Peace Hall
Peace Halls are the basic judicial system units of Erwy court system. The judges are usually members of the local community and conduct initial judgement of small claims and crimes.
In the past, decisions about crime and punishment were unilaterally dealt with by village elders, who did their best to prevent excessive rumors from reaching the ears of the local noble. It was preferred to find and punish wrongdoers, whether by reduction of privileges or even exile, rather than to risk increase in taxes or other retribution coming from the powers above. The nobles, of course, knew about it and tolerated it, as long as the system worked correctly.
3rd century BU is when the first prototypes of Peace Halls appeared. This was prompted by the unprecedented wave of arsons in the northern Erres, consuming towns and crops alike. As the countryside burned, the trees all around started sprouting nooses like apples in the fall. There was a wave of lynches, usually the victims of which were strangers and local troublemakers. The military was mobilized to pacify the people and to make sure no rushed judgements were made. As the fires stopped, it was assumed that the perpetrator or perpetrators were indeed among the dead. This, however, was not good enough. While rebuilding the settlements, a coalition of local nobility decided to construct offices for their scribes in each village. The servants were to gather and write down all the claims and deliver them weekly to their masters, so they can make the rulings themselves.
This worked for several years, until all parties realized, that except in case of several types of crime, such as illegal hunting or misreporting taxes, where the local lord was directly impacted, the villagers, with the help of the scribe, were able to govern themselves just fine. This is when the Peace Halls were first established. The settlements chose four men or women of good standing to hear any case on a weekly basis. The scribe served as a tiebreaker vote and only reported the results of the trials to the lord. Most of the crimes and punishments were codified and written down in late 3rd century BU as the Common Law, and the document quickly spread through Erres and Wyeh.
Only one key difference to the current Peace Halls was made over the next hundred years. The Highest Choir of the Voice requested access for their Middle and High Choir acolytes to be able to perform rites before the court started its session. This was agreed to without much resistance, as the Voice spread its beneficial influence far and wide at this point of history. Some argued that the songs alleviating guilt and increasing forgiveness impact proceedings too heavily, but as others pointed out, they didn’t influence the honesty of testimonies. In addition, the prescribed punishments, written down in the Common law, cared not for anyone’s feelings.
History
In the past, decisions about crime and punishment were unilaterally dealt with by village elders, who did their best to prevent excessive rumors from reaching the ears of the local noble. It was preferred to find and punish wrongdoers, whether by reduction of privileges or even exile, rather than to risk increase in taxes or other retribution coming from the powers above. The nobles, of course, knew about it and tolerated it, as long as the system worked correctly.
3rd century BU is when the first prototypes of Peace Halls appeared. This was prompted by the unprecedented wave of arsons in the northern Erres, consuming towns and crops alike. As the countryside burned, the trees all around started sprouting nooses like apples in the fall. There was a wave of lynches, usually the victims of which were strangers and local troublemakers. The military was mobilized to pacify the people and to make sure no rushed judgements were made. As the fires stopped, it was assumed that the perpetrator or perpetrators were indeed among the dead. This, however, was not good enough. While rebuilding the settlements, a coalition of local nobility decided to construct offices for their scribes in each village. The servants were to gather and write down all the claims and deliver them weekly to their masters, so they can make the rulings themselves.
This worked for several years, until all parties realized, that except in case of several types of crime, such as illegal hunting or misreporting taxes, where the local lord was directly impacted, the villagers, with the help of the scribe, were able to govern themselves just fine. This is when the Peace Halls were first established. The settlements chose four men or women of good standing to hear any case on a weekly basis. The scribe served as a tiebreaker vote and only reported the results of the trials to the lord. Most of the crimes and punishments were codified and written down in late 3rd century BU as the Common Law, and the document quickly spread through Erres and Wyeh.
Only one key difference to the current Peace Halls was made over the next hundred years. The Highest Choir of the Voice requested access for their Middle and High Choir acolytes to be able to perform rites before the court started its session. This was agreed to without much resistance, as the Voice spread its beneficial influence far and wide at this point of history. Some argued that the songs alleviating guilt and increasing forgiveness impact proceedings too heavily, but as others pointed out, they didn’t influence the honesty of testimonies. In addition, the prescribed punishments, written down in the Common law, cared not for anyone’s feelings.
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