I'll try to clarify, let me know if it isn't helping
Which ranks are the minimum for legally assuming the mantle of judge, jury, and executioner, please.
You linked to a quote in an discussion which is still valid. I said at the time that nobody should be judge and jury (and executioner). When I said this I did not have one character in mind, PC or NPC. I really meant nobody at all.
It's a matter of principle really, no single person should hold all that power.
So, breaking down the question into parts.
What is the minimum rank to be a judge?It's important to realize there two kinds of judges. First there are the Judges of the Divine Court. These are of High Justiciar rank as shown
here. And there are only 9.
Then there are also judges appointed by the rulers of each realm who work at various courthouses throughout the land (e.g. the one in Hlint). The vast majority of these judges will follow Rofirein, but they are not necessarily part of the clergy (or Knights or Guardians). Chances are they do hold rank though and were trained by the Church. Most will be of Magistrar rank as those have studies law for years (again as mentioned
here.)
Key thing for these judges it that their authority as judge is granted to them by the ruler of the realm whose laws they are using/following.
An example of a judge like this is
LORE: Judge Kirus in Hlint (the only one we ever truly wrote up so far). Kirus is a Rofireinite, appointed as judge for Hlint by the crown of Trelania, but is not one of the nine High Justiciars.
What is the minimum rank to be a jury?Generally speaking, in legal systems that use juries, a jury is supposed to render an impartial verdict on the case in question. They are the ones who decide on guilty/not-guilty.
These people would be laypeople and called for jury duty randomly. They would therefore not be Rofireinite clergy/knights/guardians. Although by the nature of randomness, a Rofireinite could be called for jury duty.
So that's another, more practical, reason why judge and jury cannot be the same person.
Now, if you read the Rofirein write up, you will actually not see the word "jury" anywhere at all. You will also not find it in
LORE: Law of Layonara (milty mentioned this already correctly).
Reason for this is that we/I have not decided if the legal system should actually have juries. In the real world, there are countries that do have juries (e.g. the US and the UK) and many who do not. You can argue for and against judicial systems that use juries, and how effective juries be (google for Jury Effectiveness if you want to know more).
We/I left the existence of juries vague, although I did play with the idea to have it vary by realm. In the end, juries were left out altogether.
What is the minimum rank to be executioner?Executioner immediately brings us to capital punishment.
Because if you are sentenced to imprisonment, a convicted criminal just gets thrown into jail.
Executioners are not necessarily part of the Rofirein Church, so rank does not apply. Executioners are given their "authority" by the realm they work in, which is needed because if they chop off somebody's head, they could be charged with murder if they weren't allowed to do so.
Of course, there can very well be executioners that are members of the church, but the key is being given the authority by the realm.
This then leads up to "Can PCs be judges?"It was already touched upon, in principle, ICly, there should be no difference between PC and NPC so they should be able to.
But OOCly they are different, and we cannot ignore this. So therefore, the answer is no. PCs can not be judges. Players should not have that kind of power over other players.
Sure, some might be able to handle this responsibly, but then the decision which player does get to be a judge and which doesn't becomes subjective. So therefore, no PC judges.
So what to do if a Rofireinite sees a crime being committed? Can they pass judgement there and then?No they can't. Everyone has a right to a fair trial, this is one of the
principles of the Divine Court.
There should not be "drive-by-justice" ( term inspired by drive-by-shooting) where a Rofireinite comes along, sees a crime, sentences the person on the spot and chops of their head.
Hope to have clarified some things, if there are further questions/suggestions, let me know.
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