Post by ripple on Apr 18, 2018 19:45:56 GMT
COURT INFORMATION
With the law, comes order.
Here in The Rangers, justice is served by a jury peers presided over by a judge. Courts are official or civil in nature, settling everything from murder charges to community disputes.
Anyone who wishes that fairness be implied when a compromise cannot be reach can call upon the community for a court hearing, where you can make your appeals. Attorneys are a trade kept by The Rangers, so if you don't like the free public defender we have provided (Lieutenant of LE), you may hire outside counsel at your own discretion.
HOW IT WORKS
There are two divisions of court, official and civil.
CIVIL COURT- A court called upon by members of the community who have mild to moderate complaints and need mediators to settle disputes that cannot be compromised on by normal talk.
Civil court can occur if a member feels they were not paid fairly for a service or were not given adequate compensation by Trader parties. An example would be a Hunter who feels like the Hide Makers didn't give him a fair cut of the profits for his contribution to their business, or if a Winemaker was not given the correct order amount of grapes by the Gardeners. Civil courts deal largely with business practices within the community and are often financial in nature.
Civil court can also occur in terms of paternity/maternity. Any parent who seeks a right to their children but are denied by the other parent visitation can call upon the court and have an elected judge and jury preside over the case.
*Most civil court cases require you hire outside counsel for making your case, as the public defender is only assigned in Official court.
But you can be served to show in court if a suit has been filed against you by another party, in which case the public defender will be assigned to your case. If you are served to come to court and fail to attend, then the party that does not show is immediately issued an ARREST WARRANT. Upon discovery by law enforcement officials, the charges for evading court is 1 week of ICC in the Lodges performing physical labor.
Filing a suit or filing a civil court hearing can done by using the application below. If you want to submit a suit/civil hearing, then please reply to this thread with the form filled out and a judge and jury will be assigned to your case, where you can then roleplay out the court hearing.
OFFICIAL COURT (CRIMINAL COURT)- Those who have been arrested are held in the Lodges until a court date can be settled. Once criminals have been made aware of the charges being filed against them, they'll have the option to accept the public defender or be given a list of available attorneys who might take their case (if compensation is available for attorney services). Official court cannot be filed, since those who are arrested are subjected to court, where they will either be found guilty of the charges or cleared. Official Court is usually called to order two days after an arrest has been made.
COURT PROCEEDINGS FOR CRIMINAL OFFENSE- Evidence is usually gathered based on eye-witness accounts, testimony, and officer accounts of the scene. Usually crimes are witnessed or reported, and investigating officers usually use their judgement to decide if an arrest is warranted if they did not witness the crime themselves. Things like foot-prints, teeth marks, wounds, weapons, drugs, etc. are gathered for use by LE officials to present in court.
Of course, dogs acting as humans could stretch the line of realism, so hearsay and circumstantial evidence are admissible in the courts of The Rangers. Witnesses are very important and officer testimony is highly regarded. Character witnesses are also very important, to cover both officers and defendants.
SELECTION OF THE JURY AND JUDGE
When a civil or criminal court case is about to take place, ripple will open up a plot page in the Plot Mosh section of the boards where Ranger-members can sign up to serve on the jury or be a judge! Once the positions have been filled then the thread can start!
*judges and jury cannot be fulfilled by characters involved in the case (witnesses, defendants, officers on scene, etc.) They have to be completely un-involved from the case to use their best judgement.
OUTCOMES AND CONVICTIONS-
While the Judge and jury have the final decision in the courts, most legal roleplay here within The Rangers should be predetermined and the outcome plotted out beforehand.If you want your fate to rest entirely in the hands of the court, then an odds system for innocence or guilt can be called upon.
If you use the odds system, then make sure your evidence is sharp and your argument convincing! Civil courts are best used under the odds system, while criminal courts are best used with pre-plotted outcomes and Staff-judging. This way, you be represented fairly in your court hearings but have plenty of opportunity for interaction, inspiration, and creativity!
Judged fights work the same way, where you can tag a staff member (ripple , WarPaint , or Scotia ) and a success or fail can be determined by odds or by the quality of your posts, with an emphasis on the argument you presented (judged by creativity, grammar, eloquence, etc). Convictions and sentencing for crimes can be found here .
CIVIL JURY- 2 MEMBERS OF THE JURY, ONE JUDGE OR ONE JUDGE AND NO JURY FOR MINOR CIVIL DISPUTES.
CRIMINAL JURY- 4 MEMBERS OF THE JURY, ONE JUDGE
@tag
MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0
