Have you given thought to how international law might shape your world? Even having notes on which nations subscribe to a body of international law standards can be a fun way to add depth to the political landscape.

Legal systems can be interesting (no really!) Americans and Britons are used to a common law, where legal precedents form the basis for future rulings, but there are other forms as well - the Roman system of civil law, and the Muslim system of Sharia law also exist.

In my setting, a fallen empire’s legal system formed the basis for a loose international treaty for the kingdoms that arose in its place - thus, the Pandect, a series of codes and standards to which today’s kingdoms and republics all either flout, follow, or attempt to follow in various ways.

https://kanka.io/en/campaign/7004/notes/4851

Have you ever tried making your own legal code? You are hereby sentenced to share.

  • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    In the main branch of my universe, I used the UN as the center of a world government post magical quasi-apocalypse. Never needed to get too deep into details, but the laws reusing regarding use of magic as weaponry against other nations was covered “on screen”, as was the basic human rights charter.

    But the main universe is set up for TTRPG, and has had changes here and there, including a few years as a monarchy on earth under the reincarnation of King Arthur.

    In the branch I use for most of my writing, things are a little less explosive, and there’s no world unification. There is still a UN, and a more powerful world court and legal cooperation via interpol.

    However, there’s also a separate set of laws called The Pact, which was made between the gods, the living, and all the major spiritual powers. The exact details vary by universe branch, but the two biggest ones cover when and how gods can intervene in the material plane, and when and how spirits can manifest.

    The key difference in the Pact between the two main branches deals with the soul. In the TTRPG version, souls can still be bought, sold, traded, etc, but there’s limits involved that prevent eternal consequences. In the literary branch, souls are inviolate for the most part. Interference with the natural movement and cycles of the soul are harshly punished by all signatories of the Pact. It’s at the center of the main character’s stories since he’s a necromancer.

    Again, not everything has happened “on screen”, but I’ve got scribbled notes and a backlog of brain notes that are moderately developed.

    • The Snark Urge@lemmy.worldOPM
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      1 year ago

      Not enough necromancer protags in fiction. Off the top of my head, The Laundry Files? Is that about it?

      Got to love a good King Arthur reinsert. I have one, but more as a sort of Arthas Menethil “back from hell, changed” sort of thing to keep in my pocket in case I need a bigger baddie one day.

      • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        There’s more than you’d think, but the only other one that sells decently is Johannes Cabal. And it is a great series

        My group actually played the return of Arthur. From his initial discovery of his previous life, meeting Gwynevere, Lancelot, and Gawain, then questing after Excalibur. He ended up fighting off a dimensional BBEG, saving the world and being named king until I did a reset of canon because it turns out that a monarchy on a world scale turns boring until and unless the characters go power hungry lol.

        • The Snark Urge@lemmy.worldOPM
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          1 year ago

          Yeah true. Global absolute benevolent monarchy only really works narratively if bad things happen, which ends up meaning the monarchy fails somehow or an external threat appears.

          I’ll have to look for Johannes Cabal. Cheers!

    • SassyGumsquatch@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I have always loved the idea that in the afterlife there is simply more bureaucracy and legalese. It just seems so human to have even more laws after death.

  • HiddenLayer5
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    1 year ago

    This is my attempt to write the actual Interspecies Peace Agreement, the treaty that basically say natural predators or prey won’t eat each other anymore. Think Zootopia but with actual animal shaped animals instead of anthros.

    This is the world it’s set in: https://lemmy.ml/post/2232578

    The ISPA has way more provisions than just banning predation. Other protections granted include freedom of migration between ISPA territories, and that you can’t discriminate by species (or discriminate in general). I’ll write those sections in the future.

    Interspecies Peace Agreement

    Article 1: Scope of this Treaty

    The terms of the Interspecies Peace Agreement (“ISPA” or, “this Treaty”) shall apply to:

    1. Any animal residing in or passing through the natural territory of any species, clade, or taxa, that is signatory to this Treaty

    2. Any animal who is a natural member of any species, clade, or taxa, that is signatory to this Treaty, or is a registered citizen of any territory in the scope of the previous paragraph, regardless of their geographic location

    3. Any individual animal signatory to this Treaty, or any registered citizen or member or any territory, nation state, population, community, or other entity that is signatory to this Treaty, or

    4. Any animal, entity, territory, nation state, population, community, species, clade, or taxa, who engages in or wish to engage in commercial, cultural, technological, or academic trade with any member entities of this Treaty, when interacting with any ISPA signatories.

    Article 2: Predation and Causing the Death of Animals

    Signatories of this Treaty are to criminalize, immediately following the signature of this Treaty:

    1. Predation of Any Animal, and

    2. Causing the Death of an Animal

    For the purpose of this Treaty, an animal is guilty of “Predation” if they willfully eats, directly or indirectly, any bodily tissue, organ or structure of any other animal.

    Predation and Causing the Death of an Animal shall be separate criminalized offenses, and in cases of Causing the Death of an Animal for the purposes of or to facilitate Predation, they are to be prosecuted concurrently as separate criminal charges and criminal sentences executed consecutively. Attempts at either shall also be criminalized under the same or a lesser charge. Where a group of animals engage in a conspiracy to commit or attempt Predation but not all animals are directly involved in the death or attempted death of an animal, the entire group shall be charged with both offenses.

    ISPA member entities shall also be required to take all reasonable actions to educate against, prevent, investigate, prosecute, and execute criminal sentences for any instance of Predation or Causing the Death of an Animal.


    To see how the treaty is ratified, here’s a look at Section One of the Feline Criminal Code. They have the harshest punishments for predation as, being cats and all, they have the biggest problem with their citizens preying on others and only recently signed the ISPA.

    Section 1; Paragraph 1

    Any Feline who engages in, attempts to engage in, or takes any action in preparation to engage in, encourages another animal to engage in, or facilitates another animal in engaging in Simple Predation is guilty of a Class 5 offence under this section and shall be sentenced to fixed term imprisonment of no less than one year but not more than twenty years, and optionally fined without limitation.

    1. For the purposes of this act, Simple Predation is “Predation” as defined by the Interspecies Peace Agreement, where the act does not involve, neither directly nor indirectly, the death of an animal, or the animal has died of causes unrelated to the act of Predation.

    2. Felines sentenced under this paragraph shall not be eligible for parole until half of the given sentence has been served.

    3. Felines sentenced under this paragraph shall be barred for life from holding public office, working in any Public or State-run Ministry, Institution, or Enterprise, voting in any election, applying for the sealing or removal of any parts of their criminal record, holding a passport, or migrating out of Feline territory.

    4. The above restrictions may be individually released by a ruling of the Feline Central Court and if authorized by the Feline Ministry of Security, with additional conditions placed on the continued release of these restrictions.

    Section 1; Paragraph 2

    Any Feline who willfully causes or attempts to cause, by any means, directly or indirectly, the death of another animal, or either willfully or recklessly without regard for the safety of others, engages in any act they know to have a high propensity to cause or contribute to the death of another, and where the act does in fact cause or contribute to the death of an animal, is guilty of Willfully Causing the Death of an Animal and a Class 9 offense under this section and shall be sentenced to imprisonment for life without parole.

    Section 1; Paragraph 3

    Any Feline who commits an offense under Paragraph 2 for the purpose of committing or facilitating the commission of an offense under Paragraph 1, is guilty of First Degree Predation and a Class 10 offense under this section, and shall be:

    1. Sentenced to imprisonment for life without parole for one count of this offense, or

    2. For two or more counts of this offense, sentenced to imprisonment for life without parole, or, if requested by the Feline Ministry of Justice Public Prosecutor’s Office and authorized by the Feline Ministry of Security, sentenced to death.

    • DerKriegs
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      1 year ago

      Well written stuff here, it feels so verisimilitudinous! Could be passed in the Senate with no one even blinking!

      The legalese gives it some extra punch, and fits well in the structure you’ve presented for your world thus far.

      Also, the use of ‘migrating’ in point 3 of section 1, paragraph 1 was subtle, but again, makes the document so immersive!

      • HiddenLayer5
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        1 year ago

        Thank you! I love putting in little things that make a fantasy world feel like not our own! I also try to use things like paw instead of hand too. I always enjoyed reading those little details in fantasy animal books so I try to add them in as well!

  • DerKriegs
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    1 year ago

    Not so much a legal code as a series of trade agreements and stipulations for said commerce.

    The Cartric Republic, formerly the Holy Realms of the Cledic State, require a series of conditions to be met in order to truly benefit from their economic model and global trade connections. While certain quotas and other mundane numeric goalposts must be reached, the widest in scope and most heavily criticized requirement is the banning of magic in the nation that wishes to trade.

    The HRCS was a colonial theocracy, spreading the gospel of the true creator and laying low those that worshipped heathen entities, all to save the souls of humanity from the temptations of darkness (I feel like I’ve heard this before…). The use of earthly magics was a tell-tale sign of said worship, and the magic frequently attracted or birthed shadowy corruptions that would periodically plague the land.

    The HRCS was eventually transformed into a republic, but the resentment of magic was still deeply ingrained in the culture and government. The regions of the world they hadn’t taken over outright would often capitulate for the lucrative technology that came from these anti-magic zealots, and often adopted many facets of Cartric/Cledic culture.

    Exceptions have certainly been made, such as for the viceroyalties of Varhoste, as their deep mineral deposits are a great resource for the industrial Cartref, but the Varhoster mining infrastructure relies on stone weaving, an ancient magic practice. The deeply religious practice of stone weaving has since been restricted, requiring a license to use (for industrial and military use only), causing some discontent.

    • The Snark Urge@lemmy.worldOPM
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      1 year ago

      I admire this for how the details have a reflection in the larger themes at play, but it all manages to sound fairly organic in how it plays out. This one’s my fav.

      • DerKriegs
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        1 year ago

        Thanks! Ive always tried to build with those threaded connections in mind! When I look at my histories, I build each area with six pillars:

        • Politics
        • Science/Technology
        • Religion
        • Natural world
        • Economics
        • Culture

        As I build each individually, I can start to see how they connect and weave them together. Then I see how these pillars connect to their geographic neighbors, and the so on. Gets a fairly solid coordination for the global history.

        All credit for that method to Tim Hickman of Hello Future Me.

  • SassyGumsquatch@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    At least for magic, most nations on Irdas defer to the standards set by the Arcane Council of Everstone. Everstone is a city-state run by mages and they have a council of wizards, each a master at their school and considered the greatest of their time. These wizards meet together at least once per year and update their stances on emerging magical theory. It is kind of like an ethics board. Many nations across the world have taken to adopting their stances when dealing with the publiv practice of magic even though the Council has no official legal power.