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 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.

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.

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.