Act 9 (Members of Cabinet)
| Act 9 (Members of Cabinet) | |
| Proposed | October 2008 |
| Imperial Consent given on | October 2008 |
| Imperial Consent given at | Parliament Hall, Wrythe |
| Imperial Consent given by | HRH Emperor Terry I |
| Amended by | • Act 15 (2nd Revision to Existing Laws) • Act 119 (15th Revision to Existing Laws) |
Act 9 (Members of Cabinet) of the Parliament of Austenasia was an Act of Parliament passed during October 2008 and repealed on 22 September 2011. This Act made laws regarding Representatives and Town Councils.
Act 9 was passed at some point during October 2008. Due to a lack of reliable record-keeping in the early Empire, the exact date that Imperial Consent was given to this Act is unknown.
The Austenasian Constitution of 2008 had established that Cabinet (now known as the House of Representatives) would be the legislature, comprised of a representative from each Town. The formal name for this position became Member of Cabinet over the following month, but Law 2 of Act 9 changed this, making "Representative" a valid alternative title. This soon became the most widely used name for the position, with "Member of Cabinet" being retained only until 2011 in the preamble to Acts of Parliament. Cabinet itself was renamed to the House of Representatives at the same time, with the Cabinet of Austenasia now being an executive rather than a legislative body.
The 2008 Constitution had also established that Representatives would be annually elected, but gave no provision for how the date of an election would be chosen. Law 1 of Act 9 gave the Monarch the power to choose at their "crowning" the day on which elections would be held - it was unclear whether this referred to the beginning of their reign, or to a coronation.
Law 5 of Act 9 gave Representatives the power to appoint three Council Members from their Town to help them to run it. This created a basic system of local government, giving Representatives the power to "change something" in their Town should they have the consent of the majority of Council Members. Law 5 of Act 9 was repealed by Law 4 of Act 15 (2nd Revision to Existing Laws), which established a system whereby Council Members would be elected, with a maximum number of twenty per Town.
Law 3 of Act 15 repealed Law 1 of Act 9, ruling that elections for Representatives would take place each New Year's Day (1 January), and that only Council Members would be eligible to stand for Representative. Law 3 of Act 119 (15th Revision to Existing Laws) repealed Law 3 of Act 9, removing an obsolete requirement for meetings of Parliament (not named as such in Act 9) to be held on a Saturday and confirming as valid and legitimate all Acts of Parliament which had not been passed on a Saturday.
As with all Acts of Parliament passed before the implementation of the Austenasian Constitution of 2011, Act 9 was repealed on 22 September 2011. However, a similar structure for Town Councils was established by Article VIII of the 2011 Constitution.