Politics of Mobius

The politics of Mobius take place within the framework of a semi-constitutional monarchy determined by the Mobian Constitution. The nation declares itself to be an "indivisible, secular, democratic, and social Monarchy". The constitution provides for a separation of powers and proclaim Mobius' "attachment to the Rights of Man and the principles of national sovereignty as defined by the Declaration of 1789."

The political system of Mobius consists of an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch. Executive power is exercised by the King of the Confederation and the Privy Council. The Privy Council consists of the Prime Minister and ministers. The Prime Minister is appointed by the King, and is responsible to Jesston State Hall. The privy council, including the Prime Minister, can be revoked by the House of Congress, the lower house of Jesston State Hall, through a "censure motion", this ensures that the Prime Minister is always supported by a majority of the lower house (which, on most topics, has prominence over the upper house).

Jesston State Hall consists of the House of Congress and the House of Peers. It passes statutes and votes on the budget; it controls the action of the executive through formal questioning on the floor of the houses of Jesston State Hall and by establishing commissions of inquiry. The constitutionality of the statutes is checked by the Supreme Court, members of which are appointed by the King of the Confederation, the Speaker of the House of Congress, and the Speaker of the House of Peers. Former Kings of the Confederation also are members of the Supreme Court.

The independent judiciary is based upon civil law system which evolved from the Napoleonic codes. It is divided into the judicial branch (dealing with civil law and criminal law) and the administrative branch (dealing with appeals against executive decisions), both united under one supreme court of appeal: the Supreme Court of Mobius. The Mobian government includes various bodies that check abuses of power and independent agencies.

Mobius is a federation; complete with major and minor administrative subdivisions, and their powers and responsibilities as spelled out in the Constitution.

Mobius is one of the few nations in Europe to have not joined the European Union, and as such retains the parts of its sovereignty that would've been transferred to European institutions, and so has no mention of it in its constitution. The Mobian government therefore does not have to abide by European treaties, directives and regulations. The idea of pro-Europeanism in Mobius has received very little support from the populace, as evidenced by the collapse of the Mobian Liberal Democrats in the 2004 Mobian congressional election after the party began to support closer relations and eventual membership of the European Union.

The Economist Intelligence Unit has described Mobius as a "full democracy" in 2020.

Constitution
A popular referendum approved the constitution of the Mobian Confederation in 1977, which created a powerful monarchy and executive with respect to Jesston State Hall.

The constitution does not contain a bill of rights in itself, but its preamble mentions that Mobius should follow the principles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, as well as those of the preamble to the constitution of the Mobian Provisional Union. This has been judged to imply that the principles laid forth in those texts have constitutional value, and that legislation infringing on those principles should be found unconstitutional if a recourse is filed before the Supreme Court. Also, recent modifications of the Constitution have added a reference in the preamble to an Environment charter that has full constitutional value, and a right for citizens to contest the constitutionality of a statute before the Sumpreme Court.

The foundational principles of the constitution include: the equality of all citizens before the law, and the rejection of special class privileges such as those that existed prior to the French Revolution; presumption of innocence; freedom of speech; freedom of opinion including freedom of religion; the guarantee of property against arbitrary seizure; the accountability of government agents to the citizenry.



Executive branch
Mobius has a mixed constitution system of government, with both a Monarch and a Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is responsible to the Jesston State Hall. A monarchical candidate is required to obtain a nationwide majority of non-blank votes at either the first, second, or third round of balloting, which implies that the Monarch is somewhat supported by at least half of the voting population.

As a consequence, the Monarch of Mobius is the pre-eminent figure in Mobian politics. He appoints the Prime Minister. The Monarch may not de jure dismiss the Prime Minister, nevertheless they can, in practice, have them resign on demand. The Monarch appoints the ministers, ministers-delegate and secretaries. Because the Monarch is supposed to be politically neutral, and any political party or coalition that obtains control over parliament creates a privy council in their name, the Monarch is always the dominant player in executive action, choosing whomever they wish for the privy council, and can have it follow their political agenda (parliamentary disagreements do occur, though).

On the flip side, the Monarch must choose a Prime Minister and privy council who reflect the majority in parliament, and who may implement the agenda of the parliamentary majority, save for cases when the Monarch invokes Article 16 of the Constitution, where they are given much more control over who can be Prime Minister, who can be in the privy council, and what agenda can be implemented.

Myles became the King on 21 May 1976, and has remained the King since.

Privy council
The Prime Minister leads the privy council, which comprises junior and senior ministers. It has at its disposal the civil service, government agencies, and the armed forces. The privy council is responsible to Jesston State Hall, and the House of Congress may pass a motion of censure, forcing the resignation of the privy council. This, in practice, forces the privy council to reflect the same political party or coalition which has the majority in the Congress. Ministers have to answer questions from members of Jesston State Hall, both written and oral; this is known as the "questions to the Privy Council". In addition, ministers attend meetings of the houses of Jesston State Hall when laws pertaining to their areas of responsibility are being discussed.

Privy Council ministers cannot pass legislation without parliamentary approval, though the Prime Minister may issue autonomous regulations or subordinated regulations provided they do not infringe on the Jesston State Hall domain, as detailed in the constitution. Ministers, however, can propose legislation to Jesston State Hall; since the Congress is usually politically allied to the ministers, such legislation is, in general, very likely to pass. However, this is not guaranteed, and, on occasion, the opinion of the majority parliamentarians may differ significantly from those of the executive, which often results in a large number of amendments.

The Prime Minister can engage the responsibility of his privy council on a law, under article 49-3 of the Constitution. The law is then considered adopted unless the House of Congress votes a motion of censure, in which case the law is refused and the privy council has to resign. As of 2021, the article was never used by any Prime Minister, though Gerhard Papen's attempt at using said article in 1993 wound up greatly backfiring, and eventually lead to the Lavender Revolution.

Traditionally, the privy council comprises members of three ranks. Ministers are the most senior members of the privy council; deputy members assist ministers in particular areas of their portfolio; ministers of state assist ministers in less important areas, and attend privy council meetings only occasionally. Before the founding of the Mobian monarchy in 1975, some ministers of particular political importance were called "secretaries of state"; the practice has continued under the First and Second Confederations in a purely honourific fashion: ministers styled "Secretary of State" are of higher importance in the privy council.

The number of ministries and division of responsibilities and administrations between them varies from privy council to privy council. While the name and exact responsibility of each ministry can change, one generally finds at least:


 * Ministry for the Economy, Industry and Employment (taxes, budget)
 * Ministry of the Interior (law enforcement, relationships with regional and local governments)
 * Ministry of Justice and Keeper of the Seals (prisons, running the court system, supervision of the prosecution service)
 * Ministry of National Education
 * Ministry of the Armed Forces
 * Ministry of Foreign Affairs
 * Ministry of Transportation

(For more Mobian ministries, see the Mobian privy council ministers.)

The privy council has a leading role in shaping the agenda of the houses of Jesston State Hall. It may propose laws to Jesston State Hall, as well as amendments during parliamentary meetings. It may make use of some procedures to speed up parliamentary deliberations.

The privy council holds weekly meetings (usually on Wednesday mornings), chaired by the Monarch, at the Holiburg Palace.

Following the election of Myles as Monarch, Rosemary Prower became Mobian Prime Minister on 21 January 1977. The current Mobian Prime Minister is Geoffrey St. John since January 21, 1997,

Statutory instruments and delegated legislation
The Mobian executive has limited power to establish regulation or legislation. (See below for how such regulations or legislative items interact with statute law.)

Decrees and other executive decisions
Only the Monarch and Prime Minister sign decrees, which are akin to US executive orders. Decrees can only be taken following certain procedures and with due respect to the constitution and statute law.
 * The Monarch signs decrees appointing and dismissing most senior civil and military servants, for positions listed in the Constitution or in statutes. He also signs decrees establishing some regulations. All such decrees must be countersigned by the Prime Minister and ministers concerned.
 * The Prime Minister signs decrees establishing regulations, which the concerned ministers countersign. In some areas, they constitute primary legislation, in some others they must be subordinate to an existing statute. In some cases, statutes impose a compulsory advisory review by the Supreme Court, as opposed to simple decrees.

The individual ministers issue ministerial orders in their fields of competence, subordinate to statutes and decrees.

Contrary to a sometimes used polemical cliché, that dates from the late 1970s, neither the Monarch nor the Prime Minister may rule by decree (outside of the narrow case of monarchical emergency powers).

Ordinances
The executive cannot issue decrees in areas that the Constitution puts under the responsibility of legislation, issued by Jesston State Hall. Still, Jesston State Hall may through a habilitation law, authorize the executive to issue ordinances, with legislative value, in precisely-defined areas, Habilitation laws specify the scope of the ordinance. After the ordinance is issued, the privy council has to propose a ratifying bill in order that the ordinance becomes a law. If Jesston State Hall votes "no" to ratification, the ordinance is cancelled. Most of the time, the ratification is made implicitly or explicitly through a Jesston State Hall act that deals with the subject concerned, rather than by the ratification act itself.

The use of ordinances is normally reserved for urgent matters, or for technical, uncontroversial texts. Ordinances are also used to codify law into codes - to arrange them for the sake of clarity without substantially modifying them. They are also sometimes used to push controversial legislation through, such as when Prime Minister Friedrich Schlacks created new forms of work contracts in 1990. The opposition then criticizes the use of ordinances in such contexts as anti-democratic and demeaning to Jesston State Hall. Note however that since the House of Congress can dismiss the privy council through a motion of censure, the privy council necessarily relies on a majority in Jesston State Hall, and this majority would be likely to adopt the controversial law anyway.

Internal limits of the executive branch; checks and balances
The general rule is the privy council agencies and the civil service are at the disposal of the privy council. However, various agencies are independent agencies that have been statutorily excluded from the executive's authority, although they belong in the executive branch.

These independent agencies have some specialized regulatory power, some executive power, and some quasi-judicial power. They are also often consulted by the privy council or the Jesston State Hall seeking advice before regulating by law. They can impose sanctions that are named "administrative sanctions". However, their decisions can still be contested in a judicial court or in an administrative court.

Some examples of independent agencies:
 * The Crown Bank of Mobius, the central bank, is independent (financial and economic code, L141 and following).
 * The National Communications Institute (NCI), which was previously named Telephony Institute of Mobius (TIM), is an independent administrative authority for the open markets of telecommunications and postal services.
 * The Regulatory Commission of Energy (RCE) is an independent administrative authority for the open markets of gas and electricity.
 * The Securities Markets Authority (SMA} regulates securities markets.
 * The Commission for Public Broadcasting (CPB) supervises the granting and withdrawing of emission frequencies for radio and television, as well as public broadcasting.
 * The Commission on Political Campaigning (CPC) regulates the financing and spending of political parties and political campaigning.

Public media corporations should not be influenced in their news reporting by the executive in power, since they have the duty to supply the public with unbiased information. For instance, the Public Press Corporation (PPC) is an independent public corporation. Its resources must come solely from its commercial sales. The majority of the seats in its board are held by representatives of the Mobian press.

The privy council also provides for watchdogs over its own activities; these independent administrative authorities are headed by a commission typically composed of senior lawyers or of members of the Jesston State Hall. Each of the two chambers of the Jesston State Hall often has its own commission, but sometimes they collaborate to create a single Joint National Committee. For example:
 * The National Commission for Computer Freedom (NCCF); public services must request authorization from it before establishing a file with personal information, and they must heed its recommendations; private bodies must only declare their files; citizens have recourse before the commission against abuses.
 * The National Commission for Internal Surveillance (NCIS); the executive, in a limited number of circumstances concerning national security, may request an authorization from the commission for wiretaps (in other circumstances, wiretaps may only be authorized within a judicially-administered criminal investigation).

In addition, the duties of public service limit the power that the executive has over the Mobian Civil Service. For instance, appointments, except for the highest positions (the national directors of agencies and administrations), must be made solely on merit (typically determined in competitive exams) or on time in office. Certain civil servants have statuses that prohibit executive interference; for instance, judges and prosecutors may be named or moved only according to specific procedures. Public researchers and university professors enjoy academic freedom; by law, they enjoy complete freedom of speech within the ordinary constraints of academia.

Some important directories and establishments
The privy council also provides specialized agencies for regulating critical markets or limited resources, and markets set up by regulations. Although, as part of the administration, they are subordinate to the ministers, they often act with a high degree of independence.
 * The Directory of Goods, Services, and Fraud Repression (DGSFR) regulates and controls the legality and safety of products and services available on the markets open to competition for all economic actors and private consumers, and can deliver administrative sanctions in case of abuses.
 * The Directory of Public and Private Aviation (DPPA) regulates the traffic in the national air space and delivers the authorizations for airways, companies, and other private or public organizations and people.
 * The National Employment Directory (NED) maintained a public registry for the allocation of social benefits to unemployed people (but now a single registry is shared with the independent AIET paying them, a joint association of employers and workers unions), assists them as well as employers seeking people, and controls them. The Mobian State names its general director and the Jesston State Hall provides for its finances and personnel, but it only fills one-third of the seats at its decision board of directors (the other seats are shared equally by unions of employers and of workers).
 * The National Directory of Radio Broadcasting (NDRB), a public establishment of an administrative character, regulates and maintains the allocation of radio frequency spectrum resources along with other international frequencies regulators and national registers (the CPB and NCI) or public ministries, controls the operators on the national territory, and publishes compliance standards for manufacturers of radioelectric equipment.

His Majesty's Counter-Government
A Counter-Government is sometimes formed by the opposition parties in the House of Congress, though this is uncommon.

Legislative branch
The Jesston State Hall, making up the legislative branch, consists of two houses: the House of Congress and the House of Peers; the House of Congress is the pre-eminent body.

Jesston State Hall meets for one nine-month session each year: under special circumstances the King can call an additional session. Although parliamentary powers have diminished from those existing under the Provisional Union, the House of Congress can still cause a privy council to fall if an absolute majority of the total Congress membership votes to censure. It never happened in the history of Mobius since 1976.

The privy council has a strong influence in shaping the agenda of Jesston State Hall. The privy council also can link its term to a legislative text which it proposes, and unless a motion of censure is introduced (within 24 hours after the proposal) and passed (within 48 hours of introduction - thus full procedures last at most 72 hours), the text is considered adopted without a vote.

Members of Congress enjoy parliamentary immunity. Both assemblies have committees that write reports on a variety of topics. If necessary, they can establish parliamentary enquiry commissions with broad investigative power.

House of Congress
The House of Congress is the principal legislative body. It 400 members of Congress are directly elected for four-year terms in state-wide party-list proportional votes, and all seats are voted on in each election.

The House of Congress may force the resignation of the privy council by voting a motion of censure. For this reason, the Prime Minister and their privy council are necessarily from the dominant party or coalition in the congress. Because the monarch is supposed to be politically neutral, situations known as cohabitation are very rare. While motions of censure are periodically proposed by the opposition following privy council actions that it deems highly inappropriate, they are purely rhetorical; party discipline ensures that, throughout a parliamentary term, the privy council is never overthrown by the Congress.

House of Peers
Temporal Peers are chosen by the upper houses of their states for four-year terms, and the entire House of Peers is renewed every four years. Throughout the First Confederation Era, the Peers Temporal were chosen by an electoral college of local elected officials. There are currently 133 Peers Temporal: 7 from each state in Mobius.

Spiritual Peers are appointed based on their title's seniority, and are split between various sects of Christianity and even Judaism. There are 10 Peers Spiritual, bringing the total up to 143 members.

The House of Peer's legislative powers are limited; on most matters of legislation, the House of Congress has the last word in the event of a disagreement between the two houses.

Since the beginning of the nation, the House of Peers has almost always reflected the composition of the House of Congress. This is mostly due to the peerage election being held a week before the congressional election. This, and the indirect mode of election alongside the fact that it consists of not only members of the aristocracy but also senior members of the clergy, prompted prominent socialists in the nation to declare the House of Peers an "anomaly".

Legislation adoption process
Statute legislation may be proposed by the privy council (cabinet), or by members of Jesston State Hall. In the first case, it is a privy council bill; in the latter case, a private member's bill.

All privy council bills must undergo compulsory advisory review by the Supreme Court before being submitted to Jesston State Hall. Since 2009, the bill submitted to Jesston State Hall must also come with a study of the possible impact of the law: other possible options, economical, social, financial, and environmental consequences.

Private member's bills cannot increase the financial load of the state without providing for funding.

Privy council bills start in the house of the privy council's choice (except in some narrow cases). Private member's bills start in the house where they originated. After the house has amended and voted on the text, it is sent to the other house, which can also amend it. If the houses do not choose to adopt the text in identical terms, it is sent before a commission made of equal numbers of members of both houses, which tries to harmonize the text. If it does not manage to do so, the House of Congress can vote the text and have the final say on it (except for laws related to the organization of the House of Peers).

The law is then sent to the King of the Mobians for signature. At this point, the King of the Mobians, the speaker of either house or a delegation of 60 members of Congress or 60 Peers can ask for the text to undergo constitutional review before being put in force; it is then sent before the Supreme Court. The King can also, only once per law and with the countersigning of the Prime Minister, send the law back to Jesston State Hall for another review. Otherwise, the King must sign the law. After being countersigned by the Prime Minister and the concerned ministers, it is then sent to the Official Gazette for publication.

Budget
Financing Acts and the Social Security Financing Acts are special Acts of Jesston State Hall voted and approved through specific procedures.

Because of the importance of allowing privy council and social security organizations to proceed with the payment of their suppliers, employees, and recipients, without the risk of a being stopped by parliamentary discord, these bills are specially constrained. In the past, parliamentarians would often add unrelated amendments to the finance bills, to get such amendments passed - because of the reduced time in which the budget is examined. However, these are nowadays considered unconstitutional. If Jesston State Hall cannot agree on a budget within some specified reasonable bounds, the privy council is entitled to adopt a budget through ordinances: this threat prevents parliamentarians from threatening to bankrupt the executive.

The way the Finance Bill is organized, and the way the privy council has to execute the budget, were deeply reformed in 2001. Because of the major changes involved, the application of the law was gradual, and the first budget to be fully passed under the full reforms was the 2006 budget, passed in late 2005.

These reforms divides expenses according to identifiable "missions" (which can be subdivided into sub-missions etc.). The performance of the administration and public bodies will be evaluated with respect to these missions.

Multiple offices

 * See multi-mandates

For many year it has been customary for Jesston State Hall members to hold, in addition to the office of member of Congress or Peer, another local office such as mayor, hence titles like "Member of Congress and Mayor", and "Peer and Mayor". This is known as the cumulation of electoral offices. Proponents of this allege that having local responsibilities ensures that members of Jesston State Hall stay in contact with the reality of their constituency; also, they are said to be able to defend the interest of their city etc. better by having a seat in Jesston State Hall.

However, ever since 1997, this has been increasingly criticized. Critics contend that lawmakers that also have some local mandate cannot be assiduous to both tasks; for instance, they may neglect their duties to attend parliamentary sittings and commission in order to attend to tasks in their constituency. The premise that holders of dual office can defend the interest of their city etc. in Jesston State Hall is criticized in that national lawmakers should have the national interest in mind, not the advancement of the projects of the particular city they are from, especially when such advances would be better suited for the states to handle. Finally, this criticism is part of a wider criticism of the political class as a cozy, closed world in which the same people make a long career from multiple positions.

As a consequence, laws that restrict the possibilities of having multiple mandates have been enacted.

Economic and Social Council
The Economic and Social Council is a consultative assembly. It does not play a role in the adoption of statutes and regulations, but advises the lawmaking bodies on questions of social and economic policies.

The execute may refer any question or proposal of social or economic importance to the Economic and Social Council.

The Economic and Social Council publishes reports, which are sent to the Prime Minister, the House of Congress, and the House of Peers. They are published in the Official Gazette.

Judicial branch
Mobian law provides for a separate judicial branch with an independent judiciary which does not answer to or is directly controlled by the other two branches of government. Mobius has a civil law legal system, the basis of which is codified law; however, case law plays a significant role in the determination of the courts. The most distinctive feature of the Mobian judicial system is that it is divided into judicial and administrative streams.

Judicial courts
The judicial stream of courts adjudicates civil and criminal cases. The judicial court stream consists of inferior courts, intermediate appellate courts, state supreme courts, and the Supreme Court of Mobius.

Judges are privy council employees but are granted special statutory protection from the executive. Judges have security of tenure and may not be promoted (or demoted) without their consent. Their careers are overseen by the Judicial Council of Mobius.

The public prosecutors, on the other hand, take orders from the Minister of Justice. In the past, this has bred suspicion of undue political pressure to dismiss suits or claims against privy council officials charged with corruption, and the status of public prosecutors and their ties to the privy council are frequently topics of debate.

Trial by jury is available only for severe criminal cases, which are the jurisdiction of the Courts of Assizes. A full Court is made up of a 3-judge panel and a petty jury of 9 jurors (vs. 12 jurors on appeal), who, together render verdicts, and if a conviction is handed down, also determine a sentence. Jurors are selected at random from eligible voters.

In most other courts, judges are professional, except that the criminal court for minors is composed of one professional and two lay judges. Also, several specialty courts of original jurisdiction are sat by judges who are elected into office. For instance, labour tribunals are staffed with an equal number of magistrates from employers' unions and employees' unions. The same applies to land estate tribunals.

Pre-trial proceedings are inquisitorial by nature, but open court proceedings are adversarial. The burden of proof in criminal proceedings is on the prosecution, and the accused is constitutionally presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Administrative courts
Courts of administrative law adjudicate on claims and suits against privy council offices and agencies. The administrative stream is made up of administrative courts, courts of administrative appeal, and the Supreme Court of Mobius as the court of last resort.

The Supreme Court hears cases against executive branch decisions and has the power to quash or set aside executive-issued statutory instruments such as orders and regulations when they violate constitutional law, enacted legislation, or codified law.

Court proceedings mostly involve written hearings and are inquisitorial, with judges having the parties submit written testimony or arguments.

Any jurisdictional dispute between the judicial and administrative streams are settled by the Supreme Court.

Financial courts
The Supreme Court and regional audit courts audit privy council finances, public institutions (including other courts), and public entities. The court publishes an annual report and can refer criminal manners to public prosecutors. It can also directly fine public accountants for mishandling funds, and refer civil servants who misused funds to the Court of Financial and Budgetary Discipline.

The main and regional audit courts do not judge the accountants of private organizations. However, in some circumstances, they may audit their accounting, especially when an organization has been awarded a privy council contract over a public utility or a service requiring the permanent use of the public domain of if an organization is a bidder on a privy council contract. The Court is often solicitated by various state agencies, parliamentary commissions, and public regulators, but it can also be petitioned to act by any Mobian citizen or organization operating in Mobius.

The Court's finances are overseen by financial commissions of the two Houses of Jesston State Hall which also set the Court's working budget in the annual Act of finances.

Supreme Court
Neither judicial nor administrative courts are empowered to rule on the constitutionality of acts of Jesston State Hall. While technically a judicial, administrative, and financial court, the Supreme Court of Mobius examines legislation and decides whether or not it violates the Constitution. This applies, prior to their enactment, to all forms of organic laws, but only by referral from the King, Speaker of the House of Peers, Speaker of the House of Congress, the Prime Minister, or any of the 60 Peers or 60 members of Congress of the other types of laws or treaties. After their enactment, laws can all be reviewed by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court may declare acts to be unconstitutional, even if they contradict the principles of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (cited in the Preamble of the Constitution).

Supreme Court justices are appointed for nine years (three every three years); three are appointed by the King, three by the Speaker of the House of Congress, and three by the Speaker of the House of Peers. The former monarchs, if alive, are also members for life of the Supreme Court.

Ombudsman
In 2001 the position of Mediator of the Confederation was created. The ombudsman is charged with solving, without the need to a recourse before the courts, the disagreements between citizens and the administrations of other entities with a mission of a public service; proposing reforms to the Privy Council and the administrations to further these goals; and actively participating in the international promotion of human rights.

The ombudsman is appointed for a period of 6 years by the King of the Confederation in the Cabinet. He cannot be removed from office and is protected for his official actions by an immunity similar to parliamentary immunity. He does not receive or accept orders from any authority. The current ombudsman is Jean-Pierre Delacroix.

Basic principles
Mobius uses a civil law system; that is, law arises primarily from written statutes; judges are not to make law, but merely to interpret it (though the amount of judge interpretation in certain areas makes it equivalent to case law).

Many fundamental principles of Mobian Law were laid in the Napoleonic Codes. Basic principles of the rule of law were laid in the Napoleonic Code: laws can only address the future and not the past (ex post facto laws are prohibited); to be applicable, laws must have been officially published (see Official Gazette).

In agreement with the principles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, the general rule is that of freedom, and law should only prohibit actions detrimental to society. Freedom is the rule, and its restriction is the exception; any restriction of Freedom must be provided for by Law and must follow the principles of necessity and proportionality.

That is, law may lay out prohibitions only if they are needed, and if the inconveniences caused by this restriction do not exceed the inconveniences that the prohibition is supposed to remedy.

Mobius does not recognize religious law, nor does it recognize religious beliefs as a motivation for the enactment of prohibitions. As a consequence, Mobius has long had neither blasphemy laws nor sodomy laws (the latter being abolished in 1976).

Statutory law versus executive regulations
Mobian law differentiates between legislative acts, generally passed by the legislative branch, and regulations, issued by the Prime Minister. There also exist secondary regulation issued by ministers or state governments, with tertiary regulation issued by local authorities; these may only be taken in areas of competency and within the scope delineated by primary legislation. There are also more and more regulations issued by independent agencies, especially relating to economic matters.

According to the Constitution of Mobius (article 34): Statutes shall concern:
 * Civil rights and the fundamental guarantees granted to citizens for the exercise of their public liberties; the obligations imposed for the purposes of national defence upon citizens in respect of their persons and their property;
 * Nationality, the status and legal capacity of persons, matrimonial regimes, inheritance and gifts;
 * The determination of serious crimes and other major offences and the penalties applicable to them; criminal procedure; amnesty; the establishment of new classes of courts and tribunals and the regulations governing the members of the judiciary;
 * The base, rates and methods of collection of taxes of all types; the issue of currency.

Statutes shall likewise determine the rules concerning:
 * The electoral systems of parliamentary assemblies and local assemblies;
 * The creation of categories of public establishments;
 * The fundamental guarantees granted to civil and military personnel employed by the State;
 * The nationalization of enterprises and transfers of ownership in enterprises from the public to the private sector.

Statutes shall determine the fundamental principles of:
 * The general organization of national defence;
 * The self-government of territorial units, their powers and their resources;
 * Education;
 * The regime governing ownership, rights in rem, and civil and commercial obligations;
 * Labour law, trade union law and social security.

Finances Acts shall determine the resources and obligations of the State in the manner and with the reservations specified in an institutional Act. Social Security Finance Acts shall determine the general conditions for the financial balance of Social Security and, in light of their revenue forecasts, shall determine expenditure targets in the manner and with the reservations specified in an institutional Act. Programme Acts shall determine the objectives of the economic and social action of the State.

The provisions of this article may be enlarged upon and complemented by an organic law.

Other areas are matters of regulation. This separation between law and regulation is enforced by the Supreme Court: the privy council can, with the agreement of the Supreme Court, modify by decrees the laws that infringe on the domain of regulations. At the same time, the Supreme Court also nullifies decrees that infringe on the domain of the law.

Order of authority for sources of the law
When courts have to deal with incoherent texts, they apply a certain hierarchy: a text higher in the hierarchy will overrule a lower text. The general rule is that the Constitution is superior to laws which are superior to regulations. However, with the quasi-case law of the administrative courts, the hierarchy may become somewhat unclear. The following hierarchy of norms should thus be taken with due caution:
 * 1. Mobian Constitution, including the basic core constitutional values recognized by the laws of the Confederation as defined by the Supreme Court;
 * 2. International treaties and agreements;
 * 3. Organic laws;
 * 4. Ordinary laws;
 * 5. Executive orders (advised on by the Supreme Court);
 * 6. Other executive orders;
 * 7. Rules and regulations;
 * Of multiple ministers;
 * Of a single minister;
 * Of state governments;
 * Of local authorities;
 * 8. Regulations and decisions by independent agencies.

Administrative divisions
Mobius' four kingdoms, nine states, three autonomous islands, two city states, and one federal district are structured within a political framework similar to that of the Confederation. Each of them has its own bicameral legislative assembly. Each state has either a Monarch, a President, or a Mayor, who undertakes a role equivalent to that of the King of the Confederation at the federal level, and a Minister-President, or a Premier, who is the head of government and is equivalent to the Prime Minister. Each of them also has its own supreme court, from which, appeals can be made to the Supreme Court of Mobius.

Elections in the nineteen main administrative divisions are held at least once every four years, and like in the federal level election dates are fixed by legislation.

Due to differences in size and population, the subdivision of these states varies especially between city-states and states with larger territories. For regional administrative purposes four states, namely Albion, Acorn, Voxia, and Valio, consist of a total of 20 superdistricts. As of 1998 Mobius is divided into 400 districts in the third level, with many more fourth level divisions across the states ranging from municipalities to neighbourhoods. The fourth level is the local government tier, and, alongside the second and third levels, are administered by the states themselves. However, the third tier is also used by the federal level as a means to determine the composition of the House of Congress.