Galactic Council

The Galactic council is the seat of power in the Milky Way galaxy, all speices that sit on the council are afforded major benefits such as protection and economic aid to smaller, weaker ones, and collective power for the stronger.

The station on which the council is held, is a built-for-purpose station built in the 2nd Epoch, in a dense patch of the Norma Arm. The families of elected officials, along with other staff who run the station, live on the outer arms of the station, with the meetings taking place at the centre.

History
After the Great Galactic War before the 1st Epoch, the council was set up in order to protect against major disputes and to end the chance of another major conflict. It has not been able to put a complete halt to major conflicts, however, the same level of violence as seen in the Great Galactic War has never been repeated.

Style of Government
The Galactic Council has gone through many changes since its inception in the 1st Epoch. Under Svilk De-Vitosi, the first galactic Grand Councillor, it changed from a representative democracy to a dictatorial democracy, not by legislative means but by defacto arrangements, such was the charisma and influence of De-Vitosi.

The Dictatorial democracy gives the central leader, the Grand Councillor, signifcant power upon his election to the position. His position combines that of the executive and legislature positions, allowing him to create laws and regulations on a whim. However, his power is limited by a judicial branch and a chamber of elected officials.

Attempts to abuse power are quickly ended, with the suspension of powers, imprisonment and sometimes a death penalty. If a majority vote, 6/10, in the judicial house is enacted claiming an abuse of power a vote then takes place in the democratically elected chamber and if two-thirds of the chamber agree, the Grand Councillor is removed from the position and charges are usually brought.

Types of Laws
Laws are divided into 4 classes: When a law is enacted by either the Grand Councillor or the Elected House, the Judicial Order attach a Class to it, determining the ease at which it can be removed or modified in the future.
 * Class 1: The major laws, governing military and some Major social policy such as freedom of speech.
 * Class 2: Minor social policy i.e. walfare and health care, Galactic Internal relations policies
 * Class 3: Economic laws such as currency and taxes and aspects of criminal law such as sentencing
 * Class 4: External Galactic Council relations (acts for or against speices not in the Galactic Council) and basic internal military reforms, such as the changing of regiments or creation of new battle fleets.

Despite a huge allowance for power, the Grand Councillor is not able to alter the basic constitution or Class 1 laws without both the Elected Chamber and the Judicial Order's approval.

Class 2 laws can be changed however six months notice must be given and it is the Elected Chambers prorogative to vote on the changes of any Class 2 laws, which they often do as only 100 members need to call for the vote.

Class 3 laws, notice must be given, 1 month and the Chamber may choose to vote, however 765 must call for a vote.

Class 4 are changed entirely at the whim of the Grand Councillor and despite a notice period being given, Chamber representatives are not allowed to vote on it, unless 1425 councillors call for a vote (90%) and all 10 members of the Judicial Order. This has happened only four times in this history of the council, three times under the same Grand Councillor, Yi-Pala in the 1st Epoch.

Grand Councillor
A Grand Councillor must be publically elected at least three times in order to gain his position, firstly by his homeworld, to serve as a polticial member there, secondly to the Elected chamber where a minimum of two terms must be served before running to be Grand Councillor.



The Elected House votes on the candidates who have put their names forward, the four councillors with the most votes are then nominated to run for the Grand Councillor position.

Finally in a galactic wide vote, the candidate with a majority vote is elected. If no candidate recieves a majority, the two with the lowest votes are eliminated and the other two are put to another vote. The winner of that vote then becomes Grand Councillor.

The vote is taken every twelve years, however, it is the prorogative of the Grand Councillor to call and election at anytime, however this power is rarely enacted except on rare occasions where political support is high and only a couple of years remain until the next election.

Elected Chamber
The Elected chamber is elected on a rotational basis, meaning the 1,500 members of it are not all elected at the same time. 500 members of it come up for election every two years and serve six year terms. Elections are fixed and cannot be called at a whim by either the Grand Councillor or the Elected Chamber.

The Elected Chamber votes for actions which are either outside of the power of the Grand Councillor or issues that the Grand Councillor cannot tend to personally for any number of reasons. It is because of this that the Elected Chamber still serves a major role.

Judicial Order
The Judicial Order are the judicial branch of the government judging situations that may conflict with the constitiution of the Galactic Council, such as new laws that may disrupt older laws. They also have a major role in making sure the Grand Councillor does not become a despotic ruler.

They are made up of 15 judges, each one from a different race. They are selected via a secret ballot by the Judicial branches civil servants, which makes up 21% of the Galactic Council's entire workforce. Names are not shown, only the race of the individual and a profile. Although the name could be worked out via the profile, it acts as a hinderance. This is because the Grand Councillor and Elected Chamber officials are not permitted to know who serves on the Judicial Order. On the occasion that they discover the name of the person, they must report it so that interaction between the Councillor in question and the Judge can be monitored. If a Grand councillor were to discover a name of a judicial member, not report it, and engage in communication either directly or indirectly and is discovered, the act is punishable by death. The harsh penalty is to act as a deterent as it is one of the more difficult areas of the government.