The New Legal Module

Day 2,007, 14:14 • Published in USA USA • by Kara Zor El

Look everbody! It's me writing another article again! What can I say? I'm inspired. Last time we met, I put forth my ridiculous idea for category #2 in Gnilraps contest. Hopefully, it meets the standards to win. This time, I'm going to choose the more serious route and lay out my idea for a new and cool feature in eRep; answering the question:

"With all of the huge piles of greenbacks Plato is rolling in from the MU Contest, what ONE cool feature should they develop for our game?"

I propose that a new Court System module be created. Included, would be a Military Court system. It would involve many aspects and be complicated. There would be judges, lawyers, plaintiffs, defendants, juries, court clerks & a bailiff to make sure procedure is followed. There would be an appeals and supreme court. There would be would be a set of laws and designated ingame penalties for breaking each law. There would be court procedures which each participant would have to follow. All court proceeding would take place in an ingame forum type setting.

Judges



Players who desire to become judges would have to pass a test (bar exam) to prove they are qualified to conduct proceedings. They would have to demonstarte familiarity with all court procedures and all laws. Only those who receive certification can run for a judge's seat in an ingame election which they will have to campaign for. The amount of judge's seats available will be determined by a pecentage of the population in each country.

Lawyers



Anyone who candidates for judge and fails to get a seat would have 24 hours to decide whetheror not to accept a positon as a public defender. Any spots left open for public defender will be filled by those who candidate for the public defender position. Potential lawyers must pass a bar exam before they can run ingame. Those who get elected will become public defenders and serve with no compensation. Retired public defenders and unelected qualified lawyers can sell their attorney skills to those who afford to pay them. Lawyers would be respopnsible for making sure plaintiffs and defendants know how to conduct themself in court.



Juries



Jury Pools will be picked at random like in RL. You will receive a notice ingame that you have been chosen for a jury. You are obligated to participate. If you get chosen from the pool, participate and deliver a verdict or see the case through, you get a 5 gold medal for service. If you do not get chosen for the case, you get 2 gold for your trouble.

If you do not respond to the jury summons or click on the option to refuse, then you will be fined and lose all ingane voting rights for at least 30 days. You may ask for a later date. You may appeal for hardship reasons. You may not be required to serve in a jury within 90 days of serving previously.

Court Clerks



Maintain and upkeep all court files and written procedures.

Bailiff



Keeps order in the court and moderates proceedings. Must pass bar exam. Position is not elected, but rather an assigned post.

Appeals Court



Certain cases are appealabe and this court is where it happens.

Supreme Court



This court is similar to RL in the kind of cases it decides and how it is formed. The President will nominate people and the Congress will vote on who fills the court. Appointments are lifetime and retired judge's positons will be replaced by the same process of Presidential nomination and Congress approval.

Military Court



Any issues involving the military or MU's would be dealt with in this Court. There would be a JAG and Sergeant at Arms. In this court, you can have a regiment captain put on trial for insubordination (setting wrong DO, inactivity, etc.). A guilty verdict or non appearance will result in removal from the Captain position and the Commander can assign a new one. You could also put someone on trial for fighting on the enemy's side in an important battle and temporarily take away ingame privileges (i.e use of rockets, zookas, and EB's) as punishment.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea. I hope you enjoyed reading this. Happy clicking.