Chancellor of Anglien
| Chancellor of the Free Duchy | |
| Kanzler fonn der Frii Ataltom | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1.VIII.1759 AN |
| Jurisdiction |
 Anglien |
| Headquarters | Johannsessbuurg |
| Agency executives | |
| Minister responsible | Hendrik Braam |
| Parent agency | |
| Council of Ministers of Anglien | |
| Child agencies | |
The Chancellor of the Free Duchy (Crandan: Kanzler fonn der Frii Ataltom) is a member of the government of the Free Duchy of Anglien who holds a portfolio entrenched by the Constitution and exercised independently of the Prime Minister. The Chancellor and the Prime Minister are the two members of the government elected by the Diet, and the Chancellor answers to the Diet for the conduct of the portfolio.[1] The office was established by Chapter VII of the Constitution, which entered into force on 1.VIII.1759 AN.
The Chancellor is elected by the Diet on the nomination of the Prime Minister, and the two offices are removable independently of one another.[2] Because the portfolio is exercised free of the Prime Minister's direction, the office is a standing check on the head of government from within the executive itself.
The first holder under the permanent Constitution is Hendrik Braam of te Verzetsbond, elected on the nomination of Prime Minister Klaes Boerhaaf in XIII.1759 AN.
Constitutional basis
The office of Chancellor of the Free Duchy is established in Chapter VII of the Constitution of Anglien. Under Article VII.1 the government of the Free Duchy consists of the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Free Duchy, and the ministers, who together form the Council of Ministers.[3]
The Constitution makes the Chancellor a distinct office rather than a subordinate of the Prime Minister. The portfolio is fixed by the Constitution itself and the Chancellor answers to the Diet for it, so the Prime Minister can neither redefine the office nor direct its work within the entrenched fields.
Portfolio
The Constitution assigns the Chancellor a defined portfolio: constitutional affairs, the civil service, the prevention and prosecution of corruption, oversight of the Ducal Police Service, and the State Audit Office, which examines the accounts of the Free Duchy and its bailiwicks and reports to the Diet.[4] The Chancellor answers to the Diet for the portfolio and exercises it independently of the Prime Minister's direction.
Selection and term
The Chancellor is elected by the Diet on the nomination of the Prime Minister. The two offices are elected and removed separately, and either may be removed only by a constructive vote of no confidence that elects a successor in the same vote.[5]
The Constitution sets no fixed term for the office. A Chancellor holds office until resignation, removal, or the dissolution of the Diet, and a government that has left office continues to conduct current affairs until a successor takes office.[6] In common with the Sovereign Duke, the Prime Minister, and the ministers, the Chancellor may also be impeached by two-thirds of the full membership of the Diet and tried by the Constitutional Court sitting as a full bench.[7]
Relationship to the Prime Minister
Although the Chancellor is nominated by the Prime Minister and sits in the same Council of Ministers, the two offices are constitutionally distinct. They are removable independently of one another, and the Prime Minister cannot direct the Chancellor within the entrenched portfolio. This places the prevention of corruption, the audit of public spending, and oversight of the police with an office the Prime Minister can neither direct nor dismiss at will, and so outside the control of the government of the day.
Establishment
The office was created by the permanent Constitution, in force from 1.VIII.1759 AN; there was no equivalent office under the earlier Charter of Anglien, where the ministries answered to the Transitional Prime Minister and the Sovereign Duke. When the first elected Diet chose Klaes Boerhaaf as Prime Minister in XIII.1759 AN, it elected Hendrik Braam as the first Chancellor of the Free Duchy on Boerhaaf's nomination. Braam's league, te Verzetsbond, the eastern tendency based in Bergbuurg, had pressed through the constitutional debates for the strongest accountability guarantees and a firmly checked crown.[8] Braam himself had served as the transitional Minister of Justice, in which office he led the drafting of the ordinance that created the Ducal Police Service and stood up the force. The Chancellor's portfolio thus returned oversight of the police to the minister who had established it, and placed the accountability functions with a partner from outside the Prime Minister's own league.
List of chancellors
| # | Name | Term | League | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hendrik Braam | XIII.1759 AN to present | te Verzetsbond | First Chancellor under the permanent Constitution; elected on the nomination of Prime Minister Klaes Boerhaaf. |
See also
- Free Duchy of Anglien
- Constitution of Anglien
- Prime Minister of Anglien
- Council of Ministers of Anglien
- Government of Anglien
- Ducal Police Service of Anglien
- State Audit Office of Anglien
- Diet of Anglien
References
- ^ Constitution of Anglien, Arts. V.9, VII.3.
- ^ Constitution of Anglien, Art. V.9.
- ^ Constitution of Anglien, Art. VII.1.
- ^ Constitution of Anglien, Arts. VII.3, XIV.3.
- ^ Constitution of Anglien, Art. V.9.
- ^ Constitution of Anglien, Art. VII.6.
- ^ Constitution of Anglien, Arts. V.10(3), IX.1.
- ^ Anglien general election, 1759.
