Criminal Code

 

Criminal Code of The Republic of Lazarus

Article 1: In-game Offences

Section 1.1: Treason

(1) Treason shall be said to be committed when one fulfils any of the following conditions:

1. 
   
2. Being a high-level member of an entity that the Republic of Lazarus recognises is at war with, even after one's recognition of existence of a state of war
   
3. Soliciting for endorsements with the intention of exceeding the endorsement count
   
4. Failure to heed an official warning to reduce one's endorsement count after being sent one for exceeding the endorsement cap
   

(2) High Treason shall be said to be committed when one fulfils any of the following conditions:

2. Attempting to lower the sitting delegate's endorsement count without the approval of the Grand Assembly
   
3. Aiding an entity to overthrow the legitimate government as recognised by the Grand Assembly, through material support or by taking arms
   

Section 1.2: Espionage

(1) Espionage shall be said to be committed when one fulfils any of the following conditions:

2. Gathering private government material with the intention of using or distributing them to any entities not sanctioned by the relevant government body responsible for the material or the Court
   
3. Distributing sensitive government or military information to a foreign entity that may be used against the Republic of Lazarus or the Lazarene Liberation Army
   

Section 1.3: Fraud

(1) Fraud shall be said to be committed when one fulfils any of the following conditions:

2. Deliberately deceiving the residents of Lazarus for the sake of an unfair or undeserved gain or to damage an individual or entity
   
3. Deliberate omission of information with the intention of deceiving the residents of Lazarus
   
4. Knowingly abetting an individual to commit an act of fraud
   

(2) Electoral Fraud shall be said to be committed when one fulfils any of the following conditions:

2. Manipulating the electoral process of Lazarus through conspiracy with an organised group of abettors to obtain citizenship in order to influence a vote for personal gain or for the gain of a foreign entity
   
3. Deliberately deceiving members of the Grand Assembly in order for them to not receive accurate information about votes, with the intention of influencing the outcome of a vote through the non-vote of members who have been deceived into doing so
   

Section 1.4: Perjury

(1) Perjury shall be said to be committed when one fulfils any of the following conditions:

2. Testifying falsely to the Court intentionally, through the false assertion of the truth of statements which are material to the outcome of the proceeding
   

Section 1.5: Vexatious Litigation

(1) Vexatious litigation shall be said to be committed when one fulfils any of the following conditions:

2. Filing unmeritable, frivolous, repetitive, and/or burdensome accusations of crimes to the Court that constitute an abuse of the judicial process.
   

Section 1.6: Conspiracy

(1) Conspiracy shall be said to be committed when one fulfils any of the following conditions:

2. Attempting to carry out any of the offences as listed in the Unified Legal Code
   
3. Abetting another person to attempt carrying out any of the offences as listed in the Unified Legal Code
   

Article 2: Offences out-of-game

Section 2.1: Forum-side Offences

(1) Forum destruction shall be said to be committed when one fulfils any of the following conditions:

2. Abusing administrative powers to on a forum to cause a substantial loss of information not easily recoverable
   

(2) Inappropriate spamming shall be said to be committed when one fulfils any of the following conditions:

2. Pornspamming or gorespamming on the forums
   

(3) Phishing shall be said to be committed when one fulfils any of the following conditions:

2. Attempting to acquire sensitive information such as email accounts and passwords, or gain access to off-site controls, by masquerading as a different person or entity
   

Section 2.2: Spamming

(1) Spamming shall be said to be committed when one fulfils any of the following conditions:

2. Intentionally posting the same message repeatedly in a relatively short period of time
   
3. Intentionally posting the same message repeatedly despite being warned not to
   
4. Repeatedly posting the same message for the purpose of annoying others
   

(2) Adspamming shall be said to be committed when one fulfils any of the following conditions:

2. Posting messages on the RMB or on the forums to advertise for a foreign entity repeatedly within an unreasonably short period of time
   
3. Posting recruitment messages on the RMB or on the forums with the intention of annoying others
   

Section 2.3: Theft

(1) Theft shall be said to be committed when one fulfils any of the following conditions:

2. Accessing another person's forum account, without the approval of the person whose forum account is used.
   
3. Using another person's nation, without the approval of the person whose nation was used.
   

Section 2.4: Illegal sharing

(1) One shall be said to have committed the act of illegal sharing of forum accounts when one fulfils any of the following conditions:

2. Allowing a person banned from the forums to use one's forum account, with the awareness that the other person is banned from accessing the forums

(2) One shall be said to have committed the act of illegal sharing of nations when one fulfils any of the following conditions:

2. Allowing a person banned from the region to use one's nation, wiith the awareness that the other person is banned from the region

Article 3: Absolute Offences

Section 3.1: Legal Violations

(1) Legal violation shall be said to be committed when one fulfils any of the following conditions:

2. Violating Real World laws that are considered as serious crimes
   
3. Violating Real World laws that may endanger the safety of others e.g. hacking
   

Section 3.2: NationStates Violations

(1) NationStates violations shall be said to be committed when one fulfils any of the following conditions:

2. Being declared Delete-on-Sight

Penal Code

 

Penal Code of The Republic of Lazarus

Article 1: Preliminary

Section 1.1: Title and Effective Date

(1) This Act shall be called the Penal Code and may be cited as P.C. It shall become effective on the date of its adoption.

(2) Except as provided in Subsections (3) and (4) of this Section, the Code does not apply to offenses committed prior to its effective date and prosecutions for such offenses shall be based on the prior law, that is the PRL Penal Code, which will be assumed to be still in used, as if this Code was not in force. For the purposes of this Section, an offense is considered to be committed prior to the effective date of this Code if any one of its elements took place before the effective date of this code.

(3) In any case pending on or after the effective date of the Code, involving an offense committed prior to such date:

2. procedural provisions of the Code shall govern, insofar as they are justly applicable and their application does not introduce confusion or delay;
   
3. the Court, with the consent of the defendant, may impose sentence under the provisions of the Code applicable to the offense and the offender.
   

Section 1.2: Amendments
(1) Amendments may be made to this Code by only the Grand Assembly with a simple majority.
(2) Should an offense be committed prior to the passage of an amendment that could affect whether the offender is guilty or the severity and/or magnitude of the punishments, the offender shall be prosecuted for the affected offense based on the Code directly prior to the passage of the amendment.

Section 1.3: Punishments

(1) The classes of punishments to which offenders are liable under the provisions of this Code are (with increasing severity):

• Forum punishment
  
  2. Warning
     
  3. Temporary Forum ban
     
  4. Permanent forum ban
     
  
  
• In-game punishment
  
  2. Suppression of RMB posts
     
  3. Ejecting
     
  4. Temporary in-game ban
     
  5. Permanent in-game ban
     

(2) A Suppression is defined to be the use of the in-game mechanisms to hide the offending RMB posts. A Suppression may constitute the suppression of several RMB posts.

(3) A Warning is defined as the use of the Warn System as provided on the Regional Forum. A Warning may constitute the increment of several warning levels.

(4) An Ejection is defined to be the use of the in-game mechanisms to remove a nation from Lazarus, but who may return to Lazarus any time the player wishes.

(5) A temporary forum ban is defined to be the use of administrative tools made available on the Regional Forums to deny a player access to the Forums for a period of time. Said player's access to the Regional Forums is to be restored upon the completion of the sentence.

(6) A temporary in-game ban is defined to be the use of the in-game mechanisms to remove a nation from Lazarus, but who is not allowed by the game to return to the region for a period of time. Said nation is to be allowed to return to Lazarus upon the completion of the sentence.

(7) A permanent forum ban is defined to be the use of administrative tools made available on the Regional Forums to deny a player access to the Forums permanently. Said player's access to the Regional Forums will be denied even if the Regional Forums have been changed, for as long as this Penal Code remains in effect or as the Republic of Lazarus remains the official government of the in-game entity of Lazarus, up to the discretion of the Grand Assembly.

(8) A permanent in-game ban is defined to be the use of the in-game mechanisms to remove a nation from Lazarus, but who is not allowed by the game to return to the region permanently. Said nation is not to be allowed to return to Lazarus for as long as this Penal Code remains in effect or as the Republic of Lazarus remains the official government of the in-game entity of Lazarus, up to the discretion of the Grand Assembly.

(9) Should the offender have a history of committing the same offense, the punishment meted out is to be of a greater severity of the same type of punishment if possible and if necessary. Should this be not possible, the punishment meted out may be upgraded to a more severe type of punishment under the same class, as specified under the recommended punishment for each offense.

Section 1.4: Order of Punishments for Multiple Offenses

(1) When the same conduct of the defendant be convicted of multiple offenses, the order in which the punishments are to be meted out is:

• The punishment for the offense with the highest tier is carried out first, followed by the punishment for the offense with the next highest tier, and so on until the punishment for the offense with the lowest tier is meted out.
  
• Should the offender be convicted of multiple offenses within a tier, the most severe punishment within the tier as defined in Clause 1 of Section 1.2 of Article 1 of the Penal Code is to be meted out. Upon the completion of the sentence, the next most severe punishment within the tier is meted out, and so on until the least severe punishment within the tier is meted out.
  
• An offender may serve both an in-game punishment and a forum punishment at the same time.
  
• Should the most severe forum punishment meted out to an offender be a permanent forum ban, the permanent forum ban is to be served, with all other forum punishments rescinded.
  
• Should the most severe in-game punishment meted out to an offender be a permanent in-game ban, the permanent in-game ban is to be served, with all other in-game punishments rescinded.
  

Article 2: Tier I Offenses

(1) The following offenses have been designated as Tier I offenses:

• Treason as defined by Clause 1 of Section 1.1 of the Criminal Code
  
• Vexatious Litigation as defined by Section 1.5 of the Criminal Code
  
• Spamming as defined by Clause 1 of Section 2.2 of the Criminal Code
  
• Adspamming as defined by Clause 2 of Section 2.2 of the Criminal Code
  
• Harassment as defined by point 1 of Clause 1 of Article 1 of the Civil Code
  
• Flaming and Trolling as defined by Article 2 of the Civil Code
  

(2) The recommended punishments for the above offenses are as follows:

• A temporary forum ban and temporary in-game ban for the duration of the war if convicted of Treason, should it be fulfilled on the basis of point 1 of Clause 1 of Section 1.1 of the Criminal Code, unless:
  
  2. Said offender is no longer a high-level member of the enemy entity
     
  3. Said offender demonstrates a high level of willingness to end the war
     
  4. Said offender renounced membership of the enemy entity
     
  Should one of these conditions be fulfilled, the punishment may be terminated.
  
• A temporary in-game ban for a duration of between 12 hours and 3 days if convicted of Treason, should it be fulfilled on the basis of points 2 or 3 of Clause 1 of Section 1.1 of the Criminal Code, unless:
  
  2. Said offender is no longer a member of the World Assembly
     
  Should this condition be fulfilled, the punishment may be terminated. However, if the offender has previously served the maximum punishment for the offense of an in-game ban of 3 days, the offender shall serve an in-game ban of 10 days more for the current offense than the punishment for the previous commitment of this offense. Should the duration of the in-game ban be in excess of 60 days, a permanent in-game ban is recommended.
  
• A warning with the increment of 1 warning level if convicted of Vexatious Litigation. However, if the offender is unable to receive the full increment of warning levels, a temporary forum ban of between 3 days and 1 week is recommended.
  
• A warning with the increment of between 1 and 2 warning levels or the suppression of the offending RMB posts if convicted of Spamming. However, if the offender is unable to receive the full increment of warning levels, a temporary forum ban of between 3 days and 1 week is recommended.
  
• A temporary in-game ban for the duration of between 12 hours and 1 week and the suppression of the offending RMB posts if convicted of Adspamming.
  
• A warning with the increment of 2 warning levels if convicted of Harassment, should it be fulfilled on the basis of point 1 of Clause 1 of Article 1 of the Civil Code. However, if the offender is unable to receive the full increment of warning levels, a temporary forum ban of between 1 week and 30 days is recommended.
  
• A warning with the increment of 2 warning levels if convicted of Flaming and Trolling. However, if the offender is unable to receive the full increment of warning levels, a temporary forum ban of between 3 days and 1 week is recommended.
  

Article 3: Tier II Offenses

(1) The following offenses have been designated as Tier II offenses:

• High Treason as defined by Clause 2 of Section 1.1 of the Criminal Code
  
• Espionage as defined by Section 1.2 of the Criminal Code
  
• Fraud as defined by Clause 1 of Section 1.3 of the Criminal Code
  
• Electoral Fraud as defined by Clause 2 of Section 1.3 of the Criminal Code
  
• Perjury as defined by Section 1.4 of the Criminal Code
  
• Harassment as defined by points 2 and 3 of Clause 1 of Article 1 of the Civil Code
  
• Impersonation as defined by Article 3 of the Civil Code
  

(2) The recommended punishments for the above offenses are as follows:

• A temporary in-game ban for a duration of between 3 days and 30 days if convicted of High Treason, should it be fulfilled on the basis of point 1 of Clause 2 of Section 1.1 of the Criminal Code. However, if the offender has previously served the maximum punishment for the offense of an in-game ban of 30 days, the offender shall serve an in-game ban of 30 days more for the current offense than the punishment for the previous commitment of this offense. Should the duration of the in-game ban be in excess of 90 days, a permanent in-game ban is recommended.
  
• A temporary in-game ban for a duration of between 60 days and 365 days if convicted of Treason, should it be fulfilled on the basis of point 3 of Clause 2 of Section 1.1 of the Criminal Code. However, if the offender has previously served the maximum punishment for the offense of an in-game ban of 365 days, a permanent in-game ban is recommended.
  
• A temporary forum ban of between 7 days and 60 days if convicted of Espionage. However, if the offender has previously served the maximum punishment for the offense of a forum ban of 60 days, the offender shall serve a forum ban of 30 days more for the current offense than the punishment for the previous commitment of this offense. Should the duration of the forum ban be in excess of 120 days, a permanent forum ban is recommended.
  
• A temporary forum ban and temporary in-game ban for a duration of between 60 days and 120 days if convicted of Fraud, should it be fulfilled on the basis of Clause 1 of Section 1.3 of the Criminal Code, with both bans lasting the same duration. However, if the offender has previously served the maximum punishment for the offense of a forum ban and in-game ban of 120 days, the offender shall serve a forum ban and in-game ban of 30 days more for the current offense than the punishments for the previous commitment of this offense. Should the duration of both bans each be in excess of 180 days, a permanent forum ban and in-game ban is recommended.
  
• A warning with the increment of 2 warning levels if convicted of Perjury, should it be fulfilled on the basis of Section 1.4 of Clause 1 of Article 1 of the Civil Code. However, if the offender is unable to receive the full increment of warning levels, a temporary forum ban of between 1 week and 30 days is recommended.
  
• A temporary forum ban for a duration of between 30 days and 120 days if convicted of Harassment, should it be fulfilled on the basis of points 2 and 3 of Clause 1 of Article 1 of the Civil Code.
  
• A temporary forum ban and in-game ban for a duration of between 14 days and 60 days if convicted of Impersonation, should it be fulfilled on the basis of Article 3 of the Civil Code, with both bans lasting the same duration. However, if the offender has previously served the maximum punishment for the offense of a forum ban and in-game ban of 60 days, the offender shall serve a forum ban and in-game ban of 30 days more for the current offense than the punishments for the previous commitment of this offense. Should the duration of both bans each be in excess of 120 days, a permanent forum ban and in-game ban is recommended.

Article 4: Tier III Offenses

(1) The following offenses have been designated as Tier II offenses:

• Forum Destruction as defined by Clause 1 of Section 2.1 of the Criminal Code
  
• Inappropriate Spamming as defined by Clause 2 of Section 2.1 of the Criminal Code
  
• Phishing as defined by Clause 3 of Section 2.1 of the Criminal Code
  
• Theft of Nation as defined by point 1 of Clause 1 of Section 2.3 of the Criminal Code
  
• Theft of Account as defined by point 2 of Clause 1 of Section 2.3 of the Criminal Code
  
• Illegal Sharing as defined by Section 2.4 of the Criminal Code
  
• Legal Violations as defined by Section 3.1 of the Criminal Code
  
• NationStates Violations as defined by Section 3.2 of the Criminal Code
  
• Repeated Harassment as defined by Clause 2 of Article 1 of the Civil Code
  

(2) The recommended punishments for the above offenses are as follows:

• A permanent forum ban if convicted of Forum Destruction, should it be fulfilled on the basis of Clause 1 of Section 2.1 of the Criminal Code.
  
• A temporary forum ban for a duration of between 90 days and 120 days if convicted of Inappropriate Spamming, should it be fulfilled on the basis of Clause 2 of Section 2.1 of the Criminal Code. However, if the offender has previously served the maximum punishment for the offense of 120 days, a permanent forum ban is recommended.
  
• A permanent forum ban and in-game ban if convicted of Phishing, should it be fulfilled on the basis of Clause 3 of Section 2.1 of the Criminal Code.
  
• A permanent in-game ban if convicted of Theft of Nation, should it be fulfilled on the basis of point 1 of Clause 1 of Section 2.3 of the Criminal Code.
  
• A permanent forum ban if convicted of Theft of Account, should it be fulfilled on the basis of point 2 of Clause 1 of Section 2.3 of the Criminal Code.
  
• The same severity of punishments as the one received by the person whom the account/nation was shared with, with the punishment concluding upon the conclusion of the punishment received by the person whom the account/nation was shared with, if convicted of Illegal Sharing, should it be fulfilled on the basis of Section 2.4 of the Criminal Code, unless:
  
  2. Said offender has proven sufficiently to be unaware that the person whom the account/nation was shared with was serving a ban at the time of the offense.
     
  Should this condition be fulfilled, the punishment may be terminated.
  
• A permanent forum ban and in-game ban if convicted of Legal Violations, should it be fulfilled on the basis of Section 3.1 of the Criminal Code.
  
• A permanent forum ban if convicted of NationStates Violations, should it be fulfilled on the basis of Section 3.2 of the Criminal Code.
  
• A permanent forum ban if convicted of Repeated Harassment, should it be fulfilled on the basis of Clause 2 of Article 1 of the Civil Code.
  

Article 5: Conspiracy

(1) Should an offender be convicted of Conspiracy, the following punishments are recommended:

• A punishment equivalent in duration/magnitude as the lowest possible duration/magnitude of the recommended punishment for the offense that would have been committed.
  
• Should this not be possible, a punishment of one level lower in terms of severity as defined by Clause 1 of Section 1.3 of the Penal Code.
  

Lake Flotillas

Mar 4 2016, 04:23 PM

Added Article 3 of the Penal Code. The last Article should be coming soon!