ANST - Sumptuary laws (lots o' stuff)

[Dennis Grace]

Salut, Cozyns,

Lyonel aisai.

I have a question or three on Ansteorran Kingdom Law.  Lemme give you some
background so's this'll all make more sense:

In a recent discussion,
Almost-jeez-you-can't-you-just-*smell*-the-white-leather-and-hear-the-spurs?
-Sir Dieterich said Someone Else had claimed to have a copy of the 1988
BlackStar in which the then-Sovereign statutorily delineated and delimited
the appearance of certain Ansteorran coronets.  We both noted, however,
that the most recent publication of Ansteorran Kingdom Law does not reflect
this statutory change. In fact, the most recent publication of the body of
Ansteorran Kingdom Law does not appear to address sumptuary laws in any form.

So, here's the dilemma.  If the 1994 publication of Kingdom law contains a
statement to the effect that "the following collection of stuff is
Ansteorran Kingdom law as of this XX day of YYY, 1994 and henceforth, nunc
et in futura, supersedes all previous versions," then the 1988 statutory
change is null, void, noid.  If the 1994 publication of Kingdom Law did
*not* include such a disclaimer, we have other problems.  As far as I can
tell, neither Corpora nor Ansteorran Kingdom Law requires explicitly or
implicitly that publication of a body of Kingdom Law supersedes previously
published laws. Corpora says only:

"A.1.g. (2) Law must be kept current, and all changes thereto must be
proclaimed at Society events and                     published in the
kingdom newsletter. No provision of law shall be in effect, nor shall the
subjects of a
realm be responsible for such provision, until such proclamation and
publication have taken place."

Ansteorran Kingdom Law expands upon this dual requirement for legislation
with:

"I.1.d. Edict shall be defined as any lawful command of the Crown, and
shall have the force of statute for the period time proclaimed, but not to
exceed the duration of the reign in which it is proclaimed. Edicts of more
than 30 days duration, or which conflict with existing statutes, must be
published in the first available Kingdom newsletter and signed by the
Sovereign and the Consort. The published Edict must specify any portion of
Statutory law that it affects.

"e. Statutory law shall be the continuing body of law in the Kingdom. To
change Statutory law, a new law must be published in the Kingdom newsletter
or must be mailed as a separate mailing to all persons receiving the
newsletter, and signed by the Sovereign, the Consort, and the Kingdom
Seneschal."

As far as I can see (says F. Lyonel Bailey, the Bar Room Lawyer), nothing
in these documents states or implies that a new publication of the body of
Kingdom Law automatically superannuates laws omitted from or otherwise not
specifically addressed in that publication.

To complicate matters further, Ansteorran Kingdom Law (like most kingdoms'
laws) has a number of hydra-like extensions already.  As noted in Article II: 

"II.3.p. Kingdom Officers are authorized to issue handbooks or policy
manuals, detailing procedures and policies for their areas of
responsibility. In the event that a Kingdom officer's handbook so
specifies, and it is countersigned by the Kingdom Officer, the Kingdom
Seneschal, and the Crown, the provisions of that handbook are hereby
incorporated as a part of kingdom law."

So any disclaimer or statment of superannuation would have to specifically
exclude the G.O.o.S handbooks, n'est-ce pas?

So, here's my remaining questions.  

(1) I--being to cheap to purchase my own hardcopy--was working from Michael
de la Mare's online publication of Kingdom Law, which does not include any
prefatory matter or disclaimers.  Did the 1994 Publication of Ansteorran
Kingdom Law include a disclaimer or introductory claim superseding anything?  

(2) If not, aren't the previous publications of Kingdom Law (except in
cases of clear conflict, where the newer law--I think--would have to apply)
still more-or-less in effect? 

(3) Does the Kingdom Seneschale's Handbook specify that the publication of
a body of Kingdom law supersedes everything it needs to supersede? 

(4) If not, how many other obscure Laws are hiding away in old issues of
the Black Star waiting to jump out and bite us in our collective donkeys?

Avec many thanks to anyone who can shed some light, je reste

lo vostre por vos servir

Sir Lyonel Kill-All-The-Lawyers Grace
________________________________
Dennis Grace
Assistant Instructor
Recovering Medievalist
Department of English
University of Texas at Austin

mailto:amazing at mail.utexas.edu

Micel yfel deth se unwritere.
	--AElfric of York
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