WHEREAS, the current Government agreed to submit various Organic Law reforms to the current Ziu, including a provision for the Seneschál to be nominated by the Cosâ prior to appointment by the King;

WHEREAS, the Seneschál should be elected by the people of Talossa, and not appointed by the King;

WHEREAS, this is a cumbersome endeavor and requires sweeping reforms throughout the OrgLaw and other laws; and,

WHEREAS, this bill is hopefully the best compromise between all parties,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED by the King, Cosâ and Senäts of Talossa in Ziu assembled that:

(1) All references to a "Prime Minister" in the Organic Law and any other laws in effect shall be made to refer instead to the Seneschál, to wit:

(a) Section 4 of Article IV of the Organic Law is so amended as follows:

QuoteExcept as otherwise provided in this Organic Law, only eligible and registered voters of Talossa may be elected or appointed to the Senäts, and only so to the province in which they reside individually. No Senator, even though elected or appointed to the Senäts, may actually vote his seat until he has been a citizen for one year, or served for six months as Seneschál or Secretary of State, or received an order of knighthood from the King. No person may simultaneously hold more than one seat in the Senäts.

(b) Section 4 of Article IX of the Organic Law is so amended as follows:

QuoteThe Seneschál shall have the right at his discretion to withdraw any legislative proposal from the Hopper and instruct the Secretary of State to treat it as a properly submitted bill. Prime Dictates are exempt from all provisions relating unto legislative proposals.

(c) The Scribery of Talossa is instructed and shall have an express duty to replace in El Lexhatx with "Seneschál" any and all references to a "Prime Minister", or therein with "Distáin" any and all references to a "Deputy Prime Minister", as according to fair reason and context.

(2) The phrase "to appoint the Seneschál after elections" is stricken completely from Section 2 of Article III of the Organic Law.

(3) Section 2 of Article XIII of the Organic Law, which concerns warrants of prorogation, is repealed in whole.

(4) The entirety of Article XI of the Organic Law, which concerns the Seneschál, is replaced in whole with the following:

Quote

Section 1
The head of the Government is the Prime Minister, who shall be known otherwise as the Seneschál. Any Talossan, except for the King of Talossa, shall be eligible to be the Seneschál.

Section 2
The Seneschál shall be elected directly by the Cosâ, and his term shall expire upon the installation of his successor. He shall maintain the confidence of a majority of the Cosâ alone in order to hold the office.

Section 3
The Seneschál has duties of the State. He may advise the King to dissolve the Cosâ and to appoint and remove members of the Cabinet, and such advice to the King may not be refused. The Seneschal may issues speeches to the nation in writing, declare war pending the approval of the Cosâ, write treaties pending the approval of the Cosâ, expedite the Ziu's consideration of legislation, and issue Prime Dictates.

Section 4
Prime Dictates (PD's) are public declarations which affect government policy and have the force of law. They take effect upon their countersignature by the King and function as laws for all purposes, with such exceptions and subject to such conditions as the Ziu may enact by statute. If a Prime Dictate is vetoed by the King, the Cosâ may introduce the text of the PD as a regular bill and, if it receives two thirds of the vote, it becomes law over the King's objection. A PD may never be used to amend the Organic Law. PD's shall be published at the earliest possible opportunity in the Clark.

Section 5
The election of a Seneschál shall be the sole and exclusive business of the first Clark of every newly seated Ziu, but neither a member of the Senäts nor the King may vote on the matter. The Senäts may undertake during such Clark any of their business for which the consent of the Cosâ or the King be not requisite.

The method of election of a Seneschál shall be Ranked Choice Voting. Each member of the Cosâ shall have as many votes in the election as the seats which he hold in the Cosâ, but shall cast his votes as one bloc and have no divided conscience. The candidates for each such election shall be only the recognized and commonly known leader of each political party which shall have earned representation in the Cosâ at the most recent general election.

No member of the Cosâ may abstain in the election of a Seneschál, and shall rank on his ballot at least two distinct preferences, which itself shall be made public.

Whichever candidate shall have earned a majority of the votes in his election, as according to the method of Ranked Choice Voting, shall be appointed subsequently and forthwith by the King to serve as Seneschál, and the results of the election shall be published at large in the Clark.

Section 6
The Seneschál shall be sworn by the historic Oath of Office in the Talossan language, if possible in the presence of a copy of the historic book, The Loom of Language. He shall raise his right hand and take the Oath verbally in the presence of the King or a member of the Uppermost Cort, either in person or over the phone. In place of reciting the entire Oath he may simply affirm by the word 'üc' his intention to abide by its terms. The historic Oath of Office is as follows:

"Eu afirm, solenâmînt, që eu, [nôminâ], cün fidálità, rompliarhéu l'ôifisch da Sieu Maxhestà së Seneschál del Regipäts Talossán, és zefençarhéu, àl miglhôr da v'aválità, la sigürità del Estat Talossán. Så viva el Regeu!" (Translation: I do solemnly affirm that I, [name], will faithfully execute the office of His Majesty's First Minister of the Kingdom of Talossa, and will to the best of my ability defend the integrity of the Talossan State. Long live the King!)

Section 7
The second Clark of every Ziu may entertain business as normal, but especially shall occur after a month of recess following the first Clark. The Seneschál shall have the express duty during the said month of recess to form a government and prepare their legislative agenda, and shall announce publicly both the roster and the agenda at least before, if not sooner than, the last day on which a member of the Ziu may submit a measure to the second Clark.

Section 8
No election for the Seneschál shall occur, except during the first Clark of a newly seated Ziu.

(5) Section 8 of Article XII of the Organic Law is so amended as follows:

QuoteThe Seneschál shall appoint a member of the Government to be the Deputy Prime Minister, who shall be known otherwise as the Distáin. The Distáin shall act in place of the Seneschál in case of absence or disability of the latter, and shall become the Seneschál in case of death, removal or resignation. The Ziu may establish by law the procedures and standards in order to determine the absence or disability of the Seneschál, as well as the manner or conditions by which the Distáin shall be appointed.

(6) A new section is appended and accordingly numbered to Article XII of the Organic Law concerning the Government (Cabinet), to wit:

Quote
Section 9
Whenever the Government should lose the confidence of the Cosâ by a formal vote, the same Government shall remain in offce as caretakers until a new Seneschál shall be duly installed.

(7) Section 1 of Article XIII of the Organic Law is so amended as follows:

QuoteA newly elected Ziu shall convene on the first day of the month after its general election, to coincide with the publication of the first Clark. Its term shall be equal to seven Clarks, or roughly eight calendar months. During its last month the King shall issue a Writ of Dissolution ending its term. Whenever the Cosâ may be dissolved, all its members shall resign, but any Members holding positions in the Government may remain in those positions until the outcome of the election be resolved.

[8] Those provisions of this Act which affect the Organic Law shall be put to a referendum of the people of Talossa together, to be answered therein as one single Organic amendment; but, furthermore, those provisions of this Act which do not affect the Organic Law shall take effect immediately upon the enactment hereof, severable and separate from those provisions and not answerable by a referendum.

(9) Those phrases, clauses, paragraphs, sections, or other manners of any law or any source of law which contravene the provisions of this Act shall be severed and nullified upon the effectuation hereof, whether by enactment or referendum, but only to the extent of and not beyond such contravention.

Okay. I am going to put up right now. I will post below this in another reply with my suggestions.

WHEREAS, it seems unseemly that the Túischac'h, the presiding officer of the Cosa, should be nominated by the King or by the Government instead of elected by the Cosa;

WHEREAS, a previous bill did not address all manners or causes of the election of the Túischac'h; and,

WHEREAS, the Cosa deserves at all times a present, incumbent, active, and loyal Túischac'h,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED by the King, Cosa and Senäts of Talossa in Ziu assembled that the text of the twentieth section of Title H of El Lexhatx (H.20), which reads at the time of the authorship of this bill...

QuoteThe King shall appoint a Member of the Cosa to serve as Speaker of the Cosa (Talossan: el Túischac'h) for the upcoming term, on the advice of the Seneschal after consultation with the leaders of all parties represented in the Cosa. The Speaker shall preside, direct and maintain order during Living Cosas and in the Hopper, in an unbiased fashion. Otherwise, his function will be to advise Members of the Cosa of appropriate decorum. He is considered the honourable President of the Cosâ and shall be awarded all due veneration when serving as such. In the absence of the Túischac'h from the Hopper, the Mençéi shall perform these duties.

...shall, at the time of effecutation of this Act, be stricken entirely and replaced with the following:

QuoteThe Cosa shall be served actively and loyally by a Speaker of the Cosa (Talossan: el Túischac'h) who shall be one of their members, be elected directly by them, and serve then for the remainder of the term of that Cosa.

1. The Speaker shall preside, direct, and maintain order during Living Cosas and in the Hopper without bias or favor, and otherwise may advise Members of the Cosa of appropriate decorum.

2. The election of a Speaker shall be so done as follows:

2.1. After the results of a General Election of the Ziu shall have been certified as according to law, or during any bona fide absence or vacancy in the office of the Speaker, but in any case until the next following dissolution of the Cosa, a Member or Member-elect of one Cosa shall have individual power to publish publicly a petition nominating an eligible person for the office of the Speaker.

2.2. Nomination petitions for the office of the Speaker may be signed only publicly and only by other Members or Members-elect of the same Cosa. Each signature shall be equal to one vote in favor of the nomination.

2.3. Whenever one nomination petition shall have earned such number of affirmative votes as shall equal a majority of the actual members of the Cosa, without regard to the number of seats which they may hold, then the candidate so nominated shall be declared by the Secretary of State to be the Speaker and all other outstanding nomination petitions shall be moot and nullified.

2.4. No Member or Member-elect of the Cosa shall have signed more than one nomination petition simultaneously for the same cause; but, if a Member or Member-elect wish to support a different petition, then he or she shall retract publicly the earlier signature before signing another.

3. The Speaker shall be considered the honourable president of the Cosa, and shall be awarded all due veneration during such tenure.

4. While the office of the Speaker may be vacant or actually unattended, and until the Cosa shall have elected a new Speaker for the remainder of the term, the Mençéi of the Senate shall perform the duties of the Speaker.

Uréu q'estadra så: Açafat del Val, Senator for Florencia.

I vote për on the foregoing Resolution.

I concur that under the current OrgLaw it would be (perhaps counterintuitively) better that sitting judges be allowed a seat in the Cosă instead of the Senäts. I am also not opposed to a unicameral Ziu. In any case, I oppose this bill.

I concur that in spite of the good intentions of this bill we should let it lie to tradition rather than statute. A webform would alleviate this worry, but itself creates more bureaucracy; it'd be another tool to transfer over from one cabinet to another, with log-in information and APIs and the sort. It adds unnecessary burden during a time when we are trying to encourage people to take on more roles.

Not to be a tomato-thrower, though, I would support the following language:

QuoteThe Interior Minister, heading the Ministry of the Interior, which shall comprise the bureaus listed below. Among their other duties, they shall supervise the immigration of new citizens into Talossa, in consultation with the Uppermost Cort; shall be the liaison between the Kingdom Government and the provincial governments; and may publish a detailed report of the Kingdom's immigration statistics once per month.

I have voted Për on all bills except one; I abstained on RZ21, The Tuischac'h Election Bill.

There is nothing in the text with which I disagree outright; rather, I wish that sections had been included which address or fix the process of election during intra-election vacancies, resignations, and so forth. I could not support it, but I could not oppose it. On that note, I should / hope to put up a bill in the Hopper myself which will do so.

This is known already among the FreeDems, but my partner has been exposed to COVID-19 and we have been quarantined for the past 2-3 weeks. She is recovering well by now, and I return to work finally tomorrow, but it is a little tenuous. Our metro area has been negligent at best, and our mayor and governor are woefully underestimating the impact of this pandemic. So, y'know, Florida is going to be ground zero for a bunch of corona-zombies.

Best wishes to your health, your family, your endeavors, and more. There is no doubt that you are a kind soul, sir.

While I subscribe to the legal theory that a previously incumbent public official may be subject to impeachment still after his resignation, I do notify the public at large that I have ceased to entertain this bill and have no intentions at this time or in the future to put it in the Hopper.

In pursuance to Article IV, Section 2 of the Florencian Constitution, which reads...

QuoteThis Constitution may be amended in whole or in part by a resolution of the Nimlet, provided that such a resolution passes with the voted consent of each Senator for Florencia. After approval of any such resolution by the Constable, the amended form of this Constitution shall be considered in force and the law of the land.

... I do make the following resolution of this Nimlet and put it to this honorable House for a final vote, to wit:

QuoteBe it resolved by this House of Shepherds of the Province of Florenica assembled, that:

(1) The Constitution of the Province of Florenica, which be in effect at the time of passage of this Resolution, shall be hereby nullified in whole, entirely, and inseverably;

(2) The newly proposed Constitution of 2020, which be found at this address <https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=119>, shall be hereby effectuated forthwith for the whole, entire, and inseverable Province of Florencia; and

(3) Any law of any kind, manner, or source which be in effect at the time of passage of this Resolution shall remain in effect unless it contravene the newly proposed Constitution of 2020, in which case it shall be nullified upon the affectation of this Resolution.

The deadline to vote on this Resolution is made to be the shortest possible duration, i.e. 336 hours from the time of posting. That is approximately equal to May 1st, 2020.

Submitted in good faith by the Senator for Florencia,
a Member of the House of Shepherds,
this day the 16th of April,
in the year 2020,

/s/
Açafat del Val

This is not just about "one dumb ruling". I will reiterate the quote from the man himself: "[T]he function of Justice is Justice, not Law. Human law is an attempt to codify Justice, but in final analysis Justice cannot fully be codified or restricted into unwavering pre-ordained channels - it is more subtle, and deeper, than that."

That is worrisome logic. That is not the sort of logic which should sit on the bench. How would you feel if you filed a suit and it was dismissed with prejudice because the judge "said so", or because the judge thought that such a decision was "natural justice", despite the law? That's what Tamoran is contending: that judges have an inherent power to ignore or subvert the law if doing so is in the "greater interest of justice", however that particular judge defines 'justice' in that particular moment.

But you are cordially invited to discuss the merits and the defense beyond the popularity or beyond your personal feelings of the individual. I wonder what you have to say about Tamoran besides "one dumb ruling" or "one of Talossa's most accomplished jurists"?

Please explain how his official actions and public statements do not, somehow, mean that he will not violate the rule of law again.

I see reason to abolish both positions, to be frank. Is that a bad idea?

In any case, what about the proposal to have a parallel election? Could the Cosa choose the Seneschal and the Túischac'h at the same time?

The above is a draft, insofar as I invite the public at large to debate, speak and comment on this matter. The original bill may be amended in whole or in part, and there is no reason why it could not be amended to a censure rather than an impeachment.

Having made these disclaimers, I invite now that anyone, even Tamoran himself, explain why he should not be removed from the Cort by this Ziu. Please explain how his official actions and public statements do not, somehow, mean that he will not violate the rule of law again.

I ask that you discuss the MERITS and NOT the political convenience. Any calculation against his removal based on whether the move would be "popular" is a perversion of the rule of law.

WHEREAS, it is the commonly understood purpose of a judge of any court of law to effectuate the law;

WHEREAS, it is immensely improper of a judge of any court of law to ignore the law for any reason;

WHEREAS, it is at best a high misdemeanor of a judge of any court of law to misapply the law willfully and knowingly;

WHEREAS, it is at worst an attack on the rule of law and the principles thereof whenever a judge of any court of law may misapply the law willfully and knowingly;

WHEREAS, it is a misapplication of the law and thus a crime if or when a judge of any court of law enter a judgement or a dictum contravening the law or causing a miscarriage of justice;

WHEREAS, the concept of justice is nebulous and unclear;

WHEREAS, it is commonly understood that because of the unclear nature of justice we the citizens of Talossa have chosen to be a nation of laws and to obey the rule of law;

WHEREAS, the law supersedes necessarily any faint, unclear, or subjective evaluations of justice,

BECAUSE, a nation would be without its laws subject to the whims and fancies of errant or unsound judges; and

WHEREAS, the nation of Talossa wishes not to be the victim of an errant or unsound judge who ignores the law in order to apply justice in whichever manner he may personally find suitable without regard to the written laws of our Ziu:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Cosă and the Senäts in Ziu assembled that the contemporary Senior Judge of the Uppermost Cort, the right honorable Ián M.T. Tamorán, S.H., is impeached and shall be removed from such office forthwith for such high crimes and misdemeanors as exhibited by the following articles of impeachment:

FIRST, a miscarriage of justice: The Senior Judge committed multiple gross and plain errors during the course of a recent criminal case and, according to the Uppermost Cort itself, committed an incredible error again when entering an acquittal for the same case. The Senior Judge did not adhere to established procedure, did not apply due process for all involved parties, and prejudiced the trial. These things results in a miscarriage of justice which is likely to repeat itself in the future.

SECOND, the incredible unbecoming conduct: Recently the Senior Judge made a public statement. He said, to wit, "[T]he function of Justice is Justice, not Law. Human law is an attempt to codify Justice, but in final analysis Justice cannot fully be codified or restricted into unwavering pre-ordained channels - it is more subtle, and deeper, than that." This statement alone is disqualifying and constitutes a high misdemeanor. It taints any future judgements which he may enter in future cases or controversies. Moreover, the Senior Judge has admitted publicly thereby that he does not intend to be a judge of the law, but a judge for whatever justice he personally finds suitable. Talossa is a nation of laws, and no judge of its courts may render justice without regard to those laws. Those who have done otherwise, do otherwise, or will do otherwise are unbecoming of the judiciary and must not hold any judicial office.