Bill: Draft Minor Incident Compensation Act

[Incarnation__]

CONGRESS OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT
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A BILL TO

Enable Compensation For Minor Crimes and Reduce Penalties for New Players




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The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:


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PART I — PRELIMINARIES

1. Short Title and Enactment

(1) This Act may be cited as the ‘Minor Incident Compensation Act’.

(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.

(3) This Act has been authored by Rep Incarnation__ and FletchingRS.

(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by Rep Raz0Baz0.

(5) This Act amends the following acts:

(a) Criminal Code Act

(b) Redmont Civil Code Act

2. Reasons and Intent

(1) It is currently difficult to receive nominal or punitive damages for minor crimes committed against a player.

(2) New players, who are less knowledgeable about laws, may break laws without realizing or without fully understanding the consequences.

(3) Bystanders, who may be more familiar with the legal system, are currently not incentivized to stop crimes or report crimes.

(4) This Act aims to provide players with a quicker way to claim monetary awards for straightforward crimes committed against them.

(5) Provides an incentive for third parties to report crimes and submit cases for less knowledgeable players.

(6) Reduce punishments for players new to the server.

3. Definitions

(1) For this Act, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) Small Claim(s). A Small Claim is any civil case filed as a "Small Claim". The requested settlement from the Plaintiff must also not exceed $10,000 in fines or damages and must directly cause harm to a player. Crimes that enable punishment up to a certain amount may only be considered a Small Claim if the Plaintiff specifies that they are only requesting up to a total of $10,000 in fines.

(b) Expedited Judgment. An Expedited Judgment is a process for obtaining a quicker judgment with a higher burden of proof but without the same number of court procedures.

(c) Victim. A player who was directly and adversely affected by a crime committed.

(d) Fine Reduction. A system to allow new players to

PART II — Small Claims

1. Small Claims Filing

(1) To make a Small Claims case filing:
(a) There must be a Victim of a crime within the Criminal Code Act or the Redmont Civil Code Act.
(b) The Victim(s) consents to being part of the filing of the Small Claims case.
(i) Can be filed
(c) All known Victim(s) have been notified of the Small Claim, or are reasonably unreachable.
(i) Victim(s) who deny or do not respond to being represented in a Small Claims case, where there is already one or more Victims who consented, shall still count as a Victim during Settlement. They may request their share of monetary awards within 14 days after the Small Claims case is settled.
(d) Be filed by a legally qualified person.
(e) Declare that the case is a Small Claim.

(2) A player may request a Small Claims case as a defendant if:
(a) The damages the plaintiff is seeking do not surpass $10,000 total and
(b) There are no imprisonment sentences or other sanctions yet to be resolved.

(3) A Small Claim case must be approved by the presiding judge to continue as a Small Claim.

2. Small Claims Cases

(1) A Small Claim may only compensate for Indictable and Summary offences, as well as Compensatory and Liquidated Damages.

(a) Indictable and Summary offences under the Criminal Code Act for a Small Claims case will have 20% of fines belonging to the Government and the remaining 80% shall be part of Compensatory Damages.
(i) The Victim(s) shall collect their monetary award from the Government. The Government will be responsible for collecting the fines.

(2) A Small Claim must use an Expedited Judgment.

3. Expedited Judgment

(1) An Expedited Judgment requires the Plaintiff to prove beyond a reasonable doubt for all offences.

(2) An Expedited Judgment shall only require the following processes:
(a) The Plaintiff files a Small Claims case.
(i) The Plaintiff requests a Small Claim.
(ii) The Plaintiff submits their evidence.
(b) The Court grants the Small Claims filing.
(c) The Defendants are notified and given 24 hours to submit their own evidence.
(d) The Presiding Judge examines the submitted evidence and gives their ruling on the case.

4. Compensation

(1) The default compensation for Small Claims cases shall be:
(a) 50% of the monetary awards belong to the player who filed the case and provided the evidence.
(b) 50% of the monetary awards shall be split amongst the victim(s).

PART II — New Player Forgiveness

1. Fine Reduction Coverage

(1) Fine Reduction claims can be used for:
(a) Reduction of Civil Monetary Liabilities.
(b) Reduction or Remuneration of Criminal Offence fines.

2. Fine Reduction Eligibility

(1) Players with under 24 hours total playtime shall be eligible for reduced fines in Small Claims if:
(a) The player did not benefit financially.
(b) The player officially apologizes for their crime(s).
(c) The player has applied for 2 or fewer Small Claim Fine Reductions.
(d) The total monetary damages do not surpass $10,000.

(2) Players eligible for Fine Reductions are entitled to:
(a) A reduction of 50% of the monetary value, or $1,000; whichever is lower.
(b) A maximum of $1,500 of total lifetime Fine Reduction.

(3) Fine Reductions may only apply for Small Claims that were not already settled with a Victim, or have already been settled with the Government only.

3. Fine Reduction Application

(1) To apply for a Fine Reduction, a player must:
(a) Provide evidence that they have under 24 hours total playtime.
(b) Provide evidence that they have acknowledged their wrongdoing.
(c) Request a Fine Reduction via Small Claims, via:
(i) A response to a Small Claim filed against the player, or
(ii) A Small Claim against the Government for a fine already imposed on the player.

Part III - Amendments

(1) Part I of the Criminal Code Act is to be amended as follows:

9 - New Player Forgiveness
(1) Players with under 24 hours of playtime may request Fine Reductions in the form of a Small Claim via the Minor Incident Compensation Act if:
(a) The player did not benefit financially.
(b) The player officially apologizes for their crime(s).
(c) The player has applied for 2 or fewer Small Claim Fine Reductions.
(d) The total monetary damages do not surpass $10,000.

(2) Part II of the Redmont Civil Code Act is to be amended as follows:

6 - New Player Forgiveness
(1) Players with under 24 hours of playtime may request Fine Reductions in the form of a Small Claim via the Minor Incident Compensation Act if:
(a) The player did not benefit financially.
(b) The player officially apologizes for their crime(s).
(c) The player has applied for 2 or fewer Small Claim Fine Reductions.
(d) The total monetary damages do not surpass $10,000.