Parliament to meet in scheduled sessions
An Act of Parliament passed this morning has legislated for Parliament to henceforth meet in four formally scheduled sessions throughout the year, interspersed with recesses. Prior to this, Parliament was in effect constantly “in session”. Representatives live around the world, and so meet online in a private channel on the messaging software Discord, having previously used Skype. When an issue of legislative business arises, they are sent an alert by the Speaker. This means that those who are able to more frequently check their social media are more likely to respond to legislation first. The Act passed today means that in the future, Representatives will be made aware weeks in advance of a time and date to meet online. It is hoped that this will improve the ability of as many Representatives as possible to attend parliamentary discussions and votes. The introduction of formal parliamentary recesses in between sessions is also hoped to allay fears that Parliament could be accused of being “inactive”. Recent years have seen Acts being passed less frequently. Although it has been argued that this is natural now that a solid foundation of civil, criminal, and administrative law has been set for the Empire, there has remained a certain pressure for the legislature to be seen to be “doing something”, pressure that official recesses will relieve. There will be four annual parliamentary sessions interspersed with four recesses: the New Year Session followed by the Easter Recess, the Summer Session followed by the Summer Recess, the Autumn Session followed by the Autumn Recess, and the Advent Session followed by the Christmas Recess. The exact start date of each session and recess is at the discretion of the Speaker, albeit bound by parameters laid down by today’s Act of Parliament. The Monarch, Prime Minister, or Speaker will still be able to call Representatives to meet during a recess for an emergency or extraordinary meeting if necessary.
Queen Elizabeth II dies aged 96
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has died after a reign of 70 years. Emperor Jonathan I has announced an Empire-wide state of mourning to last until the Queen’s funeral. For the first four and a half years of the Empire of Austenasia, its entire population also owed allegiance to Queen Elizabeth as sovereign of the United Kingdom, with which all Austenasians up to that point were dual citizens. Even today, due to the various dual nationalities of all Austenasians, Elizabeth II was the joint sovereign of over a quarter of the Austenasian population (27.6%; 29 out of 105). Elizabeth II is now succeeded as monarch by her son Charles, formerly Prince of Wales, who met Crown Princess Caroline in March earlier this year. Shortly after learning of her death, Emperor Father Terry led a formal toast to the Queen’s memory in Parliament Hall. Furthermore, Lord John Gordon, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has suspended all parliamentary business. Full and official tributes to Queen Elizabeth II will be released by the Austenasian Throne and government in due course. Born on 21 April 1926, Elizabeth II became Queen upon the death of her father King George VI on 6 February 1952. As well as reigning over the United Kingdom, Elizabeth II held the thrones of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, and ten other Commonwealth Realms.
Lord Austin Jaax retires – Kingeston downsized
Sunday 22nd saw Lord Austin Jaax retire from frontline politics, resigning most of his positions within Austenasia. This came after Lord Jaax took on a greater role in Canadian local politics, resulting in increased demands on his time. Lord Jaax joined Austenasia in December 2018 as the Governing Commissioner of Kingeston, a new crown dependency which upon its creation consisted of an uninhabited area of farmland. Kingeston was expanded in May last year, becoming a Town with the annexation of a part of Jaax’s family home, making himself and his brother Austenasian residents. Jaax was appointed Acting Representative of the new town, being elected to the position proper a few months later in July. Now, however, the changes made to Kingeston in May 2020 have been reversed as a result of Jaax’s resignation. An Act of Parliament was passed yesterday, transitioning Kingeston back into a crown dependency. Jaax will be staying on as Kingeston’s governing commissioner due to the comparatively few duties required in administering an autonomous and uninhabited claim, but has resigned from his other posts, including Baron of Kingeston; as a knight, he will therefore henceforth be known as Sir Austin. Jaax had served as Chancellor since June 2020, and as Speaker of the House of Representatives since February earlier this year.
Two new claims join the Empire
Peach Ponds, an area of parkland in North America, and Dinkeaw, a garden bordered by Thailand, were annexed to Austenasia yesterday evening by an Imperial Decree. Both areas of land are uninhabited, and were offered by different individuals who approached the government with the request that said territories be claimed by Austenasia. Peach Ponds was claimed by Casper von Navārdia – who also serves as President and Foreign Minister of Phokland (a state of the Holy Roman Empire) – and consists of Huddleston Pond Park of Peachtree City in the U.S. state of Georgia. Peach Ponds was annexed as a Territory, and Casper von Navārdia was appointed its Governor and given the noble title Count of Cowyetton. Lord von Navārdia already administered the park on behalf of the local city council, and as such was in a perfect position to both claim and subsequently govern the new Territory. Dinkeaw consists of the garden of the Thai residence of Yai Khadpo and his family. Mr Khadpo’s mother requested that their garden be claimed by Austenasia; it has been annexed as a Crown Dependency, with Mr Khadpo appointed its Governing Commissioner. Lord Edward Gunderson, Speaker of the House of Representatives, recently announced that Parliament would only consider urgent bills due to the pressures faced by its members relating to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The annexations were therefore made law by Imperial Decree, something which has not been done since an expansion of New Richmond in April 2015.
Anti-bribery law passed
His Imperial Majesty Emperor Jonathan I this morning gave Imperial Consent to the Bribery Act 2017, which “makes new provision for the definition and prohibition of bribery”. The Act of Parliament, which can be read here, gained the required five out of nine votes yesterday afternoon, and was passed by the Speaker on to the Monarch earlier this morning. Prior to the passing of this Act, the crime of bribery was illegal only under a short subsection of a six year old Imperial Decree of the Emperor’s predecessor, Declan I. The Bribery Act 2017 sets out a far more detailed definition of the crime, and also makes it a criminal offence to accept or request a bribe; it had previously been illegal only to offer or give one. The Act was authored by the Emperor himself, who has an A-level qualification in Law. Its passage sees a return to the writing of detailed, comprehensive criminal law by Jonathan I, with the Emperor having authored several lengthy Acts of this type since his ascension to the Throne in 2013. Fortunately, this new Act may never be needed; in Austenasia’s eight and a half year history, nobody has ever been charged with committing bribery.
Lord Admiral Eren Lewis elected new Speaker
The House of Representatives this morning elected Lord Admiral Eren Lewis, Baron of Terentia, as its second Speaker. He replaces Lord Charles Clarke, who became Speaker in September last year but resigned on Monday 7th. The Speaker presides over and maintains order in meetings of the House of Representatives, recognising motions and counting votes. Lord Admiral Eren has served as Minister of Defence since March 2015.
Lord Charles Clarke elected Speaker of the House of Representatives
Lord Charles Clarke, Duke of Grantabridge was yesterday elected as the first Speaker of the House of Representatives. The Speaker of the House of Representatives Act 2014 was passed in October last year, but specified that the first holder of this new office would be elected after the next local election. With the local election that took place on 31 August now over, the Representatives – newly confirmed in their mandate – chose Lord Charles as the first Speaker. The duties of the Speaker will be to preside over and maintain order of meetings of the House of Representatives, recognising motions and counting votes. To date, this function had been de facto performed by the Monarch or Prime Minister. Lord Charles Clarke has served as Representative of Lichtenstein since that Town’s foundation.
