Kingdom Law Change proposed

 

Greetings unto the esteemed peers of our mighty Outlands, I bid you well!

It should come as no surprise that given the events surrounding the removal of our past crowns and the recission of the award to Duke Guy, there has been a great deal of discussion about the structure of our peerages and our laws. As peers, it is our duty to advise the crown and the kingdom how our rules and laws best serve our kingdom’s legal needs and reflect its customs.

With that said, as we move past these sad events and try to get back to the joy of our game, We feel it is time to build some new protocols that will serve us in that next chapter.

We are a kingdom and a society that is becoming older, more diverse in membership, more in touch by electronic communications and having less time to dedicate to event travel. These are all considerations that we need to embrace rather than fight. With that in mind, all the disciplines and their peerages can extend their reach, make themselves more accessible and more responsive to the membership when we communicate using all means including online ones. As you know, our peerages are called on to serve many functions as the backbone, the institutional memory, the leader of efforts and the exemplars of our kingdom. We view our present proposals as helping all our peerages better serve both the kingdom directly and its crowns.
What we wish to do is put more formality into kingdom law regarding how our peerages operate. Both Corpora and Kingdom Law need to be flexible to the different needs of the different peerage orders, so we propose a structure that strikes a balance. Below is our proposed change to kingdom law.

Outlands Kingdom Law:

Renumber: X. COURT OF ROYAL PREROGATIVE to XI. COURT OF ROYAL PREROGATIVE

Add:

X.                 BESTOWED PEERAGES

A.                  Companionship

Admission to a bestowed peerage order is at the pleasure of the Crown after following the Consultation Procedures below.

B.                   Governance

Each Bestowed Peerage Order is governed by a Charter of that Peerage Order, which shall set forth the procedures for the governance of that Order.

C.                  Candidates

Recommendations for admission to an Order may be directed to either the Order, as further defined in their respective charter, or to the Crown. If to the Crown, the Crown shall always have the right to submit candidates to the Order. All candidates, however submitted, shall be considered by equivalent procedures as further defined in the charter.

D.                 Consultation

1.                   Each Peerage Order shall report to the Crown candidates to its Order, by procedures described in their respective Charters.

2.                   When all procedures for reporting out candidates have been satisfied, then the Corpora-granted requirement of Consultation with the Crown has been exercised with regard to the candidates reported.

3.                   “Consultation” need not result in any particular action by Their Majesties.

This law change binds the orders into the structure of kingdom law, but also gives the flexibility for each order to define its own internal rules and methods. Should we enact these, each Order would be called upon to draft its own charter. As you can see, what the charter should contain is very lightly mentioned. This is by design. What the kingdom and crown would gain is:
1. Make more transparent what both the crown and orders do to be in line with Corpora.

2. D.2 means to say the order has some sort of defined method to – forgive the wording – process candidate consideration, understanding that the order will tailor this to its own ways.

3. Encourage the orders to operate more autonomously. This is to say, orders ‘exist’ and do their work even outside the presence of the Crown.

None of this is to disparage how the kingdom has functioned to this point. Neither is this to ‘close the barn door after the horse is out’.

I pray that you consider this among your order and return to me with initial questions. 

With our eyes fixed to the new horizon, I remain, in service to our Crown and our mighty kingdom,

 

A Manifesto on circle minutes

Peerage meeting minutes, a manifesto

Louis-Philippe Mitouard

(written May 2002!)

Your Majesties and my lords and ladies, I write to you directly to appeal for a very simple thing: to take and distribute minutes of peerage circles. This is urgently needed in the Outlands.

Specifically, what I am requesting is to distribute minutes from peerage circles, either by letter or electronic mail, to all peers of that order. These minutes would at least include the quorum, discussion and polling results of each meeting. Secondarily, I would urge that you allow peers of an order to discuss candidates either by letter or electronic mail.

Simply put, the reason this is needed is to renew the trust between peer and crown, to renew the trust between peers from different groups and even between the crown and their successors. This trust has fallen to an astonishing low during my years as a peer of two orders. It has progressed to the point that during a recently past reign my orders were told bluntly that they would not be notified in advance of the crown's decision to make a peer since the circle could not be trusted to keep a secret.

Another symptom of the lack of trust between crown and peers is the increasing scarcity (or complete absence in recent reigns) of conducting a numerical polling on candidates, and even worse, the seeming failure of the crown to keep records on who had been discussed from reign to reign or from circle to circle.

As well, peers are to blame for playing against one another, especially by 'lobbying' the crown outside of circle for or against the candidacy of a candidate and by failing to insist on complete consultation of a representative slice of the order when the crown proposes to elevate a candidate.

One could easily dismiss these things in isolation as simple neglect or ignorance but I believe the root cause needs to be addressed, not simply the symptoms.

How, one asks, can a simple thing like written minutes help enhance trust? Easily, by leveling the ground for all so that all may be assured of the correctness, the completeness of consideration and the fairness of the process of the discussion. Written records of discussions can be verified; memories fail. Votes can be counted and provide some objective measure of how much support there is for a candidate. Is it only from one group? One person? Or is support broad-based and consistent over time? If the votes are tallied and well known, then 'cloakroom lobbying' by one person for a candidate can be minimized. Finally, this ensures that a large portion of the order is fairly consulted, not simply those at a particular event (and certainly yes, we have recently seen examples of people being brought up, considered and passed on the strength of one circle at only one event). Of course, the fact that there is a polling does not mean that the crown is bound by it. Corpora merely states that the crown must consult with the peerage. Written minutes benefit the crown by documenting that they have completely satisfied the consultation requirements set forth in Corpora.

As well, the relationship between crowns will be enhanced. Recent crowns stated to my circles that they are not bound by the decisions of their predecessors. I believe this is an understatement to truly say they do not trust the decisions of their predecessors. Of course, given the current climate, how could they? There are no detailed written minutes to show the content of prior reigns discussions or their outcomes. This means that crowns are increasingly unwilling to delegate peerage creations to their successors. So, the wheel gets reinvented every reign. This is, of course, frustrating for the peers, who have to make the same arguments to successive crowns, but who really suffers? The candidates do.

The candidate is the loser in this entire spat since the practice of late is for each reign to begin considering candidates at their first, Coronation, circle. This usually means that no elevations are decided on in the first month of the reign. Also the Crown will tend not to give peerages at their stepping-down Coronation, which frequently means no candidates are elevated in the last month. So, six minus two is only four months of activity to elevate candidates. Is this simply a math exercise? No, because for good reason there will only be so many elevations at a single event -- one wishes to give each candidate their time in the sun. If one also limits the number of months in which peerages will be given this has the effect of limiting the number of peers made, to the detriment of deserving candidates.

So, to sum up, written minutes promote clarity and fairness. Fairness promotes trust. Trust promotes effectiveness of the system by which we reward the worthy candidate. How could it be simpler?

Yrs,

l.

 

Proposed changes to law (these were actually proposed after the Lycurgus reknighting affair - 2005

 

The Crown of the Outlands respects the opinion of its peers and desires their complete and candid counsel. However, it is understood that the Crown shall have the freedom to accept or to decline the counsel of their peers without penalty, provided the below is followed.

 

A. The following is in addition to any requirements of Corpora.

B. For the below purposes, the reign of monarchs includes their time as Crown Prince and Princess as well as time as King and Queen.

C. The Candidate shall be Discussed at least once in a meeting (‘Circle meeting’) of the order.

D. Discussion shall specifically be of the proposition that the candidate shall receive admission to the peerage order. A date certain need not be stated.

E. A Circle Meeting is and only is one announced in writing (print or email) in advance of the event with enough specificity that any peer of the order reasonably desiring to attend may do so.

F. The Circle meeting in which the candidate is discussed must be during the reign of the monarchs who subsequently offer (although not necessarily those who perform) the admission.

G. It is expressly not required that the intent to admit be agreed to by vote, consensus or affirmation by the order. It is required that at minimum the monarchs state clearly and unambiguously to that meeting their intention to make such an offer to the discussed candidate during the reign of the monarchs.

H. The peers shall maintain the confidentiality of the monarch’s intent, unless specifically charged to release that information.

 

I would note that this is a fairly good rendition of current practice with one exception. It would preclude the sort of field knightings where the order meeting is held impromptu at the event. I simply can see no way of defining a circle meeting otherwise, without making the law so trivial that it would effectively be no law at all. I submit that this is perhaps a loss, but a small one. Perhaps if an exception is to be made for that sort of thing it would be to define for an on-the-spot meeting, a non-trivial number of peers must be present (for that case only).

 

Wisdom of the Romans

 "Cuiusvis hominis est errare; nullius nisi insipientis in errore perseverare."
Any man can make a mistake; only a fool keeps making the same one.

"Fures privatorum in nervo atque in compedibus aetatem agunt; fures publici in auro atque in purpura. Pecunia non satiat avaritiam, sed inritat."
Thieves who steal from private citizens spend their lives in bonds and chains; thieves who steal from public funds spend theirs in gold and purple. Money doesn't satisfy greed, it stimulates it.

"Homines libernter id quod volunt credunt."
Men easily believe what they want to.

"Mendacem memorem esse oportere."
A liar better have a good memory.

"Satis putant vitio carere; etiam virtutibus carent."
They boasted that they had no faults; they also had no virtues.

Brevis ipsa vita est sed malis fit longior.
Syrus, Maxims

Life is short, but troubles make it longer.

Cito enim arescit lacrima, praesertim in alienis malis.
Cicero, De Partitione Oratoria

Tears for somebody else's troubles dry quickly.

Cui plus licet quam par est plus vult quam licet.
Syrus (quoted in Macrobius, Saturnalia

A fellow who gets more than he deserves wants more than he gets.

Da mihi castitatem et continentiam, sed noli modo.
St. Augustine, Confessiones
Make me chaste and pure, but not yet.

Esse quam videri bonus malebat.
Sallust, Bellum Catilinae
He preferred being a good man to looking like one.

Fama malum quo non aliud velocius ullum.
Virgil, Aeneid
Nothing moves faster than gossip.

Fortuna vitrea est; tum cum splendet frangitur.
Syrus, Maxims
Fortune is glass; just when it gleams brightest it shatters.

Homines libenter id quod volunt credunt.
Caesar, De Bello Gallico
Men easily believe what they want to.

Late ignis lucere, ut nihil urat, non potest.
Syrus, Maxims
A fire can't throw a great light without burning something.

Leges bonae ex malis moribus procreantur.
Macrobius, Saturnalia
Good laws are produced by bad morals.

Liber, caris eris Romae, donec te deserat aetas; aut tineas pasces taciturnus inertes, 
aut pueros elementa docens manes.
Horace, Epistulae

Maximum in eo vitium est, qui non melioribus vult placere, sed pluribus.
Seneca the Younger (attributed), Proverbs
His greatest fault was his desire not to please the best people, but to please the most people.

Neque cuiguam mortalium iniuriae suae parvae videntur.
Sallust, Bellum Catilinae, Caesar's Speech.
Nobody underestimates his own troubles.

Nil magis amat cupiditas, quam guod non licet.
Syrus, Maxims
Lust wants whatever it can't have.

Non oris causa modo hominess aequom fuit sibi habere speculum, sed qui perspicere possent cor sapientiae.
Plautus, Epidicus
A man needs a good mirror to scrutinize his heart as well as his face.

Omne ignotum pro magnifico est.
Tacitus, De Vita et Moribus Iulii Agricolae
Anything we haven't seen before is marvellous.

Pauci dinoscere possunt vera bona atque illis multum diversa; nocitura toga, nocitura petuntur militia.
Juvenal, Satirae
Few people can distinguish between true good things and their opposites; 
in city or war camp, we seek what will be our ruin.

Pecunia non satiat avaritiam, sed inritat.
Syrus, Maxims
Money doesn't satisfy greed; it stimulates it.

Probitas laudatur et alget.
Juvenal, Satirae
Honesty is praised while it starves.

Quidquid praecipies, esto brevis.
Horace, Ars Poetica,3
Whatever you want to teach, be brief.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Juvenal, Satirae
Who will watch the watchmen?

Satis putant vitio carere; etiam virtutibus carent.
Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria
They boasted that they had no faults; they also had no virtues.

Taciturnitas stulto homini pro sapientia est.
Syrus, Maxims
The silence of a stupid man looks like wisdom.