The King's Law/Sentencing Guidelines
Legal Material
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Sentencing Guidelines
The below articles cover the various considerations to take in to account when sentencing an offender, and provide guidance on the various avenues available for sentencing offenders.
Penalties
All Fixed Penalties are calculated using the Severity rating of the offence being fined. As an example, Common Assault is rated Low in terms of severity, while GBH is rated High. This means that the sentences of these offences should be considered differently. The following guidelines illustrate the basic rates in which penalties should be levied against offenders, based upon the severity of the crime:
- Low: 5 Silver per offence
- Medium: 15 Silver per offence
- High: 30 Silver per offence
- Very High: 60 Silver per offence
While offences are given severity ratings and the above guidance provides penalty rates, it is up to the person passing sentence which level of severity they will apply, based upon the facts of the case and any mitigating of aggravating factors, using the above guidance as a guideline to determine a reasonable fine.
Injunctions
Restraining Orders
A restraining order can be issued by a law enforcement official to direct a person away from another individual or organisation for a period of time of up to 1 week. A restraining order is issued to a person who harasses, stalks or engages in activity against another person or organisation, that would cause a reasonable person to suffer physical or psychological harm.
A person issued with a restraining order cannot knowingly be within a pre-determined vicinity of the restraining party for a set period of time and cannot contact the restraining party directly (i.e. via letter) or indirectly (i.e. via a third party such as a mutual friend). If they do, they can be arrested.
Dispersal Orders
Dispersal orders can be issued by law enforcement officials to direct members of the public suspected of causing nuisance, harassment or distress away from a specified area for a determined period of time for up to 24 hours.
A person issued with a dispersal order cannot return to the specified area within the determined time period. If they do, they can be arrested.
Barring Orders
Legislative information on Barring Orders can be viewed within the Barring Order Act 631 KC.
Barring orders are a penalty order for disorder. They are issued by a law enforcement official to an individual or an organisation suspected of causing violence toward others, or engaging in activities where there is a high risk of injury to others.
A person or organisation issued with a barring order must leave Stormwind City immediately, and they cannot return within a determined time period of up to 72 hours. If they do, they can be arrested.
Community Restitution
Community Restitution Orders (CRO) promote community resolution and rehabilitation for offenders; enabling victims of crime to achieve closure and receive reparation for wrong-doing or damage inflicted through restorative justice. CRO's may be issued in cases where there is damage to be repaired, either through direct restitution from offender to victim, or through community work orders where offenders are compelled to engage in unpaid community work.
Use the following guidance to determine proportionate CRO durations:
- Low: Up to 1 Day
- Medium: Up to 2 Days
- High: Up to 3 Days
- Very High: Up to 1 Week
Note that in some cases, a CRO may be an unsuitable sentence. Your best judgement should be utilised to determine if this is the case.
Corporal Sentences
Corporal Punishment is the physical punishment of offenders; there are two accepted methods of Corporal Punishment within the legal system of Stormwind and these are Flogging (also known as Lashes or Whipping) and Beating.
Flogging
Flogging may be applied with the permission of a Magistrate, or a certified JP (Justice of the Peace) for any offence. However the issuing of a Flogging sentence for lesser crimes should usually only be applied in those cases where the convict is proven to have harmed, or attempted to harm another person, or has utilised a deadly weapon in the commission of their crime.
The legal view on Flogging is that 48 lashes is fatal and so all sentences of Flogging are measured on a scale which considers 42 lashes to be the maximum a person may receive on a single occasion; unless they are sentenced to Die By The Lash, in which case the convict is whipped until dead. Of course Flogging is a more common punishment for serious offences (Rated High or above in the King's Law) than fining, but it can also be a companion punishment to a fine if the Magistrate or JP deems it appropriate.
As a guideline on how many lashes a convict should receive apply the following, which measures the number of lashes against the Severity rating given to the crime under the King's Law:
- Low: 3 Lashes
- Medium: 6 Lashes
- High: 12 Lashes
- Very High: 24 Lashes
Salt the Wound
In the case of serious or repeat offenders the sentencing Magistrate or JP may order that the convict's wounds be salted. This literally means that, once the lashes have been administered, clean salt is ground into the wounds before they are bound. This is a harsh additional punishment which inflicts additional pain, without resulting in additional damage to the convict.
Beating
A sentence of Beating is not, as you might think, a case of simply beating up the convict; instead it is a measured and highly targeted punishment aimed at deterring thieves, bandits, and graffiti 'artists'. If sentenced to Beating then the convict has one or both of their hands placed upon a wooden board, after which the hands are struck with a wooden cudgel until broken. As with Flogging only a Magistrate or JP may issue this punishment.
For the purposes of the maximum number of lashes a convict may receive, a Beating is considered to be 3 lashes per hand.
Capital Sentences
Capital Punishment is the most severe form of punishment that can be inflicted upon offenders, reserved for the most serious and grave offences. While Capital Punishment serves as a major deterrent in instances of major crime, there are instances where Capital Punishment may need to be utilised as punitive action.
As a guide, Capital Punishment is mainly reserved for offences that fall under the Very High severity category, the following articles should only be utilised where absolutely necessary and befitting of the crime conducted:
- Execution via Decapitation
- Execution via Firing Squad
- Civil Death
- Also known as exile, a person sentenced to Civil Death is compelled to leave the Kingdom of Stormwind for a determined period of time.
- A person who returns to the Kingdom while under Civil Death, loses all rights and protection afforded to them by the law.
Mitigating Factors
A Mitigating Factor is any factor relating to the crime which would warrant a decreased level of culpability and thus a reduced sentence. The following list details some (but not all) of the most common mitigating factors in a criminal case:
- An attempt of the offence that ultimately failed
- A greater degree of provocation than normally expected
- Mental illness or disability
- Youth or age, where it affects the responsibility of the individual defendant
- The fact that the offender played only a minor role in the offence
Aggravating Factors
An Aggravating Factor is any factor relating to the crime which would warrant an increased level of culpability and thus an increased sentence. The following list details some (but not all) of the most common Aggravating Factors in a criminal case:
- Use of a weapon
- Use of a deadly weapon
- Repeat offenders
- Serious offenders
- Unprovoked
- Intent
- Premeditation
- Vulnerable victim
- Multiple victims
- Victim is a Guard, a Soldier, or a Servant of the King
