Trial: Emperor v Empress

[The Timeless Shadow]

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE NATOPIAN NATION

HIS MOST BOVIC MAJESTY THE EMPEROR
Petitioner

V

HER MOST BOVIC MAJESTY THE EMPRESS CONSORT
Respondent


Petitioner His Most Bovic Majesty the Emperor alleges that:

1. Respondent Her Most Bovic Majesty the Empress Consort is an agent of the Imperial Court, and
2. Respondent has refused to obey a lawfully given order by Petitioner.

Petitioner moves that the Court order Respondent to obey the order.


The Court invites Petitioner to make a submission of his claims within the next 72 hours (Gregorian), outlining the law for each of the allegations and the facts of his case. Thereafter, Respondent may respond.

Until the conclusion of this trial, there is an injunction against the enforcement of the decree A task for Our Beloved Empress-Consort [12 Cowtide 1649].

[Zakyyr Angus-Moonoak]

Your Lordships, Your Ladyship,

I, Emily Saryaan, His Most Bovic Majesty's Servant, have been commanded, in accordance with the Imperial Decree, to represent His Majesty in this trial.

Honourable Justices of the Supreme Court,

the Caprine Code, in its Section 1, Article 1, states that "[it] is the supreme body of law that governs the Empire and the Code's authority extends to all territories, demesnes, and other jurisdictions where the Empire or any entity of the Empire has the authority to govern. ".Therefore, we claim that any arguments brought by any party shall only be considered legally binding for as long as they do not contradict, either directly or by interpretation, with the Caprine Code and the traditions and practices of its jurisdiction and interpretation. We make that claim on the basis of Article 12 and Article 13 of the same Section:

12. Technical terms and phrases used in the arts and sciences shall be interpreted according to their received meaning and acceptation with the experts and authorities in the science, art or profession to which they refer.
13. When the words of a law are dubious, their meaning should be sought by examining and comparing the obscure expressions with other related words and sentences in an orderly manner, in order to ascertain their true meaning.

Honourable Justices,

As the Honourable Justice Darkmoon has rightly identified, we have alleged that the Respondent, Her Most Bovic Majesty, is in her role as Empress Consort an agent of the Imperial Court. In defence of that allegation, we shall bring forward three supporting evidences.

To start with, Your Honours, the very title of Her Most Bovic Majesty, that of Empress Consort, proves her status in the Natopian Nation. Moreover, in agreement with the Caprine Code itself, the definition of Consort title holders includes the notion that they are equal in social status to the reigning monarch. And since the reigning monarch is by virtue a part of the Imperial Court, so is their Consort. A consequence of this is the use of the title Her Most Bovic Majesty, which would otherwise be only used by reigning Empresses.

This practice is indeed widely used across the Empire, Your Honours, which brings me to the second point I would like to make. Namely that Lady Li Raion Naomiai Angus-Moonoak Ayreon-Kalirion of Waffel-Paine is by virtue of her marriage to the Tsar in the demesne of Klaasiya, Tsarina of The Royal Tsardom of The Marches and The Princely Isle. As such, she has taken her place in the Royal Court of Klaasiya in a way not dissimilar to that of the Imperial Court. As a matter of fact, Your Lordships will recall that each of Klaasiya's Royal Decrees is also issued on behalf of the Tsarina, precisely because of her place in the Courts of the land. Similar provisions are made in the Dynastic Incarnation of Flaventia, the Most Serene Union as well as in other of Natopia's demesnes.

Honourable Justices, the evidence we have so far presented is derived from the tradition and broadly available and accepted definitions. I would now wish to turn your attention to an Imperial Decree dated 18th of Liebluary 1645. This Decree, titled Emperor consort was issued by the Saint Asara, back then Empress of the Natopians, to clarify the traditions I have presented and remove any lasting doubt about those. I ask Your Lordships to take into consideration the Decree in its entirety, but would also wish to draw specific attention to three sections. To do so, I have obtained a copy of the said Decree and underlined those three:

HER MOST BOVIC MAJESTY, ASARA SISU, Empress of the Natopians by the Grace of Bous, Triumphal Defender of the Four Quarters, Lady of Tarsica, Grand Commander of the Natopian Defense Force; Faro of Flaventia, Queen of Ziegeland, Rani of Tas Neemia, Ruler of the Inner and Outer Lands, Lord of Yellow Island; Duchess of Lochhatonia, Duchess of Ynnraile, Duchess of New Dracoheim, Countess of the River Egale, Countess of Mertfray, Countess of Holwinn, and Countess of Syrelwynn; Avatar of the House of Waffel-Paine, Scion of the Three Peoples, Vessel of Dual Natures, Progeny of the Once-Living God, Thirteenth Reincarnation of The Dhury, Lady in Jorvik, Marquise of Lükanburg, Conqueror of Dracoheim, Uniter of the Demesnes, Protector of the Eternal Nation, Guardian of the Icons of the State, Grand Mayor of Lindstrom City, Wielder of the Sword of Sovereignty, Scourge of Lavalon; Imperial Chieftainess of the Vaan Aujoen, Arvjarla of the Twenty-Six Jarldoms, Storjarla of Stormark, Lady Imperial on All Continents, Princess of the Storish Bilander of Anglethyr, Bondegard, Bosworth, Gascogne, Gascony, Guernsey, High Queen Asa Land, High Queen Hervör Isle, Humlebæk Island, Lady Gudrun Isle, Los Bananos, Lyngelan, Marthunia, Merlaide, the Old Sea Fortress, Østfold, Sicilia, the Suðreyjar, and Thydtwinnster, Countess of Lindström; Bosarch of Tassity, Mistress of the Cathedral of St. Taznim, Servant of the Church; Sovereign of the Ancient and Secret Order of the Black Hole, Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Bay, Lady of the Holy Lakes, sends Somber Greetings to the Citizens of the Empire.

WHEREAS my beloved Husband, father of my son, has demonstrated himself a loyal servant of the Empire;

NOTING that the Caprine Court grants me the Right to regulate my own court;

AND NOTING that no conditions are laid out in the Code for any titles granted to the spouse of the reigning Empress (or Emperor);

THEREFORE I bestow upon my husband, as a member of my court, the title of "Emperor consort of the Natopians" and allow him to use the style "His Bovic Majesty;"

CONFIRMING that upon my death or abdication, or upon divorce or annulment of our marriage, my Husband will not be entitled to this title or style that he only enjoys as my Husband;

FURTHERMORE suggesting and granting to posterity that future spouses of the reigning Empress or Emperor be afforded the same courtesy titles using this Decree as precedent to establish the tradition of an Imperial Consort.



Signed at Vista de Nada Palace
on the Eighteenth Day of Liebluary in the Sixteen Hundred and Forty-Fifth Year of Norton's Death
By The Empress Herself with Her Own Hand.

Honourable Justices, the Decree speaks for itself but I should like to sum up two points.

Firstly, the Empress has pointed out that the Caprine Code allows the reigning Emperor to regulate their court. A point to which I shall refer in a few moments. Secondly, the Imperial Court, during the reign of the Empress, has recognised itself, before the Decree was enforced, the role of the Consort in the Imperial Court. Last but not least, the Empress has started a tradition, which has remained unchanged up to this day, that the same titles shall apply to all future Consorts of the Natopian Monarchs, precisely because of the role they enjoy and posses.

Your Lordships, Your Ladyship, the Petitioner believes evidence that Her Most Bovic Majesty is in legal terms a member of the Imperial Court to be overwhelming. I should now like to turn to the second point, namely that the Respondent has refused to obey a lawfully given order by the Petitioner.

Your Honours, I do understand that the matter of the Imperial Decree on the Persons in the Instrument of Succession is outside the scope of this trial. I respectfully beg that I be allowed not more than a minute to lay the foundations which will help be bring my case to the Court. The said Decree issued by His Most Bovic Majesty altered the way the Imperial Court functions in regards to use and interpretation of the Instrument of Succession. As part of those changes, the Emperor has decreed that the person first in line of succession must reside at Vista de Nada Palace. This person, since the 1648 Instrument of Succession, is His Imperial Highness Nathan Anders Aharsi Waffel-Paine. Your Lordships will recall that His Imperial Highness currently resides in the High Realm of Stormark. Therefore, on the 12th of Cowtide 1949 the Emperor vested a member of the Imperial Court, the Empress Consort, with the task of travelling to the High Realm to meet and bring Nathan back home. As a matter of regulation of the Imperial Court, this was done by the means of an Imperial Decree titled "A task for Our beloved Empress-Consort".

Later that day, in a letter addressed to Zakyyr, the Empress Consort refused to obey the Decree, effectively breaking the law. A copy of that letter is available to the Court.

Husband

It pains me that you communicate to me this way.

I have more important things to do as Steward of the Elian Union. That's where I will be.

You work out your issues with Kyle. You're being very immature lately. Not a good quality.

Turn over.

Your wife.

Your Honours, the Petitioner moves that the Court order Respondent to obey the order. I thank the Court for allowing me the time to present the Petitioner's case.

(And on an OOC basis hope people have not developed murderous moods for the wall of text )

[The Timeless Shadow]

Thank you.

The Empress has 72 hours to respond.

[Li Naomiai]

My Lady – Joshua Saint Endellion will represent me in this case.

[Joshua St Endellion]

Your Honours,

1. MOTIONS

Her Most Bovic Majesty the Empress Consort (”the Empress”) holds, in the first instance, that, at the time of the decree A task for Our Beloved Empress-Consort [12 Cowtide 1649] (“ATFOBEC”), she was not an agent of the Imperial Court and therefore the decree was not lawfully given, and she had no obligation to obey it. In the second instance, should the Court nonetheless find that she was a member of the Imperial Court, the Empress holds that she had no obligation to obey ATFOBEC.

The Empress therefore moves to dismiss the petition by His Most Bovic Majesty the Emperor (“the Emperor”).

2. EMPRESS IS NOT AN AGENT OF THE IMPERIAL COURT

The Emperor and Empress were joined in marriage in Cabbagefall, Shireroth, on 23 Tasneber 1642.

In the decree by Her Late Bovic Majesty the Empress Asara of 18 Liebluary 1645, entitled “Emperor consort” (“Asara’s decree”), her late Majesty made her husband a member of the Imperial Court and granted him the title Emperor consort. She further suggested “to posterity that future spouses of the reigning Empress or Emperor be afforded the same courtesy titles using this Decree as precedent to establish the tradition of an Imperial Consort”.

Accordingly, simply being married to the Emperor did not make the Empress the Empress consort. However, the Emperor has brought upon himself to refer to the Empress as such, and accordingly, she has been given the courtesy title by way of usage and tradition, and not by a formal decree. She can therefore not be bound by Asara’s decree, and its provisions of making the husband of Her Late Majesty the Imperial Consort cannot, in any conceivable way, be extended to the Empress.

In Natopian legal tradition, marriage itself is unregulated, and it is a matter of how the parties in the marriage mutually decide that their marriage ought to function that is the foundation of the Natopian matrimonial principle. When a marriage has broken down, or when one party is dissatisfied with the reality of the marriage, recuse to another authority may be sought. For example, after the prolonged absence of Prince William from the marital life of Nathan, the Pentheros annulled the marriage on the principle that it “was officiated under false pretenses and for wrongful reasons. It did not have the blessing of the Butter Spirit and shall not constitute any legal union or connection between these two persons” (Annulment of Marriage [decree of the Pentheros, 22 Geburtsber [Butterary in new calendar] 1559]).

The marriage between Prince Nathaniel and Emira Noor bint Daniyal (now Kaiseress of Shireroth) was solemnized in Elijah’s Rest under the Bovic rites in 1629. After a unilateral court case of the wife in Elwynn, the marriage was dissolved by an Elwynnese court on 24 Liebluary 1632. The Court claimed jurisdiction (Court of Session of the Court of the King's Bench (Elwynnese Union): Court Decree of 24 Liebluary (Kusporin) 1632))
] of that marriage case because of Noor’s residence in Elwynn at that time. However, it is unknown whether the divorce was recognized in Natopia due to Nathaniel’s noninvitation to the case. That issue is moot, for that particular couple though, as Nathaniel, with much sorrow to the world, was taken away from us by his melting and death later the same year.

The point of these excursions to the legal history of marriage in Natopia is to show that marriage is a heavily unregulated matter in Natopian law, and it is very difficult for a claimant to show any kind of obligations between marriage partners. The annulment of the marriage between the Lord Nathan and Prince William was established by lack of foundation of marriage, not by the behaviour of any of the marriage parties. The divorce between Lady Noor and Prince Nathaniel was made, not because of any allegations of behaviour, but by a simple desire of the Lady to end the marriage. At the very least, in Natopian law, there are no obligations of one of the parties in a marriage to engage in any particular behaviour. Rather, it is the mutual consensus of the the parties in a marriage to rule over their own marriage and make rules for their common conduct.

As such, a marriage with the Emperor does not obligate the Empress to do anything contrary to her will, because marriage is unregulated in Natopia, and all precedence points that marriage is a mutual affair, where rules are set up mutually by the parties in marriage.

3. NO OBLIGATION TO ACT

Even if the Empress may be construed as an agent of the Imperial Court, she is under no obligation to perform any orders from the Emperor. This is because this would diminish the equality of the Emperor and the Empress in their marriage. Natopian legal tradition has hold, as shown previously, that marriage is an equal union of parties, where the parties negotiate on all aspects of their marriage, unless there is the question of an annulment or divorce where one party has not been heard.

It is therefore deeply problematic of the Emperor seeking the Empress’s obedience in a court of law, for something that he holds that she should do because of her marriage to him. In the ATFOBEC case, it is obey the Emperor by travelling to a foreign land, taking charge of a child who is not her own, to whom she has no claim of care for, against the express wishes of the child’s father. It is akin to kidnapping. She cannot be held in contempt for refusing such an order.

Further, if the Court agrees with the Emperor’s claims that the Empress indeed must perform as instructed by the Emperor, even when the legality of the execution of the order (by whomever would perform it) is in question, then the Court makes the Empress the Emperor’s slave. The Emperor commands the Empress to give him a massage, the Empress must then obey. The Emperor commands the Empress to give him sex, the Empress must obey. The Emperor commands the Empress to kill his archnemesis Kyle, the Empress must obey.

That line of reasoning is deeply problematic and alien to the liberties of the Natopian people. Even if she is an agent of the Imperial Court, she shall have the power to refuse orders, both on principles of dubious legality, but also because obeying the Emperor in such a situation makes equality in marriage impossible.


Respectfully submitted,

Joshua Saint Endellion

[King Noah]

In the Supreme Court of the Natopian Nation

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE NATOPIAN NATION

HIS MOST BOVIC MAJESTY THE EMPEROR
Petitioner

V

HER MOST BOVIC MAJESTY THE EMPRESS CONSORT
Respondent

The Court, consisting of His Majesty Noah, King of Uppland, Associate Justice to this Court, has heard the case and the arguments for it.

His Imperial Highness Ivo Angus-Moonoak of Waffel-Paine KBH COM, Prince of Natopia, Chief Justice, and Her Eminence, Kurai Darkmoon, The Timeless Shadow of Leng, Metrobosarch of Benacia, Associate Justice, took no part in the proceedings because of conflict of interest.

Findings

Section Four, clause 1 of the Caprine Code grants the Emperor power to regulate the Imperial Court. The aforesaid power includes the power to issue orders to members and agents of the Imperial Court under those regulations and take ad hoc (discretionary) measures under the same, provided always that such orders and measures may not:

1. be contrary to or inconstent with the applicable law;
2. constitute violation of human dignity;
3. bring one in undue peril.

By complying with the decree which is known as A task for Our Beloved Empress-Consort [12 Cowtide 1649] ("ATFOBEC"), to travel to the High Realm of Stormark to collect His Imperial Highness Prince Nathan Anders Aharsi of Waffel-Paine and Ettlingar Freyu ("Prince Nathan") against the wishes of his father, His Imperial Highness Kyle Kilynn of Waffel-Paine, would Her Most Bovic Majesty Li Raion Naomiai Angus-Moonoak Ayreon-Kalirion of Waffel-Paine ("the Empress Consort"), upon arriving Stormark be considered a child abductor. This because the applicable law there, the Law of Ettlingar Freyu, stipulates that children belonging to the House of Ettlingar Freyu are to be reared and educated in accordance with the wishes of their parents. Her Most Bovic Majesty would be arrested and locked up in the Dark Dungeon and subsequently be brought to Old Gaol Isle, Stormark's prison island.

As compliance with ATFOBEC would be contrary to the law of the country where the Prince Nathan is currently is residing in accordance with the wishes of his father, the High Realm of Stormark, and would likewise bring her in undue peril the Empress Consort is under no obligation to comply with ATFOBEC.[/justify]

Ruling

In accordance with its findings the Court rules that Empress Consort was acting was acting within her rights when she refused to comply with ATFOBEC.

The Court hereby issues a permanent injunction against the enforcement of ATFOBEC.

Done at the Palace of Law, in Lindström, this twenty-first day of cowtide of the year sixteen and hundred and fifty.