"What do you want to bet on?"
Sunny was steady, but Volin was always of a capricious nature, claiming, "I’ve never been into gambling, I just help people quit gambling."
So Volin liked to play tricks, and he was notorious for it back ho.
Anselm’s eyes sparkled: "This is an inheritance case. How about betting on who gets a bigger share of the estate? Brother or brother, pick one."
"That won’t work." Volin chuckled, his eyes squinting, "Huyuren just spoke to you; he must know the inside story, so we have to bet on sothing else."
"Then what do you suggest we bet on?"
"Bet on how long the judge will take to wrap up the case. I bet it won’t be decided before we leave." Volin laughed darkly, "How about it, dare you bet?"
Anselm pretended to hesitate for a while: "Why should you bet it won’t be settled? I should bet on that too."
"Then don’t bet."
Anselm looked thoughtful for a mont, then said, "Alright, I’ll take the bet."
The two spat into their palms, shook hands firmly.
Just as they released hands, Volin jumped up happily, patting Anselm on the shoulder: "You haven’t been in a lawsuit, have you? You’re screwed, going to pay again."
"Why?"
"We’ve been through lawsuits. You don’t know the nature of this court..."
"Boom boom boom——"
As the bell rang, the stone church doors swung open.
The brothers walked out of the house, gave each other a furious look, and parted ways.
As for the notary following behind them, he was posting a notice onto a crowded bulletin board.
Was the case over?
The three hurriedly rushed up, blocking the notary in the white shirt: "Is the verdict out?"
"Don’t you have eyes? Can’t read the docunt?"
"So many words, how could I know them all? They’re all legal terms."
"Don’t you have ears, haven’t heard the bell?" The notary gave them a glare and shouted towards the wooden hut corridor, "Next one."
Imdiately, two families followed the notary in, squeezing through the entrance.
The three had to call Xie Li over to read the docunt for them.
When Xie Li finished reading, Anselm was naturally jubilant: "Pay up!"
The five or six dinars exchanged hands several tis in a few days, eventually neither gained nor lost.
"Why did it turn out this way? Shouldn’t they be thrown in jail for three to five weeks, wait until the warden has extracted enough money, then decide who wins based on bribery?" Hunchback Volin stared at the docunt, not even looking at Anselm.
As for Sunny, he silently pulled out the money and handed it to Anselm.
Anselm intended to savor the miserable expressions on the brothers’ faces, but he discovered their expressions weren’t quite right.
It was not frustration after losing money, but anger, sadness, confusion, mixed with grievance and envy.
Anselm had thought such descriptions only appeared in third-rate knight novelists’ works, but he was witnessing it now.
"That’s a good judge." For the first ti, Sunny’s voice actually seed hoarse.
Always carefree, Hunchback Volin now fell into complete silence, thinking about sothing unknown.
If soone crowded close beside him, they could hear him mumbling self-deprecatingly in a barely audible voice, "If only this judge could have tried us back then."
On the other side, Huyuren was about to leave after helping his old friend win back the money, but Xie Li held him back by the arm.
"Mr. Xie Li?"
"Can you explain why Volin’s scenario didn’t occur?"
"This is a civil court, there are no jails, of course, that won’t happen."
"Can you elaborate a bit more?"
Huyuren wanted to decline but seeing the ambiguous look in Xie Li’s eyes, he ultimately went to the court’s library to retrieve a roll of newspaper compilations.
"This issue is too big; you’re better off reading the newspapers."
This kind of jail-less court is part of the judicial reforms gradually implented by the Holy Alliance over eight years.
Marshall led, many jurists from ry Court Barracks cooperated, and even scholars from various parts of the empire ca upon hearing it, to contribute.
Finally, they crafted two legal codes, "ry Court Barracks Civil Code" and "ry Court Barracks Criminal Code."
Besides appointing judges as a routine practice, they separated the Hundred Households District council, civil court, and criminal court.
The Hundred Households District council handles matters like neighborhood disputes, argunts, and squabbles, where the Hundred Households Captain might co over with a can of milk for diation.
For personal interest disputes like unpaid debts, inheritance allocations, and brawling, cases go to the town’s civil court.
As for serious cris like murder, robbery, arson, they are charged in the county criminal court.
After pondering for a mont, Xie Li understood the intention behind the three-tiered court system.
This wasn’t Horn creating jobs for ry Court Barracks law students, but clarifying the boundaries between minor and serious cris.
Previously, places like Thousand River Valley, or the empire now, despite establishing local courts several tis, few were willing to litigate.
The only cases were mostly disputes over noble inheritance and land rights.
Why don’t civilians litigate?
It’s because the Imperial Court’s definition of "cri" was unclear.
Xie Li gazed at the still dumbfounded brothers, understanding from their Eagle’s Claw Bay experiences a bit.
The two had once said they went bankrupt because of the courts and ultimately ca to Thousand River Valley, but the root cause was war chaos.
The direct cause was the public case in March 1449, where the brothers argued with a buyer over price.
Originally resolved within the guild internally, but the kingdom court had to intervene for King Jiji’s war funds.
The intervention resulted in both buyer and seller being thrown into jail.
The court imprisoned them without trial.
Just kept them in jail, allowing the warden and guards to enjoy bribes.
Their family assets depleted, and then Eagle’s Claw Bay kingdom court rembered.
Their judgnt was—
The brothers’ sails and ropes were substandard, considered fraud.
But the buyer’s harsh bargaining and threats amounted to intimidation.
So both parties had to pay fines.
Who did the fines go to? Obviously the court.
By then both parties had long been imprisoned for three years, family wealth exhausted, how could they pay fines?
The buyer skipper sailed to Falan the next day, while the brothers had to escape Eagle’s Claw Bay hotown under aliases.
This shows that criminal cases lead to jail, civil cases lead to jail, dostic disputes lead to jail.
In the kingdom court’s eyes, criminal and civil cases are indistinguishable, both cris!
Criminal and civil cases, judged by the sa standard, the sa court.
Jails were naturally overcrowded, serving no purpose other than profiting judges and wardens.
That’s why Imperial People disliked lawsuits, opting for guild resolutions, even preferring dueling over litigation.
Horn’s approach, criminal courts akin to kingdom courts, but civil courts were separated.
Simply put, civil courts have no jails, nor do they detain persons.
At most, summoning you for a court appearance, bearing consequences if absent.
Though still not free from dining on plaintiffs and defendants, at least there are no jails, reducing minor offenders sharing the sa treatnt as major criminals.
Moreover, the Holy Alliance abolished all corporal punishnts, except flogging, no longer treating punishnt as art.
Of course, Cheka is an exception.
"Saint’s Grandson, did you foresee this?" Xie Li gazed in the direction of ry Court Barracks.
Throughout the empire, not all kingdom courts, but at least seventy percent, had situations like the Eagle’s Claw Bay brothers encountered.
Most tis, only local courts in autonomous cities could handle lawsuits effectively and fairly.
This is why Luper was shocked by Thousand River Valley’s rule of law and used it as a propaganda headliner for four to five years.
Did anyone realize change was needed?
Within the papacy, esteed bishops, countless brilliant scholars realized change was needed, proposed reforms.
Yet day by day, year by year, every day, every year soone spoke of change, three to five hundred years passed without real change.
Then Holy Alliance, in under five years, solved this malady.
Though not claiming perfection, it far surpassed the empire.
At this mont, Xie Li didn’t know if it was Saint Sun Pope’s strong arm or the Holy Alliance’s blank canvas allowing creativity.
Xie Li still pondered teachings and interrogations, while others shouted "Ship is coming, ship is coming."
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