House of Seals

The House of Seals, commonly called The Seals or The Chamber (to distinguish from the House of Keys, called The House), is an assembly of the Hartheran government. Under the Hartheran Commonwealth it was the preeminent legislative assembly, made up wealthy patricians. After the Vainglorious Revolution of 571 MEplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigModern Epoch (ME)

The Modern Calendar is a dating system acknowledged throughout the Civilised World. It numbers years from the Modern Epoch, abbreviated ME and BME (Before Modern Epoch). It is also called the Modern Era.

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This is in a series of articles about calendars and dating systems.OrorrHartheraHMOrorrHartheraOrorrOrorrHMHartheraHMHartheraOrorr, the Seals became merely an advisory chamber with little practical role in government.

The Seals once met in a dedicated chamber in the Royal Palace in the Old City, destroyed during the Vainglorious Revolution. Today ceremonial sessions of the Seals are held in the Basilica of Holy Hart, with committees and working sessions help in the Bireilundt.

Today it is still a bastion of the old aristocracy, but in practice any wealthy landowner can buy a Seal if they are rich enough. Seals were once hereditary, though for most families each successor must pay a significant sum to renew their membership. There are some exceptions for notable historic families, chief amongst them being the Terath family, who currently hold 17 seats as a hereditary privilege.

Creating a new Seal is far more costly. Expanding the chamber must be approved by a simple majority vote of the house. In practice candidates must have the backing of a number of existing Seals, and by courtesy pay a Grant of Aid to a sufficient number of Seals to gain a majority. This “grant” supposedly covers the out of pocket expenses for Seals who have to travel long distances from their country estate to attend the meeting to ratify membership, but in practice this is an outright bribe. Candidates are also required to pay the costs of the sitting of the House at the time of the vote, including the clerks fees, regardless of whether the house was already sitting or not.

The number of Seals is in theory strictly limited, currently stands at almost 900. For every new addition, the Chamber must vote to increase their number if necessary, an additional cost to each new candidate.

The chamber can vote to remove Seals, for those who have been held in national disgrace, though this is a rare occurrence. Seals also become extinct if no-one within the extended family is able to pay the renewal fee. Seals can be transferred by marriage or adoption, though this still requires ratification by the house to keep out unsavoury persons. Though if they are unsavoury persons with sufficient ready money, this is not always a barrier.

All members also pay an annual fee covering wages of the clerks, materials and general upkeep of Chamber.

The house is led by the Lord Serry Seal, who is said to represent the combined voices of the chamber. The Serry Seal is generally the most senior, or at least most senior and capable, member of the chamber. He is assisted by the Gentlemen Ushers of the Chamber, four senior officials named after the cardinal points, with the Gentleman Usher of the North Door being most senior, followed by East, South and West. The Gentlemen Ushers are technically just functionaries, but keep a strict control over the business of the house. The ushers are assisted by numerous clerks who take minutes of debates and issue invitations to assemble.

The Seals officially hold no legislative power, and cannot initiate legislation. Legislation passes through the House of Keys, who are obliged to refer bills to the Seals for comment. After debate, the Seals can issue a Formal Opinion, which refers a bill to numerous other bodies for further debate, including some bodies which are obsolete (such as the Lord Chamberlain's Bench), effectively killing the bill.

In practice this rarely happens. The Seals are given an allotted time to make any response, depending on the nature of the bill. The house has committees where any real political debate happens, but decisions need ratification by the house. The Seals meet infrequently, and require a third of Seals in attendance to be quorate for debate. Various Opinions can be voted on, but issue of a Formal Opinion of the Chamber requires the assent of half of all current Seals, which is difficult.

Given that the Terath family holds 17 seats and controls many others through patronage, they have a significant voice in any debate. Consequently, Formal Opinions are only rarely issued, for fear of reprisal.