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Last time I covered currency and trade for your world. This time we are going to discuss crime and legal systems!
Crime and Other Laws
To start, every country has laws. Some more stringent than others but there is at least a standard of laws you need to have. Is magical illegal? Or only certain spells? Or, if magic doesn’t exist in your world, are there certain weapons that are illegal? How does your society feel about murder? Or theft? Even if you have an apocolypse scenario like The Walking Dead, where they did have established communities, each community had its own laws. Some were more democratic while others like Negan, were authoratative and saw no issue with eliminating those who stood in his way. And brutally.
What I’m saying is, you have to establish at least a framework for what’s acceptable and unacceptable in your world. Address things like murder, kidnapping, rape, theft, and magic (if you have it). Maybe spells are only allowed by those trained and licensed. Or only certain spells are allowed. The Harry Potter series had this with the Unforgivable Curses and those under 17 not being allowed to use magic
Or maybe some laws are more extreme for non-human species or don’t apply to nobility or the incredibly wealthy. In the U.S. those with money tend to be provided more lenient sentences than those of us plebians. The laws should apply equally to everyone. But they never do.
Legal Systems
Next you need to decide on your legal system. Who has the authority to create and enforce this system? Today, most legal systems are created by a legislative body. Usually these are elected officials, but they can be created by a monarch or a duke, etc. Some different types of legal systems are:
Civil or Statutory Law
This is usual a dispute between private citizens versus a governmental or military body. Civil court in the U.S. exists to solve these disagreements.
Let’s say you hit me in a car accident and we both stop and you don’t want to go through your insurance, but assure me that you will pay for my damages. I provide you an estimate for $2,000 and you say it’s too expensive and your guy can do it for $500. I don’t want your guy to do it. I want you to pay for my estimate, so I sue you in civil court and a judge will more likely than not, determine that you have to pay me for my damages and that I can choose who I want to fix my vehicle. But, perhaps the judge agrees with you that the estimate is too high and knocks it down to $1000. This is a resolution, albeit perhaps we are both unhappy because you have to pay me double what you were willing and I have to accept half of what I wanted.
Common Law
This type of law is where standing precedent typically becomes the accepted verdict instead of statutes. In the U.S.,Obergefell v. Hodges was decided in 2014 to legalize same-sex marriage in all 50 states.
My wife and I live in Massachusetts, which authorized same-sex marriage beginning in 2004 (yay, Massachusetts), but we got married in New Hampshire. Obergefell v. Hodges made it the law of the land that my marriage has to be recognized in every state in the country and every state must issue marriage licenses and perform legal ceremonies, regardless of your personal or religious beliefs. However, with the reversal of Roe v. Wade, it’s possible that could be something that comes under attack as well.
So while there could be a long standing precedent (Roe v. Wade was adapted in the 1970s), it can be reversed. When there is no precedent, or no longer any precedent, courts refer to traditional written laws. This is why the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that an 1864 law banning all abortions unless necessary to save the life of the person giving birth is now in effect. It’s a written law and Roe v. Wade is no longer considered a right for anyone with a uterus. This type of reversal could be used in your writing to create conflict and tension (Handmaid’s Tale, anyone?").
Religious Law
Religious law is a legal system that is governed by religious beliefs, principles, and teachings that impact every day life such as morality, lifestyle, and social relations. This is a type of law dictated by a god or other deity and therefore, religous scholars and clergy interpret the laws and have an enormous amount of influence.
Acts considered sinful or immoral would be considered illegal and would have stiff penalties or jail time. Praying, fasting, and even charity would most likely be mandated.
The punishment for crimes would be dictated by religous teachings and beliefs. So corporal punishment, public shaming, and even execution are all on the table.
Morality police may even be employed to watch over people’s public behaviour and ensure they are adhering to the law, such as dress codes, social interactions, and even possibly gender segregation. But it sounds more like a group of tattle tales to me.
Anyone not adhering to that religious belief would possibly face restrictions on their own personal beliefs or even execution. Queen Mary I, the daughter of King Henry VIII did this when she attempted to restore Catholicism as the country’s religion. She had Protestants burned for heresy, so many of them had to practice their faith in private.
Criminal Law
Criminal law is when the government prosecutes an individual for a crime such as murder, kidnapping, assault, etc. There is often a procedure for investigating, gathering evidence, arresting someone, indicting them, taking them to trial (if your world has that), sentencing, etc. The U.S. operates on the assumption you are innocent until proven guilty in a court. But maybe your society has a council or the proceedings are overseen by a monarch or other government head. Or, perhaps, trials are biased and the accused can select a trial by ordeal or combat. Tyrion Lannister did this in Game of Thrones when he is accused of murdering King Joffrey.
This video is a great resource and is only about 10 minutes long.
Conclusion
I hope this has been helpful with your world building and concludes the section on Society and Politics. Next I will focus on Culture and History. Write On!
Further Reading
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