The most unpopular decision of the CCB was made in 2160, when the planet Earth was interdicted. The CCB simply felt that the Soalr System's resources could not be divided at this time. The attempts to land on earth had the potential of harming great segments of the Colonial public.
Over the ensuing decades, the CCB grows more and more in stature, almost, but never quite assuming the mantle of a Federal Government. The biggest problem the CCB faces is the lack of an army or navy. According the the Colonial Charter, individual planets may have police and military forces, but the CCB is seen as primarily a diplomatic and trade regulating force.
The organization of the CCB is as follows:
Each Colony has one Speaker to the CCB. This Speaker has the right to represent his government in the negotiation of treaties and trade alliances. Each Speaker has a staff of secretaries who specialize in the various interests of the colonies. These staffs can vary in size from a handful to over a hundred, depending on the size and diversity of the represented colony. Each head of saff has a number of assistants, secretaries, unders secretaries, etc. In addition, The CCB istelf directly employs over a thousand civil servants, primarily of Lunar or Martian descent. Thus, although the Speakers' Chamber only has a dozen members, the CCB Dome on Luna houses a large population of bureaucrats and their families.
How much power a Speaker actually has in the CCB depends on the internal governing and politics of their home colony. The Speaker for the Belter's Union is primarily a figurehead position, since every decision the Belt makes in the CCB must be debated ad nauseum on Vesta, with individual Belter leaders taking part by remote radio signal. The Speaker of Luna, however, is probably the most powerful person in the Colonies, certainly more powerful that the Lunar Prime Minister.
The current members of the CCB and their Speakers are:
Mercury Shvaughn O'Tillibrook*
Venus Thedric Bardd (seat is usually vacant)
Earth Honorary Seat
Lunar High Republic Castor Tanimura*
Mars Bradley Corsica*
Belter's Union Marion Anders Northfield
Ceres Compocracy Daniel-8
Ganymede Vander Steelbeard
Callisto Diana Minervasdaughter*
Europa Jose Koronov
Io Jawarhawal Chandrasekhar (seat is usually vacant)
Non-members include
Titan Had an embassy until 2216. Never a member
Triton Provisional Member until destroyed in 2218
New Los Angeles has been petitioning for separate representation for 20 years
* A particularly strong Speaker
The CCB has grown into far more than what it was intended to be. It has slowly become a vast bureaucracy, with many more responsibilities than spelled out in its original charter. Some people complain about this, but the plain and simple fact is tyhat the CCB does the organizational job that no one else wants to do, and that no one else can do. No colonies would trust another colony to run interplanetary commerce, and the smaller colonies see the CCB as the only way of keeping Mars and Luna in check.
The growing problem is that the CCB is a little bit toothless. Although the CCB is the direct controller of most of the interplanetary trade in the Colonies, they have very little in the way of direct military power. There was also little they could do to swiftly implement policy in emergency situtations. It was this failing that many in the echelons of government believed to be one of the primary reasons the Titanian Secession was successful in 2178. Conversely, local governments are afraid to give too much power to the CCB. It is analagous to the States' rights vs. Federal Rights debates of the early American colonies.
This committee oversees the applications of prospective colonies. It also is charged with monitoring all current charters to see if they are still within parameters. When most people think of the CCB they are usually referring to the Charter Review Committee.
The Judicial Department handles all complaints, both intercolonial and complaints directed at the CCB itself. It functions as an internal affairs committe in the latter case. The Judicial Department of the CCB is the final arbiter of interplanetary law.
The War Deparment only exists when called into being by a meeting of all Speakers. All speakers must unanimously agree that there is a need for the Department to exist and they clearly define the length of time that the War Deparment shall operate. Thus, it is active when there is a need for it. It has been called into being twice in the past. First, during the Titanian Secession, secondly during the Titan War. The War Deparment is appointed by the Speakers, who determine the chain of command of all ships and local miltary forces. The conscription powers of the War Deparment are awesome. All ships can be commandeered or retrofitted for battle, whether merchant or military, public or private. All citizens are subject to military service while the CWD is active.
CoHealth is in charge of promoting the health and well-being of the colonies. It has very little direct power and is severely underbudgeted. Its reports carry some weight with the Charter Review Committee, but inasfar as helath and human rights are seen as more internal policies (for each colony to decide), more weight is given to the reports of:
The Trade and Commerce Committee oversees all interplanetary trade. They are responsible for enforcing fair trade policies, interpreting trade agreements, settling disputes of a purely economic nature. The duties of TACC overlap quite a bit with the other departments, and this leads to many heated debates in the halls of the CCB. While the CRC has great and sweeping power regarding the status of Colonies in the Charter, TACC actually excersizes more day-to-day power. Two of the many departments under the umbrella (and budget) of TACC include:
The MMC is technically a subdivision of TACC, but is is large enough to rate its own offices and department. The MMC sets all regulations concerning spaceflight and spaceship registration.
ConSub functions like the 20th century American DEA, but has a larger charge. Not only do they inspect ships for illegal drugs, they are also responsible for monitoring the transport of fissionables, biochemical materials and other things lucrative to smugglers. ConSub usually works under the juridiction of the local colonial police forces, offering expertise and interplanetary red-tape cutting. ConSub also works closely with the CCI (below). ConSub does not have local police powers, though they do have jurisdiction on the spaceways.
The CCI is the information gathering arm of the CCB. It was created 40 years ago after the secession of Titan. It was felt that with more and earlier unbiased information, the political turmoil that led to Titan leaving the Charter might have been avoided. The CCI has offices on all colonies, and its staff usually consists of mostly locals. The CCI monitors local politicas and trends and transmits this information to the CCB offices on Luna.
Although Colonial Charter Intelligence is known to the general public, it is believed to be mostly a benign intelligence gathering organization, created to provide the CCB with more accurate and unbiased data. What is known to most government higher-ups, military leaders and conspiracy theorists, is that the CCI contains a Covert Action Department (Department Z). This department is charged with maintaining Colonial Security at all costs. Agents are hand-picked from all walks of life and from all colonies. The exact number is unknown, but is probably several hundred. Many times, they are sent on long-term deep cover missions. In emergencies, they can call upon the red-tape cutting powers of the CCB. Although their power technically derives from their home colonies, in practice they answer only to the CCB. In some cases, CCI agents may recruit civilians if they deem the need great enough.
The Department Z is arranged in a inverted tree organization, with individual agents knowing only a handful of their superiors, and rarely knowing other agents at their own level. An agent, if captured, could compromise only a few others of their cell. The CCI has invested much time and effort into placing its agents and protects that investment fiercely.
Some of the actions Department Z agents might have to undertake:
Infiltrating terrorist organizations
Fighting organized crime
Investigating disappearances of politically sensitive people
Investigating corporate espionage
Protecting important people (when in dangerous situations)
The CCI (and Department Z) was the brainchild of Speaker Daedelus of Luna (deceased). He has been criticized by his peers and present-day historians as having a bit of a flair for the dramatic, but he was a powerful individual with a powerful vision. The CCI is an efficient organization with dedicated and loyal members. It is not known how many times in the past forty years the agency has proved its worth. The leaders of Department Z are known to all Speakers, but few if any know the identities of every agent