Empyrean of the Moon

Empyrean of the Moon
Flag
Motto: "Negantur a spinis" "The thorns refuse them" (lit. "They are denied by thorns")
Anthem: None
Status	Active
Location	United Kingdom
Capital	Labyrinthia
Largest city	Labyrinthia
Official languages	English (de facto)
Recognised national languages	None
Demonym(s)	Empyrean
Government	Presidential autocracy
• President	Horatio Eden
• Supreme Justices	None appointed
Legislature	Presidium Convention Parliament
Established nation
• Charter ratified	15 August 2022
• Acceded to the Würtige Empire	21 August 2022
Population
• 2022 estimate	1
Currency	Empyrean Credit Also accepted as legal tender: Great British Pound Euro
Time zone	UTC+1 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+0 (BST)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Driving side	left
Preceded by Federal Republic of Whestcorea Amissopian Federation Edenic Protectorate of Arura Novale Imperial Union of Edenia United Kingdom
The Empyrean's claim to successorship from the Edenic Protectorate of Arura Novale was legally contested, but found lawful in an opinion of the Supreme Court of the Grand Unified Micronational. The Empyrean's claim to having seceded from the United Kingdom is not legally recognised.

The Empyrean of the Moon (/ɛmˌpaɪˈriːən.ɒv.ˈðiː.muːn/), also referred to locally and in constitutional documents simply as the Empyrean, is a United Kingdom-based micronation and member state of the Würtige Empire. It comprises, currently, no real-world territory; its only land holdings are in virtual space, within the limits of the Empyrean's capital city of Labyrinthia.

The Empyrean is a presidential autocracy. There are few limits on central government power, and with the judicial branch vacant, the President has effectively total control over all levers of government.

Following the War of Edenic Centralisation, a legal fiction created by President Horatio Eden, four technically legally existent but inactive micronations were dissolved and centralised into the Empyrean.

Etymology

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Empyrean. The list of authors can be seen in the page history.

In ancient cosmologies, the Empyrean Heaven, or simply the Empyrean, was the place in the highest heaven, which was supposed to be occupied by the element of fire (or aether in Aristotle's natural philosophy). The word derives from the Medieval Latin empyreus, an adaptation of the Ancient Greek empyros (ἔμπυρος), meaning "in or on the fire (pyr)".

History

Eras of Empyrean history

The Government of the Empyrean uses eras, established in the Historical Recording Act, to describe broad periods of Empyrean history. Eras are "period[s] of time starting on one date and ending on another, later date, delimited on the basis of significant events taking place within that period".

Empyrean eras

Era name	Start and end dates	Themes
Prehistory Era	1 September 2015 - 14 August 2022	Documents the history of the Empyrean's claimed predecessor states: Whestcorea, Amissopia, Arura Novale and the Imperial Union of Edenia.
Foundation Era	15 August 2022 – present	Documents the history of the Empyrean from the drafting and signature of the Charter through to the present day, including the nation's accession to the Würtige Empire.

Prehistory Era (2015-2022)

The prehistory era documents the history of the Empyrean's claimed predecessor states. Most of its predecessors are uncontested as a matter of international law; however, the Empyrean's claim to successorship from the Edenic Protectorate of Arura Novale was the subject of legal proceedings in the Grand Unified Micronational, where the Empyrean's annexation was found likely to be lawful.

Federal Republic of Whestcorea

Main article: Federal Republic of Whestcorea

The Federal Republic of Whestcorea was a federal republic based in the United Kingdom and founded in 2015 by Horatio Eden, after his sockpuppet identity, Jackson Eden, took office in the Universal Triumvirate as Chief Ambassador. It was a mostly comical nation but passed a decent amount of legislation and held two elections - one in November of 2015 and one in January of 2016. After the 2016 election, the nation largely ceased to operate in a meaningful way.

Whestcorea remained in a state of legal twilight, still formally existing having never been officially disbanded, until Eden signed the formal instrument of surrender on its behalf that brought the War of Edenic Centralisation to an end. This led the Federal Republic to finally be dissolved after almost seven years of technical existence, making it the longest-running Edenic micronation by a considerable margin. .

Imperial Union of Edenia

Main article: Imperial Union of Edenia

The Imperial Union of Edenia was an empire created following the dissolution of the Edenic Compact, the triumvirate of nations formed by the merger of the Democratic Union of British States, the Free City-State of Edenopolis, and the United Townships of the Compact. On 3 December 2017, the Lord President of the Compact ceded the territory of the Compact to the new Imperial Union, as well as accepted the new government's jurisdiction.

The Compact did not last in any meaningful way. Like the other Edenic nations, it slipped into inactivity quickly and was then conquered in the course of the War of Edenic Centralisation.

Edenic Protectorate of Arura Novale

Main article: Edenic Protectorate of Arura Novale

The Edenic Protectorate of Arura Novale was a federal state of the Desi Empire. Arura Novale was transferred to the Empire on 13 April 2017 after a withdrawal by the government of its previous jurisdiction, the Democratic Union of British States, primarily in order to give Eden a share of the legislative power in the Empire.

Following the withdrawal of Bilal I from the micronational community, it is unclear what the legal state of the Desi Empire is or whether the government of Arura Novale was legally competent to sign the instrument of surrender that ended the War of Edenic Centralisation. On 18 August 2022, Empyrean President Horatio Eden requested an advisory opinion from the Supreme Court of the Grand Unified Micronational to determine in the court's view:

• Whether "the Desi Empire... still exists as an object of international law";
• Whether the Grand Protector of Arura Novale was "competent to sign the instrument of surrender" that ended the war and brought Arura Novale into the Empyrean.

The subject is a matter of an ongoing court hearing.

Amissopian Federation

Main article: Amissopian Federation

The Amissopian Federation was a federal republic based in the United Kingdom and founded in 2018 by Horatio Eden. At the height of its activity, it was a full member of the Grand Unified Micronational, during which time Eden served as Supreme Justice, the highest judicial officer. The nation was also the founding member and chief executive of the Micronational Statistics Bureau, a short-lived attempt to create an intermicronational organisation for recording statistics.

In the course of the existence of the Federation, it attempted to revive the Universal Triumvirate as one of its states, but this was not successful.

After some time Amissopia ceased to operate and its website came offline. It remained in a state of legal twilight, still formally existing having never been officially disbanded, until Eden signed the formal instrument of surrender on its behalf that brought the War of Edenic Centralisation to an end. This led the Federation to be formally dissolved.

Foundation era (2022-present)

The foundation era documents the history of the Empyrean from the ratification of the Empyrean's charter on 15 August 2022 by President Horatio Eden through to the present day.

Ratification of the Charter

On 15 August 2022, Horatio Eden signed and ratified the Charter of the Empyrean, formally creating both the nation and the office of President, which he continues to occupy.

The Charter created a largely dictatorial government, though with some checks on presidential authority through the bill of citizen rights the Charter also established. The President was granted constitutional powers to write laws of any kind with no legislative veto, subject to judicial review by the Supreme Court (which is currently empty).

Early foreign affairs

Main articles: Wurtige Empire, Cupertino Alliance, and Alliance of the Micronations

On 15 August 2022, the same day as the ratification of the Charter, the Empyrean adopted the Wurtige Accession Act, a presidential declaration which requested formal membership for the Empyrean of the Würtige Empire. On 21 August, the Empire's Imperial Council voted to approve the Empyrean's accession request, and the Empyrean formally joined the Empire.

On 19 August 2022, the Empyrean adopted the Retrospective Cupertino and Alliance Accession Act, a presidential declaration which requested observer membership of the Alliance of the Micronations and the Cupertino Alliance. It is an observer member of the Alliance of the Micronations, but the status of its application to the Cupertino Alliance is not known.

War of Edenic Centralisation

Main article: War of Edenic Centralisation

On 17 August 2022, President Horatio Eden issued a declaration of war against four micronations - Whestcorea, Amissopia, Arura Novale and the Amissopian Federation - which he had founded in the past and which had technically continued to exist while being practically inactive. The Empyrean demanded that the four nations sign an instrument of unconditional surrender that had the effect of both finally dissolving their states formally and of absorbing the remaining governments of those nations into the Empyrean. The four nations complied with the demand on the same day. As a result, the Empyrean claims to have become the legal successor to those states as a matter of international law. The question of its succession from Arura Novale was however unclear - in an opinion requested by the Serene Beaconite Republic, Grand Unified Micronational Supreme Justice Anthony Clark found the annexation likely to be lawful.

Early cultural affairs

On 16 August 2022, the nation adopted the National Symbols Act, which set the nation's motto, national animal - the red panda - and the national sport - chess. Later, and further to the latter, the Empyrean also established the Empyrean Chess Federation, the national chess federation responsible for expanding chess as a national cultural output.

Order of the Full Moon

Main article: Order of the Full Moon

On 21 August 2022, President Eden created the Order of the Full Moon, an honorary order in the Empyrean, membership of which is granted to individuals who contribute meaningfully to the arts, sciences, micronationalism, or otherwise act in a meritorious way.

Politics and government

Presidium

Main article: Presidium of the Empyrean of the Moon

The Empyrean of the Moon is a presidential dictatorship governed by a central body known as the Presidium. The Presidium is chaired by the President of the Empyrean, who has wide-ranging powers over the legislative and executive branches of government, being able to make declarations on policy with force of law without needing approval from another body in most circumstances. The Presidium at large exists primarily as a form of cabinet to the President, and its officers are given discretion over specific policy areas.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the Empyrean of the Moon is the court of last resort in the Empyrean. The Supreme Court is composed of up to five Supreme Justices, who serve life tenures unless removed from office.

The Court has the authority to declare laws, including those made by the President, unconstitutional and subsequently void. It is one of the only institutions of government capable of overturning a presidential declaration.

Convention Parliament

The Convention Parliament of the Empyrean of the Moon (or simply "Convention Parliament" or "Parliament") is an advisory council that ordinarily does not sit. Inspired by the Convention System established by the Federated States of America, the Convention Parliament is convened by the President of the Empyrean from time to time for the purpose of dealing with a particular topic or resolving a particular issue, after which point it is dismissed again until further notice. Under the Convention Parliament Act, the President usually serves as presiding officer.

No session of the Convention Parliament has yet been convened.

Foreign affairs

The President has wide scope to undertake foreign affairs on the Empyrean's behalf.

The Empyrean is a member state of the Würtige Empire, and is seeking observer membership of the Alliance of the Micronations and the Cupertino Alliance. It is also a signatory to the Edgbaston Convention.

Economy

The Empyrean uses three currencies: the Empyrean Credit, the official currency of the nation, the British pound sterling, and the Euro. The Empyrean Mint is responsible for printing Empyrean Credits, subject to a "mint limit": the legal upper bound of how many Empyrean Credits may exist in the Empyrean economy.