Celtic Penal Code

CPC

Authors: Hotdoggin (Big Bob)

Whereas, A code of conduct is a necessity to maintain peace and order;

Whereas, The establishment of a code of  conduct may define both legal mandates which shall be obeyed, and the appropriate and reasonable penalty for failing to obey the statutes set forth;

Whereas, The Celtic Peoples may be protected from victimization;

Therefore, the following Penal Code shall be established:

I Crimes and Punishments Defined

1. 1 CPC (Crime)

1. A crime is defined as any willful or neglectful act which is prohibited by law and is punishable by the Celtic Supreme Court, or a lower court organized and approved by law. The Supreme Court shall retain the authority to reverse, retry, or overrule any other court in any criminal case. The Supreme Court shall retain decision making power to hear appeals made by offenders, or to supersede judgement made by lower courts.
2. This penal code shall have no authority to take retroactive effect upon its passage.
3. This penal code shall not limit a court, or other governmental body tasked with prosecution and conviction, from dismissing criminal charges with cause or adding additional charges against a violator appropriately.

2. 2 CPC (Power of Authority)

1. The authority to arrest any individual who is reasonably, and in good faith, believed to have committed a crime shall be granted to all Celtic Citizens pursuant an agreement to appear in court for the lawful detention of the alleged offender. The citizen or lawfully appointed official tasked with making an arrest shall sign a “citizen’s arrest form” or arrest declaration (in the case of lawfully appointed officials with arrest power) stating their intention to make the arrest, the cause, and circumstances leading to arrest.
2. No person shall make an arrest which is known at the time to be frivolous and without just cause. This crime shall carry a felony punishment. This punishment shall not apply to persons who reasonably, and in good faith, believed at the time of the arrest that the alleged offender was guilty of a crime.
3. Offenders of any crime shall have the right to appeal their conviction through a court appointed by law, with the right to request appeal by the Supreme Court if originally tried by a lower court or official body tasked with crime enforcement.
4. Offenders and persons arresting another person must appear in court if summoned by the Supreme Court or a lower court.  
5. The act of arresting another person shall be understood as a serious act which deprives another of their liberty; thus this penal code shall not restrict the Celtic People from establishing organizations through constitutionally legal processes to be properly educated and trained to make arrests and be entrusted with this duty.
6. Any organization created with the purpose of crime enforcement and imposing punishments other than the Supreme Court or a lower court must incorporate disciplinary procedures to remove officiants swiftly to prevent corruption or perversion of the Celtic criminal justice system.

3. Punishments

1. All punishments listed in this section are authorized to be imposed by the Supreme Court, any lawfully appointed lower court, or an organization lawfully established and entrusted to impose punishments. These governing bodies may select any of the following punishments contained within this section.
2. The Supreme Court or delegated officiant imposing the punishment shall determine a reasonable and humane timeframe to impose the punishments listed below.
3. Misdemeanor Punishments

1. The server name of an offender shall be changed and the name shall be decided by a judge presiding in the offender’s case, or their designee. The judge or designee must give the convicted person a selection of three possible name changes. The name must follow all Democraciv server rules of conduct. The name change shall last no longer than one week of real world time.
2. The offender shall be sentenced to community service, in which a worker, caravan, or military unit shall be named after the offender. The body sentencing punishment may determine the specific unit type to be selected.

4. Felony Punishments

1. The offender shall be exiled to the MEAN forest and required to care for the flora and fauna of the forest in good faith and with respect to the lives of all sentient and non sentient life within the forest. The offender shall not be permitted to leave the forest as long as the Celtic nation exists.
2. The offender shall be tasked with maintaining and properly manicuring the foliage of Aerach Hill, and shall provide a brief update on the status of Aerach Hill no less than once per presidential term.
3. The offender shall pay a DCash fine to the victim of their crimes as restitution, the amount of shall be no less than 20 DCash and not to exceed 75 DCash.
4. The convicted offender must create a statement in response to their arrest which shall be published by a reputable publication. The statement may utilize any one or combination of media types available to them (e.g., video, text, audio, image) to craft this statement.

II Crimes Against Persons

1. 4 CPC (Defamation)

1. To knowingly make statements which are provably false intended to damage another’s reputation, credibility, public standing, or personal security.
2. The defamatory statement(s) must be clearly and easily understood or accepted by a reasonable and prudent person to be made in effort to result in any damages as listed in 4(a) CPC, and be clear and unequivocal on the particular individual being targeted by these statements.
3. Statements may be verbal, written, carved, painted in caves, transferred by carrier pigeon, or any other communication method which exists now or at any time in the future.
4. At least one (1) other person must have received or interpreted the statement and is willing to testify in a court of law to the means and the circumstances which they witnessed the defamatory statement(s).
5. Insults, parodies, opinions, or statements which are provably true or made without intent to cause damages as defined in 4(a) CPC shall not constitute a violation of this statute.
6. The penalty for violating any statute in this section shall be a misdemeanor punishment.

2. 5 CPC (Treason)

1. Treason shall be defined as the act of intentionally and willfully, with malice, attempting or successfully completing any act which aids enemies of the Celtic Nation or its peoples, or overthrowing the lawfully established government of the Celtic peoples.
2. The penalty for violating this statute shall carry a felony punishment.

3. 6 CPC (Perjury)

1. The crime of perjury shall be defined as the willful and intentional act of giving information which is knowingly false while testifying in a Celtic court of law.
2. The penalty for violating this statute shall carry a felony punishment.

4. 7 CPC (Intimidation)

1. It is unlawful to knowingly and or maliciously attempt to  intimidate, suppress, or otherwise interfere with a member of the press’s ability to freely conduct lawful releases of information or other material related to their position.
2. It is unlawful to knowingly and or maliciously attempt to intimidate, suppress, or otherwise interfere with a government official’s ability to freely conduct lawful proceedings as defined by the position they hold in the Celtic government.
3.  The penalty for violating either statute of this section shall be a misdemeanor punishment.

5. 8 CPC (Criminal Negligence)

1. The act of criminal negligence shall be the omission of performing a duty in which they are entrusted, and the failure to properly execute said duty results in damages real or perceived by the government, its people, or its resources. This offense carries a misdemeanor punishment.

6. 9 CPC (Criminal Waste)

1. It shall be a crime to mine, destroy, remove, or otherwise appropriate any natural resources without legal approval and authority to appropriate such naturally occurring resources.
2. The punishment for violation of this section shall be exile to the MEAN Forest, a felony.

III Crimes Against Property

1. 10 CPC (Embezzlement)

1. It shall be a misdemeanor offense for any person entrusted with an amount equal or less than 50 DCash, to make use of these funds for any reason other than the agreed upon terms when the full amount of DCash is reasonably expected to be returned to the investor or loaner.
2. This offense shall carry a felony punishment for any amount of DCash greater than 50 DCash.

2. 11 CPC (Fraud)

1. Any offense committed in this section shall carry a misdemeanor punishment, unless the amount of DCash fraudulently obtained exceeds 75 DCash, in which case the offense shall carry a felony punishment.
2. The act of using deception, a ruse, trickery, hoodwinking, or any other synonym for theft of DCash shall be a crime.
3. To intentionally fabricate documents or statements which promise the transfer of DCash from one party to another shall be a crime.