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Post by commiczar on Sept 3, 2009 2:59:57 GMT 10
Greetings to All !!
With the "macro" court systems as the central focus..... ( as "micro" court systems are *internal* only )
To anyone's knowledge, has there ever been a law suit sought by a "macro" ( individual, corporation, etc ), and brought against a "micro" ( individual, corporation, etc ). ( or the reverse / flip of that coin....."micro" vs "macro" )
A law suit whereby "micronationalism" itself was the issue; or at the very least, a contributing aspect of the issue of the law suit's petition(s).
Not merely a law suit filed by-or-against someone who just happens to be a self-declared micronationalist.
And as always, any and all informative replies are hereby thanked in advance.
ThanX !!
Regards to All !! _____________
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George
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Post by George on Sept 3, 2009 9:05:05 GMT 10
I'm aware of several. I'm sure there are many more. In 1995 the US Postal Service succesfully prosecuted a case against the California-based mint producing Hutt River Province coins, preventing them from advertising those coins as legal tender currency in magazines that were carried via the USPS. It effectively shut down their operation, and the mint went bust shortly thereafter. Details of the appeal court ruling can be found here. More recently, there was a micronation in central or eastern Europe (Czech Republic, I think) that ended up being fought over in court by a pair of rival claimants. In this case I understand the micronation in question had evolved into a significant money-making enterprise - hence the desire by both parties to secure control. Perhaps Peter can provide some further background... my recollection of the case is somewhat hazy. Over the past decade there have also been successful US-based prosecutions of the principals of the Kingdom of Kerguelen, the Principality of New Utopia, the Kingdom of Enenkio and the notorious Dominion of Melchizedek for various financial frauds.
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Post by commiczar on Sept 3, 2009 9:32:00 GMT 10
Thanks George, for such an interesting and informative summary. ( I had no idea as to the number of such cases )
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George
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Post by George on Sept 3, 2009 10:14:11 GMT 10
There's also the famous case of Prince Michael firing on a UK naval vessel, from Sealand, and being hauled into court as a consequence.
The case was thrown out because the court declared that it had no jurisdiction over such cases.
This has since been used by Sealand to "prove" that it is a sovereign state over which the UK has no authority - however that is a highly misleading misreading of the outcome.
The judge in question said that his court had no authority to judge the matter; had the matter been brought before another UK court that did hold appropriate jurisdiction, the outcome would very likely have resulted in a successful prosecution.
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George
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Post by George on Sept 4, 2009 9:01:03 GMT 10
I should add that I've personally been threatened with legal action a number of times by micronationalists over the years.
The most recent example involved a certain fat-headed Canadian bumpkin who worked himself into an frenzy of pompous, self-righteous fury because an article about his micronation got deleted from Wikipedia... for which he blamed me... despite the fact I deliberately and pointedly avoided taking any part in the matter.
Despite my attempts to calmly and rationally explain things to him via email, using simple sentences with single-syllable words, the bumpkin became progressively more hysterical, and repeatedly threatened me with legal action for "slander", were I to dare to continue communicating with him.
Of course, I ignored his baseless threats, and invited him to pursue whatever legal action he felt appropriate, in whatever court system he chose.
3 years later I'm still waiting for said "legal action" to materialise.
This is a great example of the sort of behaviour that reflects so badly on micronationalism as a whole; the guy is left looking like a shrill, thin-skinned fool, lacking all credibility. Unsurprisingly, his micronation project reflects that reality.
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Peter
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Post by Peter on Sept 5, 2009 3:29:50 GMT 10
More recently, there was a micronation in central or eastern Europe (Czech Republic, I think) that ended up being fought over in court by a pair of rival claimants. In this case I understand the micronation in question had evolved into a significant money-making enterprise - hence the desire by both parties to secure control. Perhaps Peter can provide some further background... my recollection of the case is somewhat hazy. Indeed, it was the Kingdom of Wallachia: www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/coup-in-fantasy-kingdom-inside-czech-republic-959310.htmlI would like to write several wiki articles to provide your with interesting details about Czech micronations (including this one) but unfortunately I don't have much time these days.
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George
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Post by George on Sept 5, 2009 8:20:10 GMT 10
Take your time... there's no rush...
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