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THE BRITANNIAN KINGDOM
The September Foreign Update

The Legal Question And Abdication Of HIBM King Sebastian I

 

A legal question was posted in the supreme court of Britannia on the 25th September 2017 by Prime Minister Lucas Wessex-Windsor to seek answer from Chief Justice Arthur Jameson on the issue of the king's activity and to see whether the king's inactivity has violated Article II Section 7 of the constitution.

The Legal Question Of The Prime Minister

 

M'Lord Chief Justice,

Amendment III to the Second Constitution of Britannia saw the addition of Section 7 to Article II, which lays out the provisions for a regional Monarchy. This section, as added, reads as follows:
Article II Section 7

Article II Section 7

 

(7) If the Monarch, without a posted leave of absence has been gone from the forums for 5 consecutive days, the Prince(ss) of Wales shall assume the powers of the Crown as Regent. After a further 15 days, if the Monarch has not returned, they shall be deemed abdicated and the Prince(ss) of Wales shall be Crowned as the new Monarch.

I submit to you today a Legal Question requesting the formal clarification of the meaning behind the words "has been gone from the forums", as they relate to the measure of a Monarch's activity which determines the state of the Monarchy between normal rule by Sovereign, rule by Regent, or the abdication of a Sovereign.

In the view of the petitioner requesting clarification, there are two possible interpretations of the words "has been gone from the forums".

In the first possible interpretation, forum activity would be determined by checking when a member of the TBK board has last been recorded as active by ZetaBoards itself. It should be noted that this measure requires a member only to log in and view the forums, not to actually engage with them through posting new threads or replies to existing ones. In essence, so long as a person has viewed the forums reasonably recently, they are active. And so in terms directly relating to the Constitutional provision concerned, the Monarch is not considered to be "gone from the forums" even if their only activity is logging on to take a look at them, without posting. Rather, they would have to not even log on for "5 consecutive days" in order to be considered "gone from the forums" and have the Prince(ss) of Wales become Regent.

In the second possible interpretation, forum activity would be determined by when a member last posted a topic or reply somewhere on the board. In order to not have been "gone from the forums for 5 consecutive days", the person would have to have posted something contributing to the forums within those five days. If they haven't, then they wouldn't be considered active or present, but instead, "gone". Likewise, this interpretation would suggest that unless the Monarch meets the standard of being active within their Kingdom by posting at least once every five days, they are "gone from the forums", and the Prince(ss) of Wales would become Regent, as per the Constitution.

I believe that this question of interpretations may well have a deep impact on our region and the future of its Monarchy. Therefore, I submit this question to the Court for consideration, and I patiently await your trusted and binding opinion, along with whatever questions you may pose in order to guide deliberations.

Thank you for your time.

And After two days of judicial review to the legal question , The chief justice issued his ruling to the legal question through which he ordered the abdication of the king having violated the Article II Section 7 of the constitution.

The Chief Justice's Ruling

 

Supreme Court of Britannia

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Presiding Judicial Officers:
His Lordship Chief Justice Arthur Jameson KG PC LLB LEC

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In the matter of; Lucas Windsor-Wessex RE: Forum Absences

Mr. Lucas Windsor-Wessex presented a legal question before the Court, requesting a clarification of the meaning behind the words "has been gone from the forums", as found in the Third Amendment to the Constitution of Britannia.

Article II Section 7

 

(7) If the Monarch, without a posted leave of absence has been gone from the forums for 5 consecutive days, the Prince(ss) of Wales shall assume the powers of the Crown as Regent. After a further 15 days, if the Monarch has not returned, they shall be deemed abdicated and the Prince(ss) of Wales shall be Crowned as the new Monarch.

Mr. Windsor-Wessex presented two of his own possible interpretations of the phrase, which he claims, and to which the Court concurs, refers to the measure of a Monarch's activity on the Britannian forum.

One, that forum activity is determined by the most recent login date. This interpretation does not require the person in question to post on or interact with the forums in any other way than to simply click the log in button, or refresh the webpage if already logged in.

Alternatively, Mr. Windsor-Wessex argues that forum activity could also be determined by when the last post or topic created by the member was made. A member would have to contribute to the forum community by creating a new post or discussion.

In short, the Court must determine which of the two interpretations is correct with regards to this specific clause of the Constitution. The Court shall first proceed by acknowledging the contextual situation which has led to the petitioner filing this legal inquiry.

(1) The apparent context of this legal question is the absence of HIBM King Sebastian I, who as of this Court Study has not accessed the forums since 23 September, 2017, and has not posted since 7 September, 2017. This sustained period of absence and low activity has prompted much discussion both on the forums and off. Having established the context, we must now address the legal question in specific, referencing the arguments supplied by the petitioner.

(2) The question refers to the Constitution's Third Amendment, cited above. This Court understands the purpose of the Third Amendment to be the implementation of a corrective measure which is to be taken in the case that a Monarch is inactive on the forums. With this in mind, the definition of forum activity and inactivity must be closely examined - throughout the Constitution, forum activity is consistently used for the purpose of determining, and as a representation of, one's level of contribution to the community; however, it is not explicitly defined in any legal documents in Britannia.

With regards to the petitioner's first interpretation: simply logging into one's forum account does not involve contribution in the form of content creation or discussion, and is not productive or beneficial toward the community. As a result, simply referring to activity as the point of last login promotes inactivity in members and essentially nullifies the Constitutional and legal safeguards against forum absences. Rather, Mr. Windsor-Wessex's second interpretation would be a more proper application, in that it requires members of the community to maintain a noticeable presence on the forum in order to be deemed "active."

Understanding the aforementioned argument, the Court hereby defines forum activity to be measured by the date of the most recent forum post or topic of the given member of the Britannian forums.

(3) Standing by this interpretation, it must be noted that King Sebastian I has been found in violation of the Third Amendment of the Constitution, having not posted and therefore been absent for exactly 20 days as of this Court Study. The Constitution, therefore, legally declares the abdication process defined in this amendment to have occurred, and requires a transition of all power to the Prince of Wales.

Moreover, the Court recommends Parliament review all documents discussing activity requirements for any and all positions to ensure the requirements are yet reasonable with the newly applied definition of forum activity.

It is so ordered.

And after the ordered abdication of the king by the supreme court, The Prince of wales ascended the throne as King William V. The newly ascended king addressed the region saying:

The New King's Speech

 

Citizens of Britannia,

Today marks a new day for our Kingdom. A day of renewal and a day of remembrance. Today, we thank His Former Majesty Sebastian I for his work for the region. While his inactivity may have caused his reign to end, we are grateful for the service he has done for our region. We now prepare for the future of our region.

First things first, I do hereby announce to you all that I shall now be known as His Majesty King William V. At this time, no Prince of Wales shall be formally appointed to avoid reducing the number of people eligible to seek elected office.

My return to the Crown will help us get back on track and help our region succeed. But first, things will have to change. The first changes will be to reform our Nobility and Honours system. Many citizens have fallen to inactivity and have failed to contribute to our region. Therefore, I do hereby revoke the Letters Patent issued to the following: Adolf Wessex (for loss of citizenship), Kellie McLeod (for loss of citizenship), and George Mountbatten VI (for loss of citizenship). The Letters Patent of the Former King Sebastian I will be amended later on.

I am pleased and proud to present the following people with Honours from the Crown:

~ Lucas Windsor Wessex: Officer of the Order of the British Empire ~
~ James Smith V: Member of the Order of the British Empire ~

These two gentlemen have worked hard during their time in government to do their best to keep activity high and I know of no one more deserving than these two gentlemen to receive this honour.

Our Honours are special, and they will not be distributed to anyone who seeks them without effort, we must work for them and earn them. The path to rebuilding our region starts now, and we must work together to make sure it is a success. A Speech from the Throne outlining our plans for the coming weeks will follow shortly.

God Save the King, God Save Britannia!
Yours faithfully,

William R

Immediately after the supreme court ruling ,The prime minister released a statement from 10 downing street saying :

The Prime Minister's Speech

 

Transition Between Monarchs

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From:           Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street, The Rt. Hon. Lucas Wessex Windsor
Published:     27 September, 2017

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People of The Britannian Kingdom, today we find ourselves living out a great shift in course for our region's future, and what will come to be seen as a defining moment in our humble history. Let us reflect on this.

I come here firstly to say that His Former Majesty King Sebastian I continues to enjoy my purest respect, both as our region's second Monarch, and also as my eldest brother. I initiated the legal question that brought us to this point not out of spite for the King, but rather out of a sense of duty to this region. Sebastian I reigned during one of our region's toughest periods, and while he may have fallen to inactivity in the end, let us not forget his instrumental role in moving this region forward from its founding era, and in seeing through important reforms that have made The Britannian Kingdom a better place. May his legacy of open-mindedness and willingness to change when appropriate serve to teach us all a great deal, long after his departure from the Throne.

Secondly, I wish to express my gratitude to the Lord Chief Justice himself, Sir Arthur Jameson, whose even-handed and considerate ruling has ultimately delivered us to this turn of events. I appreciate not only Sir Arthur Jameson's balanced application of our regionally-shared value of Justice, but also his expediency in delivering a verdict, which no doubt required a great deal of thought on his part, given the inherently extensive effects this ordeal will have, and has already had, on The Britannian Kingdom. I encourage you all to share in this appreciation, and to perhaps express your own gratitude for the dignity, balance, and skill with which the Court has handled this matter.

Finally, I wish all the best for the future to our new Monarch, His Majesty King William V. Given his history in The Britannian Kingdom, and his unmatchable status as the Father of our region, I harbor optimism of the highest degree for his return to the Throne. This transition, however sudden or even bizarre, will not be allowed to affect the ongoing efforts to restore our region to its former glory and vibrancy. William V will no doubt be an amazing asset to these efforts, willing to take whatever measures necessary for the good of our region.

I thank all of The Britannian Kingdom's people for their patience and understanding in the uncertain times that preceded today. It's revealed our region's underlying spirit of true grit, something we should all take pride in.

Long Live The King! Glory to The Britannian Kingdom!


The Rt. Hon. Lucas Wessex Windsor