Council Positions: Judge

Nordicnorn wrote:You must check the court screen daily to see if there are any "pending" cases.

Click on the word pending and read all the statements and go to the links that are offered into evidence (if there are any).

You cannot render a judgement until all evidence and statements have been made or until the time limit for rebuttal is up.

You will see an area where you may write and pass sentence.

When you render a judgement of not guilty simply make your statement and do not pass a sentance. Click "save"

If you find the defendant guilty - give a fine, jail or whatever in the appropriate boxes and make your written statement. Then click save.
DO NOT CLICK SAVE BEFORE YOU FILL IN THE SENTANCE BOXES OR IT WILL RENDER A DISMISSED VERDICT.

Personal recomendations and notes.
ALWAYS give a statement of why you rendered a verdict. You are a servant of the people and they deserve to know what you wee thinking when you passed sentance or found not guilty.

Remember this is a game; do not pass sentences that are so severe that they remove the fun for a player.

Three days in jail can effectively be a death sentance. If someone has an animal farm, even a day in jail can bankrupt them or create a financial hardship. Think carefully before sentancing to jail time.

LJS has decreed that eradication is to be used ONLY in the case of witchcraft and you should probably check with him before handing down such a verdict.

Do not discuss a case on the forums before or after judgement

The judge is exactly that -- A judge. By very definition MUST be impartial and free of party pressures. That sounds simple, but can be difficult in the best of times. Check your personal motives and biases at the door to your chambers- or take another job.
You must rely on and trust your own moral compass. Once a desicion has been rendered - it is final. Let others debate it if they must, but you should remain unmoved -- if not silent.

If you have questions ask a former judge or LJS.

Just a note about the Jurisprudence.

May the next Judge don't forget the
Archives of England / Judicial department

Nordicnorn wrote:This is a translated document from the King on the judges responsibility. I have not cleaned up the translation, but it gets the point across.

A judge must always keep in mind this fundamental rule: it should act only according to the interest of the play the Reappearing Kingdoms, the interest of the play being rigorously defined by the interest of all the players (and not only of the majority of them), including condemned : it is necessary to find a judgement which satisfies not only the plaintiffs, but also the defendants who must yield there with sufficiently willingly, not to be deçu play and to ignore some.

general principles of justice

The judge has a very important capacity on thousands of players of the Reappearing Kingdoms; to be able which goes hand in hand with an increased responsibility against the other players, play in general and originators. In light, if the judge misuses or mésuse of his capacity, it can seriously put in danger balances of the play, to vitiate the atmosphere of it and quickly to put badly has the fragile building which the originators take such an amount of care to build. This is why the judge must respect a certain number of rules, hereafter stated, the purpose of which are to frame and harmonize, through duchés/comtés and time, the justice of the Kingdoms.

Each punishable or criminal act whose judge estimates that the defendant is guilty is sanctioned by a sorrow. This one is proportional to the act which caused it. the judge responsible for the good adequacy of the sorrow inflicted with is shown with the gravity of the proven offence.

a sorrow nonproportional to the reproached acts, "the doubt as for returned of a justice right and equitable", "the doubt as for the good application of the ducal right", the rape of this charter and the discrétionnaire filter of the prosecutor close the Court of Appeal opens a royal way with a revision of the lawsuits of first authority per the-known as Cour.

the judge who would not hold account of this charter in a repeated way, which would neglect the warnings on this subject of the Court of Appeal or which would profit in an abusive way of its function will be able to be opened up a judgement in high treason before the Parliament of bets (failing this Court of Appeal). the incurred maximum sorrow is the eradication in the event of manifest abuse and of royal approval (admins)

a person cannot be judged twice for same the facts in front of the same level of jurisdiction. Applicable in all the kingdom of France from the will of the Crown.

in connection with the sorrow

the judge can always pronounce a sorrow of fine (whose estimate of the amount is left with its discretion) and/or a prison sentence three day old to the maximun for all the infringements. for the most serious cases (if possible with the agreement of condemned for reasons of RP or if this one gave up the play) or in the event of crime of blood, the judge can pronounce the sentence of dead against a character. this one will perdera 10 then pts with all its characteristics!

truth-false offences

It are in fact all offences IRL, sanctionnables by true justice, and which entrainent a systematic eradication of the character, like, if revolves it etait jugee sufficient by the administrators, of the continuations in TRUE justice.

- verbal insults and other skids
- cheating and exploitation of the faults of the play
- hacking of account and the abuse the pass of others
particular offences

they are particular offences which by their gravity on the balance of the play and the general interest of the RR can be seen sanctioned by a prison sentence higher than three days:

Caution: any judge who would exceed these prison sentences would see has his continued turn!

- level of defendant 0/1: 3 days with the max
- level of defendant 2: 6 days with the max
- level of defendant 3 and +: 10 days with the max

the particular offences are
- sorcery and the multi-account
- the abusive speculation on a large scale
and the plundering of the finance public
- crimes of blood and armed robbery (armed robbery)
- the manifest repetition

sorcery: precision

I allow myself to intervene here to clarify the definition of the crime of sorcery.

1° you have the law edictée in the year of grace MCDLXIII by His Majesty Roy de France, which held them of God on sorcery:
"All maraud which will dare to use its gifts of ubiquity to create several accounts and to thus benefit from the pecuniary basket will have to answer of sorcery in front of the court of competent jurisdiction. Its clones will be sharp flarings in public place, and prevented will expose itself to a very heavy fine, to remain nailed in addition with the pilori several days. In the event of repetition or notorious abuse, the suspect will be hung by the neck until dead follows."(extracted the Table of the
Law present in the Court of Justice)

the unicity of the heart [ player ], the spirit and the body [ account ] could not know exception. any handling of these elements is a crime against the community. [ a player can have only one and one account ] and continuations for Sorcellerie will be started. At the time of an established fact and proven of sorcery (multicompte) and only in this case, the judge has the right to pronounce the capital sentence, which is, in the Kingdoms, the eradication (and not death). The judge must determine precisely, if possible with the co-operation of the defendant, which are all the clones and the éradiquer, while it grants the safe life to the principal character (whom it can however punish of a sorrow of fine or prison whose maximum sévérite is fixed above). the names of the clones residing out of its duchy of jurisdiction will be communicated to the inquisitor zippo (one of the admins) which will éradiquera them the cases falling due.

but I also benefit from the occasion given here for rappeller which it is strictly interdict of créer/gérer several accounts RR starting from same IP (PC) if they reside in the same city of the RR. a spiritual bond [ addresses IP ] should be used only for one connection per village. [ the users of the same connection Internet must have their characters in different villages ]. conclusion where necessary, you can manage your perso in a pal if and only if you do not reside in same village RR. in the contrary case, nothing prevents you from moving one of both persos temporarily to avoid the lightnings of the inquisitor zippo!

the silence of the law

in front of the specific absence of law, the judge must return justice while basing himself on his only good legal direction. only the champagne with its famous legal codex can allow a strict formalism and prohibit to the judge to decide out of the framework of the written law. in the majority of the other duchies, the law is much sparser. in light, the legal system of the RR is rather that of a common law, not mainly written. but the job of the actors of the legal system is to make respect a minimun order.

if a judge is in this situation to have to return justice in spite of the silence or the absence of the law, I advise to him to throw an eye on the ad hoc memo summarizing the usual practices of the court of Berry on this subject. The judge will find tracks of reflexions there not to be subjected to his only subjectivity. the judge can also decide to light via a prejudicial question at the Court of Appeal (see low)
the prejudicial question

a judge hesitating when with the interpretation of this charter, the state of the right, the adequate sorrow... can put a precise question at the Court of Appeal of the Kingdom by the intermediary of a mail by providing the state of the file and bond RR of the lawsuit to the prosecutor of call which filters the questions with its discretion. If the Court is seized by its prosecutor, it then has 7 days to give an opinion. the opinion of the Court indirectly binds the judge of first authority bus if it does not follow the court in its verdict, it increases the risks of revision of its judgement in the event of call.

LongJohnSilver wrote:
A judge must always keep in mind this fundamental rule: he should act only within the interest of the Renaissance Kingdoms game, the interest of the game being firmly defined by the interest of all the players (and not only of the majority of them), including those condemned: a judgment has to be found which satisfies not only the plaintiffs, but also the defendants who must abide by the verdict with sufficient grace, so as not to be disappointed in the game and become disinterested in it.


A few general principles of justice:

The judge wields an astonishing power over the thousands of players within Renaissance Kingdoms; a power which goes together with a high level of responsibility towards the other players, the game in general and the creators. Hence, if the judge abuses or misuses this power, he/she can seriously endanger the balance of the game, taint the atmosphere of it and cause the fragile foundations, upon which the game has been lovingly built by its creators, to shake.

Hereafter stated are a certain number of rules which the judge is obliged to respect. The purpose of these rules is to organize and co-ordinate justice throughout all counties/duchies and within the time period of the Kingdoms.

Each punishable or criminal act, for which the judge estimates the defendant to be guilty, is sanctioned by a penalty. This penalty must be proportional to the act which brought about the charges. The judge is responsible for maintaining consistency in the punishment imposed on the accused in accordance with the severity of the proven offence.

In case of (i) disproportionate punishment, (ii) doubts as to the balance and equity of the judgment, (iii) doubts as to the compliance with Ducal law, (iv) violation of the present Charter, and after a discretionary review by the Prosecutor in the Court of Appeals, the aforementioned Court may revise the initial trial.

Any judge who (i) repeatedly violates the provisions of the present Charter, (ii) disregards the warning statements from the Court of Appeals or (iii) takes advantage of his/her position may be prosecuted for High Treason in front of the Parliament of [Paris], or, failing this, the Court of Appeals. The maximum sentence for said crimes is eradication, in severe cases of obvious abuse acknowledged by royal authorities (the admins).
A person can not be judged twice for same the act by the same jurisdiction level. This is enforceable in the entire Kingdoms of England and Scotland, by the will of the Crown.

About the penalty

A judge can always issue a fine (of which the estimate of the amount is left to his/her discretion) and/or a maximum 3 day prison sentence for all the offences.
In the most serious of cases (if possible with the agreement of the condemned for RP reasons, or if the player has stopped playing), or in the event of a crime where blood has been spilt, the judge can sentence a character to death. The character will subsequently lose 10 statistic points in each area (Charisma, Strength and Intelligence).

True-False offences

These are in fact all IRL offences, which can be sanctioned by real life justice, and which lead to a systematic eradication of the character, as well as, in the case of the situation being deemed serious enough by the administrators, REAL LIFE legal measures.
These comprise:
- Insults and other verbal offences
- Cheating and exploitation of the game’s faults
- Account hacking and the abuse of other players’ passwords

Particular offences

These are particular offences which by their severity in relation to the balance/harmony/stability of the game and in the general interests of RK can be sanctioned by a longer prison sentence than three days:

Be careful: Any judge who overrides the maximum prison sentences will see him/herself prosecuted!

-Defendant’s level - 0/1: 3 days maximum
-Defendant’s level - 2: 6 days maximum
-Defendant’s level - 3 and +: 10 days maximum

Particular offences are:
- Witchcraft and multi-accounting
- Large scale abusive profiteering and plundering of public finances.
- Crimes where blood is spilt and armed robbery
- Flagrant recidivism