second hue ☣ text

[psychofailed]

What are your experiences with the law, here and at home? Is this system similar or different from the one you had where you're from, and how so?

Do you believe the system here is better or worse empowered to protect its citizens? To what extent should it have such power in the first place?

I was a detective, back home, so I'm interested in people's opinions of this country's legal system

Comments

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[dualismum]

From what I have gathered, the law in Japan here works very much the same way as in the Japan from my world, at on a basic level. However, as there is a special bureau for the apprehension and neutralization of beings called Ghouls, one that might involve out of country missions, the power division as well as the fluidity between departments and authority levels can differ greatly from this world.

I don't think my world has a better system or worst, because we deal with different issues. It's not possible to compare.

permatext

[psychofailed]

[Man, it's so strange to think of a Japan that a) doesn't have the Sybil System and b) has open borders. He still hasn't decided what he thinks of it. That's partly what's motivating this post, of course. To gain opinions and experiences from those whose legal and social systems are going to be very different from his.]

Your Japan maintains diplomatic relations with other countries to combat these Ghouls, then? What are they, exactly?

[dualismum]

It's difficult to call it "diplomatic" as the CCG is given enough power to operate on its own, without governmental interferences. Certainly we need to answer the government for our actions, but the power we are given is necessary in order to protect the people. In fact, we even created and introduced the Ghoul Countermeasures Law into the legal system, which provides the legal foundation for the prosecution of ghouls.

Ghouls are a carnivorous species that are only able to feed on humans. They are stronger, faster, and incredibly dangerous.

[psychofailed]

[...Well...then....]

There isn't some manner of international agreement allowing your organization to operate abroad? In my version of Japan [god that's still so damn weird to say] Japan completely refuses any form of contact with other nations or citizens.

When you say prosecution, however, do you intend to imply this species is sentient?

[dualismum]

Yes, there is, but mostly among other bureaus that fight ghouls, rather than the governments. We do operate aboard, but it's beyond our government's hands - however, we must be invited or at least allowed to enter the country by the other bureaus. This is a rare occurrence, but we don't refuse contact with others.

Ghouls exist worldwide and they are a worldwide threat.

And yes, ghouls are sentient. They look like humans, and as such they hide among humans, making it quite difficult to tell who is a ghoul and who isn't.

Text

[dirtyredneck]

Law here is how law used to be back before. Think it's mostly a load of shit, same as it was. Ain't got any laws that help the people that really needs it. Those that want to can manipulate the fuck out of it on technicalities. The people that need to die ain't gonna. The people that don't need to probably will. All on account of how much money they got to line pockets or who doesn't care enough to get up off their lazy asses and see what's right in front of their faces.

Bullshit. All of it.

What we got now, in my world, ain't always perfect, but it works a hell of a lot better.

permatext!

[psychofailed]

[....Interesting. 'Daryl Dixon' doesn't sound like a Japanese name, but it could be an alias. Is there someone else here from his world that he doesn't know? Then again, if this person went through the trouble to make himself an alias, then it's also very possible that they also looked through the network records and saw Kogami identify himself as an Enforcer of the MWPSB. Would he admit if he was from his Japan, even if it were the case?]

What is the system like, now?

permatext o7

[dirtyredneck]

Depends on the group. Each of them got their own rules that works for them. Figured out through trial and error. None of them is written down or full of nuances and bullshit double speak like they are here, or they were in the world that was.

There's some things that are understood, though. Some 'universal truths' most everyone knows and keeps to. You need a group, is the first. Most important. You need people.

[psychofailed]

[...definitely not from his Japan, then.]

You've developed an anarchist society, then? How long has it been that way?

[Because from everything he's read, anarchist societies don't tend to last all too long, but if this person's world is different, then he'd be really curious to know more.]

[dirtyredneck]

Developed. That's one way of putting it. Ain't really anarchist, though. Anarchy is the lack of laws, everyone for themselves. We got rules, they just ain't codified and universal across countries. Can't really do that when there ain't no countries anymore. Like I said, different groups got different rules for themselves.

[He wasn't going to touch the how long question because it was difficult to say exactly when hope for a return to the old ways had been given up.]

[protects_the_small]

there does not seem to be a distinction between 'commoner' and 'noble' here. I am not sure if that means that there is equality

[psychofailed]

[Commoners and nobles? That sounds like something right out of one of his old books. He is absolutely never going to get used to the different time periods everyone is from around here.]

Not in my experience. Social stratification takes different names, but it's notoriously difficult to eliminate. It's certainly been tried, though.

[protects_the_small]

Then I suppose there will be a separate set of laws for the richer people and the poorer people. I haven't had much time to look it up.

[Someone still hasn't gotten over being told the kidnapping of her maid can be paid off]

[psychofailed]

Explicitly different sets of laws would likely lose legitimacy in the eyes of a country's citizens. It's just that historically, those born into privilege have more opportunities to make the law work for them rather than against.

It's a little different for us back home, because no amount of money or resources will keep you out of the isolation facility if you neglect your mental health enough, but it's not true equality, either, because your mental health and capacities as determined by the Sybil System largely pre-determine your social station from fairly early on.

[Text]

[inchesofevil]

I spent a night in jail for breaking into a library once.

Legal system here is pretty much exactly the same as back home.

[Text]

[psychofailed]

[Just one night? What?]

They held a trial simply to imprison you for a single day?

[That sounds...ridiculously inefficient. Such a system could not possibly have lasted all those centuries before the advent of the Sybil System, could it?]

[inchesofevil]

What no, jail happens first! They hold you until your trial unless you can post bail. My trial date was like four months from then.

[psychofailed]

[???]

I was under the impression that this country was very strongly opposed to the idea of imprisonment without trial?

[hE KNOWS WHAT HE READ IN THOSE NEWSPAPER DAMMIT.]

text;

[superposition]

That's a broad question. I assume you're referring mainly to criminal law, though?

text;

[psychofailed]

That's right. The criminal justice system in use here is what my country had before its current one, but the two are radically different. I'm curious if others have experienced similar discrepancies, and their thoughts about it, if possible.

[superposition]

[Its current one... One moment, he's just gonna scroll up and check out the definitions Kogami's given to other people. And wow yeah that's....... "radically different" is a generous way of putting it. "Dystopian anime bullshit" sounds much more accurate.]

Ah. I'm afraid any discrepancies from my world are going to sound positively mundane compared to 24/7 psychic surveillance.

[psychofailed]

[He's almost half-tempted to argue it's not psychic, it's based in biological readings, but given the world he's found himself in now, something like that would be almost childishly petty to say.]

It's all a matter of perspective, really. The lack of superpowers or sapient nonhuman species or time travel where I'm from could also be considered pretty mundane, compared to the standards here.

text; id is Phoenix Wright

[wrightingwrongs]

It's... similar and yet it really isn't, at times, really.

I think most systems are meant to protect people, but that doesn't mean the system can't be abused by people. Often, that same power we use to catch criminals is turned against innocent people.

I was a defense attorney, myself, but my system is... very strange, compared to most people's, I'm sure.

and then finals hell ate me

[psychofailed]

Trust me, I know the feeling.

[Considering his system...is what it is. Phoenix can get a look for himself, even, if he reads through the comments here.]

But your society is structured around presumption of innocence too, then. That probably smooths the transition to some degree.

[There's a slight pause, because Kogami has kind of a. vested interest in this subject for more than one reason:]

What is it like, being a defense attorney?

[Criminal trials and attorneys were abolished when he was seven years old. He can read however much is available about the old system, but that's nothing compared to talking to people who are part of it.]

whoops

[wrightingwrongs]

[ Yeah, Phoenix is definitely starting to get that impression. What a... weird system. ]

Innocent until proven guilty is the ideal, although what I've had to deal with back home, 'Guilty' as a verdict was more preferred. As for what it's like...?

[ It... well. There was something to it that kept drawing him to it, for sure, even when it wasn't easy. This guy, he figured it was best to not sugar-coat it. ]

Most of my clients have been innocent. In some cases, they were framed to get them out of the way. In others, they were merely bystanders, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Defense attorneys are often seen as cheating the system, getting guilty people to walk free. It's rough, and not many people trust you. [ Indeed, he'd had a similar reaction here - Tetsuo and Kaneda hadn't taken kindly to having a lawyer around, at first. ] That being said... I took up this job because I wanted to help people who had nowhere else to turn. Who needed someone in their corner when everyone was against them. And I've really felt like I've made a difference in those people's lives.