Revision as of 17:44, 13 December 2012

Modifications

The Trial Process

When a law is suspected of being broken in ME there are specific rules for opening and prosecuting that crime in any Kingdom’s Court of Law. The four roles who are integral to this Trial Process are the Judge, the Prosecutor, the Defendant and the Witnesses.

Authors

Dunecat, Mister X, Mastro, Sunchaser

The Judge

The Judge is the one appointed IG (In-Game); he/she is the President of the court of justice, and is responsible for delivering the final verdict of every trial. Verdicts given by the Judge should attempt to impartially weigh the Kingdom’s posted Laws against the body of evidence provided by both the Defense and Prosecution.

The Prosecution

The Prosecutor is the person or institution who arraigns the Defendant. The Prosecutor can appoint a Barrister who will pursue the prosecution. The appointed Barrister can be choosen only among the citizens of the Country in which the trial is made or among the citizens with the same nationality as the Prosecutor. It is not necessary for the Prosecutor/Barrister to be present in the region where the trial is made.

The Defense

The Defendant is the person or Institution which is accused of committing a crime. The Defendant upon receiving notification of his trial may choose to defend himself on the forum, or he may appoint a Defense Attorney to act in his place. The role of the Defendant or Attorney in the trial is to present facts or evidences which will refute the Prosecution’s case against them during the Trial. The appointed Barrister can be choosen only among the citizens of the Country in which the trial is made or among the citizens with the same nationality as the Defendant.

When and how is a Trial opened?

Any person who is a witness to a crime, a victim of criminal activity, or a victim of unfair treatment may contact a Judge of the Kingdom where the crime is committed to present all relevant facts and evidence. The Judge then decides whether the facts and/or evidence provided against a suspect merit the opening of a Trial. If so the Judge then opens that trial in the appropriate Kingdom Court of Law sub-forum. He would then notify both the Defendant and the Prosecutor via PM of the trial along with a URL link to the pertinent trial post.

Also the Judge of the Kingdom where the trial is taking place must use the in-game functions of the Court House building menu to create the Crime Procedure. In the form he needs to fill out:

• The name of the Defendant
• A summary of the crime(s) he is accused of
• The URL link to the Trial

Once submitted, the Judge can go back to the Court menu to view and administer the Crime Procedure. When the trial has ended it is from this screen where the Judge sends out the Arrest Warrant, cancels the procedure, and/or imprisons the defendant. For more information on the Crime Procedure read the associated Wiki article.

The Guard Captain may also choose to perform a Confiscate the Market Goods act(s) upon the defendant if the laws of the country give him that authority. In that case the Guard Captain holds those goods for safe keeping during the trial pending the resulting verdict.

The Trial

The seven Trial steps are as follows:

1: Starting the Trial:

The Judge starts the Trial. He must present the Defendant and the Prosecutor and ask them if they want to appoint an Attorney (Defense) or a Barrister (Prosecution).

The Defendant and the Prosecutor must declare if they want to appoint someone or not, and tell the Judge who they are appointing.
Also, if the Defendant and the Prosecutor can’t find lawyers and can’t speak the native language of the Judge or of the other Parts, they can ask to have a “Basic English” trial, so that it could be understood using common translating tools.
This whole step must be done within 24 12 hours from the Judge’s opening post.

2: Opening remarks by the Prosecution:

The Prosecution should open the trial with a presentation of the facts of the case, and a listing of what laws were broken by the Defendant. All evidence should be presented at this time and may take the form of a Screenshot (see sidebar).
The Prosecution can call up to two Witnesses, who will present their witness.
This whole step must be done within 24 12 hours from the Prosecutor post.

3: Opening remarks by the Defense:

The Defense should state their side of the case at this time and present any evidence which they have that refutes the facts or evidence which the Prosecution has presented. All evidence should be presented at this time and may take the form of a Screenshot (see sidebar).
The Defense can call up to two Witnesses, who will present their witness.
This whole step must be done within 24 12 hours from the Defense post.

4: Judge reflections:

The Judge can ask some more explanation to the Parts. Answers will be given in the following steps. Otherwise, the Judge can simply say to go on with the Trial.
This steps must be done within 12 hours.

5: Closing remarks by the Prosecution:

The Prosecution then may attempt to refute the presented facts/evidence of the Defense and may also ask up to 3 direct questions to the Defendant for which to answer. The Prosecution will then finish with their closing remarks.
This step must be done within 2412 hours.

6: Closing remarks by the Defense:

The Defense then may attempt to further refute the presented facts/evidence of the Prosecution and may answer any questions that the Prosecution has asked. The Defendant is not under any obligation to do so, however failure to answer questions could be interpreted by the Judge as an admission of guilt. The Defense will then finish with their closing remarks.
This step must be done within 2412 hours.

7: Verdict by the Judge:

The judge then weighs the facts and evidence presented by both parties and renders the Verdict. The Verdict can either be Guilty or Not-Guilty.

If the Judge delivers a Guilty Verdict, he must then notify the Guard Captain of the Verdict and the terms of the penalty in order to proceed to the Imprisonment or Arrest Warrant.

If the Judge delivers a Not-Guilty Verdict, he must order the Guard Captain to release and/or reverse any Restrain or Confiscate the Market Goods acts which have been performed on the Defendant.

The Trial now is officially closed.

Closing of the Trial and Crime Procedure

Once notified of the Trial’s end, the Judge then administers the Crime Procedure and in the case of the delivery of a Guilty Verdict he then can Imprison the Defendant directly or if the Defendant has left town then he may issue an Arrest Warrant for which to return him to town.

Upon receiving an Arrest Warrant the Guard Captain can now perform an Arrest act anywhere in Europe upon the guilty Defendant which will transport them both back to the Court House city/town and automatically Restrain the Defendant for a further 48 4 hours until the Judge is able to Imprison the Defendant. More information on the Arrest Process can be found in the associated Wiki article on Arrests.

In the case of a Not-Guilty Verdict the Judge simply closes the Crime Procedure and the Defendant is free to go.

Further Notes