Law and Order in Fumaya

Fumaya fluctuates between kings with a high degree of oversight over their vassal's judgements and kings with a low degree of oversight.   The current king, Henryk Linijka III, prefers to let his vassals handle their own issues with minimal oversight because he wants to demonstrate trust in their wisdom and judgment.   Henryk's father, King Ziven Linijika VI also gave his vassals minimal oversight but this motivated mostly by laziness.   Henryk's grandfather, King Arwid Linijika, was more hands on and wanted to personally have a hand in ensuring justice in his realm.   Likewise, some individual dukes may like to keep a tight rein on their vassals and other dukes prefer to give their counts autonomy.

Minor offenses

  Minor offenses are handled with fines or short periods of indentured labor, cmmonly working as a "mill donkey" for a couple weeks or the equivalent thereof.   Some minor offenses are punished with public shaming. An aleseller selling inferior ale might be put in stocks while his offending ale is poured over his head. Minor swindlers might be tarred and feathered. A lot of these punishments come from the common citizens, not the local lord, but in the vast majority of cases the local lord gives his tacit approval to these acts of public shaming.  

The most medieval of crimes

  Oath breakers are typically executed though in some cases they can get mercy by taking on a more severe oath.   Maleficium is rarely punished by itself, but if a criminal uses magic to aid and abet a mundane crime, they are all but guaranteed to face very harsh sentences.   The Northwest Forest allows public hunting and reagent foraging. All other forests are under the demense of a lord of some kind, therefore, hunting and foraging without the lord's permission is treated as theft.   Poaching of hunting rights is typically treated as ordinary theft. Poaching of reagents is considered an egregious theft.   Bearing false witness is considered a serious crime. By written Fumayan law, someone proven of bearing false witness is to be given the punishment of the crime they are accusing though in practice, false accusers often get off relatively easy with a public shaming.  

The Big Three Crimes

  Convicted murderers are usually executed. They might be banished if a high status person murders a low status person.   Convicted rapists are commonly executed or severely flogged and banished depending on the severity of the offense. Severity is judged on the level of violence used and the relative social status of the perpetrator and victim. Other nations use branding and maimings for rapists but this is all but unheard of in Fumaya.   Thieves are expected to pay restitution four time over. Three times to the victim and the fourth time to the feudal lord. Most thieves do not have the money on hand to pay this sort of fine, so they can work off their debt with indentured labor.   If the theft is especially egregious, the thief is executed. If the thief is good at begging, they might be branded and banished instead. Sometimes the lord will partially or fully provide restitution to the victim of the theft as a courtesy if the thief is banished or slain.   Attempted crimes are very fuzzy. Be it attempted murder, attempted rape, or attempted theft. Some lords give criminals the full punishment and other times a relative slap on the wrist.  

Military Service

  By a recent royal decree, as part of his drive for a miliary buildup, King Henryk Linijka III has offered a pardon to most criminals if they fight in a militia and is encouraging his vassals to follow suit. Though this does involve taking an oath of service and oath breakers in this case will find zero mercy.

Feudal lords have full jurisdiction as judge, jury, and executioner on their own land. They have lots of leeway to determine guilt or innocence and they have a leeway on choosing the severity of a sentence.   A lord's feudal superiors can override any judgment or sentence given. It is fairly rare for a superior to step in and override a vassal's ruling and this is considered a mark of disrespect in all but the most extreme cases.   A feudal lord can volunteer to defer a judgement to a feudal superior. This is considered a mark of respect. This is all a near necessity if jurisdiction becomes fuzzy. If a citizen from the County of Ogenia is arrested in County of Bazyli's Arch, the two counts can bicker about who has jurisdiction or they can defer the judgement to Duke of Wiern who is the feudal superior of both counties.   If the person accused of a crime is of high status, it is a common custom, though not required, for the judgment to be pushed up a level of the feudal hierarchy.   A feudal lord can transfer his power of judgment to an advisor or underling, if said advisor or underlings has a strong background in law and justice. This is typically only done by the king as the king has lots of cases brought before him and has a slew of knowledgeable advisors. Most routine crimes comitted in the city of King's Lake are handled by the king's burgermeister rather than the king himself. Lesser crimes committed on the king's personal demense are commonly tried by the king's bailiff.