Upvote:2
I'd say that accounting for propagation delay explicitly with the day + n method is the exception rather than the rule. The most common accounting for this is to consider the law/edict in effect only when it is officially received.
Thus the process goes like this:
Obviously the messenger service is a highly privileged one, with severe consequences for any obstruction.
For example, the process of announcing an edict applicable to the entire Qing Empire was very elaborate:
Upvote:4
See article II of the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812. http://war1812.tripod.com/treaty.html
It lays out a series of delay times for many different parts of the world for the terms of the Treaty to come into effect.