Principal Author: Bevan of Ravenwood

The Assembly of the Southern Republic establishes this basic legal code to protect the lives and rights of its citizens. While the Republic relies upon its military might to protect it from external enemies, it relies upon its legal code, its watchers, and its judges to protect its people from the imperfections of human nature. In most cases, fines and other payments go in their full amounts to the damaged party. Additional jail time and other forms of service may replace required coin payments of fines.

I. Concerning Homicide
Every person or agent of the republic who kills another person without just cause is liable to pay ten thousand silver pennies. Nine-tenths of the fine goes to the surviving spouse or the victim’s immediate family, and one-tenth goes to the local municipality’s governing body, with the stipulation of spending it on increasing law and order. The judge will decide upon the length of the mandatory prison sentence, but the sentence must number in years. The judge can order the confiscation of the murderer’s property against any owed balance of the fine.

II. Concerning Rape and other Sexual Violence
Every person or agent of the republic who rapes an adult person or engages in sexual activity with a child younger than the age of maturity is liable to pay ten thousand silver pennies. Nine-tenths of the fine goes to the victim, and one-tenth goes to the local municipality’s governing body, with the stipulation of spending it on increasing law and order. The judge will decide upon the length of the mandatory prison sentence, but the sentence must number in years. The judge can order the confiscation of the assailant’s property against any owed balance of the fine.

III. Concerning Injuries and Wounds
A person who maims or removes a hand or foot or gouges or removes an eye, ear, nose, or tongue from another person is liable for a fine of five thousand silver pennies. In cases involving a finger or toe, the fine is two thousand pennies. The fine for other serious injuries ranges from two thousand to five thousand pennies, depending on the judge’s determination.

IV. Concerning Homicide by Gangs of Bandits
The assailants owe a fine of thirty thousand silver pennies. Each person who struck a confirmed blow owes an additional fine of a thousand silver pennies. A judge may award jail time in lieu of the coin, and the judge also must determine or recommend a minimum jail sentence. The state can confiscate into public revenues any additional money or property in the gang’s possession.

V. Concerning the Killing of a Person or Persons in Self-Defense
A judge and a jury must review the situation and determine that the killing was an act of self-defense. In such cases, if the deceased assailant was the parent of a minor child and lacks any other adult family, the state owes a five penny per diem support payment until the child reaches the age of adulthood.

VI. Concerning the Killing of a Person or Persons without Premeditated Intent
In these so-called crimes of passion, the person responsible for the death is liable to pay seventy-five hundred pennies.

VII. Concerning the Killing of a Person or Persons by Accident
The person responsible for the death owes a fine of ten thousand pennies. A judge can determine whether jail time is a warranted, assign custody of any surviving children.

VIII. Concerning the Kidnapping of Men and Women
The kidnapper owes a fine of twenty thousand pennies. A judge determines how much jail time is sufficient.

IX. Concerning the Kidnapping of Children
The kidnapper owes a fine of twenty thousand pennies. A judge determines how much jail time is sufficient. If a child’s parents cannot be found or identified, a judge can award custody to a local family of good reputation or to a church-run orphanage.

X. Concerning Slavery
No person may be held in servitude, and slavery and slave-trading in any forms are forbidden. The minimum penalties includes years in prison, fines, and confiscation of property. A judge sets the level of the penalties based on the extent of the illegal activity. But any person held in servitude illegally is entitled to the equivalent wages of their profession or of a day laborer. In circumstances where these wages cannot come from the fine revenue or confiscated property, the state must pay the person their missing wages due to its inability to protect them.

XI. Concerning Slander
The target of any verbal or written untrue insult is entitled to damages of two hundred to one thousand pennies, depending on the potential reputational harm at stake. In cases in which the assailant lacks sufficient funds to pay the fine, a judge can confiscate property to cover the value of the fine, which is awarded to the target of the slander.

XII. Concerning Arson
Any person who destroys a structure or house by fire is liable for a fine of three thousand pennies to the owner as well as a fine of four thousand pennies to every person inside of structure or home and eight thousand pennies to the surviving family of any person killed in the fire. The perpetrator of the fire is liable for the replacement cost, the cost of usage time lost while the structure or house is out of commission, and the cost of any animals or pets. A judge will determine the level of these additional fines.

XIII. Concerning Theft of Public Revenues
Any elected official or appointed agent of the republic who steals or misuses public revenues is liable to pay the amount of the revenue. In addition, a judge will impose a penalty fine of an amount up to the person’s annual income or the amount in question, whichever number is higher.

XIV. Concerning Illegal Contracts
Any person who hires another person to kill someone is liable for twenty-five hundred pennies and jail time. Any person who accepts such a contract is liable for five thousand pennies and significant jail time. If the contract involves theft of property, the fine is one thousand pennies plus the market value of the property. The person who accepted the contract is liable for two thousand pennies. A judge can determine the appropriate consequence in cases in which the liable parties lack the necessary coin.

XV. Concerning the Bearing of Arms
Any law-abiding citizen possesses the right to own and carry weapons for sport, hunting, and self-defense. Yet brandishing these weapons with the intention to intimidate other non-threatening citizens is liable for a fine of up to one year of the person’s typical wages. A judge can order the confiscation of a weapon against any owed balance of the fine.

XVI. Concerning the Just Administration of the Law
Judges must treat all people, without any category of exception, equally under the law. If they demonstrate egregious favoritism or a pattern of favoritism, the governing authority must remove them from office. If the judge accepted a bribe in return for issuing a favorable judgment, the judge is liable for twice the amount of the bribe. A higher judge will decide upon the length of the mandatory prison sentence and can order the confiscation of the guilty judge’s property against any owed balance of the fine.

XVII. Concerning Torture or Cruel Treatment
No agent of the state or person is allowed to torture or mistreat any person for any reason. A judge must award financial damages to the victim(s) and determined appropriate prison sentences for the perpetrator(s).

XVIII. Concerning Confiscations of Food, Livestock, or Drink
The state’s army must pay for any requisitioned food, livestock, or drink. It must accept the refusal to sell any portions necessary for a seller or family’s survival in the near term.

XIX. Concerning the Failure to Comply with a Proper Legal Summons
A person who ignores a legal summons to a court proceeding is liable for a fine of one thousand pennies. Deputized agents of the court can use force to compel the person to appear in court.

XX. Concerning the Breaking of a Witnessed Contract
Any person who fails to deliver on the terms of a witnessed contract is liable for a fine ranging from one tenth to all of the expected value of the merchandise as well as for any advance payment on the contract. A judge can determine the appropriate penalty for the failure to fulfill the contract.

XXI. Concerning Incitement to Riot or Mob Actions
Any person who incites such an action is liable for a fine of three thousand pennies. Any person who participates is liable for one thousand pennies. The involved parties are collectively responsible for the value of any property damages. The revenue goes to the state or other damaged parties.

XXII. Concerning Voting in Elections and Freedom of Choice
Any person at or above sixteen years of age who holds citizenship by birth or by application is eligible to vote in relevant elections. All voters are eligible to vote by secret ballot.

XXIII. Concerning Freedom of Vocation, Work, and Leisure
Each person has the right to pursue happiness in life. The state can create no artificial barriers to a person’s choice of work, education, or leisure. The necessary measures for public safety are exempted from this law.

XXIV. Concerning the Right to Petition the Court
All people in any territory controlled by the state have the right to seek help or redress from the courts if wrong is done to them. No person charged with a crime will suffer from state-administered tortures of any kind.

XXV. Concerning Freedom of Worship
In no circumstances can the state, city, or town’s governing bodies limit a citizen’s right to practice whatever religion they believe in, so long as the practice of the religion does not violate the rights of other citizens or other laws of the republic.

XXVI. Concerning Private Property
The state or the state’s agents cannot confiscate its people’s property, except in those cases and amounts established in other laws of the legal code. Any wealthy person who owns property in excess of one hundred times the annual wages of a day laborer must tithe a one-tenth portion of their accumulated wealth to a sovereign fund whose annual earnings the state must spend on efforts to improve the circumstances of the poor. Such efforts can include payments for job training or education as well as payments for sustenance, shelter, and clothing.

XXVII. Concerning Punishment by Death
The state may punish people for crimes, but fines or prison sentences are the punishments for most crimes. It can require a lifetime of work or surrender of property as recompense for murder, treason, and other serious crimes. But a judge and jury can dispense a sentence of death in cases involving mass murders, serial murders or repeated murders, treason involving the direct or indirect loss of citizens’ lives, and the murders of multiple non-combatants or prisoners.

XXVIII. Concerning Taxation without Representation
A person or citizen has the right to refuse to pay any fine or tax levied upon them that was not approved by a vote of the state or local assembly. The state and the city have taxation authority to secure revenues necessary for public heath and defense, but people have a right to keep a large share of their earnings and wealth.

XXIX. Concerning Necessary Alterations to Ineffective Governance
The people have the right to repair or replace their government if it fails to defend and protect them. But changes should occur through the process of holding elections and passing legislation, except in cases where the government had descended into illegal tyranny.

XXX. Concerning Inheritance
In the absence of any other will, a widow automatically inherits her husband’s property, and a spouse inherits a spouse’s property. In the absence of a will and a spouse, the property goes in equal shares to surviving children. If no surviving family members identify themselves within a year of the death, the state may confiscate the estate and devote its revenue to improving the lives of its citizenry.

XXXI. Concerning Armed or Violent Banditry
The assailants owe a fine of twenty thousand silver pennies. Each person who used violence or struck a confirmed blow owes an additional fine of a thousand silver pennies. A judge may award jail time in lieu of the coin, and the judge also must determine or recommend a minimum jail sentence. The state can confiscate into public revenues any additional money or property in the gang’s possession.

XXXII. Concerning Harm to Dogs and Other Domesticated Animals
Any person inflicting cruel and unusual punishments upon animals, as opposed to necessary restraints or disciplinary measures, is liable for a fine of five hundred pennies. In extreme cases, a judge may confiscate the animals and sell them for public revenue.

XXXIII. Concerning Damage to Fields, Enclosures, or Structures
Any person guilty of such a crime is liable for a fine of one thousand to two thousand pennies as well as the cost of any repairs and of lost animals. A judge can determined the appropriate fine in specific cases. Any person who finds a branded or marked animal should inquire with the local authorities about the animal’s ownership. Failure to do so is an act of theft.

XXXIV. Concerning Thefts from Households
A person who takes an item from the property but outside the house owes a fine of one thousand pennies plus the item, or value of the item, and the cost of any usage time.

XXXV. Concerning Thefts or Breaking-ins to Homes or Businesses
A person who enters a house and takes an item owes two thousand pennies. plus the item, or value of the item, and the cost of any lost usage time. A person who breaks into a house and takes an item owes three thousand pennies, plus the item, or value of the item, the cost of necessary repairs, and the cost of any lost usage time.

XXXVI. Concerning Thefts from People’s Persons
Any person who steals money or other property from a person is liable for a fine of one thousand pennies. The fine doubles if violence aided the theft.

XXXVII. Concerning the Theft of Horses
Any person who steals a horse is liable for a fine of two thousand pennies and the return of the stolen animals or their purchased equivalents. The fine for a trained warhorse is increased to four thousand pennies.

XXXVIII. Concerning the Theft of Dogs
Any person who steals a dog is liable for a fine of five hundred pennies. The fine for stealing a trained hunting dog is one thousand pennies.

XXXIX. Concerning the Theft of Cows or Oxen
Any person who steals a cow or an ox is liable for a fine of two thousand pennies and the return of the stolen animals or their purchased equivalents. The fine for a bull is increased to three thousand pennies.

XL. Concerning the Theft of Work Animals A judge can award an additional fine for any lost time of usage of the animal.

XLI. Concerning the Theft of Pigs
A person who steals a suckling pig owes a fine of two hundred silver pennies. The fine for an adult pig is eight hundred silver pennies. The person must return the animal or replace its market value and pay an additional per diem fee of five silver pennies.

XLII. Concerning the Theft of Sheep
Any person who steals a sheep is liable for a fee of two thousand pennies and the return of the stolen animals or their purchased equivalents.

XLIII. Concerning the Theft of Goats, Birds, or Bees
Any person who steals a goat, bird, or bee hive is liable for a fee of two thousand pennies and the return of the stolen creatures or their purchased equivalents.

XLIV. Concerning Stolen Game
Any person who hunts and kills game on private land is liable for a fee of two thousand silver pennies and the return of a carcass.

XLV. Concerning False Accusations
Any person who presses false charges against an innocent person is liable for a fine of five thousand pennies.

XLVI. Concerning False Witnessing
Any person who gives false testimony in a court trial is liable for a fine of eight hundred silver pennies.

XLVII. Concerning the Blocking of Roads, Rivers, and Streams
While a landowner enjoys the freedom to alter owned acres, no person had the right to block a road, river, or stream. The state may need, in certain circumstances, to run the path of a road through private land, in which case the owner is owed a one-time payment of fair market value.

XLVIII. Concerning the Adjustments of Fines and Fees
As appropriate over time, the Assembly can vote to adjust the fines and fees to ensure just compensation for the involved parties.

XLIX. Concerning the Right of Appeal
A person can appeal a decision by any lower court to a higher court, up to the highest court of the state, whose decision itself can be overruled by a three-quarters affirmative vote in the Assembly.

L. Concerning Tax Avoidance
If a citizen expects to benefit from the state, he or she must pay a fair share of their income in taxes that go into the public treasury. Therefore, any person avoiding the payment of texts is liable for the missing revenue plus a tenth of their wealth for a first offense, a quarter of their wealth for a second offense, and half of their wealth for a third offense. A fourth offense receives a jail sentence of five years.