User blog:Arathorstories/Law Lords, Lord Magistrates, and Legal Battles

After a lengthy absence, I will be returning to the Laws of Azeroth project and to law-based roleplaying. While legal RP is still a very tricky and often troubled field, it's still one I feel has great potential so long as those involved in it can communicate freely OOC. As such, I'm making this blog post to explain a few things that have been the subject of recent contention.

Law Lordship
The law lords were created not to unduly elevate anyone, but to amend a problem in the system in use. That problem was a lack of a means of any legal change other than the courts. As such, the law lords make regulations (not legislation, and yes, there is an important difference), recognize new courts, and appoint special officials. All of this could be done previously only via OOC means, which is not a satisfying approach. While communication OOC is absolutely paramount to the office of the law lord, these are changes that should be made via roleplay rather than by OOC fiat.

The law lords are not 'above' the magistrates or the guards except insofar as their nobility entitles them to a seat in the House of Nobles - which is not guaranteed for magistrates or guards. They exist outside of the hierarchy of both as an essentially executive and quasi-legislative branch (a position not dissimilar to the various Ministers in Commonwealth countries; being appointed by the ruler to fulfill certain duties) and as such they do not have the capacity to order either group around (or any other group, for that matter, save those created by the law lords). Law lords are not in 'competition' with the Lord-Magistrate for power, though there may be IC personality clashes.

Magisterial misconduct
One of the more pressing issues in recent days has been allegations of misconduct by members of the House of Magistrates. While I do not run the HoM - Maxen does - I am in a position to discuss any such allegations and to discipline magistrates who are in breach of standards of conduct, decency, or behaviour OOC. IC complaints should be brought to the Lord-Magistrate instead. OOC behaviour that consists of the following is unacceptable and should be reported to myself or Maxen, as the position of magistrate necessarily carries with it an expectation not to act like a dick (Please note, however, that we can only act with regards to those magistrates listed on the House of Magistrates page): Any such conduct should be reported and, if possible, documented. Please note that if it is not documented and the magistrate involve denies involvement, and there are no or insufficiently convicing witnesses, no action can be taken. Magistrates who are in breach of the standard of conduct will be either warned or dismissed, depending on the severity of their misconduct and any prior offences. Please also note that this is not an invitation to be abusive to the magistrates and expect them to be stonefaced - while they are held to a higher standard than the average player, we will consider provocation when considering the seriousness of any misconduct.
 * OOC bullying
 * Threatening of server blacklists or personal blacklisting
 * Abusive Vent or Skype conduct, including but not limited to insults, shouting, or sexual misconduct.
 * Claims that the law is universal to the server and must be acknowledged.
 * Refusal to accept OOC refusal of consent.

Please also note that this does not apply to the Guards. Guard misconduct should be directed to their GM, and only to myself or Maxen where it also involves a magistrate.