Politics of Hoenn

The politics of Hoenn took place within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, with the queen as head of state and the Chancellor as head of government.

Constitution

The Hoennese constitution characterized the nation as a unitary state consisting of several provinces and core cities which, albeit municipal in nature, were provincial-level entities.

The Sovereign

The Hoennese sovereign, presently Queen Kaede, was the head of state of Hoenn. Though her role in government was greatly diminished since the promulgation of the Hoennese constitution, Her Majesty was the fount of all power and dignity in the realm. Those powers that delegated from her personally were known as the Royal Prerogative and bypassed the consent of the Gikai. Additionally, the Chancellor had regular meetings with the Sovereign, where she advised them in the government's work.

According to the Hoennese constitution and to unwritten law & convention, the Sovereign had the following powers:

Domestic powers

• To dissolve HM Government
• To summon and dissolve the Gikai
• To give or refuse assent to Acts of the Gikai
• To appoint and dismiss magistrates (judges)
• To issue royal decrees, subject to annual renewal by the Gikai
• To declare martial law
• To honor and dishonor nobles and samurai
• To command the Hoennese Forces
• To declare states of emergency
• To appoint and dismiss provincial governors
• To commission officers in the Hoennese Forces
• To issue and cancel passports

Foreign powers

• To appoint and dismiss diplomats
• To make and ratify treaties
• To declare war and peace
• To deploy the Hoennese Forces overseas
• To extend diplomatic recognition to foreign states
• To credit and receive foreign diplomats

Executive

Executive power was wielded by the Sovereign via Her Majesty's Government, led by the Chancellor, who, by convention, was the leader of the largest party in the House of Commons. The Chancellor then selected the other members of HM Government, the ministers of the Council of State, each of whom was tasked with the operation of a specific department.

Legislature

The Gikai, Hoenn's national legislature, consisted of two chambers. The upper house was the Senate, consisting of a number of members (traditionally 103) from or elected by various subsets of the Hoennese population, and the lower house was the House of Commons, consisting of 191 members who were elected for terms of up to seven years by the single transferable vote. As with most parliamentary systems, most real power rested with the lower house; however, the approbation of both houses was needed to pass an Act of the Gikai, and convention dictated that the Chancellor draw from both houses to fill the Council of State.

Judiciary

Hoennese law provided for a separate and independent judiciary which did not answer to any other organ of government. Hoenn had a civil law system, the basis of which was codified law. The most distinctive feature of the Hoennese judicial system was its division into streams of law and of administration. In both streams, proceedings were inquisitorial in nature.

Magistrates were government employees but were granted special protection under the law. They had security of tenure and may not have been pro- or demoted without their consent. Their careers were overseen by the Magisterial Council of Hoenn.

Law

The legal stream of courts adjudicated civil and criminal cases. It consistd of prefectural courts, city courts, provincial courts, and the nation's two venues of last resort: the civil Supreme Court and the criminal Court of Appeal, each of which had seven justices. The Supreme Court also heard constitutional challenges against Acts of the Gikai.

Trial by jury was available only for severe criminal cases, or at the disposition of the magistrate(s), except at last resort. In those cases, the full Court comprised three magistrates and twelve jurors who, together, rendered verdicts, and if a conviction was handed down, determined a sentence. Jurors were selected at random from the electoral rolls.

In most other courts, magistrates were professional, with the exception that juvenile courts consisted of one magistrate and two lay judges.

The burden of proof in criminal proceedings in Hoenn rested upon the state, and the defendant was presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Administration

The administrative stream of courts adjudicated claims and suits against organs of government. The administrative stream was made up of administrative courts, courts of administrative appeal, and the Board of Audit as the venue of last resort.

The Board of Audit heard cases against decisions of HM Government and had the power to quash or vacate statutory instruments (such as regulations or royal decrees) when they violated the Constitution or an Act of the Gikai. As such, the Board of Audit was the only organ of Hoenn's government that could bind the Sovereign.

Proceedings in the administrative stream overwhelmingly involved written hearings. Jurisdictional disputes were settled by the Court of Scattered Arrows in Fortree, which was composed of an equal number of auditors and Supreme Court justices.