The treaty of paris says specifically that England has no jurisdiction over the land in America. So I don't understand what is actually happening. How could something like this actually be?
England continues to have no jurisdiction over America. In America, contracts cannot be made in perpetuity, there must be some sort of end date. But the end date doesn't have to be a specific date, it could be based on a variable, such as when someone has died. After all, wills operate on the same principle for when they begin to go into effect - so other types of contracts can use similar equations for their expiration dates.
However, because our legal system was created before the internet and really mass media of any type, there are clauses about notability. You can't make a contract that expires when your pal Frank dies, because in the 19th century that would be a very difficult thing to prove, or even hear about in the first place. This is where the Royal clause comes in, because Royals are someone everyone was aware of (and if not, that information was easily accessed by lawyers), and their death constituted a change in government. So, something big and noticable that everyone can agree upon.
Also, our law system is directly cribbed from the English system, and is very precedent-heavy, so you get weird shit like this baked-in.
The treaty of paris says specifically that England has no jurisdiction over the land in America. So I don't understand what is actually happening. How could something like this actually be?
England continues to have no jurisdiction over America. In America, contracts cannot be made in perpetuity, there must be some sort of end date. But the end date doesn't have to be a specific date, it could be based on a variable, such as when someone has died. After all, wills operate on the same principle for when they begin to go into effect - so other types of contracts can use similar equations for their expiration dates.
However, because our legal system was created before the internet and really mass media of any type, there are clauses about notability. You can't make a contract that expires when your pal Frank dies, because in the 19th century that would be a very difficult thing to prove, or even hear about in the first place. This is where the Royal clause comes in, because Royals are someone everyone was aware of (and if not, that information was easily accessed by lawyers), and their death constituted a change in government. So, something big and noticable that everyone can agree upon.
Also, our law system is directly cribbed from the English system, and is very precedent-heavy, so you get weird shit like this baked-in.