Laws of Thetur Öz

Laws of the Sofalssian Disinia Thetur Öz were the first codified law in Yeharene states, written on clay tablets in Mannakene script. The hand of influential High Eunuch Xilig was seen at various stages in preparation of the laws, which is reflected in rules regards to the trade, contracts and payments. The laws are considered to supersede the ancient Yeharene tribal rules and conventions but not the Twelve Commandments (basis of Sofalssian religious law). Since the Commandments do not appreciate killing of a fellow Yeharene, Sofalssian law has relatively few death penalties.
==Basis of legitimacy==
Morality and law comes ultimately from the Twelve Gods. Since the Temple of Twelve Gods and Twelve Thousand Angels is considered the sole party in Sofalss that has been given the task to interpret and act on the Divine Truth, it is also the sole party to write laws and see that they're followed.
==Punishments==
*Death penalty: Public stoning, impalement or disembowlement.
*Soullessness: Banishment from society into Soullessness and loss of nose, finger, penis, eye or ear to brand offender for life.
*Three Punishments:
#Payment: Compensation in set amount of coinage or grain
#Work: Penal servitude (slavery) for a set period of time
#Pain: Public flogging, set amount of lashes
Large majority of crimes have the Three Punishments as alternatives. If the criminal refuses to pay or work, he's always flogged instead. Criminal's house is allowed to pay the compensation money in his stead. Others are not allowed to pay it. In case of thievery and similar cases (such as slaying another's slave), there is expected to be an effort to repay the offended party in full.
==Judgment of crimes==
Anyone except a slave or Soulless person may report a crime to the local temple or shrine which will either accept or outright reject a case after brief explanation to the matter and discussion with local bureaucrat. This may be delayed considerably if there are lots of cases. Garrisons and militias are expected to carry out arrests when required. Slave may only be a (dubious) witness in a case. Soulless are outside of law, if they become a problem they can be driven out, intimidated or killed freely by anyone but they're not worthy to be judged by the Divine State. Foreigners are allowed to sue if they're wronged, for example to complain about a contract breach if he's done business with a Sofalssian merchant and ended up cheated.
Courts are convened regularly in settlements. Leader of the court is a priest (rarely a priestess) learned in law. He is aided by bureaucrats. Cases are written up by a scribe on clay tablets that are stored and read aloud on town square regularly.  
Witnesses and evidence of crime or innocence are the main factors to decide cases in court. In unclear cases the Temple's judges employ soothsayers and astrologers to divinate on truth to the matter. False judgments are thought to be rare due to priesthood's vision into the divine truth and justice. If overwhelming evidence to disprove a judgment is brought forth and local council finds this convincing, a case may be reopened and judge handling it punished for slackness in faith and interpretation.
==Examples of punishable crimes==
Note: This list is incomplete.
*Death Penalty: Murder, cannibalism, human sacrifice, buying of an assassination, conspiracy, rebellion, dark magic, daemon worship, rape of a priestess, daemonic possession ("criminal" is considered to be the daemon here but only straightforward way to get rid of it is to kill the host).
*Soullessness: 
**Sodomy/severe sexual crimes: Bestiality, incest, homosexuality, rape of a virgin, sex within inner sanctums of a temple, forced castration of a freeborn Yeharene, sex with a girl who hasn't had her first period, sex involving a priest or priestess.
**Blasphemy: Denying existence of the Twelve Gods (does not apply to the Qejye outsiders), publicly arguing against Temple's dogma, insulting or disgracing the gods, damaging idols of the gods, worshipping outer gods, dirtying temple grounds with bodily waste, performing blasphemous poems, stories and songs.
*Three Punishments:
**Severe: Attempted murder, poisoning of water or food, piracy, rape of a non-virgin, violent robbery, banditry, major property damage (includes killing or hurting slaves and animals), forcing non-enslaved women or men to prostitution, brutal violence, forgery of coinage, breaching a blood-signed written contract, desertion
**Moderately severe: Thievery, bribery, moderate property damage, drunkness in religious/bureaucratic/military duty, lying to one's superior in Temple hierarchy, falsifying Temple records, scraping metal from coins, using scales and weights falsely in trade, deflowering a girl betrothed to another, grievously dishonoring/defaming a person or house through lies, practicing divine magic without temple's consent, abandonment of a child or spouse, disobedience in the army
**Non-severe: Pickpocketing, non-grievous insults on one's honor, minor blackmail, minor fights or brawls, begging or trading where these are forbidden, selling swordfish, killing a duck or swan, cockfighting, gambling with weighted dice, adultery in marriage, slackness in duty, entering inner temple without washing hands, sexual depravity in public, indecent dressing in public, swindling, breaching an oral contract, various slights in conduct of rituals, incorrect procedure in duels
==Miscallenous==
*Land is considered in the law to be property of Divine State and the people and Houses who do not directly work for the Temple but nevertheless use the land are technically expected to lease it from the Temple, with land payments in coinage, labor or goods.
*Due to strict Sofalssian views on purity (particularly sexual purity for young girls and priestesses), there are quite many laws intended to defend physical and spiritual digninity and pristinity. In sexual crimes other than rape or seduction of a girl too young to understand love, both parties are punished. Priestesses who become pregnant are expelled from temple's service, unless the baby is decreed by the Saraullazi to originate from divine seed.
*House is the key social unit for middle/upper sections of society and insults against honour of a person are often considered insults against honor of their House as well. It is considered normal for a House to be represented in temple court in stead of individual who was victimized by crime. Since tarnishment of House's honour will be hard to wash out, crimes committed by members of the House are predictably often swept under the carpet within the House if possible. Duels between rival Houses remain a common method for settling disputes.
*The law contains some basic ruling on inheritance. Unless they prepare a blood-signed written will before their death to state otherwise, person's properties transfer to their close family and by extension, to be shared within their House (partners in marriage --> children --> parents --> House). If such a person is unmarried, a member of priesthood or lacks known family, his properties are expected to be taken or sold by the Temple.
*Supreme Council is allowed to change the law by majority vote. Disinia alone cannot do it.
Category:Yeharenes
Category:Culture
Category:Jurisprudence