Lex Una Edict

The One Law

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In 62 CE, the Council of that time issued an iron-clad edict: witches were to have absolutely no contact with humans, no exceptions (exceptions have been added to the law in more recent years). Currently, the Council is just as firm with this law as their predecessors.

History

The law, passed in 62 CE, has never been repealed. However, at some points historically, witches had pressured the Council to either modify or repeal the law. In all of the cases, human events have quashed those who wish to repeal the law. The first case was actually over 1400 years from the law's inception. Cases include:

• In 1471, the Council was very close to repeal, only to be stopped by hearing of plague-ravaged Europe, which the witches did not have due to their isolationism from humans (and their rats).
• In 1597, the Council was set to repeal but the mass witch burnings in Scotland stopped the repeal for fear for witches' lives.
• In 1687, repeal or modification was again on the table, but the witch trials in Salem again stifled the repeal.
• In 1789, the Council's repeal was signed but revoked within a week due to the French Revolution and the American Revolution previously; the Council (actually the Magisterium) was afraid of witches procuring revolutionary ideas.
• In 1941, the Council revoked a modification that allowed limited contact with humans because of the outbreak of World War II.

There has not been talk of a repeal or modification since the 1940s.

Punishment

If a witch has been found to have contact with a human, the witch is tried and immediately sentenced to execution by the Mors Torque. Typically, the execution is carried out within a week. Some exceptions have been made to spare a witch execution, but that usually only happens if the witch was attempting to save a human's life. In that case, life in prison is the punishment.

Exceptions

There are only two exceptions to this rule:

1. Academic witches (i.e., those working as a Librarian or for the Academy, Institute, Athenaeum or the Menagerie may have contact with humans in order to procure research items. Even the academic witches are limited greatly: typically, only Librarians are allowed in order to search for rare/dangerous books and magizoologists are often allowed in order to capture dangerous magical animals on the loose.
2. If a witch commits the cardinal crime of contacting a human and then having a child out of that union, the child my have limited contact with their human parent only (since their witch parent was executed). There is about a 50% chance a child of a human and a witch ends up with magic, and in the case the child does not, they, of course, go to permanently live with their human parent. However, if they are born with magic, then it has been the feeling of the Council that the child has already lost one parent and should not lose access to the other completely.

Fast facts

Passed in 62 CE

Lex Una=One Law; a reference to it being the first law passed as well as being the witches' most sacred law.

Cases of "almost" repeal happened in 1471, 1597, 1687, 1789, and 1945.

Punishment is execution.

Related Historical Events

• 62
  Passing of Lex Una Edict

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