Censor (Urcea)
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The Censors are two public officers of Urcea. The office is responsible for maintaining the decennial census while also maintaining public morality and virtue. Censorial activity typically relates to actions by the Government of Urcea and governmental subdivisions, but the office also has some authority over print and broadcast media such as music, arts, and literature produced for public consumption. Both censors serve five year terms concurrent with the Concilium Daoni and are elected by the people of Urcea. Censors are typically non-partisan, although party member Censors are not unusual; the office has often served as a nationally elected position for which an individual can receive prominence prior to running for some other post.
| Censors | |
|---|---|
 Seal of the Censors | |
Incumbent Victor Fulgentius since 1 January 2001 Aedanicus Gallant since 1 January 2016 | |
| Government of Urcea | |
| Style | Mr/Madam Censor (Informal and within the House) The Honorable (Formal) |
| Member of | |
| Seat | Julian Palace (nominally) |
| Nominator | Apostolic King of Urcea with consultation from the Urcean Conference of Catholic Bishops |
| Term length | 5 years |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of Urcea |
| Formation | 1815 |
| Salary | ₮125,500 annually |
Origin
The office of the Censor was established as part of the Recess of the Julii, a period of Urcea's effective withdrawal from the institutions of the Holy Levantine Empire. Many of the responsibilities of Censors had been maintained by the Imperial Inquisition prior to them being ejected from Urcea after an agreement with the Pope. The Office was created in 1815 to replace them with a domestic political institution, and the office of Censor was modeled not only on the similar Caphirian office but also the Censors of Great Levantia who filled a similar role. The choice of the name was viewed as a symbolic Urcean claim for direct descent from Great Levantia and a symbolic rejection of the authority of the Empire. While the office was established in 1815, minor changes were made to the appointment, vetting, and election process, with the current form being finalized in the 1960s, replacing various previous Church officials with the Urcean Conference of Catholic Bishops which was established in the wake of the Second Vatican Council.
Nomination and election
Powers of the Censor
The Censors have multiple powers related to the enforcement of public virtue. Specifically, Censorial authority is broken down into two categories, "statutory", their authority to disrupt legislation or regulations they view to be harmful to public morality, and "regulatory", their authority to disrupt content in print and broadcast media which they view to be harmful to public morality. With respect to their statutory powers, each Censor has the ability to issue formal objections to legislation before the Concilium Daoni or, more rarely, by a province or other subdivision of Urcea. A formal objection does not on its own halt the progress of legislation, however it does raise public and legislative awareness regarding moral problems related to legislation. Both Censors in concurrence are able to issue a suspensive veto, which prohibits any bill or regulatory measure from being considered for the remainder of a calendar year. Both objections and suspensive vetos can be accompanied by official requests for amendments to legislation, and suspensive vetos can be withdrawn by at least one Censor following being issued. A suspensive Censorial veto can be overridden by an 80% vote of the Concilium Daoni and cannot be overridden by a local government by any means. Both Censors may also issue objections to bills which have already passed the Concilium Daoni. Situations like these allow the Apostolic King of Urcea to veto legislation, although the Procurator will typically veto a bill objected to by one or more Censors in order to ensure what is known as "democratic chain of custody", i.e. that only elected officials are making decisions on legislation. The Censors also have "regulatory" authority, which describes their ability to oversee content produced for cultural and commercial consumption in Urcea. Censors only have jurisdiction over materials which are released for public consumption, either for commercial or artistic purposes, and does not include materials which have already received an imprimatur from an official of the Catholic Church. Rather than receiving permission to print, publish, or otherwise distribute from the Censor, Censors typically monitor materials already in circulation before making a decision to censor or otherwise request modifications to materials.
The specific criteria in which the Censors regulate both legislation and public content depends greatly on the individual Censor as well as any particular mandates received by the Urcean Conference of Catholic Bishops both during their service as well as during the vetting process. The Conference has typically taken a "hands-off" approach to specific mandates or policy positions of individual Censors, with those issues being subject to the political elections in which Censors take office.
The Censors also have administrative authority related to their offices, particularly with respect to their oversight of the decennial census but also with respect to management of the nation's prisons for clergy.
Office of the Censor
The Office of the Censor is the administrative division of the Government of Urcea responsible for administrative oversight of the Censor's duties as well as providing assistance to the Censors in legal, legislative, regulatory, and other duties. The Office of the Censor is overseen by a single Secretary to the Censors, who has hiring and firing authority and typically manages the Office's normal operations. The Secretary to the Censors is appointed by joint concurrent agreement of both Censors at the beginning of each term. While both Censors nominally work from the premises of the Julian Palace, they typically conduct business from office buildings in the Flats. The Office is divided into four primary departments, representing the office of Censor's four main branches of responsibility; legislative and regulatory control, public content oversight, census administration, and administration of ecclesiastical holding facilities. The two "control" departments both flag content for both Censors to make final determinations on.