Worcester Laws

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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.

005 Payment of Fines in Hides

Fines issued by the court are to be paid via the purchase(s) of judge nominated county hide (s) in such quantities that the sum paid shall equate to the fine assessed plus 15 pounds per such hide. The hide is to be resold to the county buying agent assigned for such purpose at 15 pounds immediately after purchase. This is applicable to all laws excluding the contempt of court law (article VII 002). In the event the guilty party does not pay within one week they will be charged with Contempt of Court but assessed a fine double that which was to be paid via the purchase of such hide(s), or the sum of 100 pounds plus that original fine, whichever is lower. Should a case become subject to the court of appeals the guilty party is not required to pay the fine until a verdict is reached within that court. The appeal must be lodged within one week of the original verdict for this to apply.

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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, subvert, sabotage, or attack the King, the Regent, 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 County, Regent, any County town without Council authorization, or King shall be guilty of high 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 authorised 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 govenment is punishable with imprisonment, at the discretion of the Judge. The Council will be authorised 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. Council permission is to be decided by Simple Majority Vote as defined in Book the First, I. a) Council procedures, Section 1.

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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.

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VI. Sixth Book - Fraud

This Book of Law shall contain laws carrying punishment, to be prosecuted under the "fraud" indictment. The Provisions of Section 001 shall not apply to Town Halls, the Sheriff, or the Trade Minister. "Town Halls" shall herein be defined as Mayors and their grantholders. "Sheriff" and "Trade Minister" shall be defined as persons holding those offices and all County grantholders.

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 pounds
Maximum price: 4 pounds

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

00223 Flour
Recommended selling price: 15 pounds
Maximum price: 16 pounds

00224 Bread
Recommended selling price: 6.50 pounds
Maximum price: 7 pounds

00225 Wood
Recommended selling price: 4 pounds
Maximum price: 5 pounds

0023
To facilitate the reporting of such fraud, in event of conviction, the County shall arrange for persons reporting the crimes to be recompensed the cost of such fraudulently priced goods as they may have purchased.

0024

Where cases of fraud involve the vagrancy {NRP: Level 0}, the Public Prosecutor shall - if complaint involves a first time offense - refer the accused to the Chief Mentor within his or her town for counseling. The person accused, and said Mentor, must provide proof of such meeting. If the person accused declines to meet with said Mentor within two weeks from the posting of complaint in the Public Prosecutor's office, then the Public Prosecutor may file charges providing the person accused is alive.

003 Strategic goods

This Law intends to cover all eventualities in regards to strategic goods.

0031 Definitions

1. Strategic goods are defined as iron ore ounces.
2. A blacksmith is defined as a person who owns a blacksmith's workshop in a town in Worcester.
3. An agent is defined as a person who acts under a grant from a County or Town Hall concerning the trade in any strategic good.

0032 Purchase and possession of strategic goods

Strategic goods may only be purchased and held by the County, Town Halls, blacksmiths and agents whose grant provides for trading the strategic good concerned. Agents from out of county who trade in strategic goods are required to sell such goods only to Town Halls or the County.

0033 Export of strategic goods

No strategic goods may be exported to Counties and Towns outside of Worcester County, by any persons except the Trade Minister and only then when authorized by the Count.

0034 Sale of strategic goods

No blacksmith may sell strategic goods, except directly to the County of Worcester or a Town Hall in Worcester.

0035 Punishments

1. At the first offense, the offender should be alerted that he has comitted an offense and be given the chance to return the strategic goods to Worcester.

2. Any individual, private or otherwise, violating any provision in this Law is punishable for the

1st offense: 10 pounds per strategic good + 1 day in a mine in Worcester per 5 ores/ounces (rounded up);
2nd offense: 15 pounds per strategic good + 1 day in a mine in Worcester per 4 ores/ounces (rounded up);
3rd and further offenses: 18 pounds per strategic good + 1 day in a mine in Worcester per 3 ores/ounces (rounded up).

3. Any Mayor violating any provision in this Law is also punishable with a 50 pounds fine per ore/ounce. The Judge may also recommend that the convict be dismissed from their position.

4. Any Sheriff or Trade Minister violating any provision in this Law is also punishable with a 100 pounds fine per ore/ounce. The Judge may also recommend that the convict be dismissed from their position.

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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 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.
3. Whoever wounds or kills another person in the defence against an immediate and unlawful attack, is not punishable.

002 RP Robbery
0021 Criminal RP Handling

When any one or more robberies are being alleged to have been committed, the complainant shall forward evidence and documentation (NRP:screenshot) of the crime being alleged, including location,and estimation of the amount stolen, to his Mayor or the Public Prosecutor.The names of alleged robbers should not be disclosed by complainants in the forum, but should be forwarded instead to the Constable (NRP: by PM or by IG mail). The Constable shall then begin an investigation. If the name of alleged robbers is filed with the Public Prosecutors office (NRP: via the Public Prosecutor thread on the RK main forum), the Public Prosecutor will forward that information to the Constable.

(NRP: The Constable will send alleged robbers 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 Constable has the description of an alleged robber, he will post it in all town halls, where it will be displayed as a "WANTED" poster (maybe with a bounty), to begin the hunt. The Constable will be charged with checking that the alleged 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.

In all cases where "Constable" is discussed within sections 0021 or 0022, the Count(ess) can elect to task the Captain, Sergeant, or someone else with such responsibilities noted.

0022 The Hunt

Anyone checking on profiles can recognize the description, but he needs to "see" the alleged robbers, so one either sees him in a town (looking at Information about the town), or he meets him in a road (NRP:screenshot of Memory and vision). If someone recognizes him in a town and provides the Constable with evidence of this, the police are considered to have made an arrest.

If someone recognizes him on the roads [NRP: the bounty hunter sends the screenshot proving he found the alleged robber to the Constable, then there's an RP fight (NRP:both strength of the alleged robber(s) and the hunter(s) are compared, and 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.

The bounty hunter can follow the fugitive across county lines. If the fugitive is found and if there's a judicial treaty between the 2 counties, a lawsuit can start as well.

The crime is punishable by 3 days in jail and return of all stolen goods to the victim. The victim may request additional 50 pounds compensation, but is responsible for payment of any bounties the victim may have commissioned.

003 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, except in such cases as where persons fined decline to buy county nominated hides in which case the fine is as noted in Book I, Section 005.

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.
-Failing to purchase county nominated hides as payment of fines

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.

004 Obstruction of Justice

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.

§1º The filing of charges with the Public Prosecutor's office by the Judge shall be defined as a manipulation of the valid judicial processes prosecutable under this act, as shall any Public Prosecutor's indictment based on any such a filing.

§2º The filing of charges with the Public Prosecutor's office by the Judge in instances cited by section 002 from Book VI, and all crimes under Book II may be by the Count excused from prosecution in only those cases where the Judge himself is alleged to be the victim of said crimes, due to how sentencing in such cases is without judicial discretion.

§3º In case the judge be robbed himself, the starting of the prescription time of 21 days - as cited in section 0021 of Book VII - will be considered the day the judge leaves his office. The citizen that is a judge can file with the Public Prosecutor's office to start the hunt, but not the trial.

§4º The judge that disrespects this law will be subject to penalties cited in this section, as well as Abuse of Power provisions in section 005 of Book VII, and may be relieved of his position as Judge.

§5º Conditions above enumerated are not exhaustive of other forms of manipulation of the valid judicial processes.

005 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 Worcester County or any town in Worcestershire;
- and/or commit any deed in Worcester County that is punishable under the Laws of Worcester County,

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 Worcester County, the Judge may also require that the convict resign and that the Count remove the convict from Council Chambers.

006 Unauthorized Armed Groups and Armies

No military organization or group of combative nature is allowed to move, exist or recruit in the County of Worcester without Charter. Persons involved in groups of combative or military nature violating this provision shall respond for the charge of Public Disorder to be tried by a competent tribunal. County council can excuse armed groups from this provision by simple majority vote as defined by County laws, upon petition. Military groups under the control of Mayors elected and/ or the County Council -and armed groups of no more than four persons - remain exempt from this provision.

006.1 The crime of being involved in unauthorized armed groups and armies shall be punishable with imprisonment of up to three days and a fine of up to 500 pounds as per discretion of the Judge.

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