Queen's Bench Court

The Queen's Bench was the court system of the Star Kingdom and later Star Empire of Manticore and their most senior court of law.
The Queen's Bench Court was the highest level court of appeal available to Manticoran citizens and was seated in Burke Tower in the city of Landing on Manticore. ()
Its head was the Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench. ()
== Organization ==
The Queen's Bench Court heard all cases that were appealed by all courts below it and was the court of jurisdiction for questions from the Monarch. The Bench consisted of the eleven most senior judges in the Star Kingdom and later the Star Empire, known as the "Law Lords", and those judges were selected by the Monarch and approved by House of Lords.
As members of the Queen's Bench Court, the judges are organized by seniority as the Lords of Law and any hereditary peers are barred from the House of Lords during their tenure on the court to prevent conflicts of interest when laws come before the court for review.
The Second Lord of Law, sometimes referred to as the Lord Chief Justice, was the head of the Bench and the senior judge in the Star Empire. The First Lord of Law was a member of the Royal Council and served as the Star Empire's minister of justice. ()
== History ==
In 1905 PD, the Queen's Bench authorized the presence of Honor Harrington's armsmen onboard the ships of the Royal Manticoran Navy despite the RMN's prohibition of embarking armed foreign nationals, by ruling that while Captain Harrington was required to respect the Navy's regulations as a Queen's officer, Steadholder Harrington was a visiting foreign dignitary whose bodyguards were entitled to diplomatic immunity while on Manticoran property, and that both legal personae coincidentally resided within Honor Harrington. ()
The Queen's Bench expanded that ruling in 1908 PD with a further decision at the insistence of Protector Benjamin IX to fully recognize Steadholder Harrington as a different legal persona with full diplomatic immunity as a foreign head of government. ()Category:Manticore
Category:Law