Rogatio Aurelia de valore edictorum publicatorum (Nova Roma)

The Aurelian law concerning the validity of published edicts.

I. The lex Vedia de ratione edictorum has formed the basis of edict law for many years in Nova Roma. The law appreciated the decentralized nature of Nova Roman society and government and sought to ensure that all enacted edicta was published publicly within a given period of time to ensure understanding and compliance. Despite the administrative requirement of 72-hours to publish edicta, it did not specify the validity of those edicta posted beyond that time frame, or those even not posted at all. As a result, a precedence has developed where various magistrates can claim an issued edict to be valid from months or even years in the past.

II. This law is intended to only be an amendment law and is not designed to be a standalone law. This law only applies amendments to the lex Vedia de ratione edictorum. The enactment of this law will only modify the basis of the lex Vedia de ratione edictorum and does not rescind it.

III. Appreciating the past intent of the lex Vedia and noting the validity of an edict from the moment of issue, sperate from the moment of publication, this lex makes the following modifications to the lex Vedia de ratione edictorum:

A. Article I is to to be replaced in toto with the following:

I. As described in the Constitution, the activities of magistrates in the furtherance of their official activities shall, in large part, take place through the issuance of edicta (edicts). Edicta are considered valid and actionable at the time they are issued by an approved authority. Edicta shall be publicly published within a set timeframe in order to maintain their validity from the moment of issuance (if prior to the moment of publication). A failure to publicly publish an edict within a set time renders the edict invalid and reversed. Depending on the office, edicta must be published in the following timeframes:

A. Edicta by all central magistrates and senate-appointed officers with the ius edicendi: within 72-hours of issuance.

B. Edicta by all governors of provinces: within two nundinae of issuance.

B. A new article (II) is to be created following the above article I and is to read as follows. The proceeding article is to be renumbered as article (III):

II. For an edict to be published publicly, it must be published to at least one of the following public fora within 72-hours of their issuance: the officially sponsored email list, or the officially sponsored internet message board. All such edicta shall be posted in the Nova Roma tabularium by the curator rei informaticae as soon as practical.

C. The first sentence of article III is to have the following edition added to the first sentence:

"...by those legally empowered to do so by the constitution or as otherwise stipulated in law."

D. A new article (IV) is to be created following the extant article III and is to read as follows:

IV. Extensions to publication timeframes as stipulated in article I in this lex may be sought by magistrates and governors only with explicit approval of the senate prior to the publication of the edictum. Upon being provided sufficient evidence, the senate only can endorse past issued edicta as valid to the following maximum timeframes:

A. Edicta by all central magistrates and senate-appointed officers with the ius edicendi: up to 3 months from issuance.

B. Edicta by all governors of provinces: up to 12 months from original issuance.