The Three Pig Rulings

Due to the existence and great importance of the Nine, Scarterrans like to put a lot of weight on the number nine, but they also put a lot weight on the number three, because the number nine is a trinity of trinities.   Paying restitution nine-fold is considered an excessive punishment for a most crimes, so three-fold restitution seemed natural. This tradition seems to go back to the Second Age if not before though they didn't call it "The Three Pig" rule in previous areas.  

  Sometimes if a judge is annoyed by the nature of the dispute. If the judge believes neither party is at fault or if both parties are at fault, he might take recompense from both parties. This is called a "No Pig Ruling", and the looming possibility of which gives feuding parties another reason to settle their own disputes.   Hypothetically if two peasants have a dispute over a pig, one party "How about I just give one pig and two sacks of flour, and we'll leave the Baron out of this." It's certainly cheaper than forking over three pigs. This is kind of a win-win. The aggrieved party gets recompense much faster without a lengthy and uncertain trial. The "guilty" party doesn't have to fork over as many pigs. Sure the Baron doesn't get a free pig, but he also doesn't have to waste his valuable time listening to the petty problems of the small folk.   When the two disputing parties opt to work out a problem among themselves rather than let it go to trial, it's sometimes called a "two pig solution".

Usually the Three Pig Rule is applied when two peasants have a dispute, and it is usually presided over by a low ranking nobleman such as a knight or a baron though in some larger towns and cities, a king or other high lord might appoint a minister to act as a part-time or full-time judge for local disputes.   It is possible that Tradition of Three-Fold Compensation can be applied in disputes between nobles. Two counts might have a dispute that needs to mediated by a duke or a king. The same basic principles apply but things get messy and political headwinds can easily get in the way of the facts of the dispute and the material dispute over "pigs" might really be a thinly veiled cover for a larger feud.   The issue can also get complicated in a dispute between if they are technically social equals but not really. A simple farmer and a rich merchant are both commoners, but they are not really equals. The same thing easily happens with nobles. Even though highborn are supposed to be social equals with other highborn, informal noble status is complicated and fluid. A lord who is fifth in line to inherit a title from a minor house is certainly below a lord first in line to inherit a title from a major house but in theory they have the same legal standing.   It gets really messy when social status of the feuding parties are clearly unequal. The Three Pig Rule tends go out the window when a commoner wrongs a noble or a noble wrongs a commoner.   If a noble supposedly wrongs a commoner, judges will normally rule in favor of the higher status individual automatically unless there is overwhelming evidence backing the commoner's claim. A commoner that commits petty theft or fraud against noble is likely to face a much harsher penalty than paying three-fold restitution since the noble is probably more concerned with maintaining face than he is with materially recovering his losses.