A young nobly dressed man of Chelish extraction gestures for attention.
While you fine ladies and gentlemen are of course free to conduct your affairs as you see fit, there are a few theoretical points you may want to consider.
Lady Violetta is the first to mention enforcement of any rights you recognize or duties you impose. I would recommend that you heed her counsel. Law is, at bottom, a series of promises by a soverign about when and why they will use violence. A right to property for example, requires police to deter and punish those the law defines as thieves. That policing relies on violence. A duty to accept a noble's surrender requires punishment of those who don't accept surrender, and so on. Who is the Sovereign Court proposing to deputize to enforce its decisions?
The next issue a would be lawmaker must face is jurisdiction. Over whom do you propose to rule? Members of the Sovereign Court are presumably under your authority, but what of others? If a non-member violates a right of a member, does the Court assert authority to punish the non-member? The constitution as written speaks of nobles rather than members of the Court. To these rights extend to all nobles? If a member violates a right of a non-member, does the Court protect the non-member? Finally, to round out the logical space, if a non-member violates the rights of a non-member, does the Court assert authority to intervene?
Further on the topic of jurisdiction, how does the Court's authority interact with other jurisdictions? The Court holds no land, every noble will be inside a state with an existing legal system. Does the organization propose to be secret or does it anticipate treaties with other sovereigns? Where the laws of the Court and the laws of Taldor (for example) conflict, whom is a member with a Taldan title obligated to obey? If you act openly, any answer other than "Taldor" will be (justifiably) seen as treason and punished accordingly. If you hope to act secretly, you are one captured or indiscreet pathfinder away from disaster. To be discovered is surely worse than acting openly, word of a secret society trying to organize the lesser nobility into a new system of law and authority is sure to trigger paranoia & reprisals.
Finally, you shall need a judiciary to interpret your laws. Many of you proposals, I confess, leave me confused as to their scope. If all matters of trade are within the sole purview of the parties to the deal, does the Court deny the legitimacy of trade tariffs or taxes imposed by feudal superiors not a party to the deal? Can the Chelish Empress continue to forbid the import of unapproved histories for example? If yes, what is the substance of the right? If no, the Court must be prepared to go to war.
Declaring your rights to fine wine and horses is a fine entertainment for young lords, but if you are serious about establishing a new power around the Inner Sea, there are more fundamental issues that need to be addressed. Not the least of which is the degree of treason you are comfortable with.
