Law

Law in the Universal Triumvirate is the defining rule of the administration, activities, and organization of the Triumvirate. It is compromised of several levels including constitutional law (derived from the Constitution), statutory law (derived from the bills passed by the government), treaties (agreements with foreign powers), regulations (which exist within the scope of statutory law), and common law (derived from court decisions).

Article VII of the Constitution reads:

> The laws of the Triumvirate shall take upon the following order of supremacy with which the Constitution shall be the absolute power over the Triumvirate. Thereafter shall be individual legislation passed by the Executive Branch which shall be supreme over local administrative laws which pertain to their respective institutions shall be the last observed yet fundamental to a secure society. The powers not exclusive to the Triumvirate government, established by due process of law, or specified by this Constitution shall be the powers of private institutions and the people.
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> The Triumvirate may agree to a treaty with a foreign power by approval by the Executive Branch and the Administration along with signature by the Major Executive. Treaties shall be valid as law and if they come into conflict the most recent shall be superior as is standard in the legal system.
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> All laws, amendments, articles, treaties, policies, or any other document that has legal value must be displayed publicly.
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This is the most direct reference to the hierarchy of the laws and the powers thereof within the Triumvirate, though the Constitution describes in depth within Article II the legislative powers of the Executive Branch (and the Administration).

## Constitutional Law

Constitutional law is the ultimate law of the land, getting its foundation from the Constitution. Constitutional law entails rules set forth specifically by the Constitution or interpreted by the courts to have been so. Subjects like the structure of the government, the rights of the people, the basic principles of politics, or the authority of the government all are subjects of constitutional law in the Triumvirate.

## Statutory Law

The predominant form of law that is used most regularly is statutory law, as it is the law derived from bills passed by the government, and is highest form of law under the Constitution.

Before a law is passed, it is called a bill. A bill can be suggested by any Triumvirate member but it must be tabled to the Executive Branch by at least one Executive (with cosponsors of at least one other Executive and two Administrators). Then, the Executives will look at and debate the bill, look for flaws, errors, or things that might need changed. The bill may proceed back to the editing phase a few more times and go through several drafts until a final draft that enough Executives agree to is tabled as the final version. This version is then approved by a simple majority vote of the Executives. Once it is confirmed and approved it is sent to the Speaker of the Administration, who can decide whether or not to table it to the Administrative Branch. If the Speaker rejects it, the Underspeaker then has the option to do the same, and if both reject it the bill fails. If one of them accepts it, it proceeds to the full Administration who also must approve the law by a majority in favor. Once that occurs, the bill becomes law and is placed in the Universal Triumvirate Statutes at Large, the compilation of all passed bills.

Statutory laws passed by the government are divided into two categories: Public Law (law which pertains to the public at large) and Private Law (law which pertains to specific institutions like individuals or businesses, like government contracts). Public laws are compiled every eight months in the most recent edition of the Universal Triumvirate Code, the compilation of all current public laws in codified form.

## Treaties

Treaties are equal in power to statutory law but pertain to relationships and agreements with foreign powers. They are passed similar to a law but must be signed by the Major Executive as well as be approved by the Executive Branch and Administrative Branch.

## Regulations

Regulations, in the particular legal sense, are rules imposed by government institutions (such as particular Departments) that they have the power to impose (provided for by statutory law). For example, if the Department of Commerce was entitled to set basic policy of its own accord regarding labor standards without it having to be approved by the Executive and Administrative branches.

## Common Law

Common law is law that is not necessarily provided by any particular piece of legislation but instead made by the courts. It is usually the interpretations and applications of other significant legislation that the court has interpreted one way or another.