Global Law & Justice

The Fantasmal Government is responsible for all global legislation and there are hundreds of laws in effect that cover a variety of areas. The Fantasmal Government is not limited to the areas where it can enact legislation. The only restrictions are that no legislation can intentionally target a specific domain.  

Legislative Process

New laws are drafted in either of two legislative houses of the Fantasmal Government: the House of Tellus, which includes representation from all accredited countries, and the House of Vurbis which includes representation from all accredited independent cities.   Once drafted, typically by a committee, the legislation goes for review. A vote is held by the house to see if the legislation has enough support to even be discussed based solely on a summary of its contents. At least 40% of the house must vote in favor for the legislation to move to the review process. The review process is a three-month period where the legislation is read by representatives and potentially brought back to their home domains for insight as well. During review, official amendments can be proposed to the legislation.   After the three-month review period, the legislation goes for approval. First, each amendment is voted on, and if it receives at least 50% approval, it is added to the legislation. Then the final fully amended legislation is voted on and 70% of the house must vote to approve for it to pass.   When a piece of legislation affects both countries and cities, then it goes through both houses simultaneously but independently. Amendments are voted on separately in each house depending on whether the amendment explicitly affects cities or countries, if it impacts both, then both houses must approve separately for it to be added, otherwise the amendment fails. Once the amendments are codified, then both houses must vote and get 70% approval from their respective membership to pass the law.   Assuming the legislation makes it this far, it is then passed on to the Oversight Committee which reviews the legislation thoroughly before submitting it to the Fantasma to sign into law. The Fantasma has final authority on all global legislation and can veto any legislation for any reason. If the legislation is vetoed, the houses have no recourse to push it through other than to try resubmitting revised legislation for consideration.   Though almost all global law goes through the formal legislative process, the Fantasma can create a law or edict without consultation from the legislative houses at any time. Consensus is preferred, but if the Fantasma deems it necessary, there is nothing preventing this type of law from being enacted as long as it doesn’t defy the three core tenants of the Fantasmal Government. Because world leaders prefer to have a say in global law, Fantasmal Orders are rare since the threat of one is enough to inspire the compromise and cooperation needed to pass laws.  

Judicial Process

When a person or domain violates global law, the case is tried in the Fantasmal Court. The Fantasmal Court is composed of 7 guardians, selected by the Fantasma or Guardian Council. Depending on the judicial issue in question, a case may be heard by one, three or all seven of the court guardians. Because all the guardian justices must come to a unanimous decision, the importance, severity, or significance of the case determines how many guardians try it. More important cases have more judges because it outwardly assures that the verdict was deliberated by multiple people, and they came to a consensus.   Although there are guidelines to what type of punishment is suggested for those found guilty of specific laws, the Fantasmal Court guardians do not have to abide by those guidelines and can apply more or less severe punishments based on the merits of the case.   In addition to violations of global law, the Fantasmal Court can be petitioned to serve as a higher court to override the ruling of any local court in any domain. However, the court will generally only take cases where there is a claim that legislation being used to prosecute violates global law, or that potential corruption at a government level that prevents justice from being duly served. In these cases, the Fantasmal Government has the power to override a lower court’s ruling and even strike down laws in a domain that violate global law.   The Fantasmal Court is the only court in the entire world allowed to give the death penalty as a punishment, and even then, it must be approved by the Fantasma.  

Punishment & Incarceration

When a person is convicted by the Fantasmal Court, their punishment is designed to fit the crime in question. Though global legislation provides guidance, every case is unique, and the guardians treat them as such. Restitution is almost always a part of any punishment. A certain amount of money is usually allocated to the wronged parties depending on the circumstances of the case. Restitution is garnished from a person’s wages until they are fully paid.   After restitution is determined, then rehabilitation is considered. Rehabilitation is always ordered for violent offenses and can also be ordered for a myriad of non-violent offenses, or if it’s clear the convicted have no remorse for their actions. Rehabilitation usually includes some form of counseling, therapy, reeducation, or other treatments with the goal of getting to the core issue for the deviant behavior.   Incarceration almost always accompanies any order of rehabilitation, especially if the person is deemed a danger to the public or completely unrepentant. Typically, a fixed time is not set in stone for how long a person can be imprisoned, instead a period of time is set, after which there is an evaluation to determine if rehabilitation has been successful. If not, they return to incarceration for another set period of time that is determined by the court based on whatever progress has been made, if any.  

Fantasmal Prisons

Fantasmal prisons are massive complexes located around the world where prisoners are held until they both complete their rehabilitation and pay their restitution. Prisoners are fitted with special quartz bracelets that restrict their adimus abilities. In some cases, these restrictions are partially lifted in order for them to perform their jobs, but this is done on a case-by-case basis, depending on the prisoner.   The prison facilities are designed very similar to educational dorms. They consist of hundreds of individual bedrooms, furnished with a bed, dresser, and desk, where the prisoners live and sleep. There are public shared bathrooms with individual shower and toilet stalls, multiple cafeterias, recreation spaces, stores, and grounds. Prisoners are assigned jobs based on their skill sets and must attend their requisite therapy or classes based on their individual plans and cannot leave the prison grounds. Failure to appear for their job or other required meetings can result in a loss of funds, an inability to use certain resources, or restricted movement around the grounds even to the point where they may be assigned an escort to ensure compliance with scheduled meetings, classes, or work. Violence or other rule breaking can result in similar punishments as well as a possible increase in restitution owed.   Prisoners are paid a fair wage for their labor, though it is dependent on what kind of work they do. Restitution is paid from their wages at a rate of 60%. An additional 20% is taken to pay for room and board, leaving the prisoner with the remaining 20% to do with as they please at the various stores or recreation spaces, or save for when they are released. If restitution is fully paid, then 60% is taken for room and board and the remaining 40% is left for the prisoner.   All Fantasmal Prisons are located in remote areas that are hard to reach, making escape extremely difficult. Locations include the Crystal Sands Desert, the White Desert, islands, and swamplands.  

Punishing An Entire Domain

If an entire domain is convicted by the Fantasmal Court (for example: war crimes) then that domain must pay restitution, which is usually levied as a separate tax against the domain in question. Citizens of the domain are restricted from relocating while this tax is in place.   In addition, specific individuals deemed complicit or primarily responsible for the crime may be punished as individuals, which can include separate reparations and incarceration until all reparations, including those of the domain, are fully paid. Depending on the crime, rehabilitation may also be required.  

Challenging the Fantasmal Government

There is only one recourse for a domain that wishes to challenge global law or any other aspect of the Fantasmal Government, and that is through the Epouranal Council. If it is believed that the Fantasma has somehow overstepped his authority as leader of the global government, representatives can petition the Epouranal Council to hear their complaint. The epouranals generally will not even entertain a request unless a large quantity of domains petition the matter, typically the threshold is 70% or more of the representatives in the combined legislative houses, but this is not always the case.   Once the council agrees to hear a matter, they will convene at a set time. The number of epouranals that hear the case depends solely on their discretion, but all present always agree on their decision. The council allows up to seven representatives to plead their case, but the Fantasmal Government is not allowed any representatives to defend its position. After they hear from the representatives, the council will give their decision, usually immediately.   There have only been a handful of cases where the Fantasmal Government was challenged, and in each one, the epouranals ruled in the Fantasmal Government’s favor.   Slavery was originally abolished by Fantasmal Order. Legislators were furious because they felt that the Fantasma was manipulated by his daughter, Sarah Fantas, to make that drastic move instead of going through the legislative process. The epouranals ruled that not only did Fantasmal Privilege allow the Fantasma to create global law at his discretion, but since Sarah Fantas was the current Daughter of the Sun, she was acting in her role to influence the Fantasma to act for the good of the people. Of course, this was at a time when people did not fully understand the role of the Daughter of the Sun.   Government leaders and representatives argued that the Fantasmal Government was outside of its authority to create a global currency. Epouranals ruled that one of the fundamental roles of a global governing body was to regulate the economy, and creating a universal currency was well within that role, citing that governments of individual domains already created currencies before the Fantasmal Government overrode them.   The mentant engineers who ran the Mandorian Chronometer petitioned the Fantasmal Government for protection because a nearby domain, Henscore, was trying to take control of the mountain since it was a valuable resource that they could exploit for profit. The Fantasmal Government agreed by absorbing the mountain and its engineers officially into the Fantasmal Government, effectively giving them full control over the master timepiece. Henscore complained that the Fantasmal Government broke one of its core tenants of nonintervention between warring domains.   The epouranals, however, disagreed. They cited the fact that Mandoria Mountain did not meet the standards of a country, city, or town since it had no functioning government, and even if it did, it would have the right to apply for Sunnitarian status which would be equivalent to the Fantasmal Government absorbing it. As such, the Fantasmal Government was well within its rights to honor the request, even if “managing time” did not explicitly fall under the role of the global government.