County Laws

Student Number of posts : 59 Registration date : 2007-01-08

Quote :: Laws of Worcestershire County

I. First Book - General

This Book of Law shall contain citizens' rights as well as laws carrying no punishment.

001 Right to Defense Counsel
Whosoever is accused of a crime in the County of Worcestershire shall have the right to a Defense Counsel. This Defense Counsel shall have access to evidence under the right to disclosure, and shall provide mitigating evidence, testimony, witnesses, and may argue points of law regarding only the accused’s criminal charges.

002 Right to Trial
No person shall be fined, censured, imprisoned, or otherwise punished without first having a trial as defined by his Majesty the King.

003 Career Criminal Law
Whoever commits violent or treasonous crimes as a way of life may be subject to upon a 3rd commission within a 12-month period of a violent or treasonous crime the death penalty at the discretion of the Judge. Laws involved in this include laws from books 4 Betrayal and 7 Public Disorder

004 Hierarchy of Laws
If a Law has been enacted, amended or struck at the County Castle (in-game), the Laws published at the County Inn (forum) shall be updated accordingly. Until then, the Laws published at the County Castle shall take precedence.

1.I. a) Council procedures
1: New Laws- still decided by simple majority
2: Law Changes- takes 2/3 of council
3: Votes- Anyone may call a vote on a new law or law change after 2 days of discussion.
* 3a: If a count refuses to acknowledge a bill a 2/3 majority of the council may force a vote
4: Treaties - The Count or nominated ambassodor has the power to negotiate a treaty with the full authority of the council. This treaty will exist in full until the council votes it into permancy or rejects it. The temporary treaty can last no more then 1 week, the other party is to be informed of this
* 4a: Judicial - Trade - MIlitary Treaties- vote/discussion thread started by the count, 2 day vote
5: Inactive Councilors
* 5a: In case of a councilors unexcused absence of 5 days they will be sent a letter in game from the count; if they don't respond within 2 days the inactive councilor will be removed from the Council room.
* 5b: In case of Illness or other excused absence a councilor will be given inactive status and will abstain from voting until again accounted as active in council
* 5c: In case of an inactive Count the count may assign a temporary count or the 2nd person on a Majority list will perform the duties of Count on forums until the Count returns, sections a and b also apply to Counts

II. Second Book - Slavery

This Book of Law shall contain laws carrying punishment, to be prosecuted under the "slavery" indictment.

001 Minimum wage
This Law regulates wages in Worcestershire County.

001 County
The County will not pay its miners and militia less than 16 pounds per day.

002 Towns
1. Any land owner or Town Hall that shall hire a laborer or militiaman for a wage below 16 pounds, shall be fined as follows:

First time offense the maximum penalty is 20 pounds and for a subsequent offences 40 pounds. There will also be an order to give a trust point to the worker.

2. The landowner may deviate from the official minimum wage if an explicit agreement exists between him and the laborer. This agreement is free of form and must be made prior to offering the job. If challenged before a Court of Law, the burden of proof of the existence of the agreement rests upon the landowner.

If, due to whatever cause or reason, the offered job is taken by another laborer, the land owner is obliged to compensate the laborer in question with one Trust Point, to be given as soon as possible. The laborer may discharge the landowner of this obligation. If challenged before a Court of Law, the burden of proof of having given the Trust Point, alternatively of having been discharged of this obligation by the laborer, rests upon the landowner.

III. Third Book - Witchcraft

This Book of Law shall contain laws carrying punishment, to be prosecuted under the "witchcraft" indictment.

001 Witchery
Whosoever shall dare to create several accounts, shall respond for the offense of Witchery in front of a competent tribunal. If found guilty by the County Judge, the accused's clones are to be burned alive in a public place. The accused will pay a very heavy fine, or be pilloried for up to several days. In case of repetition of the offense, or well-known abuse, the accused will be publicly executed.

IV. Fourth Book - Betrayal

This Book of Law shall contain laws carrying punishment, to be prosecuted under the "betrayal" indictment.

001 Treason
Whosoever shall deliberately obtain a political or ecclesiastical position to steal, sabotage, or otherwise commit treasonous acts against the King and/or the people of Worcestershire, shall respond for the charge of Treason, and be tried by a competent tribunal. Whosoever shall raise an army against the King shall be guilty of treason.
If found guilty, the accused shall face imprisonment. In cases of high treason the accused will be publicly executed.

002 Rebellions against the County
1. Whoever shall attack the County Castle is punishable with a fine or imprisonment, at the discretion of the Judge.

2. Whoever shall attack the County Castle and overthrow the County's legitimate government is punishable with imprisonment, at the discretion of the Judge. The deposed Council will remain the ruling body of Worcestershire. It will be authorized to take all necessary steps to regain the County Castle until a new Council will be installed after regular elections.

003 Rebellions against Towns
1. Whoever shall attack a Town Hall is punishable with a fine or imprisonment, at the discretion of the Judge.

2. Whoever shall attack a Town Hall and overthrow the Town's legitimate government is punishable with imprisonment, at the discretion of the Judge. The Council will be authorized to take all necessary steps to regain the Town Hall concerned until a new Mayor will be installed after regular elections.

3. The Council may grant permission to attack a Town Hall if the Mayor of the Town in question is no longer able to fulfill their duties. The Council vote requires a 3/4 majority.

V. Fifth Book - Traitorousness

This Book of Law shall contain laws carrying punishment, to be prosecuted under the "traitorousness" indictment.

001 Official Language
The official language of the Kingdom of England is English. All other languages are prohibited in public places, unless an adequate translation is provided simultaneously.

Whoever is seen/heard speaking a language other than English in a public place without providing a simultaneous adequate translation, will be given a warning by or on behalf of the Public Prosecutor, by in-game mail or PM. If the person warned does not provide translations of the foreign language uttered by him and/or continues to speak the foreign language after the warning, charges will be brought against them. If found guilty, the convict will be sentenced to the fine applying to their level, as below:

Level 0: 10 pounds
Level 1: 30 pounds
Level 2: 50 pounds
Level 3: 70 pounds

In the application of this Law, "public places" are defined as:

- Town Halls (both in-game and forum);
- the County Castle (in-game);
- the County Law Court (in-game);
- the Worcestershire Inn (forum).

002 Perjury
Whosoever shall intentionally deceive the Court representing His Majesty the King, shall face a competent tribunal for the charge of Perjury. If found guilty, said person shall pay a heavy fine, and serve one day in prison.

VI. Sixth Book - Fraud

This Book of Law shall contain laws carrying punishment, to be prosecuted under the "fraud" indictment.

001 Economic manipulation
Whoever shall manipulate any economy in Worcestershire, including the economy of the County itself, shall be sentenced to a fine equal to the worth of the damage done increased with 10%.

Manipulation of an economy is defined as:

- hoarding goods;
- creating and abusing a monopoly;
- dumping goods on a market;
- buying one or more goods and reselling it against a higher price on the same market.

002 Maximum prices
Whoever shall sell goods at prices above the maximums set below, shall be sentenced:

0021. To pay a fine:
- First offence: (price sold for – half the minimum recommended selling price) x 2 x (number of products sold)
- Second offence: (price sold for – half the minimum recommended selling price) x 3 x (number of products sold)
- Third and further offences: one-day imprisonment for each offence to date.

0022. To give 1 TP to the victim of their crime.

00221 Corn
Recommended selling price: 3.75-4.25 pounds
Maximum price: 5 pounds

00222 Wheat
Recommended selling price: 13-14 pounds
Maximum price: 15 pounds

00223 Flour
Recommended selling price: 15-16.50 pounds
Maximum price: 17 pounds

00224 Bread
Recommended selling price:6.50-7.50 pounds
Maximum price: 8 pounds

Laws in 2 posts. This is post 1 of 2

Student Number of posts : 59 Registration date : 2007-01-08

Quote :: VII. Seventh Book - Public Disorder
This Book of Law shall contain laws carrying punishment, to be prosecuted under the "public disorder" indictment.

001 Crimes against Person and Property
1. Whoever robs, or attempts to rob, another person of money and/or property, is punishable with a fine, imprisonment or death, at the discretion of the judge. The death penalty can be applied in the case of a third conviction for violating this section.
2. Whoever kills, or attempts to kill, another person, is punishable with imprisonment or death, at the discretion of the judge. Death, IG and RP will be applied at the third offense
3. Whoever wounds or kills another person in the defense against an immediate and unlawful attack, is not punishable.

002 RP Robbery
0021 Criminal RP Handling

This means : When a robbery is committed, the victim sends his complaint with screenshot, estimation of the amount stolen, etc... to his mayor or the prosecutor, but he must not tell the name of the robber in the forum !

(because robbers are not supposed to tell their name to their victim)

Then there's a Chief inspector (referee) who can be the Constable, Captain, Sergeant or someone else will start to investigate to find this criminal.

(NRP : He will send the victim a PM to explain the procedure:
The robber must swear to not use "teleportation" to flee in a colony in another county and he must give his description (brown hair, large berb, hat, blue eyes, round face, etc...) according to his IG description AND he must put this description in his ID profile!!

If the robber does not respond or refuses these rules, then he will be prosecuted as usual with no mercy.

When the inspector has the description of the robber, he will spread it to all town halls, where it will be displayed as a "WANTED" poster (with maybe a bounty), then the hunt can start!

The inspector is charged with checking that the robber does not cheat, use teleporting, or change his ID description. He must keep his description during 21 days, after that, the case is closed.

0022 The Hunt

Anyone checking the robber's profile can recognize the description, but he needs to "see" him, so either he sees him in a town (looking at Information about the town), or he meets him in a road (screenshot of Memory and vision).

If someone recognizes him in a town, the police come to arrest him, he's caught.

But if someone recognizes him on the roads, [NRP: the bounty hunter sends the screenshot proving he found the robber to the inspector].then there's a RP fight (both strength of the robber(s) and the hunter(s) are compared, the strongest wins.

- If the robber can escape, the bounty hunter can tell where the robber is going, concentrating the hunt...
- If the robber loses his fight, then he's arrested and prosecuted.

In a RP viewpoint: it's safer for a robber to stay on the roads than in a town, but it's more difficult for him to find something to eat. He can flee to another county, but only by walking on roads (no teleportation in colony), the bounty hunter can follow him across county lines, if found and if there's a judicial treaty between the 2 counties, a lawsuit can start as well.

Justice: with this way of handling robbery, robbers have a chance of escaping, but if they are caught, justice has no mercy for them (everything must be given back plus 3 days of jail), the victim can ask for compensation (50 pounds) and to have his items given back, but he's responsible of the bounty.

002 Contempt of Court
1. If any person present in the Court, be they the Public Prosecutor, the defendant or a witness, offends the Court in one of the ways listed below, the Judge may hold them in contempt. All people held in contempt are to be charged forthwith, and are punishable with a fine of up to 10 pounds per offence.

Grounds for contempt are:
- speaking a language other than the King's English before the Court;
- insulting the Court;
- showing disrespect towards the Court and its proceedings.

2. Any defendant sentenced to a punishment other than execution, imprisonment or a fine, shall be held in contempt if they fail to comply with the verdict in their case within a reasonable time.

003 Obstruction of Justice
1. Whosoever shall deliberately hide, conceal or aid any person who has committed a crime under any Law or Decree in effect in the County of Worcestershire, is punishable with one day's imprisonment. This does not apply to anyone acting in the capacity of the defendant's legal counsel.

2. Any official, appointed or elected, who attempts to circumvent or manipulate the valid judicial processes of the County of Worcestershire, is punishable with one day's imprisonment.

VIII. Eighth Book - County
This Book of Law shall contain laws of a specific nature, regulating the extent to which people can hold positions within the County and its Towns.

001 Responsibility of County Officials
Mayors, rector, head ambassador and council members have a charge of responsibility to fulfill their duty. They must always act for the benefit of their town/county and must not use their power for another purpose, including personal benefit or advertising for a private organization.
- If a head ambassador/rector/mayor/council member is inactive during 4 days without warning anybody of his absence, he's considered as dismissal and can be removed of his position
- in a mayor's case, the council can support a rebellion to put the town in better hands. (See IV.003.3. Rebellions against Towns)
- in a council member's case, he will be thrown out of the council forum.
- In a head ambassador or rector's case, he/she will be replaced.

002 Multiple Functions
1. In order to avoid a possible conflict of interest, a player can not be a mayor and be serving as judge, public prosecutor, trade minister, count(ess) or sheriff at the same time.

2. No restrictions apply to the Council positions of Mines Superintendent, Sergeant, Spokesman and Captain.

3. Should this apply to someone, he or she will have to make a decision and give up one of these functions. Giving up the mayor position will have to be dealt with by the mayor and the council, for the good of the town. If a council member violating this rule refuses to resign from one of his/her positions, then the count shall strip them from any office that they hold in the council.

003 Abuse of Power
Any official, appointed or elected, who shall

- abuse the powers of their office;
- grossly neglect their duties;
- act in a way disadvantageous of the people of Worcestershire or any town in Worcestershire;
- and/or commit any deed punishable under the Laws of Worcestershire,

shall be punishable with either:

- imprisonment of up to three days;
- or a fine equal to the worth of the damage done, increased with a percentage between 10 and 25.

In case of an official occupying a position on the Council of Worcestershire, the Judge may also recommend that the convict be dismissed from that position.

004 Political Criminals
Any person having been convicted of a violent or treasonous crime in the Country of England within the last 6 months shall be barred from holding any office in the county of Worcestershire or her towns. Laws involved in this include laws from books 4 Betrayal and 7 Public Disorder. Exemptions to this may be granted by the king, Regent, or a 2/3 majority council vote

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