Public Governance

Structure of the Public Governance System There are two tiers of Public Governance. The highest tier is known as the National Council which provides global oversight regarding matters of national concern. Whereas the distributed local public governance that act within each of the 13 National Industries are known as the Industry Councils and these provide local oversight and governance over the National Industries.

National Council

The National Council is formed of a council of 65 representatives. These are composed of 13 randomly selected Industry Councillors (one from each of the 13 Industry Councils), 13 randomly selected citizens from the entire population (there are some eligibility requirements), the 13 Clann Chiefs, the 13 Clann Druids and finally all the Military Commanders.

Industry Councils

There are 13 separate Industry Councils, one for each of the 13 National Industries. The Industry Councils of each National Industry are formed of a council of 13 Industry Councillors. Every three years 13 specialist Bureaucrats are voted into the Industry Council by the bureaucrats of their respective National Industry. A vote of no confidence can be arranged at any time during the three year period of service, however, a majority of the Bureaucrats within the relevant National Industry voting in support of the vote of no confidence is required for it to be enacted.

At a high level the Industry Councils provide administrative oversight and governance over each of the 13 industries and ensure that all public infrastructure and services run optimally and efficiently. They are also responsible for receiving, reviewing, generating, debating, editing and implementing any and all proposals that relate to the 13 National Industries. Any citizen can propose a change to an aspect related to one of the industries. Any proposals to change treaties, laws, legislation are forwarded on to the National Council for review as these are considered National Proposals.

The Industry Councils are not included under the jurisdiction of one of the 13 National Industries and stand apart from these. The review and implementation of changes to the structure or function of the Industry Councils must therefore be made by the National Council, however, any citizen can make such a proposal and these would be considered to be National Proposals thus bypassing the typical Industry Council review requirement stage.

Functions of the Public Governance System

The public governance system serves three primary functions. These include legislative function, executive function and judicial function.

Legislative Function of the Public Government

The legislative function of making and amending National Laws, Treaties or Legislation is a function mediated by the National Council and one that requires all members of the National Council to be present (although not physically present as all meetings are conducted virtually using Neuro-Tech (a type of virtual reality software). These meetings are public and can be tuned into and listened to by any Boheme citizen on the planet and all proceedings during these meetings are a matter of public historical record. The process of making and amending National Laws is a lengthy process involving review of proposals, lengthy debates and finally voting on the proposal. If the proposal is supported by 51% of the National Council then the Proposal will move to the next stage in which a National Vote, involving every eligible voting citizen, will be initiated.

Prior to this, however, detailed report summaries intended to educate the public on the proposal will need to be drafted, reviewed and finally approved prior to these being distributed to the general populace. This legislative function only relates to proposals that concern the nation as a whole, which are known as National Proposals. Examples of such proposals are those which would result in changes to National laws, treaties or legislation. If the proposal is supported by the National Council then it must still be supported by a majority public vote in order to be implemented. Whilst it is not mandatory for every citizen to vote on a National Proposal it is recommended and encouraged. In practice, National Votes are infrequent events and typically only occur once every few years.

Executive Function of the Public Government

The executive function on the other hand only involves the Industry Councils and requires the Industry Councillors of each National Industry to read various reports relating to their specific National Industry followed by discussions and debates on the report findings as well as voting on any proposals if required. The Industry Councils are supported in this function by a much larger supporting staff of Bureaucrats who are largely responsible for the day to day administrative running of the National Industries.

Once per month, all of the Industry Councillors from each of the 13 Industry Councils meet together to discuss major updates from each industry as well as any major topics or issues. These monthly meetings are public and can be tuned into and listened to by any Boheme citizen on the planet and all proceedings during these meetings are a matter of public historical record. If there is ever a situation where the functioning of one National Industry is significantly negatively impacting the functioning of another National Industry, possibly due to a recently implemented proposal or change, then the matter will be debated at these monthly meetings.

If no resolution can be found then the matter will be referred to the National Council for their review and adjudication. This almost never occurs as each National Industry works so closely with every other National Industry due to their interconnectedness and interdependency that any issues are almost always dealt with by the various Bureaucrats without needing to be referred on to the Industry Council.

Bureaucrats

The Bureaucrats are the administrative and regulatory backbone of the Nation. The Bureaucrats essentially run the day to day business of the planet and provide administrative oversight over each of the 13 National Industries. Each National Industry has their own specialist Bureaucrats who have had to undergo extensive specialised training which relates to that National Industry. The Bureaucratic staff for each National Industry are composed of a mix of individuals from all of the different Clanns.

Judicial Function of the Public Government

Bohemia has three primary areas of law which include Criminal Law, Civil Law and Administrative Law and there are two levels of the governmental judiciary. The highest level includes the National Courts, which deal with all Administrative Law as well as escalated Criminal or Civil matters. In contrast the Local Courts only deal with Criminal and Civil matters. Judges (a type of specialist Bureaucrat who has been trained to act in the role of judicial expert) are expected to be specialists in all areas of law.

Local Courts

The Local Courts are presided over by 3 randomly selected Judges. The Local Courts deal with all Civil Law and Criminal Law matters. They are the first level of review and thus all (except in very rare circumstances) criminal and civil matters are initially heard at a Local Court and only escalated to a National Court if it is deemed necessary. These court hearings are undertaken remotely using Neuro-Tech, which allow for the participants to be located anywhere on the planet. These hearings are public and can be tuned into and listened to by any Boheme citizen on the planet and all proceedings during these meetings are a matter of public historical record.

National Courts

The National Courts deal with very serious criminal and civil cases that have been escalated from a Local Court. They also deal with all Administrative Law matters that relate to Public Governance policies. National Courts are presided over by 169 randomly selected Judges who will review all evidence provided by all parties before finally making their judgement on the matter. Given the number of participants these hearings can sometimes take some weeks as they involve a significant amount of debating. A majority vote is required to determine whether a party is guilty or not and then further debating is required to determine the appropriate sentence. These hearings are public and can be tuned into and listened to by any Boheme citizen on the planet and all proceedings during these meetings are a matter of public historical record.

A National Court hearing for a civil or criminal matter is only arranged if a matter is deemed by at least 2 out of the 3 Judges of a Local Court to be too serious to be dealt with at the level of a Local Court. In such instances the court hearing will be referred on to the National Court. With respect to Criminal Law matters only a National Court can make a judgement to exile a citizen or have them placed in cryostasis. Of note, there is no capital punishment on Bohemia. Administrative Law relates to the functioning of National Industries as well as National Laws, Treaties or Legislation. Whilst the National Council and Industry Councils are responsible for making, debating, reviewing and implementing matters relating to Public Governance, the National Court is responsible for hearing challenges relating to these Public Governance policies, Laws, Treaties or Legislation.

The Judges will review all the evidence and make a determination as to whether the challenge has any merit. If it is deemed to be valid and there is sufficient evidence to support that the existing Public Governance Policy, Law, Treaty or Legislation is not in best interests of the nation as a whole then a National Vote will be initiated without having to be reviewed or approved by the National Council. Much like with a National Proposal, a minimum vote of support is required (11% of the eligible voting population) for a challenge related to Administrative Law to be heard in front of a National Court. In practice hearings relating to Administrative Law are extremely infrequent and exist more as a theoretical safety mechanism in the unlikely circumstance that the National Council or the Industry Councils are not acting in the best interest of the Nation as a whole.

Proposal Processes

Technically, any citizen is able to make a proposal relating to any aspect of the nation, however, the process of review and submission is different depending on who is making the proposal.

Industry Proposals

If a regular citizen makes a proposal which relates to a specific National Industry then the proposal needs to have support from at least 3% of the citizenry, in the form of digital signatures, prior to it being reviewed by the Industry Council of the relevant National Industry.

National Proposals

If a proposal relates to making a change to a National Law, Treatise or Legislation then the proposal needs to have support from at least 11% of the population in order for it to be formally reviewed by the National Council. When a National Proposal has reached the minimum votes of support in the National Council and is ready to be presented to the general population then it is the responsibility of a supporting staff of specially trained Bureaucrats to create two reports.

One is a simplified summary report of the proposal whereas the other is a more comprehensive report explaining in depth the details of the proposal including what it is, the proposed reason or need for the proposal, the most prominent arguments for and against the proposal with supporting data for each argument, the expected impacts and outcomes should the proposal be accepted as well as the expected outcomes if it is not accepted. It is the duty of these Bureaucrats to be objective and unbiased in their preparation of these factual reports irrespective of whether they personally agree with the proposal or not. These reports are then quality audited by the members of the National Council and any feedback or suggested edits will be debated and if it is agreed that any amendments need to be made they will be prior to the reports being finally distributed to every citizen of Bohemia at the time of the vote.

National Voting Process

Whilst it is not mandatory for every citizen to vote on a National Proposal it is highly recommended and encouraged. The period of time open for voting on a National Proposal is one month during which time every citizen is allowed the opportunity to make a single vote in favour of or against the proposal.