Jan 01, 2013 As for the succession law itself, the biggest bonus is being able to land female characters. This is mostly important because it allows you to press a greater variety of weak claims. Also, you can do really silly things like make female characters into bishops. Introduction 1 Absolutism, also known as absolute monarchy or despotic monarchy, is a form of government in which the unlimited, undivided, and uncontrolled authority is conceded to a ruler (monarch) who is not bound by law and is not obliged to let other organs participate in governmental affairs (forms of government). 2 The term ‘absolutism’ is usually used for European monarchies.

1. Absolute Rule Law Ck2 2
2. Ck2 Succession Law
3. Ck2 Law Commands
4. Absolute Rule Law Ck2 3
5. Ck2 Absolute Rule Law
6. Ck2 Obligation Laws

2
The rule of law and a separation of powers

2.1A description of the rule of law

2.1.1 The rule of law is capable of many definitions, based on both philosophical and political theories, and hence it is a difficult doctrine to explain definitively.

2.1.3 Carroll defines the rule of law as ‘neither a rule nor a law’. It is now generally understood as a doctrine of political morality which concentrates on the role of law in securing the correct balance of rights and powers between individuals and the State in free and civilised societies.

2.1.4 The rule of law can be interpreted as:

• • an overarching, universal law that applies to everyone, including the executive and legislature; and
  
• • that man-made laws should conform to a ‘higher’ law, the rule of law.

2.1.5 The rule of law is consequently often recognised as a means of ensuring the protection of individual rights against governmental power.

2.2.1 In the United Kingdom, the general concept of the rule of law has become identified with Dicey’s explanation of the doctrine in his 1885 text, An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution. According to Dicey, the rule of law was a distinct feature of the UK constitution, with three main concepts.

2.2.2 Firstly: No person is punishable in body or goods except for a distinct breach of the law (Entick v Carrington (1765)). This concept attempts to ensure that law is not secret, arbitrary or retrospective, thereby limiting the discretionary power of Government. To comply with the rule of law, laws should be clear, precise, transparent and accessible.

2.2.3 Secondly: Every person, irrespective of rank, is subject to the ordinary law of the land and the jurisdiction of the courts. Dicey based this principle on the UK system as compared with those of the time in, for example, France, where disputes with Government officials were heard in administrative courts separate from the ordinary civil courts and where different rules applied.

2.2.4 Thirdly: The common law creates a system of rights and liberties superior to that offered by any declaration or Bill of Rights. This is because the common law system emphasises remedies for infringement of rights rather than merely declaring the content of those rights.

2.3.1 Much more recently than Dicey’s ideas, there has been a highly regarded dissection of the concept of the rule of law, as proffered by Sir Tom Bingham, a much-loved former Law Lord, in his text The Rule of Law (2010).

2.3.2 In this book, Bingham offered up his own useful, working definition of the rule of law:

‘All persons and authorities within the state, whether public or private, should be bound by and entitled to the benefit of laws publicly made, taking effect (generally) in the future and publicly administered by the courts.’

Absolute Rule Law Ck2 2

2.3.3 Bingham also condensed his view of the scholarship on the rule of law into eight vital principles. These serve as a sound checklist to consider before we move on to consider the extent of the operation of the rule of law in the United Kingdom today:

• (1) The law must be accessible and so far as possible intelligent, clear and predictable.
  
• (2) Questions of legal right and liability should ordinarily be resolved by the application of the law and not the exercise of discretion.
  
• (3) The laws of the land should apply equally to all, save to the extent that objective differences justify differentiation.
  
• (4) Ministers and public officials at all levels must exercise the powers conferred on them in good faith, fairly, for the purpose for which the powers were conferred, without exceeding the limits of such powers and not unreasonably.
  
• (5) The law must afford adequate protection of fundamental human rights.
  
• (6) Means must be provided for resolving, without prohibitive cost or inadequate delay, bona fide civil disputes which the parties themselves are unable to resolve.
  
• (7) Adjudicative procedures provided by the State should be fair.
  

2.4.1 The existence of administrative law, particularly the process of judicial review, enables the courts to ensure power is controlled and the executive is accountable for its actions and is based on the need to ensure the rule of law.

2.4.2 Some examples of cases where the courts have referred to the significance of the doctrine in the constitution include:

• •Francome and Another v Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd and Others (1984) – where Lord Donaldson referred to the doctrine as one underpinning parliamentary democracy and extending to all citizens;
  
• •Merkur Island Shipping Corporation v Laughton and Others (1983) – where Lord Diplock commented on the need for the law to have clarity;
  
• •R v Home Secretary, ex parte Venables (1997) – the Home Secretary had considered a campaign conducted in a national newspaper when determining the sentencing of convicted children, rather than basing the decision on their progress/rehabilitation in detention. The action was considered ‘an abdication of the rule of law’;
  
• •R v Horseferry Road Magistrates’ Court, ex parte Bennett (1994) – where Lord Griffiths noted that it is the responsibility of the courts to maintain the rule of law, to oversee executive action and to not permit action that threatens basic human rights or breaches the rule of law;
  
• •M v Home Office (1994) – where, applying Dicey’s second proposition that every person is subject to the law, the House of Lords held that the Home Secretary could be found in contempt of court by disobeying an injunction; and
  
• •A v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2004) – where the House of Lords held that power to detain only foreign nationals indefinitely as suspected terrorists, without charge, under the Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 was a breach of both the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the rule of law.

2.5.1 If we apply Dicey’s concept of the rule of law to the modern UK constitution, we can make a number of observations.

2.5.2 The first concept, that no person may have their body or goods interfered with except for a distinct breach of the law, is in direct contrast to the provisions of some present-day statutes. For example:

• • the police have powers of arrest, stop and search when they have only ‘reasonable grounds’ for suspecting certain facts in relation to a criminal offence, under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984;
  
• • the Government also has power to interfere with a person’s goods/property without any breach of the law, for example, the exercise of compulsory purchase orders when buying land for development and building infrastructure like roads and railways.

2.5.3 The second concept formulated by Dicey was that no person is above the law. However, there are a number of contraventions of this principle in the modern constitution. For example:

• • the Monarch in her personal capacity is not subject to the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts;
  
• • the Crown is also in a privileged position in litigation (Crown Proceedings Act 1947) and cannot be sued in tort for the actions of its servants;
  
• • no civil action may be brought in respect of the comments or actions of a judge exercising his or her judicial role (Anderson v Gorrie (1895)) or in relation to a jury’s verdict (Bushell’s Case (1670));
  
• • Members of Parliament have rights and immunities beyond those granted to the ordinary citizen, such as freedom of expression and freedom from arrest in certain circumstances. Conversely, there are individuals who are subject to additional legal restraints. For example, under the Armed Forces Act 2006, members of the armed forces are subject to additional legal codes of conduct and offences, such as desertion, and a different judicial system.

2.5.4 The third concept, that common law provides protection of individual rights in the UK constitution, remains the case today, although added protection has been provided by virtue of the Human Rights Act 1998, for example.

2.5.5 The faith Dicey had in the ability of the common law to protect rights and liberties, though, has been criticised.

Ck2 Succession Law

• • Dicey failed to appreciate that the effectiveness of the common law in offering such protection can be greatly reduced by the pre-eminence given to statute, a consequence of the supremacy of Parliament.
  
• • Hence, while the common law may offer protection in the form of remedies for those whose rights are infringed, statute may remove that protection, as was the case in Burmah Oil v Lord Advocate (1965).

2.5.6Here are some examples of specific criticisms of Dicey’s view of the rule of law:

• • Sir Ivor Jennings claimed that Dicey’s standard of the rule of law was influenced by his political views and that the phrase could be used to describe any society where a state of law and order exists.
  
• • Consequently, the rule of law is seen to operate ‘best’ in societies that meet Dicey’s standards. Jennings instead claimed that the rule of law may exist in societies that do not meet Dicey’s standards – in other words, that the rule of law can exist in political systems other than those based on traditional Western democratic models.

The rule of law as a political concept

2.6.1 Laws should exhibit particular characteristics and meet minimum standards in terms of the way they are expressed and administered. For example, Raz argues that the making of laws should be guided by the following principles:

• •laws should be general (i.e. not discriminate), prospective, open and clear;
  

However, Raz’s approach has been criticised as placing too much emphasis on procedure as a means of protecting rights, whilst failing actually to identify the nature and extent of the rights themselves.

Ck2 Law Commands

Are you new to Crusader Kings 2 and don’t know where to start? You probably encountred the tip to start from Ireland for the begging but the game is still slow and/or confusing? Fear not for this guide will show you how to create a kingdom in one character!

Chapter 0: Before We Start

Before we start let’s clear something out that can be confusing for new players:

Cassus Beli is a reason for war. Without it you can’t fight. You can wage war against someone who has lands you or one of your courtiers have claim on and few other reasons, but for the sake of this guide we will need just Claim and De jure.

De jure means “by law”. Every duchy consists of counties, every kingdom is made of duchies and so on. If you have duchy title, but not all of it’s de jure lands belong in your realm, you can wage war against outside holders. Winning De jure war always results in realm coming to your realm (but if you are the king it’s not always for you, I will describe it later).

Claim is “legal” right for the land. Legal is in quotation marks since they can be fabricated (important!). Pressing a claim means wage a war in a name of person having the claim agains person holding the title. Winning the war not always result in land coming to your realm! If you are not claimant there are two conditions that must be met to get a land through Claim war:

• Claimant must already have land in your land (barony will suffice).
• The title you are pressing claim on must be lower than yours.

For example, if ou are a duke and you press claim on a duchy for someone else, that person will be independant. But if you are king and press a claim on duchy for your vassal duke, then duke will have two duchies and you still are his liege.

Absolute Rule Law Ck2 3

That should be enough to get you starting.

Chapter 1: Starting Up

Step 1: Choosing your character.

For begginers, Ireland with a starting date of 1066 is a good choice for couple of reasons. Most rulers are count-tier which means they have up to 3 counties which is low. That gives you early advantage since you can easly gain more lands and be the most powerful person in the land.

Easiest characters are:

• Murchad ua Brian, duke of Munster – he is a duke with a single county, two vassals, a De jure claim on a nerby county, male heir and, what’s most important, a historical bloodline. That bloodline can be passed to his descendants which give ua Brians an advantage over other Irish rulers.
• Aed ua Conchobair, duke of Connacht – an old guy with realm of two is weaker than Murchad, but still relevant since he is duke, but he lacks the bloodline and lands. His advantage lies in his position. West Connacht has a double battle modifer giving your troops advantage and giving enemies disadvantage at the same time (attacking from here gives our troops disadvantage though).
• Murchad ua Cheinnselaig, count of Dublin – his start is a little bit trickier than the last two since he is a count and has no de jure claims. But he has two things other counts hasn’t at that is county of Dublin which is both duchy and kingdom de jure capital (it gives nice modifier to troops) and is an heir for county of Leinster, which makes him triple count. His dad has to die first though, by natural means, or your scheming. He is old, so you can just wait up.

For the sake of simplicity, the rest of the guide will be made as if ua Brian was chosen to play.

Step 2: Council. First thing you do is checking your council.

• Set your chancellor to Fabricate claim job on whatever county near you, but in case of Desmond it’s not needed(you already have De jure claim on it so it ‘s not neccesary, but if you fabricate claim you prevent a civil war, more on it later).
• Set your marshal to train troops in your capital
• Set your steward to collect taxes in your capital
• Set your spymaster to Study technology in another country (if you are ua Cheinnselaig and are plotting to kill your father set him to Build Spy network in Leincester)
• Set your chaplain to improve religous relation with any of your bishops.

If any of your council members has their stats below 15 here is a quick way to change it:

Go to Find character.

Set join court on yes and search all (remember that only men can be in council, exception is rulers wife who can be spymaster).

Filter them by what ability you need and invite those with best. Profit!

Having done that let’s go to the next step, which is…

Ck2 Absolute Rule Law

Step 3: Stabilizing your realm using a civil war.

Yes you read that right. You are going to cause a civil war to get the counties your vassals have. We are doing it because if you control the county, you get all the troops, if it’s your vassal, it’s 40% at best. How do you do that though? There are 2 ways: the way of tyrant and the way of intrigue.
The way of tyrant is simpler one, but crippling your opinion. Just revoke the titles one by one and crush them. Be careful though, this impose tyranny (-40 opinion, ouch).
The way of intrigue takes longer but doesn’t impose tyranny:

• Go to intrigue (F7).
• In My Plots you have a table, click on the blue “Choose a plot”.
• Choose “Revoke county of …”

To succeed you need 80% plot power and at least 1 backer (that’s why your chaplain works on improving relations). If you meet the requirements, there is decision to revoke the county. By revoking them in this way vassals usualy rebel, which means you have to apply good old way of crushing them to bits. You should have more troops from your one county and vassal so it’s no worry.

When you hold all counties in your realm you can get to next chapter.

Chapter 2: Conquest and Creating the Kingdom

So you have your realm stabilized. Good. Next step after winning the civil wars is more wars.

Step 0: Press your de jure claim on any counties that are outside of your realm and proceed to do with them what you did in chapter 2. If you are over your demense limit, raise the centralization law

Step 1: Fabricate Claim.
This is the reason most people don’t play as Ireland when they learn to play. Other countries can gain lands by pressing other claims, but Irish usually have to do without it at the beginning, which is bit tedious.
If you managed to fabricate the claim, just press it and win war and proceed to next step.

Step 2: Foregin Climants.
If you didn’t or you don’t want to wait for Fabricate to work then find a county you want to conquer. Click on it’s shiled and it will take you to the realm page. There is a button named “Claimants”. If it’s grey then though luck, try elswehere. If it’s blue, then let’s get to party. Clicking the button shows you the list containing all people with claims to that realm. If beside their portrait is green thumb up, then you hit a jackpot and can invite him to court. You can now press his claim in war, BUT DON’T DO THAT YET! If he doesn’t have land in your realm, he will just become new independent ruler, so first you have to give him something (even a barony will suffice). Then press the claim and win the war. If you are short on counties to give (leave at least as much as your most powerful vassal have to yourself), then just chapter 2 someone. Repeat this step until you have 10 counties in your realm, and then…

Ck2 Obligation Laws

Step 3: Long live the king!
You can create a kingdom now, but don’t be so hasty, there is one last thing to do before making kingdom! Your deflaut succesion law is Gavelkind which means all your sons get some of your lands when you die. You want to change that to ethier Tanistry or Primogeniture.

When I wrote Tanistry, I felt the fanbase howl in hatred at me, but please just listen.
Both succesion laws make it so all your ladns go to your heir after your death. Difference is that in Primogeniture your heir is always your eldest child (usually son) and in Tanistry your heir is Tanist.
Tanist is chosen by you and your vassals from your dynasty (they tend to favor the elders). So you ask why the hell would I want that. Answer is simple: usually you don’t, but there are two exceptions:

• If your realm is full of counts of your dynasty, it enables you to gather all your familys land back togheter (not quite, since vassals usually favor landless heirs, but it’s possible).
• Primogeniture gives all your not-eldest child -10 opinion on you, which means nothing, unless they are also your vassals.

For the rest of the land, ethier conquer them with de jure claim or offer them vassalization. Many accept if you haven’t waged war on them.

Chapter 3: What Next?

When you become the king, you should already have a knack on this game, so ethier go play someone else, or become emperor of Britannia.

To become emperor, just do what you did earlier on dukes instead of counts. Best order of conquering the British isles is Wales, Scotland and England. Wales are just a bunch of dukes, like Ireland was before you happend, but it has less land than Ireland, so it’s not a best start. Scotland is already a kingdom, and it can kick your ♥♥♥ quick if you don’t watch it, but getting it piece by piece is quite easy. England is trickier due to it’s size, but doable if you have Wales or Scotland under your thumb.