Provinces of Packilvania

Legislative branch

Scope and relationship with the Parliament

Provinces are delegated legislative power by the Parliament of Packilvania through the passage of statutes that grant permission to the Provincial Government to enact laws o er specific areas of law. The Constitution of Packilvania gives the Parliament of Packilvania the authority to do this by way of an act of Parliament. As such, the act of Parliament for the delegation and reversal of powers to the Provincial Governments undergoes the same legislative procedure as would exist for other acts of Parliament. In sunmary: the act must be drafted as a Bill by a Minister of the Crown and presented to the Parliament for deliberation and a vote. This act must be passed by a 50% plus 1 majority of a quorum of the members of the Legislative Council and presented to the Sultan of Packilvania for Imperial Assent.

Every Provincial Government has a legislative branch. Each province chooses what they want to call these bodies but in practice most call them a Khanoniyat (an approximate translation of a legislature). As such, when the power to make law in an area is delegated by the Parliament of Packilvania, it is the Khanoniyat which has the power to pass provincial statute. These statutes are only applicable within the borders of that province and to the residents of the Province to the extent that this law does not violate national law or the Constitution.

The most important part of the devolution of legislative powers to the province is the Provincial Government Act. This law sets out the basic structure and powers of the governments of the provinces. It explicitly forbids the Provincial Government from passing a law violates the powers and rights of the National Government of Packilvania. It also forbids the Provincial Government from passing a law that a future sitting of the Khanoniyat cannot amend or repeal. It also forbids a Provincial Government from passing laws that impinge on the powers of another Provincial Government.

Composition and selection

Every Khanoniyat is supposed to consist of two chambers: the upper chamber is the Provincial Legislative Council and the lower chamber is the Provincial Representative Council. According to the Provincial Government Act, the Legislative Council is appointed by the Sultan of Packilvania. In practice, there are too many members of the Provincial Legislative Councils for the Sultan to appoint all of them individually. As such, the Sultan issues Decrees on the Framework for the Appointment of Provincial Legislative Bodies to direct the Minister of the Crown for Legislative Affairs on how these bodies should be composed.

The Decrees generally stipulate similar requirements however the Sultan may vary them by Province. The Decrees set out minimum and maximum requirements for the demographic composition of these bodies namely in gender, minority religious representation (which is often facilitated by automatically granting seats to religious leaders who hold officially recognised posts), and age (with a view to ensuring that young people, i.e., people between 16 and 35 are adequately represented). It also has regulations on how seats are to be allocated to ensure geographic representivity. The Decree also requires the quotas for the representation of nobles, judges, magisters, and servicemen and servicewomen in the armed forces, police, state security and imperial dynasty, senior leaders of certain state owned corporations, academics and professionals in certain fields who must be present and to what extents.

These Decrees tend to be issued on the advice of the Commission for the Composition of Legislative Bodies which is chaired by the Minister for Legislative Affairs. This body is appointed by the Sultan. It typically consists of a diverse representation of people and typically exists as a body outside of the formal state apparatus. The Commission consists of sub-committees which make recommendations on specific areas of the selection of provincial and local legislative bodies. The Council of Ministers normally has the right to review the draft decrees to be proposed by the Commission and to publish a Review of the Decree with comments from both those Ministers who for the draft decree and those who are against the draft Decree. On reading the Review, and the draft Decree, the Sultan will accept or reject it. The Sultan can also insert provisions of his own at his pleasure. The Commission often sends the draft Decree for public comment and synthesises the public comment in the Bill. The Commission is required to be non-biased and comprehensive in the Summary of the Decree that must accompany it.

The general method for the selection of members of Provincial Legislative Councils is through ex officio appointments (which allow said office holders to send proxies to speak and act on their behalf), and named appointments whereby the power to appoint a member of the Legislative Council is delegated to a particular entity, group or person. In contrast, the Provincial Representative Council is selected by lottery from among the citizens of the country within the framework created by the Decree. It normally excludes criminals, people who are undergoing insolvency processes, and people with certain cognitive conditions from participating.

The Department of Legislative Affairs is actually responsible for administering the process of the lottery for the selection of the Provincial Representative Councils, serving candidates with notices to serve, and providing legislative bodies with the funding to administer their operations.

Legislative Discipline

The Sultan also issues the Decrees on the Discipline of Members of Legislative Bodies which sets out the processes for the disciplinary measures to be undertaken on a member of a Provincial Legislative Body. This entails the list of offences which can trigger a disciplinary process, how these offences are to be presented, the processes to be followed when investigating the infringement, and the punitive measures which can be implemented for the Infringements. Typically this requires that the High Court of each province must appoint a Judicial Commission for Legislative Discipline which consists of lawyers, judges, and teachers of law, to adjudicate the infringement. This commission also aims to insulate members of legislative bodies from the interference of their work through arbitrary charges.

The Sultan can also remove people from these bodies directly based on the advice of the Prime Minister, the Minister for Legislative Affairs, and the Minister for State Security. Including regulations imposed on full members, there are restrictions on proxy appointees for ex officio positions. They are not subject to ordinary labour laws. The Members are required to abstain from and disclose certain financial dealings to the Commission for Legislative Oversight. This commission is appointed by the Sultan but in practice its members are nominated and approved by the Parliament of Packilvania.

This body ensures that both members and legislative bodies as a whole work according to their mandate. This means that it must refer impropriety of any sort to the relevant authorities and bring charges against individual members and the body as a whole.

Rights and emoluments

Members of these Legislative Bodies are immune from prosecution for their work except in specific cases and are protected from interference of their work by external actors. The Members are allowed to stand for nomination to committees and other legislative offices, to nominate and vote for others for election to committees and legislative offices, to speak in debates of the plenary and committees as determined by the Standing Rules, and to draft and present bills except in areas of law reserved for Provincial Ministers.

The Members of Provincial Legislative Councils are full time employees of the National Government while Members of Representative Councils are part time employees of the National Government, and members of each body are entitled to the same emoluments and to treated equally and fairly within the context of the body in which they serve. Lawfully appointed proxies enjoy all the emoluments and rights of members but their status must be renewed and they must be proposed to and approved by the Commission for Legislative Oversight. every 6 months.

Legislative Process

There are types of acts of the Khanoniyat which are reserved for the Provincial Legislative Council, acts of the Khanoniyat which are reserved for the Provincial Representative Council, acts of the Khanoniyat to be passed by a majority in both Chambers and acts to be passed by the combined sitting of the both houses. In general, the Legislative Council can pass more acts of the Khanoniyat than the Representative Council. In cases where the approval of a majority in both houses is required, there are cases where a supermajority of one house can veto the disapproval of the other house. Matters such as the designation of the Provincial Capital or changes to the rights of citizens (as delegated by Acts of Parliament) are reserved for a Combined Sitting. Matters concerning the annual provincial budget are passed by both houses but the Legislative Council can overrule the Representative Council with a two thirds majority.

Through acts, the Khanoniyat can appoint, nominate, or dismiss certain officials in certain government posts, pass non-binding resolutions on political issues, and pass binding legislation for Imperial Assent by the Provincial Governor. Given that the Provincial Governor must request the approval of the Sultan before withholding Imperial Assent for Provincial Laws, the Khanoniyat cannot override a withholding of Imperial Assent. If the Provincial Governor suspends Imperial Assent, the law comes into force if passed by the body again. The Provincial Governor has a minimum period to grant, suspend or withhold Imperial Assent failing which the law comes into force following the lapse of the period.

An act of the Khanoniyat (except if it is a non-binding resolution) can be repealed by the body itself in the same way as it was passed, or by the Parliament of Packilvania by an act of Parliament. Any act of the Khanoniyat can be amended by the body which passed it. Any act of the Khanoniyat can be stricken down in part or whole by the High Court of the Province or by the Supreme Court of Packilvania for going against an Act of Parliament or the Constitution of Packilvania. The implementation of a provincial law can be temporarily suspended by an application for an interdict by the Minister of State Security or the Minister of Justice with the approval of the Council of Ministers of Packilvania or the by the Provincial Council of Ministers either to a High Court, the Supreme Court or the Sultan himself. A small set of reasons must be given and criteria met to permit the suspension of the act and based on interdict, the duration permissible varies.

The Khanoniyat has the power to pass Standing Rules which govern its internal procedure. Its Standing Rules must conform to the Regulations for the Functioning of Provincial Legislatures issued by the Minister of the Crown for Legislative Affairs in terms of the Provincial Government Act as amended.

Legislative Powers

The Provincial Governments can pass laws on a broad stroke of matters as follows:

The Provincial Government can pass laws that enforce and bring to effect National Laws as mandated by and within the limitations imposed by an Act of Parliament. This includes initiating or approving programs, directing public functionaries, and entering permissible arrangements with other entities to achieve the objectives or meet the demands and targets of National Law.
The Provincial Government can pass laws which supplement, or complement existing National Laws (as such laws allow). For instance, the Provincial Government can supplement national laws on labour rights, property rights, reproductive rights, marital rights, criminal justice, religious and ethnic minorities, the regulation of companies and other entities, taxes, banking and other financial services, public expenditure, and the civil service.
The Provincial Government can pass laws on matters for which the Parliament of Packilvania has not passed a law in an area which is not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of Packilvania. This excludes areas such as defence, monetary policy, state security, intraprovincial travel, citizenship, naturalisation and immigration, imperial, judicial and legislative affairs, nobility and the Magisterium, war and peace, and foreign relations and international treaties.
The Provincial Government can pass laws on matters reserved for provincial governments by National Law such as the management and provision of water, electricity, education, public safety, public housing, intraprovincial transport, healthcare, urban development, cultural landmarks, local government boundaries and powers (which have not been delineated by legislation elsewhere).

The effect of these powers is that legislation on the same matter can vary substantially between provinces and provinces exercise a high degree of latitude in their internal affairs. For instance, Fidakar organises its local government into prefectures, regions, and counties while Mekedesh has one system for cities and another for rural provinces. Each province has its own healthcare system, meaning some provinces have better healthcare, more minimum benefits or different contribution schemes for their residents than others. Some provinces have different rates of corporate and personal income tax. Some provinces have restrictions on internal migration especially from rural to urban areas. In many areas which affect one or more provinces, the National Government plays a coordinating role. For instance, although each province has their own healthcare system, vaccinations and medications are approved at nation level and patents are recognised nationally.