Gelding

"The accused is found guilty by jury, and is thus required to provide damages in the form of sixty talents within a year and a day to his accuser, and twenty to the village."
~Excerpt from The Trial of Monte Billou, morality play.

History

Establishing a legal code for a disparate swarm of freed slaves proved difficult. Montague Gelder drew up the first version of the Gelding, and the current iteration has evolved from there.

Execution

The Gelding is a system of innumerated offenses and their respective fines (called gelds).
While local authorities have a wide latitude, culturally Maecodian justice is largely unchanged from one end of the Confederation to the other.
            Theft/vandalism- Traditional geld is twice the value of what was stolen or damaged (as set by the local Plutarch)- ¾ go to the victim and ¼ goes to the magistrate.
            Disturbance- Unsanctioned fighting with fists, disruption of public peace, and endangerment of bystanders are all recouped by a geld set by the local magistrate.
            Violence- Any unsanctioned violence more serious than a simple fistfight (anywhere weapons or permanent harm is involved) is usually settled by public jury if the sheriff takes the criminal prisoner rather than simply killing them during the arrest. A simple majority of the convened crowd decides on the fate of the accused, usually after the sheriff and magistrate have had a speech and the accused responds to the charge with a potential advocate.
            Murder- Unlawful deprivation of life is met usually with a blood geld- a fine which must be paid both monetarily and through indenture. The victim’s family chooses the price, approved by the magistrate. If no next of kin exists, the magistrate chooses the price.
            Public Jury- For any offense, the accused can demand to make their case to a convened crowd with the help of an advocate. While the state cannot enact the death penalty alone the public jury can, but the public jury can also release a prisoner from all punishment even for crimes of which they are guilty. Calling for a public jury is usually an act of desperation: the volunteers that arrive often want to see blood. A trend has appeared for the accused to bargain with rather than attempt to convince the public jury: Trials by combat and trials by ordeal are both common offers, which provides entertainment for the bloodthirsty crowd.

Participants

Most villages have a designated magistrate to preside over trials, but many just allow their mayor or another prominent and trusted citizen to naturally fill the role without any formal appointment.