The Judicial system in Aotearoa is most similar to Common Law, but there are elements of traditional Maori Law. The law is very much Lawyer based, following evidence and convincing cases. There is a jury present, who are involved in determining the outcome of the cases. This is to prevent all the power of deciding a person’s fate or punishment from being in one person’s hands. The Judge is seen as a leader for the case, controlling who speaks and whether certain action are allowed to take place in the Court. The judge acts as a sort of referee, calling out and making sure people are in line during the case.
Each city or town has its own courts, but Major Cases such as First Degree Murder, Treason or Terrorism for example are handled in the larger cities (Coast City, Greybrick and Walderton). Small time cases like robbery or driving under the influence are handled in the local courts. The major cases, the examples mentioned above, are handled in the Supreme Court. These cases, while still having a jury and an audience, are led by a panel of 5 Justices. These Justices are elected every 2 years, and are picked from the existing judges in other cities and towns.
Suspects in cases can be taken into police custody, but are considered innocent until proven guilty. Depending on the case they are involved in, they will have different benefits as an innocent person. They have the right to an attorney, and will be supplied with one, if they fail to acquire one by a certain date.
Laws are made in parliament, not by one single person. Laws can be changed, if the parliament supports the change. Reasons to change laws in Aotearoa include new social beliefs, new social standards, and international law to name a few.
Example of some laws:
Law to Equality - Every gender, race and sexuality must earn the same for each job and be treated no different from one another.
Law against Slavery - No person may serve under another as a slave/servant or other forms of unpaid harsh labour.
Law to fair treatment - Every person will be treated fairly before the law, no matter social status, income, wealth, race, nationality, gender or sexuality. Every person shall be granted a fair public trial
Law to privacy - Every person that be free from invasions of privacy, such as home invasion by the government, or gathering private data on a person’s family.
Law to marriage and family - Partners, no matter race, gender or sexuality, are permitted to make a family and be legally married.
Law to Property - Every person has the right to personal or private property that is theirs. If these items are taken away from him against the law, this is considered a violation of this persons rights and a crime. The Country may confiscate certain items, if these owning this items is against the law or if these items may be used as evidence in a court case.
Law to freedom of belief or religion - Every person is permitted by the law to believe or not believe in whatever or whomever they please, and no person can deny another person’s right to this. If a person is to attack/insult or otherwise harm ones culture or beliefs the person attacked can take legal action upon the attacker. Committing a crime under the principles of ones beliefs, however, does not grant the offender immunity from the law.
Punishment for breaking the law:
Each different law has a different repercussion for breaking it. Punishments are fair and equal, not depending on gender or race. Punishments in Aotearoa focus more on rehabilitation and behaviour correcting. The prisons are more about correcting how someone would act and, if ignorance of the law is the reason behind the crime/offence, education of the law.
Drugs or alcohol are not treated as a crime, but a health issue. Alcohol is legal for people of age 18 and above. Most drug substances, apart from Cigarettes/Smoking and Marijuana, are legal for recreational purposes. People who commit crimes under the influence of either illegal substances or alcohol are not sent to regular prison, but instead sent to rehabilitation. At these rehabilitation centres, the focus is getting away from negative drug or alcohol habits that may have caused the crime. The most prominent example of an offense that would result in being set to recover from negative habits would be DUI (Driving under the Influence). If the case is serious enough, or the user of the substances damages the environment or people, they can also be given a minimum of a month’s
Illegal Drug trafficking/distribution is not the same case. Being caught smuggling illegal substances into Aotearoa will result in at least a 20 year sentence. If a smuggler is directly involved with another case of drug abuse, the dealer/supplier will be given a far harsher sentence.
Capital punishment is not used in Aotearoa. The Aotearoa government rid the judicial system of Capital punishment in 1951, but the life sentence is reserved for Murder, Rape, possession/distribution of child pornography and Terrorism. Committing Murder will result in a life sentence, including community service. Those guilty of Murder will be sent for a mental evaluation, to better understand the cause and reasoning behind the crime. Rapists will also be sent for a mental evaluation, and the victim of the crime is sent to post-trauma therapy. Possession/Distribution of child pornography results in life sentence without Community service. People who commit rape or child pornography will be kept in certain prisons. People who commit acts of terror will be held in captivity, and those connected to the offender will be monitored by the government to avoid further incidents. After approx. 20 years of sentence, the offender of any of these crimes is sent for evaluation. If the offender hasn’t caused any incidents and has had good attendance to the rehabilitation sessions over this time, they can be released into the public. They will still have to do community service as a job. Their social interactions and behaviour will be monitored by the government for a time.
As preserving the environment is a central focus of the Government, harming, moving or otherwise disrupting the environment will result in a month of environment related community service and fines. These fines vary from £100 - £10 000, depending on the offense. An example of an offense that would result in a small fine would be littering. A larger offence, resulting in a far larger fine, would be setting off a wildfire. Other examples include cutting down a tree or forestry without government approval.
Prisons
throughout Aotearoa, there are multiple detainment centres. As mentioned above, these locations focus on behaviour correcting and rehabilitation, making sure that the people with minor offenses are prepared to become functioning members of the community once again. They have sessions explaining and reaffirming why their past actions were wrong, and instructing them how to be members of society once again. These prisons have different "activities" to pass the time. These include exercise, cooking lessons, and farming, among other thing. The prisons function similarly to a school, with set timetables for each inmate with different activates and sessions each day.
In 1947, Parliament passed a law that demanded that certain standards be met in prisons across the country. They did this to ensure that ex-inmates would be willing to come back to society. Every prison had to be rebuilt to meet the following standards:
Police
Police in Aotearoa are focused on helping the society. Police are sent out for any crime or investigation, and each city has at least one precinct. The major cities have 3 each. The police force in Aotearoa are tasked with negotiation instead of outright arrests and combat. They are instructed to figure out the situation before taking anyone in. If the situations escalate, the police are armed with batons and Tasers. Special Forces are armed with Light assault rifles and weapons loaded with bean bag rounds.
Police corruption is a problem internationally, and Aotearoa has measures to prevent as much corruption as possible. In 1992 the government developed the Anti-Corruption act, in which Police Officers who discover evidence proving corruption among their fellow officers are given a bonus. The bonus to their pay is given after an investigation is carried out on the parties involved. If their information is proved false, and they have reason to believe the person who filed it did so just to earn the bonus, the original police officer is given extra hours with no pay. The investigation is handled by the government and the offender is heavily fined with possibility of time in jail.
Each city or town has its own courts, but Major Cases such as First Degree Murder, Treason or Terrorism for example are handled in the larger cities (Coast City, Greybrick and Walderton). Small time cases like robbery or driving under the influence are handled in the local courts. The major cases, the examples mentioned above, are handled in the Supreme Court. These cases, while still having a jury and an audience, are led by a panel of 5 Justices. These Justices are elected every 2 years, and are picked from the existing judges in other cities and towns.
Suspects in cases can be taken into police custody, but are considered innocent until proven guilty. Depending on the case they are involved in, they will have different benefits as an innocent person. They have the right to an attorney, and will be supplied with one, if they fail to acquire one by a certain date.
Laws are made in parliament, not by one single person. Laws can be changed, if the parliament supports the change. Reasons to change laws in Aotearoa include new social beliefs, new social standards, and international law to name a few.
Example of some laws:
Law to Equality - Every gender, race and sexuality must earn the same for each job and be treated no different from one another.
Law against Slavery - No person may serve under another as a slave/servant or other forms of unpaid harsh labour.
Law to fair treatment - Every person will be treated fairly before the law, no matter social status, income, wealth, race, nationality, gender or sexuality. Every person shall be granted a fair public trial
Law to privacy - Every person that be free from invasions of privacy, such as home invasion by the government, or gathering private data on a person’s family.
Law to marriage and family - Partners, no matter race, gender or sexuality, are permitted to make a family and be legally married.
Law to Property - Every person has the right to personal or private property that is theirs. If these items are taken away from him against the law, this is considered a violation of this persons rights and a crime. The Country may confiscate certain items, if these owning this items is against the law or if these items may be used as evidence in a court case.
Law to freedom of belief or religion - Every person is permitted by the law to believe or not believe in whatever or whomever they please, and no person can deny another person’s right to this. If a person is to attack/insult or otherwise harm ones culture or beliefs the person attacked can take legal action upon the attacker. Committing a crime under the principles of ones beliefs, however, does not grant the offender immunity from the law.
Punishment for breaking the law:
Each different law has a different repercussion for breaking it. Punishments are fair and equal, not depending on gender or race. Punishments in Aotearoa focus more on rehabilitation and behaviour correcting. The prisons are more about correcting how someone would act and, if ignorance of the law is the reason behind the crime/offence, education of the law.
Drugs or alcohol are not treated as a crime, but a health issue. Alcohol is legal for people of age 18 and above. Most drug substances, apart from Cigarettes/Smoking and Marijuana, are legal for recreational purposes. People who commit crimes under the influence of either illegal substances or alcohol are not sent to regular prison, but instead sent to rehabilitation. At these rehabilitation centres, the focus is getting away from negative drug or alcohol habits that may have caused the crime. The most prominent example of an offense that would result in being set to recover from negative habits would be DUI (Driving under the Influence). If the case is serious enough, or the user of the substances damages the environment or people, they can also be given a minimum of a month’s
Illegal Drug trafficking/distribution is not the same case. Being caught smuggling illegal substances into Aotearoa will result in at least a 20 year sentence. If a smuggler is directly involved with another case of drug abuse, the dealer/supplier will be given a far harsher sentence.
Capital punishment is not used in Aotearoa. The Aotearoa government rid the judicial system of Capital punishment in 1951, but the life sentence is reserved for Murder, Rape, possession/distribution of child pornography and Terrorism. Committing Murder will result in a life sentence, including community service. Those guilty of Murder will be sent for a mental evaluation, to better understand the cause and reasoning behind the crime. Rapists will also be sent for a mental evaluation, and the victim of the crime is sent to post-trauma therapy. Possession/Distribution of child pornography results in life sentence without Community service. People who commit rape or child pornography will be kept in certain prisons. People who commit acts of terror will be held in captivity, and those connected to the offender will be monitored by the government to avoid further incidents. After approx. 20 years of sentence, the offender of any of these crimes is sent for evaluation. If the offender hasn’t caused any incidents and has had good attendance to the rehabilitation sessions over this time, they can be released into the public. They will still have to do community service as a job. Their social interactions and behaviour will be monitored by the government for a time.
As preserving the environment is a central focus of the Government, harming, moving or otherwise disrupting the environment will result in a month of environment related community service and fines. These fines vary from £100 - £10 000, depending on the offense. An example of an offense that would result in a small fine would be littering. A larger offence, resulting in a far larger fine, would be setting off a wildfire. Other examples include cutting down a tree or forestry without government approval.
Prisons
throughout Aotearoa, there are multiple detainment centres. As mentioned above, these locations focus on behaviour correcting and rehabilitation, making sure that the people with minor offenses are prepared to become functioning members of the community once again. They have sessions explaining and reaffirming why their past actions were wrong, and instructing them how to be members of society once again. These prisons have different "activities" to pass the time. These include exercise, cooking lessons, and farming, among other thing. The prisons function similarly to a school, with set timetables for each inmate with different activates and sessions each day.
In 1947, Parliament passed a law that demanded that certain standards be met in prisons across the country. They did this to ensure that ex-inmates would be willing to come back to society. Every prison had to be rebuilt to meet the following standards:
- Toilets must be in the individual "cells", and would be more like public toilets.
- The Beds must have a mattress and at least 2 pillows, and were to be washed once a week.
- The prisons mustn't be a harsh environment, and be positive.
- The food had to have a variety every day and must be of a certain standard. Those with certain health issues or allergies had to of had their needs catered to.
- The activities had to be productive.
- The focus had to be on correction and not punishment.
- Inmates were given the privilege of seeing relatives, loved ones or friends at least once a month.
Police
Police in Aotearoa are focused on helping the society. Police are sent out for any crime or investigation, and each city has at least one precinct. The major cities have 3 each. The police force in Aotearoa are tasked with negotiation instead of outright arrests and combat. They are instructed to figure out the situation before taking anyone in. If the situations escalate, the police are armed with batons and Tasers. Special Forces are armed with Light assault rifles and weapons loaded with bean bag rounds.
Police corruption is a problem internationally, and Aotearoa has measures to prevent as much corruption as possible. In 1992 the government developed the Anti-Corruption act, in which Police Officers who discover evidence proving corruption among their fellow officers are given a bonus. The bonus to their pay is given after an investigation is carried out on the parties involved. If their information is proved false, and they have reason to believe the person who filed it did so just to earn the bonus, the original police officer is given extra hours with no pay. The investigation is handled by the government and the offender is heavily fined with possibility of time in jail.