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Bill: Nobility (Life and Historical Peerages) Bill, 3448
Details
Submitted by[?]: Hosianisch-Demokratisches Verbund
Status[?]: passed
Votes: This is an ordinary bill. It requires more yes votes than no votes. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: October 3449
Description[?]:
| AN ACT to restore the use of noble titles with peerages for life being awarded to accomplished citizens and the recognition without non-property rights and privileges of historical hereditary holders of peerages, and for connected purposes. BE IT ENACTED by His Imperial and Most Illustrous Majesty, Franz Leopold of Hulstria, and His Imperial and Heavenly Majesty, Okatori Kanjiro of Gao-Soto, by and with the advice and consent of the Imperial Diet and Imperial Courts of Hulstria and Gao-Soto, in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:- 1) Life peerages (1) Upon the advice of the Imperial Diet, a Crownland Government, the Governor-General or the Staatsminister, the Crowns, or the Governor-General acting on their behalf, may award titles of nobility for the duration of the holder's life, not exceeding the rank of Baron or its Gao-Showan equivalent, to citizens for exceptional service - social, governmental, economic or otherwise - to the Crownlands. (2) Only life peers shall be entitled to holding membership in the Imperial Courts, and only if they are elected as such under the Constitutional Restoration Act of 3416, or appointed under the provisions of section 3(3). (3) Life peerages may be revoked by the Crowns or the Governor-General acting on their behalf if a holder is established by court order to have committed crimes or misdemeanours which would not be in keeping with holding a peerage. 2) Hereditary peerages (1) The hereditary titles enumerated in schedule 1 shall be recognised and protected, but no such hereditary titles shall be created. (2) Beyond the rights to family property, hereditary nobility shall enjoy no special political rights and privileges, and they may not take a seat in the Imperial Courts. 3) Imperial Courts (1) The Imperial Courts of Hulstria and Gao-Soto as established under the Constitutional Restoration Act of 3416 shall henceforth consist of an equal number of members elected by the Crownland Diets of the respective Empire in concurrence with the Imperial Diet elections; (2) Those members elected to serve in the Imperial Courts shall serve on a part-time basis. (3) If a member serving on an Imperial Court is not the holder of a life peerage, he shall be seen as such for the duration of his membership, as a "Lord of the Imperial Court". (4) The power of suspensive veto conferred upon the Imperial Courts as the upper house of the legislature and their ceremonial functions shall not be affected by this bill. (5) The number of life peers not elected to serve on the Imperial Court but additionally appointed shall be constrained to one-fifth of each court's size; and such peers shall have no party affiliation. SCHEDULE I (not a full list) Raske-Zilberschlag und Cuijpers von Anderinch, Dukes of Anderinch Michels, Grafen Michels of Bad Phönixspring Strauss, Dukes of Strauss Von Büren, Burgraves von Büren Von Smaragdwald, Grafen von Smaragdwald Von Thannhausenand, Grafen von Thannhousenand Imbergen, Junkers von Straussenbach Von Hortensiengau, Grafen von Hortensiengau. |
Proposals
Article 1
Proposal[?] to change Titles of nobility.
Old value:: Titles of nobility are not granted, but their use is not forbidden.
Current: Titles of nobility may be granted only by the Head of State.
Proposed: Titles of nobility may be granted by the government and any other political body designated by it.
Article 2
Proposal[?] to change Privileges of nobility (if nobility is recognised by the government).
Old value:: Nobility confers only titles and certain minor rights, but no political powers, and is not hereditary.
Current: Nobility confers only titles and certain minor rights, but no political powers, and can be hereditary.
Proposed: Nobility confers titles and minor political rights, but no direct control over people or land, and can be hereditary.
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 17:31:11, March 02, 2013 CET | From |  Hosianisch-Demokratisches Verbund | To | Debating the Nobility (Life and Historical Peerages) Bill, 3448 |
| Message | die Sr. Geehrte Staatsministerin, Frau Leah Schiffer (HDV, Anderinch-Herzogwalt) "Herrn Präsident, One of the great mistakes of our predecessors in government was the complete and total abolition of the nobility which has graced this nation for so long in the name of an equality that, by and large, already existed, without regard to their role in another place. This bill attempts to address the concerns that led to abolition and reconcile it with the constitutional and honourific role the nobility has played in Thomas Michels' constitutional framework. Members will note that this bill creates a split which wasn't present in the old laws: that between life and hereditary peerages. Life peerages are a means of involving and honouring those in society who have made especially valuable contributions with a very special sort of recognition. Hereditary peerages are a means of preserving and recognising historical titles, but carry no political weight unless they are elected to this House like any other citizen. Therefore, politically significant peerages are not hereditary, and hereditary peerages are more historically-minded than actually privileged beyond the property the family already possesses. This is a win-win situation, and I urge the Diet to support this bill." |
| Date | 21:07:15, March 02, 2013 CET | From | Demokratische Zentrumspartei | To | Debating the Nobility (Life and Historical Peerages) Bill, 3448 |
| Message | Mr. Speaker, hereditary nobility is a fundamentally unegalitarian institution. No person should be allowed the prestige of nobility of they have not earnt it. On the other hand, life peerages are not necessary because there are multiple other ways of recognising the achievements of notable public figures. Paul Hiebsch MR (DZP) |
| Date | 22:34:58, March 03, 2013 CET | From | Unabhängige Sozialkonservative Partei | To | Debating the Nobility (Life and Historical Peerages) Bill, 3448 |
| Message | "Good evening all, The Avantgarde-Partei agrees that individuals in our society deserving of recognition should be able to find it from a supportive state. However, we are concerned that the strengthening of the peerage takes too much from the traditional democratic values of the Imperial Crownlands. Nevertheless, as conservatives we feel obliged to support this bill although we have some angst regarding the hereditary nature of the titles proposed." Iannis Xenakis (AGP) |
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Voting
| Vote | Seats | ||||
| yes |
Total Seats: 416 | ||||
| no |
Total Seats: 334 | ||||
| abstain | Total Seats: 0 |
| Random fact: Parties have the ability to endorse another party's candidate for the Head of State election (if there is one). This adds a strategic element to the elections. |
| Random quote: "The root source of wealth is human ingenuity. This has no known bounds, so the amount of wealth in existence can always be increased. That's why capitalism is called 'making money.'" - Marc Geddes |