Imperial Council

The Imperial Council is the executive parliamentary assembly of the Tirnreich and her Empire.

Structure
The Imperial Council is made up of 16 ministers who head ministries, or focused government departments, to help the Tirnreich grow.

Council Officials
The Imperial Council, like most governmental legislative houses, are subject to leadership by fellow and sometimes external members of the Council. These officials have specific purposes, whether they pertain to the entire Imperial government, regulating voting, or providing minority representation, the Council officials are a vital part of the complicated Imperial governmental machine.

Prime Minister
Sitting Prime Minister is Christoph Kohl (IP)

The most important and nationally relevant of Council officials is the office of Prime Minister. The PM is largely "in charge" of the Council, that is, he makes appointments for certain committees, he keeps legislation and discussion moving, and he is the voice of the Council to the Emperor; the PM is essentially the "number 2" in the Empire, and is rarely thought of as a Councilman, but rather an executive leader. The Prime Minister's powers and eligibility are outlined in Article III, Section I of the Imperial Charter:

[1] The Emperor has the sovereign right granted by God to enlist or disband the aid of a council of ministers, hereafter referred to as the Imperial Council; each minister shall specialize in a particular field of study, and shall be [2] aided by 2 (two) deputy ministers. This council is to be administered by a Prime Minister, who is subject to the Emperor's executive powers. The Prime Minister is given the authority, through the commission of the Emperor, [3] to carry out powers and processes outlined in Article III, Section I, Lines IX-XXV with justification, so long as the Prime Minister is of sound mind and able body.

[4] Any individual, male or female, is allowed to serve in the position of Prime Minister so long as he produces certification of live birth in the borders of the Tirnreich; the lesser authorized age of selection is 25, whereas the  [5] greater authorized age of selection is 95. [Amendment II- Includes Imperial lands] This individual must be of sound mind to swear unto the Emperor and his Empire an oath of service and obedience without coercion or     [6] assistance, and able body to present himself in decent manner to the courts and to the Emperor for the occasion of Swearing-In. The individual is able to be sworn in as Prime Minister solely under the command of a live,  [7] seated Emperor; the individual must possess the qualifications as marked above to be able to serve as Prime Minister. [8] The Powers of the Prime Minister are as follows: [26] The Prime Minister is to provide the Emperor, the Imperial Council, and the Empire with a suitable leader and a just man.
 * Administrative authority over the Imperial Council
 * Executive and administrative authority over the Office of the Prime Minister
 * Accountability enforcement for the budget of the Imperial Council
 * Power to call the Imperial Council, in full force or in partial force, to session
 * Power to initiate martial law, if declaration is ratified by the Emperor
 * Power to enforce a war declaration, as sponsored by the Emperor; in situation whereas the Defense Minister and his Deputies are deemed unfit to proceed
 * Power to initiate an emergency declaration[16]
 * Power to act as the Chief Imperial Diplomat abroad
 * Ability to appoint and demote ambassadors and diplomatic consuls
 * Ability to sponsor new bills
 * Ability to seize public and privately owned property, after ratification by the Emperor
 * Duty to move bills into voting stages
 * Duty to enforce outcome of voting stages
 * Duty to enforce the enforcement of laws at ministerial level
 * Duty to resign whether by the request of the Emperor, the verdict of 'Guilty' in a Grand Injunction, or by the 2/3 voting of 'For' in the Grand Ministerial Congress
 * Duty to be acting Head of State as Supreme Imperial Officer in the event that the Emperor is deceased or not of-age; Duty to restore powers of Supreme Imperial Officer to the Emperor as soon as humanly possible

The PM is very important in diplomacy, as he is the "moving target" in the Imperial government and is the highest government official that travels on a regular basis.

The Prime Minister is not an elected position, as it typically is in parliamentary and congressional bodies; in fact, the candidate is selected out of the majority party by the President himself. This process is known as "Grand Selection," and only happens if majority status changes parties. With this in mind, many analysts and commentators describe the Prime Minister as "the second single most powerful man in the Empire," and rightly so. The seated PM can only be removed if his party loses majority status, as mentioned above, or if the majority party files a Grand Injunction to the Emperor. A Grand Injunction specifies that the PM has not satisfied the majority party, and the party wishes to remove him from the position; such a request must be reviewed first by the Overseer, as he checks the injunction against the Legislative Articles, and then ultimately by the Emperor, who must give his approval to have the process begin. This process includes a chance for the seated PM to defend himself, a committee within the party to evaluate both the charges and the defense, a intra-party election for new PM candidate, and finally an official appointment by the Emperor.

Overseer
''Sitting Overseer is Grand Justice Albert Wessley (JU)

The only position in the Council that is held by a non-Minister is the Overseer. This position is reserved for a Grand Justice in the Imperial High Courts, the Tirnreich's highest court. The position is largely ceremonial, and is at the most a speed bump in any legislative process, as the Overseer's primary duty is to review a proposed bill and discern whether or not it conflicts with the Imperial Charter or the Articles of the Empire. Although this position has little effect, if at all, over legislative processes, the judge that is elected to the position of Overseer is barred from registering or pledging allegiance to any political party; instead, they are registered into a non-partisan organization known as the Judges Union.

Apart from analyzing a proposed bill, the Overseer must be present at every monthly Committee Floor Meeting, where every Minister in the particular committee is present; they must be present at bill proposal hearings, vote casting, and General Assembly meetings. The Overseer is binded by law to also attend every Grand Ministerial Congress and every Imperial Document Amendment Congress; the latter in which all Grand Justices of the High Court must attend, and which they all serve as Overseer.

Opposition Leader
Sitting Opposition Leaders are Pietr Guvolksov (CSP) and Karl Havix (KLG)

The Opposition Leader(s) are government/ministerial officials who serve either on the Ministerial or Deputy level, and are not a member of the majority party. Opposition Leader(s), or OLs, are quite important to the legislative process as they provide alternative ideas during writing and debate, and also speak for the minority of people who aren't represented in the majority party.

OLs are different from many other IC officials as they are not required to be a Councilman; they can be active in any level of government, from alderman in an urban area to Minister of Defense. However, they must be an officeholder, and must be a 2 year veteran of whichever position they hold when they become an OL. Opposition Leaders may change every time an election is held, which is every two years; one Deputy seat (Lower Deputy) is elected every 2 years, (the other, the Higher Deputy, is appointed by the Minister) and the major elections happend every 2 years after that. (4 years after previous major election)

OLs have several shortcomings- they cannot be chair of a committee, they cannot serve as Prime Minister, (since PM is appointed out of the majority party) and cannot vote in Grand Ministerial Congress or Committee meetings. They do have several important powers- they are able to vote in Amendment and Bill Ratification vote casting, they can voice opinions and share statements during GMC and Committee meetings, and can serve the OL position after they change government official status. (from mayor to governor, etc)

Count
Sitting Count is Stephen Gerschüen (IP)

The Count is another important, yet low-powered position. Counts are designated after a committee has published a bill to be voted on, during the law-making process; candidates for Counts are restricted from being a part of the bill writing, sponsorship, and evaluative committee processes. They must be Ministers or deputy Ministers already sitting in the Council, i.e. they cannot be Minister-elect and serve in the Count position. The powers of this position are few and usually given to more amateur members some experience in the legislative process.

The Count's powers and duties include: The Count is selected by the Prime Minister prior to the Committee stage of the Legislative process, and typically resigns before a new bill starts the cycle, so long as the previous bill's report has been filed. However, this is not always the case; in 2010, Count Yvette Heverglau (CSP) held the position for 3 straight bill cycles, as she had withheld the first bill's Count Report through the processes. Only after an injunction co-filed by the Ministry of Justice and the Prime Minister's Office was approved did Count Heverglau, a deputy Minister for the Ministry of the Interior, step down.
 * Presiding over a vote casting session
 * Gathering pertinent data and voter identification stats
 * Counting and determining the absolute status of a resolution/bill based on votes
 * Compiling a report after a vote has been called, cast, and counted

One controversial side affect of holding the Count office is that the Count can prevent certain bills from becoming active laws, even after they are approved by the Council at large. This is a loop-hole in the Legislative Article in the Imperial Charter, because the Count Report must inspected and reviewed before a bill becomes active, in order to prevent voting fraud and misinformation. Therefore, when a Count holds the position for extended periods of time, the bills which were passed during this time have not yet become a full law. This can be a very sinister and effective tactic employed by partisan Councilmen, in order to further their goals or to hinder another party's; most often, the Count is more or less a pawn in the hands of higher-powered party members, since the position of Count is usually given to a rookie or amateur Council member.

Ministries
The Ministries are divided into 2 groups, the Ministry of the People, which is focused on services for the population and well being, and the Ministry of the State, which is more executive administrative services. Each Ministry Group is headed by a Dep. Prime Minister, which is denoted by a (*) in the table.

Ministry of the State:


 * Ministry of Defense (Min. Lutz)
 * Ministry of Media (Min. Jack Galloway)
 * Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Min. Hans Fogle)*
 * Ministry of Economics (Min. Heinz Colwaal)
 * Ministry of Investigation (Min. Jurg Schossgaard)
 * Ministry of Utilities (Min. Yves Kalczinski)
 * Ministry of Transportation (Min. Karl Havix)
 * Ministry of Justice (Min. Jennifer Gregory)

Ministry of the People:


 * Ministry of the Population (Min. Franz Czeschanski)
 * Ministry of Internal Affairs (Min. Vladmier Gottfried)*
 * Ministry of Culture (Min. Anton van Gootham)
 * Ministry of Sports (Min. Kassidy McJag)
 * Ministry of Recreation (Min. Darryn Crzajkow)
 * Ministry of the Enviornment (Min. Dominick Vilsmann)
 * Ministry of Education (Min. Albert Gapson)
 * Ministry of Construction (Min. Franc LeCroix)