Difference between revisions of "Isselmere"

Revision as of 00:33, 6 February 2006

United Kingdom of Isselmere-Nieland
Isslamensk-Nylensk Sameinuðu Kóngsríkin
Ðiríns hOntaic an Uíslaed-Nígúlad

Flag
Never so far as you wish it was.
Map n/a
Region	Lethe
Capital Royal Palace Parliament	Daurmont Wentworth Palace Pechtas Castle
Head of State	HRH King Henry V
Head of Government	The Rt Hon Geoffrey Middleton, Prime Minister
Unification Anguist Detmere Nieland	27 October 863 19 May 985 21 September 1015 25 June 1562
Holidays Coronation Day Union Day Constitution Day Unofficial Day of Happy Regrets Toel's Day	19 May (985) 25 June (1562) 24 March (1986) 15 February (999) 12 December (1349)
Constitution	Constitution Act, 1986
Political Order	Constitutional monarchy
Government	Parliamentary democracy
Legislature English Nielander Anguistian	Bicameral parliament Parliament Parlamentet Párlamaed
Legal Tradition(s)	Mix of common and civil law
Spoken Languages Official Unofficial	English, Nielander, Anguistian Several
Five largest megalopoleis Huise province (Isselmere) - 46.7 million Upper Wingeria province (Anguist) - 38.3 million Oldmarch province (Nieland) - 32.5 million Angforth province (Detmere) - 27.9 million) Sluist province (Isselmere) - 26.8 million
Area Total % Water	862,863 km² 28.1% water
Population (2005)	4,609,236,417
National Animal	Hoary tern
National Flower	Yellow rose
National Tree	Huise oak
CHDI (2006)	0.943 (high)
GDP (USD, 2005) Total Per capita	$171,193,317,059,971.13 $37,143.27
Currency	1 lethse (£) = 100 pence (p)
Time Zone	GMT/UTC -0100
International Abbreviations	UKIN
Maritime Craft Naval Auxiliary Civilian	HINMS RINFA (IN)SS
National Anthem	The Road to Prosperity
Internet TLD	.ukin
Calling Code	+92

Introduction

The United Kingdom of Isselmere-Nieland (UKIN) is relatively ancient but until recently comparatively powerless. The UKIN is presently a member of several alliances, most importantly the Organisation of Maritime Powers and the Woodstock Pact, and is noted for its publishing and automotive industries, although its information technology and shipbuilding sectors are advancing steadily.

History

• For the origins of Isselmere-Nieland, please see History of Isselmere-Nieland.

Politics

The UKIN is a constitutional monarchy founded upon the primacy of law as embodied by the Constitution, by statute as enacted by Parliament and enforced by the judiciary, and by customs passed down through the centuries. Tradition fills the voids where the law would place unnecessary burdens upon the organs of State, notably upon the Monarchy and the Houses of Parliament.

Constitution

Since 1986, the United Kingdom of Isselmere-Nieland possesses a written constitution that consolidates much of the broad host of laws and other documents as well as codifying some of the conventions that have become an essential part of parliamentary ceremony. The two constituent kingdoms of the United Kingdom, those of Isselmere and Nieland, became a hyphenated whole reflecting the political union of the crowns arising from the Act of Consolidation. The Act of 1562 united the kingdoms' parliaments, with selected members of the Storting of Nieland joining those of the Parliament of Isselmere in Pechtas Castle in 1562.

As the centuries passed, antipathy towards the Act of Consolidation grew, particularly within Nieland in spite of the generous degree of autonomy granted to that nation. Demands for the re-establishment of the Storting grew in strength when the Austrian Empire was forced to accede to Magyar pleas for a measure of independence with the creation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Pressures on the monarchy increased further with the Versailles Treaty of 1919 and the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1921. Agitation for greater freedom spread to Anguist and Detmere throughout the twentieth-century culminating in a welter of riots during the 1960s.

Parliament, on the urging of King Robert V, finally addressed the concerns of various peoples in August 1977 with the formation of the Constitutional Commission. The Commission studied a variety of possible formulae before deciding eight years later upon the creation of a federal state and the devolution of the Kingdom of Isselmere. Anguist became the Principality of Anguist whilst Detmere officially became a Grand Duchy, leading to a revision of the line of succession. Under the terms of the proposed Constitution, the Crown Prince (or Princess) became His/Her Royal Grace the Grand Duke (or Duchess) of Detmere, whilst the second in line to the throne became the Prince of Anguist. The eldest relative of the House of Oldmarch often serves as the Lord High Commissioner of Nieland, whilst the eldest sibling of the reigning monarch typically becomes the Lord High Commissioner of Isselmere, although day-to-day administration is usually left to Lords Commissioners.

The promulgation of the Constitution Act, 1986 solidified the position of the Monarch and codified the rules of succession. The United Kingdom of Isselmere and Nieland ceased to be a quasi-binary state and became a quasi-federal entity composed of four autonomous regions:

• a smaller Kingdom of Isselmere;
• the Principality of Anguist, its administration detached from that of Isselmere-proper;
• the Grand Duchy of Detmere, likewise devolved from Isselmere-proper; and,
• the Kingdom of Nieland, with the territories it possessed in 1562.

The United Kingdom of Isselmere-Nieland has three official languages, English (Isselmere-Nielander), Nielander, and Anguistian, a Union Parliament still seated in Pechtas Castle (as is the Isselmerian Parliament, albeit within smaller chambers), and a judiciary united at the highest level.

Monarch

As a constitutional monarchy, the law and Parliament and not the monarch alone is sovereign. Even so, for ease of reference, the Constitution Act, 1986 refers to the monarch, styled the King or Queen of Isselmere-Nieland, as the Sovereign. (For convenience sake and convenience only, I will subsequently refer to the Sovereign solely with the male pronoun and terminology.) The King is addressed as His Isselmerian and Nielander Majesty, or simply His Majesty. Isselmerian or Nielander dukes, foreign royals, and select foreign heads of state — namely, President Sarzo of Sarzonia and Grand Admiral Jim of Jimnam — may refer to him as Your Grace.

The King is the Lord High Steward of Glaines and Oldmarch, the royal houses of Isselmere and Nieland respectively, a title which a Regent assumes should there either the heir be a minor or if there is no clear successor. Regents are typically the Queen Consort or the eldest brother of the former king, who serves as head of state in conjunction with a Regency Council. The composition of the Regency Council is outlined in the Constitution Act, 1986.

The title of Lord Protector of Gudrof is a conceit since most of the Principality of Gudrof, except for the province of Upper Gudrovia, is now ruled by the distaff branch of the House of Glaines-Oldmarch. Gudrof, which was only tentatively part of the kingdom through marriage since 1653, separated peacefully from the United Kingdom of Isselmere and Nieland in 1899. Gudrof and Isselmere-Nieland still maintain close and amiable relations.

The Crown Prince is the Grand Duke of Detmere and the second in line to the throne is the Prince of Anguist.

Parliament

With the exception of certain issues falling under royal prerogative, legislative authority rests with Parliament. Parliament consists of the Sovereign and a bicameral legislature. The Senate is the Upper House of Parliament and the House of Assembly is the Lower House. In common parlance, Parliament is taken to mean only the legislature.

Most legislation may be initiated by either House, with the exception of bills of supply (money bills), which must be brought before the Lower House first. In theory, the Sovereign-in-Parliament alone may make laws by granting royal assent to bills passed by both Houses, with the Sovereign presiding over a joint session of Parliament in the Hall of Congregation of Pechtas Castle, declaring with each bill he promulgates "The King wills it." In practice, this ceremonial acceptance of the legislature's will is typically performed but once a month and typically by the Sovereign's appointed representatives, the Lords Commissioners.

Every bill passed by Parliament must possess three signatures, those of the Speaker of the House of Assembly, the President of the Senate, and the Sovereign or, should there be a Regency, that of the Regent and the President of the Regency Council. Government bills must also bear the signature(s) of the initiating minister(s), as private member bills must be signed by the respective initiating Member of Parliament.

The Sovereign may reject a bill, a very rare occurrence that is not lightly taken, or may make suggestions on sections therein. If a bill on a matter other than one affecting the nature of the monarchy or of royal prerogative is presented to the Sovereign by the legislature three times, the bill is considered to have royal assent.

The Sovereign may prompt the Houses to initiate legislation on matters falling outside of royal prerogative in a Royal Audience held before a joint session of Parliament. King Henry V (r. 2004-present) did so to request the Houses and particularly the Government of the day to repudiate the order for the Europa dreadnought.

Parliament since the Constitution Act

Constitutionally, Parliament — meaning primarily the legislature — is Sovereign, of which the King is merely a constituent part. The Constitution Act, 1986 refers to the King as the Sovereign as a gender-neutral term in preference to the alternative, monarch, with its implications of direct rule. Even so, the King still possesses great authority preserved by lack of abuse by previous kings and queens.

Until the introduction of the written constitution, Parliament had been paramount, in theory able to repeal any law adopted by previous parliaments and to promulgate any new laws that the current parliament desired, albeit in practice constrained by the unwritten, living constitution and the judiciary. With the Constitution Act, the law and not the legislature is supreme.

Since the Constitution Act formalised and codified existing conventions and customs, it was not considered an unconstitutional law, despite the claims of several groups such as the Loyal Monarchist Party and the Council of Peers.

Houses of Parliament

For over four centuries, Parliament has sat in Pechtas Castle in the City of Isling, Greater Daurmont Alderdom, Isselmere. The Castle itself has been rebuilt many times since its original construction in the tenth century AD, such that it bears little resemblance to that original edifice.

The nomadic life of earlier King's Councils gradually declined with the reduction Viking raids and campaigns against various neighbours in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

The House of Assembly sits in the Hall of Audience, the Senate within the Hall of Counsel, and joint sessions in the Hall of Congregation.

Origins

Parliament is the oldest State institution within the UKIN, dating back to the informal council of nobles that assembled on the death of Forthar the Brute in 1013 AD to decide upon the next king. With the appointment of King Joergen I, the council of magnates established itself as the King's Council (Curia Regis). The first instance of the term Curia Regis appears in a complaint by Eadwuld the Simperer, abbot of St Joergen's against the Baron of Mossbrook.

• "My lords of the King's Council ... The Earl of Mossbrook violates the Abbey's lands, its livestock, and its tenants. Indeed, his lordship offends God and the King with his rapine of these lands held for the return of Our Lord."

This missive also reveals the broad scope of earlier parliaments. As the King's Council's functions grew in number, its membership expanded and diversified (i.e., included commoner magnates, the gentry and the burgesses) and its powers increased. The House of Lords, predecessor to the present-day Senate, retained a stranglehold on the judiciary whilst the Assembly of Burgesses defended the rights of the towns. Able kings could manipulate the two Houses against one another to achieve their own aims. The weak, the vain, or the disinterested would instead promote unity within and between the fractious councils.

Unlike Great Britain, Parliament in the conventional sense never did displace the monarchy. The arrival of the Reformation in Isselmere and Nieland nearly produced a scission within the Houses that nearly resulted in the overthrow of a tolerant king, Edmund II (r. 1651-1684), but instead produced the Act of Toleration, 1684.

Government

The Council of Ministers is the seat of most executive authority, with royal prerogative comprising the remainder. The Sovereign or his or her Lord(s) Commissioner(s) may preside over plenary meetings of the Council of Ministers, but only in an advisory capacity. In truth, the Prime Minister is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Government. The Prime Minister is chosen by the Sovereign from members of the House of Assembly, which may reject the royal selection in favour of a candidate of its own choosing. The Prime Minister, on consultation with the Sovereign, then appoints the other Ministers.

The General Council of Judicature (GCJ) administers the operation of the national and nationally-appointed judiciary. The GCJ serves as the supreme disciplinary body for judges and justices throughout the UKIN.

Despite these three bodies, it is the Council of State that is the de jure voice of the nation. The Council of State consists of the Sovereign or his or her Royal Commissioner(s), the Council of Ministers, the Council of Peers, the General Council of the Judicature, and the Privy Council. Formerly, the Temple Council, which governed the Reformed Church of Isselmere, was part of the Council of State, until the Church was disestablished in 2004. As noted above, the Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister, is the de facto government. The Council of Peers advises the Sovereign on matters concerning the nobility, while the General Council of the Judicature advises the Sovereign on judicial issues. In practice, the Sovereign has little or no influence on the GCJ and custom, as well as the Constitution, has made the Sovereign subject to the advice of the Council of Ministers. The Sovereign may also obtain the advice of his or her Privy Council, although generally that body is composed of active senior government ministers.

As stated above, the Privy Council is generally considered part of the royal retinue. It is chaired by the Lord Advocate, who must not be confused with the Advocate General. Within the Council of State, the Privy Council defends the rights of bodies bearing royal charters, such as public universities, certain municipalities (royal boroughs), and Crown corporations.

Regions, Provinces, etc.

The UKIN is divided into four autonomous regions (Anguist, Detmere, Isselmere, and Nieland), which are further subdivided into twenty-nine provinces comprised of hundreds of alderdoms or counties. Below the alderdoms are districts, boroughs, and municipalities.

The four regions each have their own viceroy (Lord High Commissioner) and legislature, which are responsible for the subordinate jurisdictions therein. The provinces are in turn governed by Lords Lieutenant appointed by the respective Lord High Commissioner and by elected provincial councils. Both the regions and the provinces are permanent administrative divisions that may not be altered save by Act of Parliament ratified by popular referendum.

Anguist

The Principality of Anguist abuts the North Atlantic, facing Iceland and the Arctic Ocean, sharing borders with Nieland to the southwest, Isselmere and Detmere to the east, and Lower Whingeing to the north. Anguist is the home of Anguistian language and culture as well as the Royal Shipyards of Isselmere-Nieland. The Principality is the smallest of the UKIN's autonomous regions by area and third largest by population, with its six provinces containing 15.4 per cent of the UKIN total. The capital is Mithesburgh (Anguistian Cérmidhe).

Detmere

The Grand Duchy of Detmere is the easternmost region within the United Kingdom. Its northern border confronts Hoblingland whilst its southern and southwestern frontiers meet northern Isselmere. Detmere's western borders face Anguist.

Isselmere

The largest and historically most vibrant of the four regions.

Nieland

The second largest region.

Education

Nursery school - Ages 2-5

Primary school - Ages 5-10 (generally), Introductory Phase (Years 1-2), Elementary Instruction Phase (Years 3-6)

Secondary school - Ages 11-16 (generally), Initial Assessment Phase (Form 1-3), Ordinary Academic Capacity Examinations (OACE), Academic Evaluation Phase (Form 4-6), Certificate of Advanced Secondary Education examinations (CASE)

--16-years of age marks the end of compulsory education

College - Ages 17-18; General, Technical, Vocational, Certificate of [type] College Studies

Institute - vocational post-collegiate institution

University-College - general or technical post-collegiate institution; may permit access to university

University - Three official phases: baccalaureate, magisterial, doctorate.

Industries

Owing to massive investment in education and defence by Union and regional governments, the book publishing, automotive, and information technology sectors have blossomed.

The Royal Shipyards of Isselmere-Nieland (RSIN) is the largest nationalised industry in the UKIN and a noted manufacturer of warships. Though now outclassed in terms of foreign sales by Sarzonia's Portland Iron Works (PIW) and Praetonia's Imperial Praetonian Shipyards (IPS), the RSIN is still strongly supported by the Royal Isselmere-Nieland Navy (RINN) and the Jimnam Grand Navy (JGN). Its headquarters are in the northern city of Grimsby Downs, Anguist.

Umberton and Throckmorton (U&T) are the largest publishers in the UKIN, produces textbooks and educational multimedia for all instructional levels. U&T was once the primary publisher of religious texts for the Reformed Church of Isselmere (RCI) as well as other Christian sects and other faiths. With the RCI's disestablishment, U&T has removed itself from the religious market. Since 1915, U&T have supported young writers with the Great Authors in the Making (GAMUT) award. For each category, a jury of twelve authors and six publishers judge the works. The GAMUT is most frequently awarded to challenging and innovative works of fiction and non-fiction. U&T's central offices may be found in Cailliecross, Daurmont, Isselmere.

Turing-Babbage Integrated Technology Services, plc (T-BITS) is the UKIN's largest information technology (IT) company. Many of its hardware components may be found in everything from the latest generation fighter jets to little Tommy or Sara's toys. T-BITS head offices are in Stettering, Nieland.

Isselmere Motor Works (IMW) of Thistlemoor, Isselmere, is a major producer of military land vehicles as well as marine and aircraft engines. IMW has established foreign centres of production in Russkya and Rusokaria.

Lyme and Martens Industries (LMI) was formerly a major manufacturer of uncrewed vehicles, but its markets have fallen by the wayside with the growth products from Clan Smoke Jaguar's industries and other foreign firms. LMI's headquarters is in Ponsonby, Detmere.

Detmerian Aerospace Dynamics (DAS) is a mostly domestic industry, though it has achieved some foreign success with its Sea Fury and Spectre designs. Its central office is located in Fennerby, Detmere.

Defence Forces

The United Kingdom of Isselmere-Nieland Defence Forces (UKIN-DF) consist of the Royal Isselmere-Nieland Navy (RINN), the Isselmere-Nielander Army (INA), the Royal Isselmere-Nieland Air Force (RINAF), and the Isselmere-Nieland Orbital Defence Force (INODF).

RINN

The RINN consists of a broad assortment of vessels, from coastal patrol vessels to a pair of super-dreadnoughts. At its highest level, it is administered by the Admiralty, comprising of the First Lord of the Admiralty (i.e. the Secretary of State for the Navy) and the three Sea Lords. The First Sea Lord is the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) whilst the Second Sea Lord is the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) and the Third Sea Lord is the Chief of Naval Resources (CNR).

Organisationally, the RINN possesses two navies, the Navy of the White that guards the UKIN's coastline and immediate interests and the Navy of the Blue that defends the State's broader strategic interests. Beneath each navy are fleet groups of several fleets, such as the Home Fleet Group with the 1st (Isselmere) and 16th (Detmere) fleets. The fleets are further sub-divided into squadrons, such as the 1st Expeditionary Squadron comprising of two expeditionary (task) groups. Administratively, similar unit types are collected into divisions -- for instance, the 14th Destroyer Division of the 4th (Northern Gap) Fleet.

The RINN is in fact a small version of the UKIN-DF with its own army, air force, and strategic defence force. The "army" is the Royal Isselmere-Nieland Marines (RINM), which have their own air arm, the Royal Isselmere-Nieland Marine Air Service (RINMAS), as well. The RINM operates mostly from Expeditionary Groups, although most naval ships possess Marine detachments, alternatively providing or to fend off boarding parties. The RINMAS provides the air contingent on amphibious vessels.

Furthermore, the RINN operates the Coastal Defence Force (CDF), a network of coastal artillery stations and units, in conjunction with the INA.

The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the Navy's air force. It performs maritime patrol (MARPAT) as well as carrier- and some land-based air defence and strike functions. The FAA works closely with the RINAF to secure the State's coastlines and economic zones.

The (Naval) Strategic Defence Force (SDF) is the umbrella organisation for the State's ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) contingent.