Patrica C. Wrede's Worldbuilder Questions

Crime and the Legal System

• How has the presence of magic and magicians affected law and government? Are wizards barred from certain kinds of jobs (judge, jury, police)? Do some jobs require that their holder be a wizard?
• What are considered normal and legal ways of gathering evidence and determining guilt? Is torture allowed? Truth spells? Are arbitrary judgements by the lord or landowner allowed, or is there a standard that they are supposed to follow?
• If someone doesn't like the judgement he receives in court, is there anyone he can appeal to, like the Emperor or the Supreme Court?
• Are there laws forbidding certain types of people (peasants, wizards, priests, women) from carrying arms? Are there laws requiring certain people to be skilled with certain weapons, as England for some centuries required yeomen to be proficient with the longbow?
• Is forensic magic possible? Commonly used? Admissible in court? Used only for certain types of crimes (and if so, what)? Is it something any wizard can do, or do you have to specialize?
• Are certain spells (as opposed to magic generally) illegal? If so, how would a criminal magician be detected? Apprehended? Punished? Are criminal magicians dealt with by the same court system as everyone else, or is there a special branch of the courts, or are they handled by the Wizard's Guild, or do you just send out a bunch of heroes to kill them off?
• Are there separate courts for civil and criminal matters? For magical and non-magical matters? For humans and non-humans? What are the differences?
• What things are considered truly serious crimes and why? (Example: a trade-oriented culture might consider counterfeiting a death-penalty crime; in a place where life is cheap, murder might be something that only results in a small fine.)
• What are the punishments for serious vs. minor crimes? Are there prisons, or are people punished and released? Are there degrees of punishment--branding vs. cutting off ears vs. cutting off a hand vs. decapitation--or do they just hang everybody?
• Who is responsible for catching criminals? Who pays the crook-catchers--the king, the city government, a consortium of merchants, somebody else? How are they organized--into independent police precincts, or into overlapping districts, or just according to whoever wants to hire them?
• Are there lawyers or advocates? Who can afford them? Who trains and/or certifies them?
• Are people guilty until proven innocent, innocent until proven guilty, or does it depend on the mood the lord is in when the case comes in front of him?
• Are there judges other than the lord/king or landowner? If so, how are they paid, and by whom? How often are outlying areas likely to see a judge? Is "mob justice" common? Approved of or disapproved of?
• Are there sumptuary laws requiring certain clothes to be worn or not worn by certain occupations or classes? Do judges wear robes or wigs?
• Are highwaymen, muggers, bandits, or pirates common or rare? What sorts of crimes would the average citizen be likely to run across during his/her lifetime?
• Who can make or repeal laws--a group (such as an elected Senate, an appointed Council, or an hereditary House of Lords) or only the king/emperor/head-of-state?
• How are alleged criminals treated before/after their convictions? Do the police/military/city guard make a practice of roughing up suspects, or is this frowned upon?

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