Qosidian Law

Qosidian Law is the set of practices and agreements that limits behavior of individuals with the Communes of Qosid. Qosidian Law is different from law in other cultures and nations, including the other provinces of the Kingdom of Laeryll, and may not always be recognizable as such by outsiders. It can be subdivided into three different types of law, which may contradict each other on specific topics.

• Crown Law: Codified regulations that have been handed down by the Kingdom of Laeryll and have been accepted by the Representatives of the Communes.
• Wood Law: Current agreements that were made during Thallidien Assemblies. These agreements are often codified, but the oral process that brought them about is considered to be part of the agreement.
• Tree Law: These are customary laws, which may or may not be codified and vary greatly between communes.

Crown Law

In contrast to most other provinces of the Kingdom of Laeryll, Qosid does not automatically subscribe to the legislation that is drafted in Prydisyrr. Instead, the Province Keeper of Qosid is continuously negotiating with both the King and the Representatives to establish which centralized laws do and do not apply. This had led some to comment that Qosid is not so much a province as it is a very close ally: Crown Law states that the Communes will come to defend the Kingdom if it is attacked, will extradite criminal fugitives from the Kingdom of Laeryll, will share intelligence upon request and will maintain open borders with the other provinces.
Transgressions of Crown Law are handled during legal assemblies. These assemblies involve Representatives of the Communes and sometimes take place within the Thallidien, but should not be confused with the Thallidien Assemblies during which policies are drafted, as it is not within the power of the Representatives to alter Crown Law. In legal assemblies that pertain to Crown Law, the Representatives only analyze the case and decide on sanctions.
If transgressions are not handled satisfactorily from the point of view of the Kingdom of Laeryll, the King or Queen may intervene at their own discretion. This means that breaking Crown Law always carries the risk of upsetting the power balance between Qosid and the kingdom as whole.

Wood Law

Drafting rules

At the surface, Wood Law may seem similar to legislation in other cultures, although it is drafted during communal assemblies and not mandated by a single ruler. It is a set of agreements and each commune member in Qosid is expected to behave in accordance with these agreements. Yet precisely because of this power, Wood Law is also limited to solely those domain where coordination between communes is considered to be important. For example, Wood Law covers the coordinated use of military forces, sets procedural constraints for Tree Law (see below), resolves disputes between communes and deals with Tree Law cases that have been escalated to Thellur.
Wood Law is determined via Thallidien Assemblies and codified in their proceedings. The Representatives of the Communes therefore structure Wood Law.

Case deliberation

Individuals who act in defiance of Wood Law are brought to the Thallidien or another site of assembly where their cases are discussed, with at least five Representatives present. These Representatives are joined by five lawmasters (Zakofales). If the case requires it, additional community members or experts may be invited to join in on the deliberation.

Sentencing

Here, another typical aspect of Qosidian Law comes into place, as legal assemblies held this way are oriented towards restoring damages or reconciling victim and offender. Both the establishment of guilt and the necessary reparations are decided by consensus after deliberation, but when consensus is not reached in a timely fashion, the Gwyfales can call for a vote (and determine the appropriate procedure) to determine outcomes. Similar cases from the past are used to decide on outcomes and differences between sentences for similar cases need to be clearly argued for.

Appeal

The decisions of the legal assemblies that pertain to breaches of Wood Law cannot be appealed. Failing to meet the demands set after deliberation is considered to be a grave transgression, which can lead to banishment from the whole of Qosid.

Tree Law

Case deliberation

The deliberative practice of different communes varies. While consensus decision-making, much like that in Thellur, is common, there are also communes where majority voting after deliberation is a more common decision-making practice. In the more hierarchical communes, deliberation can be limited to one or a few decision-makers -- for example, in Gahan, a group of chefs makes decisions and in Yhathen an ancient oak calls the shots. In the unique case of Zhyhikaan, druids deliberate amongst themselves but then subsequently interpret flame movements to resolve matters. There are also communes where voting is traditionally tied to a particular prowess, such as Straliaced where individuals capacity to vote after deliberation is limited by their ability to aim with a bow.
Whatever the form of deliberation and decision-making, Wood Law mandates that anyone charged with a transgression should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. That means that somewhere in the process, reasons must be given to find an individual guilty.

Sentencing

Sentencing is typically part of the deliberation and most communes steer towards reconciliation or restoration as a goal when deciding on the consequences of a transgression. For repeat offenders, this is not always possible, in which case banishment is the likely outcome. In most communes, consensus is needed about the proposed sanctions and this consensus should include defendant and accuser. If such consensus is not reached, a typical solution is that different sanctions are put to the vote, and the one with the largest majority vote is chosen. These procedures, however, differ per commune.
There are communes in which reconciliation is not considered to be a laudable goal. The dancing guru of Orfillur is known to be mostly punitive, for example. The assemblies of Kalithen follow mob rule and sentence unpopular members to unusual punishments for even slight transgressions.

Escalation

A commune can also decide that a case is too complex to be decided upon under Tree Law. This is for example the case if harm is done to many different communes. The case can then be brought to Thellur, where it will be discussed under Wood Law by Representatives and Zakofales.

Appeal

In all cases, Wood Law mandates the right of those sentenced under Tree Law to appeal if either defendant or accuser (or both) do not agree with the verdict or the sentence. In this case, the following steps are taken:

• First, the commune drafts a detailed description of the case and important considerations.
• Then, both the defendant and the accuser make a list of three other communes.
• The defendant and accuser subsequently visit these other communes, where the case is judged according to the respective Tree Laws and the case description.
• Once this is done, all the verdicts and sentences are brought together in the original commune and defendant and accuser are asked to decide on the decision they prefer. If the two of them reach consensus, the new decision is accepted. If they cannot reach consensus, the original decision stands.

Social ostracism

Qosidian Law aims to transform those who are found guilty of a transgression and to reconcile them with their victims. This does not always work completely, and transgressors may be shunned by their commune. In such cases, it is customary for the transgressor to leave for another commune.