Antaran Justice
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A nation as large and as populous as Antara requires a well-maintained criminal justice system in order to ensure that the law is being upheld and those who violate it are being punished in a manner befitting their crimes.
The first modern police force in Antara was established in Cedelphia in 1729. They grew from there, and all of the major cities in the country had their own police forces by the end of the 1740s. The role of the police force in controlling and suppressing crime increased over the years to the role they play today as the forefront of Antara's efforts to keep crime down and ensure criminals are brought to justice.
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Goals
The goal of the national, provincial, and city police forces is to not only enforce the law as decreed by the State but to deter crime by maintaining a strong presence and firmly punishing those who do break the law.
Rehabilitative Justice
The State looks with a wary eye on the concept of "rehabilitative justice". Few in power believe that those who commit serious crimes are even deserving of a second chance. In Antaran justice, there are few second chances once one has been proven guilty or complicit in a criminal undertaking.
Prisons
While the prisons of Antara are known for being clean and well-ordered, they are not places of comfort by any means. The State has a preference for bringing on retired military drill instructors and military police as prison officers. Within the Dominion, there is only one type of prison, unlike some nations where there are maximum and minimum security facilities. All prisons in Antara are controlled by well-trained officers.
Every Antaran prison has a common design to it, despite its location in the country. All prisons in the Dominion are ringed by three barbed-wire fences a minimum of twelve feet in height. At the corners and every one hundred feet is a guard tower, manned by three officers with a machine gun mounted on the inner side and the outer side. Cell blocks are well-secured and guards are in strategically placed control centers. In the event a control center were overtaken by prisoners, there is a central control center in an undisclosed location in the prison that can lock down the entire facility. Also, Antaran prisons are equipped with a special riot-control system. In the event of a prison riot or break-out, the central control center can flood every area in the prison with anesthesia gas, all at once or specific areas at a time.
Beginning
In the Antaran Dominion, criminal justice policy has been guided by a variety of State orders. But the greatest one is Praetorian Order 2053-957g, or the Praetorian Order on Law Enforcement & Administration of Justice. It was issued by Vetrello Belesarious in response to rising questions, mainly within the Senate and provincial authorities, as to how to ensure a uniform system was enforced nation-wide. This order came as a direct result of the release by the Departmento Inquistorium of a report known as the "Mareau Report". In it, the Inquisitor General and his staff suggested nearly 200 recommendations as part of a comprehensive approach toward the prevention and fighting of crime.
Some of those recommentaions found their way into the Omnibus Crime Control & Safe Streets Act of 2055 as approved by the Senate and enacted by the Praetor. The Inquisitorium advocated a systems approach to criminal justice, with improved coordination among law enforcement, courts, and correctional agencies. According to the Departmento Inquisitorium, the criminal justice system is defined as the "means for society to enforce the standards of conduct necessary to protect individuals and the community, as decreed by the State".
The Antaran criminal justice system seeks to reduce crime through strict enforcement of State law, and to bring offences to justice as swiftly and as thoroughly as possible.
Justice
One question which is presented by the idea of creating justice involves balancing the victim's rights and the defendant's rights, and how these individual rights are related to one another and to social control. It is generally argued that victim's and defendant's rights are inversely related, and individual rights, as a whole, are likewise viewed as inversely related to social control. Rights, of course, imply responsibilities or duties, and this in turn requires a great deal of consensus in the community regarding the appropriate definitions for many of these legal terms.
However, in the Antaran system, there are two views taken when prosecuting a criminal offense. All crimes are handled specifically in a manner befitting the crime charged. Also, in the eyes of the State, an Antaran is forfeiting his rights and privileges as a citizen of the Dominion by breaking the law.
State Punishment
There is a special category of punitive measures referred to collectively as "State Punishment" that are specifically used against State officials and military officers who merit punishment for a crime or a grievous error. These punishments include -
- Between 7 and 180 calendar days in the Tower of Cedelphia or Orinackra. More severe crimes merit much longer detainment.
- Repudiation & contempt by the Senatorum Antara. This is sometimes accompanied by the person being stripped bare from the waist up and being lashed before the assembled Senate, Twelve, and Praetor.
- Execution in certain cases.
Capital Punishment
Since its earliest days, Antara has enforced capital punishment. Today, it is the State-sanctioned punishment for some of the worst crimes one could commit. At present, the preferred method of execution in the Dominion is hanging. Also employed is the gas chamber. Traitors are submitted to the firing squad. In ancient times, traitors were drawn and quartered or racked. In modern times, both of those ancient punishments are still employed for very specific punishments in some extreme cases.
Trial & Appeals
Antaran justice is very hard on those who commit crimes. When a person is charged for a crime, they are arrested and investigated, and later taken to trial. If the verdict of guilty is upheld, the person can appeal the decision. If the appeal is denied, the person can then attempt a petition for reprieve, whereby they can request to be absolved by the provincial authorities of the crime and released from prison. If that is denied, the only thing that could set that person free from jail after that point would be the Praetor himself.
Penalties
Listed below are the standard penalties for some specific crimes.
- Murder - execution by hanging
- Treason - execution by firing squad
- Sabotage / Espionage - execution by firing squad
- Sedition - execution by firing squad
- Rape - execution by hanging
- Embezzlement - 10 years hard labor
- Armed Robbery - 15 years
- Vandalism - 1 year hard labor
Prominent Prisons
The Antaran Dominion operates prisons nationwide, under the authority of the Internal Security Ministry. Of these prisons, a small number are well-known for their location or their reputation for discipline or harsh order. Also, each of these facilities is unique for having the largest contingents of any prisons in Antara of State Dungeoneers.
- Golgorand Prison
- Maximum-security facility 50 miles outside Cedelphia.
- Murond Prison
- High-security facility in Tritemma Province.
- Na Pali Prison
- High-security facility in Calipsa Province.
- Arcatraz Prison
- High-security facility in Kirono Province.
- Tower of Cedelphia
- In Cedelphia itself; State prison for major officials and military officers.
- In Cedelphia itself; State prison for major officials and military officers.
- Orinackra Military Detention Facility
- Maximum-security military detention complex. This is the sole maximum-security military stockade in Antara.
