Propose treaty with Axos Spring 384YE

Motion to empower the Ambassador to Axos to offer the following treaty which will be executed immediately if accepted by Ilarch Maxatios.

Proposed: Sarvos. Seconded: Madruga.

Outcome

• This motion was presented as a potential treaty by the Ambassador to Axos
• Passed, but see below

Date

• Spring 384YE

Proposal

The following points were proposed as part of the treaty:

• The Empire apologises for the way in which independent fleet captains provided passage to orcs out of Axos
• The allocation of the Black Quay is amended to public bourse auction
• As a show of good faith Axos is moved to favourable trade tariffs for one season
• Axos accepts that the matter of the fleet action is settled
• Axos commits to restoring normal trade and ministry functioning

Outcome

• This motion received additional scrutiny from the Constitutional Court.

Constitution

An Imperial ambassador can present a treaty for ratification "only when the civil service have confirmed that it is a genuinely negotiated treaty with members of that nation". During scrutiny, the Constitutional Court have identified that this is not a legally valid treaty because it has not yet been agreed by the appropriate representatives of that nation - it is a proposal presented for the Senate to express an opinion on.

As a consequence, the motion has no legally binding implications. Any treaty arising from these discussions will still need to be ratified by the Senate. While it may be useful for the Imperial Senate to express a view on a treaty; even if the Axou were able to reply in time to confirm that they agreed to the exact wording of the treaty presented to the Senate there is no way it would be "executed immediately" in the way the motion seems to suggest. In theory, an attempt to pre-approve a treaty could be interpreted as an attempt to subvert the agencies of state because it has not been negotiated with authorised representatives of a foreign nation.

In addition, Gerard le Salle, the Auditor of the Imperial Treasury, is of the opinion that it is not possible to pass a motion to change tariffs at some point in the future - which this treaty would effectively do. A motion can be used to change the tariffs a nation pays, and a second motion would need to be passed in the future to change them again. He also expresses concerns that changing tariffs for a single season is unlikely to have a great effect other than to remove money from the Imperial treasury.