Court No. 2, Wangguoanxi District Court.
Judge Zhao Junyu is in his early thirties. He is elegant and has a very calm demeanor.
In the fierce confrontation are lawyers representing more than a dozen taxpayer plaintiffs and defendant lawyers representing the city hall.
The plaintiff's legal team came from Xinjing, while the legal team representing Anxi City Hall came from Donghai and were Western lawyers from Reed Law Firm who were hired at a high price.
The lead attorney representing the plaintiff was the boss and mainstay of the New Beijing Hongri Law Firm, the famous lawyer Tie Xiaojia, who is also Lu Ming's second disciple.
Lu Ming's three disciples, Tie Xiaojia, Tong Xiaoe, and Chen Qinghua, including Huang Guirong and Cui Xiaodong who later became his disciples.
Tie Xiaojia likes freedom the most, so he is still running the office.
Tong Xiao'e is currently a judge at the Kingdom District Court of Zhenjiang Autonomous Region, Chen Qinghua is the director of the Third Division of the Public Crime Prosecution Department of the Kingdom's Supreme Prosecutor's Office, Huang Guirong is the deputy chief justice of the Kingdom's Shengjing District Court, and Cui Xiaodong works at the Legal Affairs Committee of the Bac Ninh Autonomous Region.
The person who had a heated debate with Tie Xiaojia was the barrister Horford from Reed Solicitors.
The new Imperial Bar has pushed for a long-overdue reform of the certification of lawyer ranks, with Imperial lawyers now divided only into Solicitors, Solicitors, Barristers and Royal Counsel.
Junior lawyers, lawyers and barristers can all be reviewed and certified by the bar associations of various federal bodies. Royal barristers need to be nominated by Emperor William V and certified by the Imperial Bar Association.
Although Tie Xiaojia is young, he has fought many high-profile cases and has been certified as a great lawyer by the Beijing Bar Association.
The focus of her current argument with Horford is whether the "Civil Service Reduction Act" signed by His Majesty King Han when he was the Prince of Black Mountain Castle is a superior law to the Dominion Act.
Tie Xiaojia was at a disadvantage in arguing this point, because Horford had no respect for His Majesty the King of Han and spoke recklessly.
When it comes to his master, Tie Xiaojia is extremely cautious in his language, which makes him at a disadvantage in verbal expression.
Lu Ming was sitting in the last row of the gallery at this time. He did not inform Xiao Jia that he was here. He was wearing big sunglasses, and although he had to take off his hat in the courtroom, no one could recognize him.
Sitting next to Lu Ming, wearing a light grey cashmere skirt, long snow-white cotton socks wrapped around her slender legs, the elegant and beautiful young woman is Yang Xianrong, the daughter of Wang Zhai. She was presented by the border tribe during the White Sea bandit suppression campaign and was once the queen of the pseudo-king Chen Xingchang.
In fact, she has some special ability to seduce men inherited from her ancestors, which allows her to understand people's hearts very well. She is the deputy director of the Anxi Security Bureau of the Kingdom Security Committee.
It must be said that if all the concubines in the royal mansion from all walks of life were to be gathered together, they would be a very scary force in Anxi.
The concubines in the Wang residence who have not been favored yet have been arranged by Bai Shuixian to accompany Lu Ming to work, travel and conduct research, etc. Today, it is Yang Xianrong's turn.
"Your Honor, I request to call the witness, Anxi City Hall Mayor Lu Zhengxuan." After a heated argument with Horford, Tie Xiaojia bowed slightly to the judge's bench.
Mayor Lu Zhengxuan was already on the witness list, and Zhao Junyu nodded in agreement.
Soon, Lu Zhengxuan sat in the witness stand. He was a slightly plump man in his fifties with slightly balding hair.
After he took the oath, Tie Xiaojia walked up to him and asked, "Mr. Lu Zhengxuan, do you agree that the Civil Service Reduction Act is a superior law that the Anxi City Hall's policies and decrees must not contradict?"
Lu Zhengxuan was stunned and didn't know how to answer for a moment.
"Objection!" Horford stood up immediately. "Although Mr. Lu Zhengxuan is the head of the city hall, his answer is not of much reference value from a legal professional perspective."
Tie Xiaojia said: "However, if Mr. Lu Zhengxuan recognizes the "Civil Service Streamlining Act" as the superior law, then he will not be able to submit the City Hall decree that contradicts the superior law to the parliament for a vote. Otherwise, Mr. Lu Zhengxuan will be seriously derelict in his duty."
Zhao Junyu nodded slightly: "The witness needs to answer this question."
Lu Zhengxuan said without much hesitation: "The laws promulgated by His Majesty the King are of course the superior laws."
Tie Xiaojia looked at Horford and said, "I think what we need to discuss now is whether the City Hall Institutional Reform Bill conflicts with the Public Service Streamlining Bill. Of course, if you think your client has seriously neglected his duty, we can continue to discuss whether the Streamlining Bill is the superior law to local ordinances."
Horford gritted his teeth and said, "Mr. Lu Zhengxuan may recognize the "Streamlined Law" as the superior law of local laws, but in fact, His Majesty the King of Han issued many temporary laws during his tenure as the Prince of Black Mountain Castle. If they are all used as the superior laws of local laws, the spirit of the rule of law here is worrying. I seriously doubt whether the right of local autonomy is guaranteed!"
Tie Xiaojia smiled slightly: "Mr. Horford, according to the constitution of our kingdom, these laws of His Majesty the King are really superior laws that restrict the framework of local regulations. Whether you can understand it or not is fine, it's all facts. Moreover, Mr. Horford, I don't know where you get the courage to question His Majesty the King of Han's understanding of the nature of law. In fact, we can discuss this in depth in legal journals. If you can find any temporary decree signed by His Majesty the King of Han that is not a positive effect on the Northern Territory, I think you don't have to stand here and pretend, but go to the Imperial Bar Association to express your opinions. Others don't know, but you and I as legal professionals should know that His Majesty the King of Han was awarded the title of permanent honorary director by the Imperial Bar Association. What does it mean? Even if your master, your master's master, can he have anything to do with joining the board of directors? They have never thought about it even in their daydreams, right? As for you, have you really studied the laws of our kingdom? Come here to sue?..."
"Plaintiff's lawyer, defendant's lawyer, please come forward." Zhao Junyu interrupted Tie Xiaojia.
Of course it's because Tie Xiaojia went way off topic, so I need to warn her now. Letting her say so much is more or less a special consideration.
Although Tie Xiaojia was warned, Horford's arrogance suddenly subsided. In fact, the people in the audience who were watching the fun might not know what Tie Xiaojia was talking about.
But as a person in the judicial field, Horford knew that he was being humiliated so badly that he even returned to his seat and looked at the deputy debater as if he was laughing at him in his heart.
People always used to think of the King of the Northern Territory as a traditional dictator, so when the words became heated, they almost forgot who he was.
The next debate is whether the City Hall Reform Bill is inconsistent with the Streamlining Bill.
Horford didn't want to go to this step because the result would be obvious.
According to the Streamlining Act, permanent institutions of autonomous governments, city halls, county and town agencies, etc., are strictly regulated, including red lines for the ratio of public servants to the population of the service area.
Lu Ming had no choice, but this was the only way in the early stages of the Northern Territory.
Although the permanent institutions of Anxi's "Municipal Hall Institutional Reform Bill" remained unchanged, many temporary institutions were added. It was a typical case of "there are policies from the top and countermeasures from the bottom." However, when it was really taken to court and criticized by eloquent lawyers, those tricks were completely vulnerable.
Tie Xiaojia even directly criticized the city hall for violating Article 405 of the Kingdom's Constitution on local autonomy. It is significantly expanding the boundaries of its power. According to its temporary institutional setup, it is going to use a large number of civil servants to enslave taxpayers. The city hall is simply trying to establish a dictatorship.
The defendant's representative sent by the City Hall was a deputy chief, but after testifying, Lu Zhengxuan did not leave. Instead, he sat in the audience gallery. As he listened, sweat broke out on his forehead, and he took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from time to time.
For him, it was impossible for him to think so much. He just felt that the mayor of the city hall was a little aggrieved, and many councillors instigated him to come up with such a case. However, the other party's lawyers kept hitting him with hats, and he felt stars in front of his eyes. He knew intuitively that something was wrong and he had caused a big mess. The sky was about to fall.