His Majesty King John recently caused an enormous discussion about the powers of the monarchy, when he decided to withhold proclamation of amendment 47RZ28, a minor bill on the permissible qualifications of his appointed constables. This "test case" may have ignited a national debate on the powers of the monarchy, as discussed in another article here, but it has also been the subject of another debate on whether such a proclamation is even legally necessary for the amendment to be enforced.
Within an hour of a now infamous Wittenberg post, "Proclamation of Amendments," certain Talossans were already beginning to make the argument that the King, in fact, does not have the ability to prevent an OrgLaw amendment from becoming law. One of the earliest replies on the subject from Oin Ursum questioned whether the King's actions even matter. Ursum points out that the King has never proclaimed amendments in the recent past, and since those amendments have all taken effect, why should this un-proclaimed amendment be any different? Ursum also suggested that the Scribe of Abbavilla could "just enter the amendment into law (according to standard practice) and see if there is a challenge from any quarters."
The King rebutted these arguments by Ursum, noting the stark difference between past amendments which simply weren't proclaimed, and RZ28 which he specifically refused to proclaim. In another post, he also questioned whether the Scribery, being a part of the Royal Household, has the ability to "rewrite the Organic Law at his own whim," or in this case, make the changes called for by RZ28.
Putting Ursum's legal argument to the test, outgoing Seneschal Lüc da Schir, acting as the Attorney General, filed a Petition for Declarative Relief in the Uppermost Cort, asking the Cort to rule that the 47RZ28 has become law, according to precedent. In a statement, da Schir clarifies the government's position, pointing out that every other amendment to Organic Law has been enforced regardless of a royal proclamation, and "...since no objection has ever been raised against the legality of the past non-proclaimed amendments, then RZ28 should be considered to be enforceable even if it hasn't been proclaimed."
Unrelated to the Cort filing, M.T. Patritz da Biondeu, the current Scribe of Abbavilla, released an official statement regarding the enforcement of RZ28, stating "The Scribery... has determined that 47RZ28 is to be considered 'In Force' and will be admitted in to the Digest as such." Biondeu reviewed the applicable section of Organic Law (Article XV, Section 1), and decided that the King's interpretation of this section was invalid.
In a statement from the King's counsel, Sir C.M. Siervicül notes that the King continues to remain confident in his interpretation of the relevant law. "I understand that the issue of what power the King ought to have with respect to amendments to the Organic Law is a matter of significant public debate at this point," Siervicül stated, "but in this case we intend to focus on the basic question of textual interpretation that is before the Cort."
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