THE PURPOSE OF REFORM

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THE PURPOSE OF REFORM
(OR, AN ESSAY ON REFORM TO THE HAURUL CAEZK, THE HISTORY OF THE HAURUL CAEZK, AND SHAPING THE HAESENI LEGAL LANDSCAPE OF TOMORROW)

BY

EIRIK BARUCH, DUKE OF VALWYCK

 

“With law shall the country be built but if all men were content with what is theirs and let others enjoy the same right, there would be no need for a law. But no law is as good as the truth, but if one wonders what the truth is, then shall the law show the truth. If the land had no law, then he would have the most who could grab the most by force. The law must be honest, just, reasonable and according to the ways of the people. It must meet their needs and speak plainly, so that all men may know and understand what the law is. It is not to be made in any man's favor, but for the needs of all them who live in the land. No man shall judge contrary to the law, which the king has given and the country chosen, nor shall he take it back without the will of the people.”

- Tale of Anndrais, the Chronicles of the Ayrian People.

 

6th of Wzuvar and Byvca, 400 E.S.

 

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Preface

For the past few years, within my duties as Deputy Palatine to Kaustantin Baruch, I have been heading the Committee for Haurul Caezk reform, a committee which I proposed myself to aid in the reconstruction of our law code. And while the work of the committee is not yet done, two parts of the reformed law code have now passed through the Royal Duma, with the rest soon to go through the committee and then to the Duma.

 

The work has been a great pleasure of mine, it has been a pleasure to see those within the committee speak passionately for their concerns regarding the law, and to see the support from our Peers in the Duma. This project, while not yet finished, I believe will be fruitful for the Kingdom. And while I have participated in much debate, both in committee and Duma, I wish to devote myself to writing this essay, my ultimate thoughts on this reform.

 

I dedicate this essay to King Sigismund III, for allowing me the opportunity to hold such influence with the project. I much appreciate the trust that his Majesty has shown by letting me spearhead our efforts at reforming the Haurul Caezk.

 

Introduction

The burning question at the heart of these reforms to the Haurul Caezk is a simple one: Is reform necessary? Were these efforts which the King, myself, the Royal Duma, and the Committee have taken, necessary? The answer may not be explicitly clear to all, after all, the Haurul Caezk was a functional and extensive law code, and whether you are on the side that calls it bloated, or the side that calls it reasonable, I believe that the issue of the Haurul Caezk is not found within itself. It lies within the history of the Haurul Caezk, and with the history of our modern legal system as a whole.

 

During most of the 18th century, the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska was a vassal of the Holy Orenian Empire. During this period, the Empire became increasingly bureaucratic and centralized in it’s nature, withdrawing much autonomy from the Haeseni. There was one law code for the entire Empire, the Orenian Revised Code, and there were the Imperial Circuits. As such, Haense did not have its own proper law code, nor did it have it’s own courts, for the better half of an entire century.

 

One might imagine then, that when the Edict of Separation was signed by Empress Anne I and Emperor Joseph II in 339 E.S., that Haense was thrust into quite a troublesome situation. It had no laws, it had no courts. And not only were our institutions influenced by the Imperial law and spirit, so were much of the generation that was at the forefront of Haense when independence was gifted to us. 

 

Our current edition of the Haurul Caezk (before it faced the many amendments that have been made to it between then and now) was released in 340 E.S., a matter of months after our independence. It’s three main writers were Konstantin Wick, Wilhelm Vyronov, and Lauritz Christiansen. Konstantin Wick was previously an Imperial legislator and lawyer, Wilhelm Vyronov was previously an Imperial circuit judge, and Lauritz Christiansen was an Imperial circuit judge, an Imperial legislator, and a lawyer. These men had all worked within the Imperial bureaucracy, influenced by the Imperial system and its way of working, and as such our Haurul Caezk inherently shares many similarities with the Oren Revised Code, from the way it is formatted, the way it is worded, the crimes included and their extent. Little more did it help that Lauritz Christiansen, the one of the three who had worked within the Imperial system the longest and the most diligently, was made the High Justiciar immediately after our independence. Our legal system and our law code is haunted by these men, it was written by three men that grew up in an Imperial Haense, that worked within the Imperial system for a great number of years, and our system’s precedents and legal practices were set by a man who had worked in the Imperial system longer than any man in Haense ever had.

 

This is why reform is necessary. Our current law code and our current legal system is not Haeseni, it is Imperial. I mean no disrespect to those who developed our law code and our legal history, they were by far some of the greatest legal minds our nation has had to date, but they grew up within an Imperial system that greatly influenced their efforts. Since our independence, a few generations have come to pass, and we’ve had two monarchs that were born not as vassals to the Empire, but as only Haeseni. 

 

The Purpose of Reform

Thus I now believe that it is the time to reset our law code and our legal system, so that we may once again place the bricks to build it, this time without influence from any foreign system. We must build our own laws, our own legal system, our own precedents, and our own jurisprudence. 

 

Of course, law is a necessity, we must not remove all law, but we must reset. These reformed versions of our Haurul Caezk have been significantly reduced in size. We are to rip the history and the bloat from our Haurul Caezk so that it may be reborn, like a caterpillar turning to a butterfly.

 

This is, in my mind, the purpose of these reforms. If one has had the opportunity to witness the debates in the Duma, or perhaps to read the transcripts afterwards, one might have noticed my tendency to argue in favour of keeping things vague or left out. For example, upon debate whether or not trials by combat should be purely restricted to the nobility, which I do principally support, I had instructed my representative Todd McTodd to argue against this. Why? Because I wish for us to set legal practice and precedents, not just legislate. Do I believe that it will and should be eventually added to the law? Perhaps I do, if it becomes legal practice that only the nobility can have trials by combat.

 

That remains the essence behind my line of thinking, though, that is why the Haurul Caezk is so stripped down, why it is so vague. I do not only want us to build a new law code, I want us to build a new legal culture, one that is entirely without influence that is not Haeseni.

 

The Hope for the Future

But my thinking, however, also leads to a certain fear that I have. While we may be resetting the law code and the system, I cannot reset the minds of people with a stroke of my pen. This is one of the main reasons that I sit here writing this, I fear that despite my best efforts, you will not be of the same mind as I.

 

For while I do believe that reform was necessary, I also believe that, if the minds of the Haeseni do not change with it, then these efforts shall be entirely futile. What was the point of reducing the law code, just for it to be rebuilt to the same extent by people who believe that over-regulating our society in accordance with the Imperial values that built our former law code? What is the point in declaring that we are resetting legal precedents and practice of our former system, if the Jovenaar and the High Justiciar fall back on it anyway?

 

While it may be the King who has penned the law, the Lord Palatine who has introduced them in the Royal Duma, and I that have put them through the committee for reform, this is not just a project of ours. This is a project of the entire Haeseni people, for us and you. This project will not reach it’s true potential if you do not follow along with us.

 

Thus, I beg of you, people of Haense. Recognise that this is a historic moment in our nation’s history, where our law code, legal system, everything is being reset to begin anew. This is your moment to take up the torch, instead of returning to a legal system of old, carry the torch forward and make your touch on a brand new legal system, help us shape it.

 

This will be our resurrection of Haeseni law.

 

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Yours,

His Grace, Eirik M. Baruch, Deputy Palatine, Duke of Valwyck, Count of Ayr, Viscount of Voron, Baron of Gant, Laval, and Riveryn. 

 

[Herod 802]

The Lord Palatine sheds a tear, dearly missing his cousin and colleague, a sudden breakdown of emotions is witnessed by none but Todd McTodd, whom was eating a sandwich and kept smiling even as the Palatine wept.

[Emenzi 1069]

Andrik III. sat drunkenly holding his thumbs in the seven skies that his favorite section from the old law codex which he implemented back during his reign is added into this new reform. "Gerard never got to do this.." he'd sigh, why was all his lords so loyal he later grumbled whilst getting even drunker.

 

"III.III.§. Any noble or gentry with that of a sworn oath to His Majesty, the King who commits arms against the Crown shall be considered guilty to that of High Treason and be branded a traitor. The maximum punishment being that of having lands and titles stripped and executed by that of having ones armour smelted over his person."

 

 

[Pureimp10 5178]

1 hour ago, Emenzi said:

Andrik III. sat drunkenly holding his thumbs in the seven skies that his favorite section from the old law codex which he implemented back during his reign is added into this new reform. "Gerard never got to do this.." he'd sigh, why was all his lords so loyal he later grumbled whilst getting even drunker.

 

"III.III.§. Any noble or gentry with that of a sworn oath to His Majesty, the King who commits arms against the Crown shall be considered guilty to that of High Treason and be branded a traitor. The maximum punishment being that of having lands and titles stripped and executed by that of having ones armour smelted over his person."

 

 

 

"Thank God for that," commented a nearby Otto Sigmar (also in the Seven Skies).

Edited November 17, 2021 by Pureimp10