending the Concordat itself.
- Different types of ‘law’
Proceeding towards discovering the structure of the TEP law system, we’ll examine Article B: Legislative of the Concordat: this article states that the Magisterium is the sole legislator and passes laws by majority vote. In addition, the Concordat demands the Magisterium to draft Standing Orders to regulate it’s day to day functioning. This is not written literally but is implied by the wording. The Standing Orders of the Conclave are not mentioned, but because of the way the Magisterial Standing Orders were casually mentioned, we can assume that these Standing Orders are common to all governmental institutions in our system of law. Notable is the fact that resolutions are nowhere to be found in the Concordat.
The Executive, like the Legislative and Judiciary branches, has some power to act on his own. The Concordat stipulates, for example, that the Delegate can 'remove from the region members in contravention of the laws thereof, represent The East Pacific to foreign governments, negotiate treaties with foreign governments, nominate individuals to serve as Viziers, and nominate individuals to serve as Arbiters. ’ as well as 'appoint Ministers to perform any of the duties of the
Delegate or to advise the Delegate ’ and 'order a Vizier to assume the Delegacy temporarily in order to provide for the security of the region. ’ Traditionally, these orders are called Executive Orders and they have some force of law as well. Though not actually laws, they are nonetheless authoritative and enforceable within the Executive’s branch of government.
Thus far, we have the following types of laws in our system: the Concordat, laws, standing orders, resolutions and executive orders. This list is incomplete: in the same way the Delegate can issue executive orders, the Magisterium and the Conclave can take formal decisions as well. Mostly these are appointments and confirmations as prescribed by several procedures. Lastly, a differentiation should be made between laws and constitutional laws. The constitutional laws are amendments to the Concordat, which have more stringent requirements for obvious reasons.
- Structure and Classification
The Concordat, as said above, is the fundamental law of our system. Logically it is the highest in rank and above all other types of law. This means that in a potential conflict of law, the wordings of the Concordat will always prevail: everything contrary will be considered null and void. The Conclave is the only institution that can officially make this determination.
Ranked below the Concordat but above all else are, respectively, the constitutional amendments and the normal laws. Another step down we can find the Standing Orders (both of the Magisterium and the Conclave) and the Executive Orders, as well as all other formal decisions of the Legislative and Judiciary institutions. Last we have the resolutions. They derive their existence from the Standing Orders of the Magisterium and hold no formal force of law.
- Foreign Law
As I final note we can look at the relation between our system of law and ‘foreign law’. Foreign law are treaties and decisions derived from these treaties. This subject has been discussed before the Conclave in the past and the general conviction is that the Concordat always remains the absolute highest authority in our system. I’m basing what follows on the formal and latest opinion of the Viceroy regarding this matter.
Treaties and bylaws, like normal laws, should be in line with the Concordat. They are however not independently enforceable within the TEP system of law without preemptive approval: treaties need to be voted upon by the Magisterium to be enacted. Bylaws, derived from treaties and enacted by an institution created by said treaty, need to be conversed into domestic law by the Magisterium.
- Conclusion
We can conclude that the East Pacifican system of law has a clear cut classification: the Concordat is the highest authority, followed by constitutional amendments, treaties, laws and ‘foreign’ bylaws. Next in line are the Standing Orders (both of the Magisterium and the Conclave) and the Executive Orders, as well as other formal decisions of the Legislative and Judiciary institutions. Lastly we have the Magisterial resolutions.
A basic understanding of this structure is needed to understand the importance and effect of each action taken by our institutions. I remember what it was like to sort this out for myself and I hope to have given you, the reader, a better understanding of the East Pacific’s legal system.