Nolis

|name              = Cape Province vs Supreme Auditorium of Cape Province

'''Cape Province vs Supreme Auditorium of Cape Province''' Ts. 981 (2003) was a landmark decision of the [[Supreme Tribunal of the Federacy|Supreme Tribunal]] of [[the Cape]], in which the court ruled that the [[Supreme National Assembly]], and by extension the Capetian federal government, had the sole power and purview over interprovincial commerce, including provincially enacted provisions that apply solely domestically. The decision struck down many provincial laws governing interprovincial commerce and led to the further centralization of political power from the Cape's provinces to the federal government in [[Cape Town]]. The decision sparked debate as to the specific rights of provinces, the separation of powers, and the role of the Supreme Tribunal in governing the organs of state; as this was the first case in Capetian history involving a dispute over the jurisdiction of major governmental organs.

The case was brought forth by the [[Supreme Auditorium of Cape Province]]; unlike its homonymous federal counterpart, serves as the province's independent {{wp|ombudsman|auditory body}} and {{wp|prosecutor}}. The Supreme Auditorium, after collusion with the provincial legislature and executive, contended that such taxes were unconstitutional as they applied to imported products and therefore came under the sole purview of the federal government and its [[Federal Alcohol and Tobacco Executive]]. In effect, the province would sue itself. Considered frivolous, the original case was thrown out of the [[Cape Province Superior Court]] and was recommended to the legislature for interpretation under its sovereignty rights. However, with Cape Province's legislature colluding and choosing not to enact its {{wp|parliamentary sovereignty}} rights, the case was brought before the Supreme Tribunal under its power of {{wp|original jurisdiction}}.

In January 2003, the Supreme Tribunal issued a 4-3 decision in favour of the Supreme Auditorium holding that provinces enacting domestic legislation that "controls the economic activity of other provinces" is considered interprovincial commerce and therefore falls under the sole jurisdiction of the Supreme National Assembly and the federal government that derives from it.  

Symmetric federalism is a major part of Capetian constitutionalism. Framed by [[Melvyn Kalma]] in the first meeting of the Supreme National Assembly during the [[Capetian War of Independence]], it maintained the tenuous alliance between the settlers and Indigenous factions that comprised the independence-seeking [[National Revolutionary Army]]; promising them each strong provinces with equal rights in the post-war Cape. These rights, while written into the Fundamental Statutes of the 1901 Constitution, and each subsequent constitution, existed primarily on paper. Kalma and his [[Republican Nationalist Party]] had cemented a {{wp|one-party system|one-party state}}. With each province controlled by Republicans and Kalma loyalists, interprovincial disputes were resolved in the organs of the RNP rather than through the organs of state. This arrangement would remain until the [[1992 Republic Day revolution]] and the subsequent partial democratization of the country. The RNP, while retaining power under the provision of [[Planoarita politics|''Planoarita'' politics]], would become a largely federal organization to encourage democratic development, with the intention of beginning these reforms in the sphere of provincial politics. In effect, each provincial chapter of the RNP was split into its own ''de-facto ''independent party, and while each provincial Republican party continues to maintain power in each province, the informal party-based mechanism for adjudicating disputes was removed overnight.