Claims of royal immunity appear to have been unpersuasive in Roman & Anor v Commonwealth of Australia & Ors [2004] NTSC 9, with the judgment stating that
The self-represented plaintiffs are husband and wife. The plaintiffs assert in paragraph 22 of the Further Amended Statement of Claim that the first plaintiff is “a royal and a religious Corporation Sole, namely Grand Duke of Lithuania and Archbishop President of Universal Family”. The first plaintiff in evidence claimed that his royal rank was superior to that of Her Majesty the Queen of Australia. In the course of the lengthy hearing I pointed out to the first plaintiff that having brought the action in this Court, whatever his royal rank might be, he had submitted to the jurisdiction of the Court and that given the equality of all before the law, any royal status he might have was irrelevant to the proceedings and that it was therefore unnecessary for me to decide whether he was of royal status or not.No problems there with s 15(1)(e) of the Evidence Act 1995 (Cth), irrespective of the fact that neither the Grand Duchy (or Kingdom) of Lithuania nor legal identity of Grand Duke are recognised in international law.
Commonwealth officers had attended the plaintiffs’ premises at about noon on 25 May 2000
with the intention of locating a female illegal immigrant who had been living in Australia under a variety of false identities. That woman, who gave evidence before me, has been variously called, amongst other names, Mehra, Nisha, Nuku, Lynette Mwado and Lynette Aliba. She was referred to as Lynette during the proceedings and I shall refer to her as Lynette. At the time of the defendants’ attendance at the plaintiffs’ premises Lynette was on bail awaiting trial for alleged social security frauds, a condition of her bail being that she reside with the plaintiffs at their residence. The defendants say that Quirk, Warton and Swain lawfully entered the plaintiffs’ premises with the consent of the second plaintiff ....
The defendants say that as a result of information received from Lynette later that day following her arrest, Quirk made application to Stipendiary Magistrate Wallace for the issue of a warrant under s 3E Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) to enter the plaintiffs’ Nightcliff residence and to search and seize evidential material relating to possible offences by each plaintiff under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) – giving migration assistance whilst not a registered Migration Agent contrary to s 281 Migration Act – and the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) – defrauding the Commonwealth contrary to the then s 29D in virtue of the then s 5 Crimes Act. The defendants deny they acted with malice and say they acted throughout honestly and in good faith in obtaining and executing the warrant.In Ron Mann v Peter Isaacson Publications Pty Ltd No. 367 of 1986 Defamation [1988] NTSC 76 and Ron Mann v. John E Hogan No. 794 of 1987 Practice and Procedure [1988] NTSC 13 the Grand Duke appears to have taken - and lost - action as Mr Ron Mann.
The 1994 Immigration Review Tribunal decision in Applicant: Estrella Nguyen nee Salvatiera Principal: Estrella Nguyen (nee Salvatiera) IRT Reference: S92/01866 #number 3385 [1994] IRTA 3385 states that
A written submission on the applicant's behalf was submitted with the application in this matter. Such submission was prepared by Bishop Roman Dambski of St Basil's Priory in Darwin.The judgment in Cameirao v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural Affairs [2000] FCA 1319 notes that
The applicant in these proceedings is Ms Jovita Cameirao, a Filipino national. Prior to 23 November 1997, her surname was Del Rosario; on that date she acquired a "marriage blessing" from "the Universal Family" as a result of her de facto union with an Australian national, one Alfredo Jose Cameirao. On the hearing of her application, Ms Cameirao was assisted by Dr Prince Roman, the leader and Bishop in Darwin, of "the Universal Family".Since that times things have apparently continued to improve for Prince Roman - presumably the Lord helps those who help themselves - as his website now refers to him as
His Imperial Majesty King Roman the First, Royal Sovereign of East Europe, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and Count of Lubraniec Dambski.One of his imperial majesty's several websites - there are almost as many as his titles - indicates that
Like King William I of England who reigned from France, and King George I of Great Britain who reigned from Germany, and left the running of their kingdoms to parliament, His Imperial Majesty King Roman, Royal Sovereign of East Europe, Grand Duke of Lithuania, currently reigns from Darwin, Australia, and chooses to leave the running of his Realm to respective civil parliaments.
Most of King Roman's titles are inherited and therefore exist independant [sic] of any external recognition, while others are legally accrued.It notes that
His Imperial Majesty is also Grand Prince/Grand Duke of Belarus, Ukraine, Livonia, Novgorod & Vladimir; Prince/Duke of Aukstota, Bryansk, Chernikov, Chernobyl, Courland, Galicz, Giedroyc, Grodno, Kiev, Kosovo, Krvac, Lvov, Minsk, Moldova, Novaharodak, Ossetia, Oswiecim, Palanga, Perjaslavl, Polotsk, Pskov, Ratno, Riazan, Rostov, Santok, Smolensk, Starodub, Trakai, Turau, Tver, and Vitebsk; Emperor and King Elector, Sovereign of the Royal Lithuanian Order & of the Most Honourable Orders of the White Knights and of Saint Andrew; Patriarch of Universal Family.That is an echo of the Duke of Avram who very modestly characterises himself as
The Grand Duke of Avram, Marquis of Mathra, Earl of Enoch, Viscount Ulom, Lord Rama, cardinal-archbishop of the Royal See of the Continent of Australia, Earl Marshall, D.Litterarum, D.Sc., M.B.A., D.Phil., D.C.L., D.B.A., D.D., Grand Master of Orders of the Avram, St. Mark, The Ankh, Continental Ch. Cross, The Most Sacred Order of the Holy Wisdom, The Most Sacred Lamb, Serene Order of Leonard, Illustrious Order of Merit, The Black Swan, Royal Order, Knight of Sword, Knight of Merit, Royal Knight, Chevalier of Honour, Grand Knight Order Leonard, Knight Grand Cross Order of the Sacred Sword and Lance, Knight of Veritas, Knight Grand Cross The Royal Order, Knight Grand Cross of Justice, Knight Comdr. Grand Cross Order of St. Mark. Continental Gold Ch.Cross, Grand Knight Cross Order of The Ankh, The Order of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem, Grand Croix Order Souverain des Chevaliers du Saint-Sepulcre Byzantin, Magnus Cruz Ordo Supremus et Militaris Sancti Stephani Martyr, Knight Grand Cross Order of Aeterna Lucina, Knight Grand Star Illustrious Order of Merit, Knight of Bountiful Endeavours ...In 2009 Prince Roman invited people to sign an online petition:
We the undersigned hereby petition the Lithuanian Government and President to advise the Lithuanian people that they have a king, and make early arrangements for King Roman of Lithuania to be crowned.Alas, of of two years later it appeared that there were only 11 signatories and there was no coronation.
His Imperial Majesty appears to resist what others would regard as discouraging. He offers to sell you a title of nobility, with payment via PayPal. How much? Depending on which of the many royal sites you encounter it is $6,500 for title of Duke, $8,500 for Prince, and $10,000 for Grand Duke. The title of King is a snap at a mere $1m.
The money will be used to restore his kingdom and fund his "revolutionary" spacecraft, which resembles a flying saucer and will be useful for travelling to the Moon. He indicates that when we arrive we will
find caves, oxygen-releasing algae, and water lakes other than the ice lake in the South Polar Aitken Basin, and teeming with life. If, perchance, a cockroach was actually left on the Moon, as indicated by US astronauts, then we may also find an infestation of giant cockroaches.I am not sure whether that is droll imperial majesty humour or a warning about giant bug-eyed monsters that have presumably been feeding on the lunar algae. Presumably if white mice were carelessly left by astronauts we would perchance find giant red-eyed rodents eating lunar cheese.
The King-Patriarch and Emperor claims a doctorate in Divinity from St Basil's Theological College, Hobart (apparently related to the St Basil's Priory in Darwin mentioned in the IRT decision), a graduate diploma in Professional Herbalism from the Northern Institute of Botanical Medicine (Qld) and a doctorate in Naturopathy from the Anglo-American Institute of Drugless Therapy, Renfrew. His Imperial Majesty states that he was Professor of Theology of the "then International Institute of Graduate Studies, Canberra", an entity with which I am oh so regrettably unfamiliar. He has an "experiential Doctor of Philosophy" from the mysterious Institute, along with honorary doctorates in theology.
There is little to stop people starting their own church or conferring problematical honours. I was interested to see, via the Wayback Machine, that in 2008 the 'Universal Family' site featured the following information
To globally assist orphans, destitute, oppressed
Universal Ministry is the now name for Universal Family. We are a religious ministry to provide assistance to orphans, destitute and oppressed of the world without discrimination.
Universal Family offers a unique online RELATIONSHIP BLESSING for defacto marriages or adoptions.
You may also, for suitable donations, become a Universal Minister, Doctor, Sir, Lady, and Benefactor.
To donate, tithe, or bequeth [sic] to help our least fortunate brothers and sisters, please contact ....
You will be greatly blessed for the charity you give.
The founder of Universal Ministry is King Roman, formerly Ronald Victor Charles Mann.The Universal Family Ministry site offers "your own Ministry for a bona fide donation of $10,000 … Bona fide applicants will receive a Certificate of Ministry and an Honorary Doctorate".
But wait, as they say, there's more!
Universal Family Ministry also provides Marriage Blessings for those who are unable, or do not want, to marry officially. These Blessings come in the form of a certificate, and can be acquired for a donation of $295, with additional copies of the Blessing certificate for $25 each. ...
Universal Adoption Blessings are similarly available through the same site above.Ordination as a Minister in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) is much cheaper.
As noted elsewhere in the blog, s26 of the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth) provides that "The Governor-General may, by Proclamation, declare a religious body or a religious organisation to be a recognised denomination for the purposes of this Act". It does not appear that the Universals have been so recognised.
