Criminal justice system of Urcea

The criminal justice system of Urcea is the apparatus by which the laws of Urcea are enforced. In Urcea, each crownland, province, and state also maintains its own criminal and civil code in addition to nationwide statutes, and most crimes are prosecuted at the subdivision level.

Hierarchy of courts

Urcea has a three-tiered court system, and each tier of court is divided into appeals, civil, and criminal divisions which share the same physical infrastructure as well as some personnel and judges. Each tier serves as the appeals court for the lower tier. The lowest tier are the Diocesan Courts, which serve the civil dioceses which constitute every subdivision of Urcea. These courts are the most common and typically are responsible for overseeing civil disputes between individuals or firms. Diocesan courts also oversee prosecution of petty misdemeanors (including those established under provincial and national law) and violations of municipal ordinances and local laws. Above these courts are the thirty four subdivision wide court, whose name varies based on the type of subdivision, but the most common title is "Provincial Court" or "Supreme Court". The provincial court tries felony cases and civil cases where the two parties are from different dioceses. The third tier of courts are called the "conrudimental courts", with conrudiments (Leb: "rounded areas") being comprised of two to three provinces. The conrudimental courts are responsible for trying violations of national crimes as well as civil cases with parties originating from different provinces; if a civil case involves parties from different conrudiments, the Ministry of Justice is responsible for choosing which conrudimental court will try the case.

The tiered court system is the method by which judges are appointed in Urcea in a method created in 1989 in an attempt to remove partisan influence from the courts. Judges typically serve staggered ten year terms, with the exception of the Archjustice of the Archducal Court of Urceopolis, who serves at the pleasure of the Concilium Daoni. At the diocesan level, the provincial court is responsible for identifying and nominating potential candidates, with the national standard requiring that nominees are members of their respective provincial bar, are at least 30 years old, and are a baptized Catholic. Once a pool of candidates, typically ten, are identified, the Governor is responsible for choosing the final selection for judge. The provincial appointment process is largely similar, although a third of all judicial appointments for each provincial court are reserved for the Apostolic King of Urcea. Contrary to popular opinion, these appointments - called "Royal Judges" - are not necessarily made according to constitutional advice, although most judges are appointed at the recommendation of the sitting Procurator and Chancellor and Temporary President with significant input from the King. Unlike other judges, the King does not have to select from an unlimited pool, and also unlike other judges, his nominations must receive final approval from the respective provincial legislature. The remaining, non-Royal Judges, are choosen by the Governor from an eligible pool of candidates chosen by judges from the conrudimental court. The conrudimental courts have a different system of appointment from the other courts, but still serve ten year terms and have the same eligibility requirements. Provincial courts have the ability to suggest a pool of candidates, but unlike the other processes these suggestions are non-binding. Appointments are chosen by the Procurator from any eligible individual living within the conrudiment and must be approved by a three-fourths vote of the Concilium Daoni, with the vote threshold established to protect against partisan nominees. If the Procurator and Daoni fail to agree on a nominee within three months of the opening, the Apostolic King of Urcea is allowed to appoint a judge on his own authority, and said judge serves a two year term, only after which point the Procurator may attempt to make another nomination.

A special exception to the standard court tier system exists in Urceopolis and the Archduchy of Urceopolis. The Archduchy is exempt from organization within higher judicial conrudiments, and so the Archducal Court is the highest court in which an issue can be brought. The Archducal Court does have legal jurisdiction to try civil and criminal cases within the Archduchy, but has not done so since 1934 and formally abolished its civil and criminal divisions in 1958. Additionally, the City of Urceopolis is not divided into or subject to diocesan courts but rather has a single municipal court which is responsible for resolving all civil and criminal charges, regardless of level or type of crime (including national crimes), within the city. Outside of the city, diocesan courts within the Archduchy also have authority to try all types of crimes and civil matters regardless of type of level.

Unlike many other Occidental democracies, Urcea does not have a specially constituted supreme court. In practice, the court of final appeal is the Archducal Court of Urceopolis. While the Archducal Court, de jure, is equal in legal stature and scope to other provincial and subdivisional courts, it serves as the national appellate court. The legal mechanism giving the court national jurisdiction comes from the theoretical ability of the Apostolic King of Urcea to refer any case to any court for any reason or to directly decide cases himself; in practice, this power is used as a constitutional mechanism for appellate of conrudiment-level decisions, which occurs on the constitutional advice of the Archjustice.

Some courts may be skipped due to the stature of the crime, requests for change in venue, or to avoid the appearance of impropriety. These cases are typically moved to a higher tier on the authority Apostolic King of Urcea, typically on the request of the Governor of a province. In the event that a province assigns a higher criminal penalty to an act than the national government, any higher court will defer to the lower jurisdiction for sentencing.

Types and classes of crimes

The classes and types of crimes are established by Urcea's Penal Law, which provides for minimum sentencing requirements and whose classifications determine what type of court tries a case. The penal law provides that the court shall determine the sentence, but provides for maximums and minimums for each type of national crime. Provinces may adopt laws assigning penalties which exceed national law, and in those cases higher courts defer to provincial law for sentencing. There are five types of crimes established nationwide - class A felonies, violent felonies, non-violent felonies, misdemeanors, and petty misdemeanors. Petty misdemeanors are tried by diocesan courts, while the remainder of these federal violations can be tried by the conrudimental courts or by provincial courts with federal charges added in addition to the primary charge brought forward by the province.

Felony sentencing classes

A1-3 Felony

Class A felonies have three primary classifications. A Class A-1 Felony carries with it a mandatory life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole or the death sentence in the case of a few specific crimes. A class A-2 felony carries with it a mandatory minimum of fifteen years and the maximum of life with possibility of parole. A class A-3 felony carries with it a mandatory minimum of eight years and a maximum of life with the possibility of parole. Most class A1-3 felonies relate to grave crimes, such as treason, rape, and murder, each of which can be punishable by death, as well as kidnapping, regicide, criminal conspiracy in the first degree, and criminal conspiracy to overthrow the state.

B Felony

Class B felonies carry a maximum of 25 years and a minimum of one year in the case of nonviolent felonies or six years with the possibility of parole after three years for violent felonies. Examples of nonviolent B felonies include robbery or witness intimidation whereas violent B felonies include rape in the second degree, assault in the first degree, assault of the Pope or King, or gang assault.

Corrections system

Incarceration in Urcea is a primary form of punishment and rehabilitation for the commission of felony and other offenses.

The vast majority of prisons within Urcea are operated by the crownland, province, and states, with three hundred remaining facilities operated by the Ministry of Justice.