The clave »
The Clave is the collective name for the political body made up for all active Nephilim. All Shadowhunters that recognize the authority of Idris - and this should be all of them in the world who remain Shadowhunters - makes up the Clave. When Shadowhunters reach adulthood at the age of eighteen, they declare their allegiance to the Clave and become full Clave members, with rights to contribute to any Clave issue under discussion. The Clave keeps and interprets the Law, and makes decisions about the guidance of the Nephilim through history as it unfolds.
Smaller, more regional groups of Shadowhunters, for instance the Shadowhunters of a specific country or sometimes of a particularly large city, are collected in what are called Enclaves in most of the world, and Conclaves in the Americas and Australia. The regional groups coordinate their own local decision making and organizational structures as they see fit, although the Clave as a whole is responsible for placing Shadowhunters in charge of specific Institutes. The Clave may interced in cases where and Enclave or Conclave is organized in some ways that is against the spirit of the Nephilim as a whole.
The term "Clave" comes from the Latin Clavis, meaning "key", and its use such term and "Enclave" and "Conclave" refers abstractly to the idea of an assembly "under lock and key" - that is, meeting in secret. The Clave is, so to speak, the great secret of the Nephilim; with the key of the Mortal Cup, one earns entrance to its chambers.
|| COUNCIL ||
The Council is the governing body of the Clave. Once, there were few enough Shadowhunters in the world that in matters of importance the entire Clave could be canvassed for their opinion, but it has been many hundreds of years since this was the case. The Council does, however, in representating the large Clave, retain the power to recal any Shadowhunter to Idris at any time. Today local Enclaves choose representatives to sit on the Council, which deals with matters of immediate import that are not larger enough for the entire Clave to become involved in. Enclaves may decide for themseves how to appoint their Council representatives. Most time is accomplished with a simple vote or by the Conclave head appointing a chosen delegate.
|| CONSUL||
The Consul is the highest appointed offical in the Clave. He is something like a prime ministers rather than like a King or President; he wields little executive power but rather serves to preside over the Council, to officially talls its votes, and to help interpret the Law for the Clave. He also serves as an adviser to the Inquisitor, and is intended to be a consulting mentor for the heads of Institutes. His only really source of directo power is his authority to call the Council to session and to adjudicate disputes between Shadowhunters. The Nephilim do not have such uncivilized mundanes notions as political parties; the Consul is voted into office by the Counsil and, like most prime ministers, can be put our of officer by a vote of no confidence.
|| CONVENANT ||
Trying all of these entities together is the Convenant, another name for Nephilim Law. It provides the rules of conduct for Shadowhunters and Downworlders; it is by the right of Convenant that the Nephilim enforces their Law in Downworld. The Concenant protects the right of Shadowhunter to enforce civilized relations among the Clave, Downworlders, and the mundane world, and also protects the right of Downworlders so that they may not be maltreated by Shadowhunters.
It is the Convenant also that guarantees that the Shadow Word remains shadowed from the mundane world. Nephilim are sworn by Convenant never to reveal the truth of the world to a mundane, unless such a revelation cannot in any way be avoided. All Downworlders who have signedthe Accords agree to the same. Demons are the great unpredictable force in keeping the Shadow World secret, but so far demons have decided that secrecy is best for them as well.
This description makes the Conenant sound simple, but its fine print is more or les the entire legal system of the Shadowhunters, specifying not only the criminal code that the Nephilim and various Downworlders communities have agreed to abide by, but also how that criminal code may be prosecured, how trials may be run, and so on. This means both Shadowhunters and Downworlders may refer to the Convenant to claim some specific right. For instance, Shadowhunters may swear upon the Covenant to keep information confidential that has been shared with them in an investigation.
The Covenant long precedes the Accords; the Accords can be seen as a kind of Bill of Rights, amendments to the Covenant that are agreed to be taken as the law of the land by all of the Shadow World.
|| INQUISITOR ||
The Inquisitor is a high-ranking offical of The Clave, wielding authority outside of the government of the Clave and Council.
The Inquisitor investigates Nephilins for the Clave, making sure that they have not broken the Covenant or the Accords. The Inquisitor typically serves as the prosecuter attorney on Shadowhunters trials, and is thus, along with the Silent Brothers, legally permitted to use the Mortal Sword on Shadowhunters to compel the truth out of them. The Inquisitor may also choose to recommend or request the punishment or sentence in some cases, through these also requires the approval of the Council; such was the case .
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