Difference between revisions of "GTA:LS Judiciary"

= Get Involved =

The LS Judiciary offers unique and rewarding roleplay for those who put the effort in. For example, as a solicitor you might do everything from representing a client at a [[GTA:Los Santos Police Service|police]] station to being the crown prosecutor in high-profile court cases. You can apply for the role of judge and solicitor by walking up to our very own paralegal Frank, located on the first floor of City Hall, and filling out the short application form.  

Frank also has additional information about the court system that might be useful for someone trying to get more involved. Alternatively you can check out the links below:

* [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSejX2S_qLNnFSn0j5eV9Ct0VYQ40qLdMdAsU0xd-3jFZrVi6g/viewform Submit a Court Case]

* [https://www.roleplay.co.uk/topic/127861-los-santos-judge-applications-january-2021/ Solicitor Application]

* [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yOQaeyskT_Jyxx8rBUKPPvke5o4LkEmbaULvM-Ja9JU/edit?usp=sharing Court Hearing Procedures]

* [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQ8m2kKjYl_eh5uhdkHkaXXK8j9CUGyY9fxfzKdJ-fRbbieoI2mj7El5i5QCtSwmcBCw9U8yMDMJAVB/pubhtml?gid=788856477&single=true Ongoing & Previous Cases]

= Roles =

Below you will find a summary of each role and occupation to help you understand how each piece in the legal system works.

=== Supreme Court Judge ===

=== Solicitor ===

A solicitor is an individual who has been licensed by the court to carry out legal representation on behalf of the prosecution, or the defense.

= General Court Rules =

The judge has the final say on matters in the courtroom. Unruly behaviour during proceedings, can and will lead to extended imprisonment without appeal.

* You should list all costs you are wishing to claim form, including any legal fees  

* Failure to pay, or appeal, compensation orders issued by the court within 7 days, will result in either: forceful taking of said payment from the account, or interest-payments being added to the total sum owed.

* Solicitors are required to organise and confirm the attendance of any witnesses they wish to call.  

* All counsel and witnesses are required to wear formal clothing appropriate for the courtroom.

* If witnesses are unable to attend they should submit written statements which can be examined.

* Every effort should be made by all parties to attend court. Failure to provide a reasonable excuse, in advance, will result in a court summons being issued.

* If you are requested to appear in court by a court order and you fail to appear you may receive an arrest warrant and you will be held in contempt of court unless you state a legitimate reason upto 24 hours before the court hearing/trial.

Evidence via video which is submitted to the court must be obtained by the following:

* Mobile Phone (Seen ingame)

* Body Cam (Must announce to all who are recorded that you are recording)

* CCTV cameras in the room (If you have footage which you have recorded and you do not have a body cam, you may use it if there is CCTV in the room however you must collect the footage first in RP before you submit it to the courts.)

* Evidence being heard is at the discretion of the Judiciary team

Appeals of a court verdict:

* If you wish to appeal a verdict you may do so however you will need to send a formal appeal to the courts upto 7 days from the verdict. Once the formal appeal has been submitted you will receive a reply from the courts upto 7 days from the appeal submission date. Failure to do so will result in punishments.

All legal counsel (solicitors, barristers, judges) are expected to try and follow The Core Principles in the Bar Standards Board handbook.

= Trial Procedures =

Using the Court Case submission form solicitors should acquire all the details they need from their client and fill these in. The details from this form then automatically generates a case file document which is posted into the #los-santos-solicitors channels

When submitting a case there are four different types.

A pre-trial hearing is where the legal parties get together in front of the Judge before a trial. At this point both the defence and prosecution have presented the evidence that they want to be shown at the trial, if one side believes some evidence shouldn’t go through to trial, this is where they make that case to the judge.

There are many valid reasons the Judge should stop evidence or witnesses making it to trial if they feel it wouldn't help the jury come to a fair and unprejudiced conclusion. For example, bringing up that a defendant is cheating on their wife (if it's not relevant to the crime) shouldn’t be allowed to make it to trial since it may inappropriately influence a jury into making a decision based on personal prejudice instead of the facts of the case.

In a criminal trial, the trier of fact (which can be either the judge or a jury) decides whether the defendant committed the crime. The standard used in criminal cases is "beyond a reasonable doubt" – that is, there is no reasonable doubt in the judge or jurors’ minds that the defendant committed the crime. If your trial is to go ahead with a jury It is their job to decide if the evidence they hear proves the defendant's guilt, and it's their job to consider the evidence not the law, and the Judge will guide them on law if necessary.  The judge must explain this to the Jury once they have been sworn in at the beginning of the trial, and before the jury goes in for deliberations.  

You should call other solicitors ‘my learned friend’ – pronounced learn-ed (meaning qualified solicitor).

- Each side can call pre-arranged witnesses and ask them questions about the case and/or the defendant.  

Witness Questioning is performed as follows:

* Prosecution solicitor calls their witness

* Prosecution Solicitor asks their witness questions (examination in chief)

* At the end the defence solicitor will declare that was the case for the defence.

* This is the end of witness questioning.

The questions being asked to the witnesses are not allowed to be leading questions and must be unbiased, for example:

It is the judge's responsibility to stop unfair or misleading questions from being asked, and as the Judge has control of the courtroom they can at any point interject and explain proper procedure.

- The prosecution, and then the defense, make a brief statement summarizing their side of the case.

- The jury will return to their seats and the foreperson of the jury will announce their verdict. If found not guilty the judge will thank them for their service and release them. If found guilty the Jury will stay in their seats as the Judge sentences the defendant. If no Jury is present, then as trier of facts, the judge will have to decide whether the defendant is guilty, or not guilty. Either way the verdict is reached the Judge should use these guidelines to pass a fair sentence.

[[Category:GTARP]]

[[Category:GTAJobs]]