The (Even Further) Seperation of Powers Act

[Dréu Gavárþic'h]

THE (EVEN FURTHER) SEPARATION OF POWERS AMENDMENT

WHEREAS it has long been felt that the simultaneous holding of multiple legislative offices by a single person is not a very good idea, and

WHEREAS it is probably even a worse idea for any member of the executive branch to hold any legislative office, and

WHEREAS the population of Talossa has now grown sufficiently that we have plenty of people to fill the Uppermost Cort, the Senäts, and the Cosa, without having to "double up" on jobs,

THEREFORE the Ziu hereby approves the following amendment to the Organic Law, and transmits it to the people for ratification.

Article VIII Section 6 is amended to read: "Except as otherwise provided by law, anyone eligible to vote in Talossa is eligible to hold any governmental position, including Member of the Cosa. However, neither a reigning King, nor his Consort, nor a Regent during his regency, nor the Secretary of State shall hold any seats either in the Cosa or in the Senäts, nor shall any Senator hold any seats in the Cosa."

Article XVI Section 3 is amended to read: "Neither a reigning King nor his Consort, nor a Regent during his regency, nor the Secretary of State, nor the Seneschal shall be a Justice of the Uppermost Cort or a judge in any inferior court that the Ziu may create. Nor shall any Senator or Member of the Cosa be a Justice of the Uppermost Cort."

Uréu q'estadra sa:
Alexandreu Gavártgic'h (LRT-Vuode)

[Dréu Gavárþic'h]

Since this is mostly based of the King's bill, if he should so wish I will add his name as a co-sponsor.

I await the SoS's loud response.

[Sir C. M. Siervicül]

The difference between this bill and the King's, apparently, is that this one would prohibit any officer of the royal household from serving in the Ziu or on the Cort, not just the Secretary of State (who is responsible for running national elections). You might want to explain why you think it's important that, say, the Scribe of Abbavilla not be permitted to hold a Cosa seat.

[Dréu Gavárþic'h]

Ahh... that would be my bad. I thought that the officers were the Chancery. I only wish to make one alteration. I do not want the Sec'y to be allowed as a MC or Senator

[Capt. Sir Mick Preston]

You do realize that if the SoS is not allowed to hold a seat in the Cosa, he will be barred from posting in the Ziu.



If he can not post in the Ziu, he cannot logically run the Monthly Clarks.

talossa.proboards32.com/index.cgi?board=immigration&action=display&thread=1139676321

5. The Ziu. This Board is used only for official business of the Senäts nd the Cosâ; a post here is considered the Talossan equivalent of a speech on the floor of one of the two Houses. Nobody who is not a member of the Ziu may post here.


Bit of a Conundrum, don't you think?

[Sir C. M. Siervicül]

I'm sure Wittiquette, which has no legal force, can bow to the OrgLaw. If the administrators of Witt (which is a private forum) refuse to change Wittiquette to allow the SoS to post in the Ziu forum, the Kingdom should move the operations of the Ziu to a more cooperative forum. But I don't see that happening, and we shouldn't allow private rules like Wittiquette to control the content of the OrgLaw.

[Capt. Sir Mick Preston]

I would be interested in the good MC's logic as to why the SoS shouldn't also have a seat in the Ziu.

[Dréu Gavárþic'h]

Uhh... how about the fact that he runs the election? Or the fact that he clarks bills? Or the fact that he's in the executive branch?

Bit of a conflict of interest don't you think?

[Capt. Sir Mick Preston]

Might you look a bit closer at the OrgLaw before you make your accusations?

[Dréu Gavárþic'h]

Article VIII Section 4. During the election period as defined in Section 3, the Secretary of State shall in every particular conduct the election according to the election laws in such a manner as a) affords to every citizen the opportunity to cast a vote for the party of his choice, and b) does not discriminate against any party or individual in the collection or tallying of votes. In the absence of a current election law, the Secretary of State shall conduct the election according to the rules under which the most recent general election were conducted.

Article VIII Section 5. The Secretary of State must make public the exact procedure by which he will comply with Section 4, no less than fourteen days before the Balloting Day.

Article IX The Seneschál shall appoint a Secretary of State to an indefinite term. He may be removed and replaced by law. The Secretary of State shall supervise and organize the legislative business of the Ziu. He shall do this by administering a public venue for the inspection of legislative proposals before they become bills, "The Hopper" and by compiling and publishing the monthly legislative journal, "The Clark." He may delegate another citizen to act as Deputy Secretary of State, who will execute the powers and duties of the Secretary's office, while the Secretary is unavailable or unable to do so. This person shall be appointed and dismissed by the Secretary on whim.

Article IX Section 5. A legislative proposal is submitted t to the Secretary of State for publication in "The Hopper." A legislative proposal thus submitted should be followed by the words "Uréu q'estadra så" (or "Proposed by") and the name of the author and the capacity in which the author is offering the proposal. The Ziu may regulate how authors identify their capacity. A legislative proposal may be submitted by multiple sponsors, but the legislator whose name is listed first after the words "Uréu q'estadra så" (or "Proposed by") is considered the author of the legislative proposal. The Secretary of State may refuse to accept legislative proposals that are not clearly typed or word-processed.

Article IX Section 12. All bills received by the Secretary of State during one calendar month shall be compiled into a published legislative journal, to be called "The Clark." The Clark shall be compiled prior to the first day of the following month, and shall be published on that day.

Article X Section 2. The legislative business of the Ziu is supervised by the Secretary of State. At the start of every month the Secretary of State shall make a copy of the most recent Clark available to all the members of the Cosâ (MCs) and senators. Every MC and senator shall vote on every bill in every Clark (by post, telephone, or electronic device), and MCs and senators will have until the end of business on the twenty-first day of the calendar month to submit their votes to the Secretary of State.

I see no conflicts...

[Trotxâ]

alexandreu said:

Uhh... how about the fact that he runs the election? Or the fact that he clarks (sic) bills? Or the fact that he's in the executive branch?

Bit of a conflict of interest don't you think?

Umm.. Dreu - you may want to investigate what a Parliamentary system of government really is.

One hopes that this is pure ignorance on your part about how the Talossan government really works, and not the direct attack on Capt. Preston that it appears to be. I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but others may not see it that way.

I do encourage you to tread carefully.

Sir T

PS: it has been a tradition in the past to capitalize the verb "to Clark".

[Dréu Gavárþic'h]

All I'm saying is that it's a bit strange that the SoS (who is in the Executive Branch though appointed by the PM) can be a member of the Cosa. Think about it. What if a Justice could be in the Cosa. In fact... why can't a justice be in the Cosa? You guys seem to dislike checks and balances anyway...

[Trotxâ]

alexandreu said:

All I'm saying is that it's a bit strange that the SoS (who is in the Executive Branch though appointed by the PM) can be a member of the Cosa. Think about it. What if a Justice could be in the Cosa. In fact... why can't a justice be in the Cosa? You guys seem to dislike checks and balances anyway...

Strange to you, perhaps, but you are both young and new to Talossa. The answers to your questions are in the law. You should go look them up.

Sir T

[Dréu Gavárþic'h]

You're right Sir Trotxa! Hell, I think I'll nominate George Bush for senator in NY, even though he's the president. Why not?

[Capt. Sir Mick Preston]

Since apparently the MC is not understanding-

The SoS does not determine which bills are submitted to the Clark. The individual authors of the Bills, or the Seneschal does.

Only if there are procedural problems may the SoS send a Bill back to the Hopper.

The SoS cannot veto a bill, he cannot prevent a properly written and timely submitted bill from being Clarked, nor can he keep a bill from being passed.

(A justice can be instrumental in a Cort case that may be brought up by a Bill he had introduced into the Clark. Therefore, he would have to recuse himself (hopefully) if ever that instance should occur. I can see the logic of not wanting a person to Judge if his Law was valid, and if a person should be punished for breaking his law. )

All the SoS is right now is a glorified bean counter and chart maker.


Why does the young MC think that Talossa has to have the exact same government as our neighbor, the USA?

Please, I implore you. Not only should you look at and cut and paste the words of the OrgLaw. You really shold take the time to READ the words, and understand them.