Judicial Procedures of the Duchy of Brabant

[SupaSaMM 310]

SCROLL OF PROCEDURE

 

The citizens of Brabant are good and honest people, the judiciary must reflect such traits. One must hold oneself to a standard of transparency and goodness for the dignity of those who find themselves under the scrutiny of our law. To this end, the contents of this document shall elaborate on the judicial procedure of the judiciary for both civil and criminal courts, define the legal punishments, and other important judicial procedures. 

Section 1- Verdict Ex Curia

 

Section 1.1- Verdict upon Arrest

 

1. Upon no question of guilt, the need for a trial is voided, and the arrested criminal may immediately receive judgment by a Judge. 

2. This should be approved by the Chief Justice or Duke before occurring, but if necessary, it can be skipped over. 

3. Upon question of guilt, a court must be convened. 

Section 1.1

Verdict of Bounty

 

1. If the subject of the bounty is wanted alive, then a verdict or court will be granted upon their return.

2. If the subject is wanted dead, the death will be verified and legal procedures for death will take place, once the body is delivered to the state. 

Section 2- Court Procedure

Section 2.1

The Call for Court

 

1. Per the Scroll of Law (refer to section 2, subsections 2-3), any person who attempts, conspires or commits “high crimes” such as treason, murder, poaching, heresy, etc. be subject to immediate prosecution. 

      a. For a crime to be deemed a “high crime”, the Judge must declare it so, after consideration.

1.1. Let any person who commits assault, theft, harassment, or vandalism only be charged if the victim of said crime or the one who accuses such an individual seeks to file charges against the accused.

2. The Judge will review the need of a case and approve or deny it based on legitimacy and need.

3. If approved, the Chief Justice will nominate a Judge to oversee the trial and letters will be sent to all parties involved to summon them to court.

Section 2.2

On Legal Procedure

 

1. All shall rise a moment for the Judge to officially begin court.

 

2. The Judge, after calling order of the defendant and prosecution/plaintiff, will then announce that:

“The trial of ([Defendant] v. [Plaintiff])} is now in session. How does the defendant choose to plea?”

 

3. 1. The defendant may choose to plead that they are either Guilty or Not Guilty. Should the defendant choose a plea of Guilty, then summary punishment may be issued without any further trial by the presiding judge in line with the guidelines espoused in the Scroll of Law. 

      a. If there is an agreement between the prosecution and the defendant for a guilty plea bargain, the judge will move immediately to verdict. 

      b. No judge of Brabant is required to honor a guilty plea bargain but may choose to do so if it does not violate their responsibility of a fair and just court. 

3.2. In the case of a civil court, the two parties are allowed to meet before the Court and settle things out of court but must announce such a deal to the Judge or Chief Justice. 

4. The plaintiff will make an opening statement, summarizing their arguments. The defendant will follow after with their opening statement. Both statements should take a maximum of 15 saints minutes. 

 

5. The prosecution will make their first claim at which then the defense may make a claim of their own and/or refute the claim that the prosecution has made.

      a. All claims must be rooted in evidence or logic that achieves an argument. This must only take a maximum of 15 saint minutes. 

      b. Since judges are not required to have extensive knowledge of all fields of study, they are allowed to ask questions of trusted state members, expert witnesses, and if need be the prosecution or defense so that they can come to a capable understanding of the case at hand 

      c. A judge can call state members to come in as expert witnesses if the judge has a reasonable doubt of the expert witnesses brought in by the court. 

       d. Refer to Procedure of Witnesses for the definition of an expert witness. 

 

6. From there the plaintiff will respond and then the defense may rebutt and so on and so forth. Both parties will be allowed to make claims and counterclaims until the Judge deems the end of the argumentation and moves to closing statements.

      a. Any Objections by each side are to be allowed under any circumstances during and before court, but not after the verdict has been passed or during opening or closing arguments.

 

7.The Judge will finally render a judgment after hearing both closing statements which shall then be executed by the state. Judges must refer to the Scroll of Law on what it takes for them to reach a clear verdict in the case of civil and criminal cases. 

 

8. The judge will then say “It is under this Legal Court that I find the defendant to be [Guilty / Not Guilty] in the matter of [Name] v. [Name].”

8.1 If a specific crime in the Scroll of Law cannot be substantiated, the Judge will recognize that the accused is innocent until guilty in accordance with section 2, subsection 3, article 1 of the Scroll of Law. 

8.2 If it can be, however, the punishment is up to the presiding judge, so long as it is in line with the Scroll of Law and the legal punishments as defined in Section of this document. 

 

9. Finally, if a verdict was issued, the Judge will make their decision. If they assign guilt or deemed the accused to be guilty, they must elaborate on why they chose guilty and what punishment they felt was best. 

 

10. Finally, the Judge adjourns the court, and the trial will end.

 

11. All trials should be documented for future reference by a scribe.

 

Procedures of Physical Evidence:

1.All bloody, liquid, or solid objects deemed of evidence to the trial must be put into an oversized and leak-proof cloth bag to avoid creating a mess in the trial. 

2. All letters/manuscripts/documents and other paper-related evidence that isn’t soiled or found to dirty a crime scene will be allowed to be presented as they are. 

3. Both parties must have access and ability to see the evidence but may not tamper with it anyway. 

 

Procedure of Witnesses/Testimonials 

 

Types of Witnesses:
Fact witnesses are witnesses who have knowledge and testify about what happened. A fact witness is someone who can speak about what they witnessed for the case at hand or in criminal cases can also be the victims at hand.

 

Insider/character witnesses have a direct connection with the accused or other witnesses and speak more to the accused or witness's character or personality and may or may not be Fact witnesses also. 

 

Expert witnesses testify about matters within the field of their expertise that relates to the case, i.e doctors for a point about medical injuries or wounds. 

 

If either side presents a witness or testimonial, that side will be allowed to ask as many questions until the Judge deems it unnecessary. Both sides must tell the other of the witness they intend to bring to court.

 

After that, the other side may ask questions to examine or cross-examine the witness, until that side rests or the judge deems it unnecessary.

 

Procedures of Demonstration:
Sometimes, it can be useful to demonstrate a point or an argument and so sometimes a demonstration is allowed to take place. There is no need for either party to disclose when, how, or what type of demonstration they wish to use, only that they just make the judge aware 5 minutes prior to when they do it by either coming up to the judge during trial and approaching his bench or in private recess. 

 

Section 3-Legal Punishments 

 

The punishments listed below are not tied to any specific crime and are simply the procedure that must take place if a Judge chooses a guilty verdict and a punishment to fit it. No judge can give a punishment outside of the Legal Punishments below but will have the authority to choose how each punishment may be enacted but is not to create new ones or inventive ones of his own. 

Section 3.1

Punishment by Fine

1.A fine may be given out by a judge on the spot or during his verdict. 

2.All fines must be executed by the state, ensuring proper dues to the state

3.If unable to pay the fine, a person will receive jail time or be forced to pay such fine in different manners not limited to seizure of personal property or mandatory labor, or payment of items of a physical nature. 

Section 3.2

Punishment of a Physical Nature 

 

1. If a crime warrants such punishment of a physical nature that induces bodily harm, such as lashing, stoning, etc , a doctor must be at hand to administer healthcare to the accused afterwards.

Section 3.3

Punishment by Exile

 

1. If a person is punished with exile, they will be given a Saint’s Day to remove their belongings from the city before they are placed in exile.

2. Following this a sketch should be made of the person. This sketch and their name will be posted in the gatehouse, for any guard to see should the person try to return.

3. Should they return before their exile is over, they will be subject to death or jail time for life. 

4. Exilement can be appealed

      a. If this is the case, the person punished should send a letter to The Magister, who will then review the case and determine the course of action from there. 

      b. If another court is needed to be held, then another court will take place and work on similar grounds to mistrial. 

      c. A letter shall be sent to the exiled individual once their period of exile is over, notifying them that they are free to return should they please.

Section 3.4

Punishment by Execution

 

1. Should a person be sentenced to death, their death will be dealt with humanely.

2. The punished may call for their last rites, as afforded to them by the canonist church, should they be a canonist.

3. Executions are to be performed by knights of the Order of the Titan, with a clergyman to oversee the execution.

 

Section 3.5

Punishment of Repeat Offenders

1. Any criminal who has before been found guilty of doing the same crime repeatedly (typically for 3–4 counts), will have their punishment increased from the original verdicts of their previous trials. 

2. Criminals who have done different but more than 1 offense of crime to the state will be left under a Judge’s purview on how to follow forward. 

Section 4

Legal Procedures of the Judiciary 

 

Section 4.1

 On Prisoners of War

 

1. Should an enemy be captured in war, their fate may be decided by the Order of the Titan with a trial being overlooked due to the circumstances.

2. Should there be a disagreement about how to handle this situation, the view of the Judge or Duke will supersede the military officials.

Section 4.2

Procedure on Crimes done by the Order of the Titan

 

1. If a member of the Order of the Titan commits an offense that is not a high crime, their case may be handled by the Head of the Order.

2. If a member of Order of the Titan commits an offense that is a higher crime like assault, mutilation, murder or treason, they will receive a Judicial investigation and a subsequent trial.

         a. Arrest and jail time until arraignment are to be decided by the Order or the Judiciary.

3. Any cruel or unusual punishments carried about an order of the Titan member can also be investigated judicially and receive trial. 

Section 4.4

Procedure of Marriage

 

1. The state recognizes a citizen's right to marry as stated in section 4, section 1, article 4 of the Scroll of Law. 

2. Once the marriage has taken place, it shall be recognized and into recorded. 

Section 4.5

Procedure of Mistrial

 

1. The Scroll of Law guarantees that a mistrial will be held if the original trial contained a significant failure of the legal defense of the accused in accordance with section 2, subsection 3 and Section 4, Subsection 2, Subdivision 3 of the Scroll of Law. 

2. Any irregularities of court that could cause a person to have been deemed guilty of doing instead of innocent are also grounds for a mistrial. 

           a. Failure of fact witnesses to arrive, erroneous or false information by expert witnesses, incorrect evidence or false evidence that could have changed the verdict or opinion of the court count as irregularities. 

3. A regular court will then take place to investigate the crimes and if the accused is deemed innocent they will be made innocent of all the crimes that he was charged with and the state will award appropriate compensation. 

4. If the individual was executed, they will be posthumously declared innocent of all crimes. 

Section 4.6

Procedure of the False Witness 

 

1. If a fact, insider/character, or expert witness is found to be lying, it shall be at the discretion of the judge of what they shall proceed but a charge of obstruction will be charged. 

1.1 A judge may call for a verdict upon arrest, if there is no question or beyond reasonable belief any longer that the witness was lying or in any way obstructing justice. 

1.2 If there exists any reasonable doubt, then a separate trial for the accused witness shall be held to determine if that accused will be charged with an obstruction of justice. 

Conclusion 

 

Within this document, it has contained upon itself the procedures of verdict, the establishment of punishments, and the important judicial procedures that must take place for a healthy and necessary judiciary. This document can and will be allowed to have additions and deletions, as long as both the Chief Justice and the Duke have given assent to such changes. Furthermore, all changes in the scroll of law that will directly change this document must also then be modified accordingly.