LXIV Jon. I 2016 (Empire of Austenasia)

The purpose of this Act is to cede the Town of Lichtenstein to the United Kingdom, to cede the Crown Dependency of Heischierland to Spain, and to establish the standards and requirements to be met before future offers of land are annexed by the Empire.

The Town of Lichtenstein and the Province of Karanyssia are both hereby dissolved. The Nobility of said administrative divisions is hereby abolished, with the Landed Noble titles connected to said administrative divisions hereby dissolved.

The residents and subjects of Lichtenstein are hereby divested of their status as such and of all Austenasian nationality.

All Austenasian titles, knighthoods, and decorations held by Lord Charles Clarke, Duke of Grantabridge are hereby honourably revoked. HIH Emperor Mother Margaret shall from henceforth be the Duchess of Grantabridge.

The territory which comprised the Town of Lichtenstein is hereby ceded to the United Kingdom, although the Empire reserves the right to reassume sovereignty over said land should such be in accordance with the wishes of its population, and/or if the British government proves incapable of governing it.

The Crown Dependency of Heischierland is hereby dissolved, along with the offices of Governing Commissioner and of Lord Lieutenant of Heischierland. The territory which comprised the Crown Dependency of Heischierland is hereby ceded to the Kingdom of Spain, although the Empire reserves the right to reassume sovereignty over said land should such be in accordance with the wishes of its population, and/or if the Spanish government proves incapable of governing it.

From henceforth, should an area of land be offered to the Empire, Parliament shall not consider annexing it unless the Home Secretary informs the Prime Minister that they are confident that the conditions stated in Paragraph 8 of this same Act have been met, and the Prime Minister approves the request for annexation to be set before Parliament in the form of an Act to be considered. Should the Prime Minister also be Home Secretary, the Monarch shall carry out the role of the Prime Minister in this process.

In regards to Paragraph 7 of this same Act, the Home Secretary must be confident that the following conditions have been met before formally presenting the Prime Minister (or the Monarch, if the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister are the same person) with a request for land to be annexed:

1. The owner of the land must give their consent in writing to the Home Secretary for the land to be annexed; should the land not be privately owned and/or should it have no contactable owner, the individual or group offering the land must provide evidence to the Home Secretary (e.g., a photograph of them claiming the land with an Austenasian flag) that they can exercise a reasonable level of control there.

2. Should the land be inhabited, a written document must be submitted to the Home Secretary with the signatures of all the inhabitants of the land aged over twelve years old in which they unanimously consent to the following terms (at least 75% of said signatures must be to actively request Austenasian rule rather than to simply consent to it; a distinction between who wishes what shall, if necessary, be made on the document in question):

   1. To come under Austenasian rule and become residents and/or subjects of Austenasia and to state their understanding and agreement that after annexation such rule will last indefinitely;

   2. To abide by Austenasian law;

   3. To provide to the Census their full name, date of birth, address, and religious affiliation, with the understanding that such information will be kept strictly confidential and used solely for purposes of contact and of compiling demographic statistics;

   4. To consent to photographs of the land in question to be published in governmental media, albeit in such a way that any explicitly identifying factors (e.g. a house number or street sign) will not be published, or will be removed from photographs that are.

3. At least two individuals must submit to the Home Secretary a written testimony agreeing that they would be willing to stand as Representative or to be appointed Governor or Governing Commissioner for the land in question, and provide contact details to an extent considered satisfactory by the Home Secretary.

No Act of Parliament shall be considered by the House of Representatives that annexes an area of land that has not been approved for annexation by the process laid out in Paragraphs 7 and 8 of this same Act.

No land can be ceded from the Empire of Austenasia without authorisation from an Act of Parliament. No Imperial Decree, Imperial Edict, Bye-law, directive or order of a Cabinet Minister, or treaty may cede land from the Empire of Austenasia without authorisation from an Act of Parliament.