Laws.

[legolasean]

Everyone who have a conworld need to have some laws. So... Let's make a thread!

Post 5 major laws in one of your conworlds.

I'll begin. The laws taken from the kingdom of Perivey.

1. A man shall kill, while being attacked.
2. If someone childless has an inheritance, it passes to the government.
3. A man shall not murder. A murderer, shall die.
4. If a husband dies, and his wife is childless, she should marry on his brother/father/uncle/bastard.
5. A thief shall not pickpocket, lock-pick, or steal. A thief shall be burned.

(sorry about the English. I was focused on my conlang and I forgot most of the grammar... Yes.)

[Nannalu]

These are taken from the Vault of the people of Nelim, 'Nelman', of the New World:
1. One shall not kill a member of the Vault unless authorised to by the Elders,
2. One shall not venture out of the Vault unless authorised to by the Elders,
3. If sent beyond the Vault, do not mention the location of the Vault to any foreign body, and only speak if so necessary,
4. All people within Nelim are working towards a greater good, disapproval or slander of the Elders is only punishable by death,
5. Destruction of The Account is only punishable by death, even Elders, but not the High Elder.

[Yiuel Raumbesrairc]

Here are a couple of articles coming from the Constitution of Melville.

- Any adult (mature person) has the right to associate with other consensually agreeing adults;

This article is actually part of a declaration of sovereignty of the State. It is law within Melville, but Melvillians deem it to be one of the fundamental rights of all human beings, wherever they are. (Basically, for the Constitution, an adult can associate with consenting adults, can always dissociate, and can choose to live his life as he wishes. Surprisingly perhaps, the "right to live" is not part of these. They are only part of a resident's rights.) And yes, the law has (un)fortunate implications that are fully acknowledge and actually well received.

- Any person (being defined as a sentinent individual) has the right to become a Resident and enter the State, as long as that person can reasonably demonstrate her intention of following the Constitution of the State as long as she stays within the State;

Written in the Constitution is a general right to immigration. It is not a free-for-all ticket, and indeed some can easily fail their demonstration. (A very common way is to actually have proof that, outside the State, they have acted in disagreement with Melville's laws. Reentry of exiled criminals is done the same way.) But it also means that, according to the Constitution, immigration is a basic Constitutional right which cannot be amended by simple law.

- The State, its Population, its Institutions and its Infrastructures should take all means necessary to take as less space as can be reasonnably be necessary for their daily life;

In short, this is just a request that everyone should make sure to save space as much as possible (health is a concern; if a certain density is deemed unhealthy, it is okay to take more space). Probably among the weakest articles of the Constitution actually. (Doesn't make it any less important. Indeed, the Office of Justice (the equivalent to a Supreme Court) can crack down a law or policy that can be way to extensive in terms of space. The word reasonably is used here to make sure science is taken into account by the courts.

- An Office of Census shall be established, which purpose is to account for all people within the State with their name, their general location, their residency status and other information deemed necessary by law to identify them;

This is a Constitutional Institution. In short, the Constitution itself requires this institution as part of the Institutions of the State. There are eight such institutions : the Assembly of Voters (those who actually vote laws) the Office of Census (citizenry, registry and immigration), the Office of Statistics (gatherer of all information possible), the Office of Science (research and knowledge production, often called the Academy), the Office of Information (a huge library, but including more than books, often called the Mediatheque), the Office of Justice (they care about constitutionality and the respect of law, often called the Court), the Office of Security (which included the army, the police, coastguards, firefighters etc.) and the Office of Secretary (takes care of permanency of the Assembly, and also is the contact of the State with its constituents and with foreigners, basically a foreign ministry of the US Secretary of State Bureau with the added purpose of taking care of the Assembly itself). The Assembly can add more Institutions as required. Infrastructures are also included into a distinct section.

- The Common Language of Melville shall be the language officially used for the Consitution and in all laws, institutions and infrastructures of the State deemed by law unlocalized;

Defines the official language of the State. However, while it is the common language, other dispositions make it clear that, whenever possible, local languages should be used. Indeed, an unlocalized thing can only be recognized as unlocalized if it serves different communities. But it is not only that. The State should possibly localize all services as much as it can. Indeed, you would rarely use CLM in your daily life (except in those communities that actually use CLM as their local language).

[Izambri]

Five weird laws of ancient Hellea that were once major laws:

1. It is illegal to bet on the fastest or strongest competitor in the Sacred Games.
2. Damaged war ships larger than a sardane must provide a barrel of spices to the Admiralty in order to make use of the Royal Naval Dockyards.
3. It is illegal to own birds as pets. A guest can demand to take away any bird from the place he will be lodged.
4. It is illegal to take jewels and shiny garments in stadiums.
5. It is an act of treason to kill dwarf elephants and dolphins.

[patiku]

When Turupan slaves were first brought to the most powerful human state many of the elite were disgusted by them. Reports that they were used as concubines prompted fears that subhuman half-breeds would begin popping up soon despite the importers insisting that interbreeding was impossible, so a law was passed mandating the execution of any Turupan which was known to have had sex with a human. (1) Ten years later the same law was passed, only this time any humans suspected of having had sex with them would have half of their property confiscated. (2) A revision of the legal code kept the original law on the books and included Turupans in the new and controversial law against bestiality, which carried a penalty of bastinado, ten lashes per offence. (3) At the same time the priestly order announced that the relevant deities had decided to punish sex with Turupans by the sending the spirits of transgressors to a realm in the afterlife which was not as good the one which they would have otherwise merited. (4) Turupans were expelled a few years later. (5)

1. It is illegal to bet on the fastest or strongest competitor in the Sacred Games.

So bet on second place. Problem solved.

[legolasean]

Hahaha nice laws:))

[vampireshark]

For the Glaagh, all laws are deemed as equally important, so there are no "five most important laws", but all are guided by the following three principles:
·Man is in a covenant with the Gods, who provide him life and protection from harm in exchange for adherence to and observance of their commandments.
·The Law is divinely inspired. Those who would disobey it are corrupt and unworthy of life.
·It is up to the loyal followers of the Gods to enforce their law and erase, from the face of the Earth, those who are corrupt and devoid of divine guidance as well as those who would aid the corrupt.

[Foolster41]

I don't know about what the "most important" laws would be (besides the obvious don't kill, don't steal etc.), but here are some of what I think are interesting or unusual highlights:

-Concealed carrying weapons is forbidden (unless you have a licence to do so, only granted to undercover government workers). Anyone however may openly carry weapons (this is a medieval tech level, so this would mean swords not guns).
-It is illegal to wear purple vests in public (since this is the color associated with the old monarchist regime).
-It is illegal to kill or injure a Kes, a large reptile creature, or knowingly possess, sell or consume Kes meat.
-While it is illegal to be nude in public (with the exceptions of minors under the age of 10, or mix-bathing bath houses), artistic depictions of nudity that is non-sexual is not (in fact the divine Lykei is often depicted completely nude). It is illegal to show any sort of sexual material (this includes artistic depictions of sex, publicly preforming sexual acts, sexual gestures or obscenities) in public where minors might see/hear or be allowed.
-It is illegal for a child to speak with or detain a child who is "work-dressed". Young children spend most of their time unclothed (it's hot, and frees movement), but are required to wear clothes when doing chores, thus speaking with a child who is dressed is keeping them from business. The worst that would happen is the child is taken to their parents who will most likely punish them.

[WechtleinUns]

1. Heads of households must pay a waste tax, 25.321 Gaffe per pound of waste, on their income taxes.
2. Private companies are forbidden to act as postal services, or to transport goods as a means of commerce.
3. Education is not compulsory. It is, however, free.
4. Insurance companies may not operate under article 14, statute 12. Private corporations violating the statute risk being shut down, as they are in violation of anti-trust laws.
5. Healthcare is not universal, completely de-regulated, but also highly standardized.

[patiku]

2. Private companies are forbidden to act as postal services, or to transport goods as a means of commerce.

What about pizza delivery or [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peapod]Peapod[/quote]?

5. Healthcare is not universal, completely de-regulated, but also highly standardized.

How is standardization maintained without regulation???

[Torco]

How is standardization maintained without regulation???

a conservative culture regarding consensus and the proper way to run things[tm] ?
I'm more baffled by the ban on moving things around; its basically a ban on commerce [or is there a post-office-state? that'd be cool]

NO ONE MOVES STUFF AROUND OTHER THAN THE STATE!

sounds like a cool form of totalitarianism

[Herr Dunkel]

1) A Ktarh shall not harm another Ktarh without either prior consent of the one harmed or justification. Such harm without consent or justification shall be punished with equal harm, except in cases of murder - murder is punished with eighty years of prison time.
2) A Ktarh shall not steal from a fellow Ktarh. Each iteration of theft shall be punished with a fine with triple the assessed value of the stolen goods and a year in prison per item stolen.
3) A Ktarh shall not rape another Ktarh without either prior consent of the raped one's family head, any comparable authority, government consent or justification. Such rape without consent or justification shall be fined with A50 dǣ'sek (around 127 grams of gold)
4) A Ktarh shall not deface or slander another Ktarh of equal or higher status. Such slander shall be fined with 1200 dǣ'sek and punished with two years in prison.
5) A Ktarh shall not engage in trading with the intention of harming the Hexarchy. Such trading shall be punished with confiscation of all property owned by the trader, all property owned by his or her closest family and lifetime labour in the service of the Hexarchy with the possibility of being sold.


These laws are rather flexible if you have a lot of gold or palladium backing your case in court.