Court Report Instructions: What To Do When Court Is Over
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Last Updated: February, 2023
Author: Hirsch von Henford, Golem Herald
Policy Level: WK Policy
Intended Audience: All Court Heralds
Abstract: A brief description of what a Court Herald needs to do to ensure any
awards are official and recognized in the West Kingdom Awards List.
You've completed court, you've checked with everyone afterward to see how you did, and you're ready to go home and collapse from the event. However, as it turns out, you're not done yet!
There is a little more to do. The West Kingdom Awards List is the official repository of all awards, according to West Kingdom Law, and the awards list is published online (Awards List).
In order for these to be published properly, you or someone else (we prefer the Court Herald do it), need to submit a Court Report. The Court Report is done through a web page that submits an email to a variety of people, including the Royalty, the Golem Herald, and yourself.
The basic procedure for "After Court" is here: Court Reporting Procedure. Please note there are instructions there to keep a copy of the information you post in the Court Report (see below)
There are instructions on filling out the form here: How to Fill Out the Court Report Form. If you have never done this, or it has been a while since you last did this, please take the time to read these instructions.
Finally, the Court Report form itself: Court Report Form.
Once you submit the Court Report, as noted, an email is sent to a variety of people. It is required that the Royalty (in this case Royalty can be King, Queen, Prince, Princess, or Baron or Baroness, depending on whose court it was) respond ("Reply All") to everyone on the mailing list with any corrections or questions, and ultimately a "This looks good" (words to that effect). At that point, unless there are any corrections or questions that need answering, now you are done.
Notes:
We request that you try to do the court report as soon after the event as possible.
In an ideal world, if the event is a one day event, as soon as you get home would
be great. We of course realize that this isn't always possible. However, the issue
that comes up is when a court report gets lost in a stack of papers and doesn't resurface
again. This causes much consternation, as awards, even though given in court
in front of witnesses, are not official by Kingdom Law until they are published
in the online Awards List. In addition, they are not official after nine months of
the actual court, unless the awards are reaffirmed by the current royalty.
(Information on reaffirmation of awards can be found here:
Award Reaffirmation explanation.)
If you are doing a court for the Outgoing Royalty at a Coronation or Investiture (incuding Baronial changeover), please get the email addresses of the Outgoing Royalty. There is an "alternate email address" for this purpose on the court report form. The difficulty is that the Kingdom IT department "officially" changes the email forwarding addresses the day or two after the event, and the outgoing royalty may never see the court report if you do not do this.
If the Golem Herald replies to your court report, it is usually because there is a question. It is not something to get freaked out over (I mention this because a person who I admire a lot got really upset that I asked a question about something in his court report). The reasons Golem asks questions are to be sure the information is accurate, and there is no criticism of your work intended.
Links that may be useful:
- How to Fill Out the Court Report Form
- Court Report: Regional Notes -- How to deal with specific recognitions ...
- Court Report Form
- Award Reaffirmation -- Explanation