The Security Services of
Fortunata are empowered by the parliament to
protect the people. There are few laws governing common issues as most of
the laws are directed towards Immigration, Customs and Foreign Trade.
The police are rarely
called in to look after domestic affairs as the crime rate is
low and is of low impact. Still the police have the right of
intervention when there are complaints and people can be brought
to a tribunal at Portia if they have upset civil order.
While there are very few laws that
govern the people, the most commonly broken law is the famous “Be Nice” law,
which states a person has not got the right to be unfair or uncivil to another
person.
Of course this law can be
interpreted widely, so it is the task of the Tribunal to decide the fate of the
accused. The rules of evidence that apply in most democracies
have no meaning in Fortunata. The Tribunal has wide ranging powers.
There are no lawyers available
to the people of Fortunata. Lawyers are considered to be valuable when working
with foreign countries, because the laws can be so different, but when working
with locals, the Tribunal is there to represent all of the people of Fortunata,
including the accused. The accused
and even the convicted are seen as members of the society, not ‘outside’
society.
It is very common for the Tribunal to recommend a change in Fortunata
policy and they would rather do that than convict anyone.
The most common form of
punishment against the “Be Nice” law is usually Loss of Electronic Privileges.
The Tribunal simply switches off the user’s electronic addresses for a time –
being offline is considered shameful.
As the country is small,
offenders have really nowhere to go and as most valuable items are serialized
and chipped, theft is really of no value and most potential offenders would feel
great shame if they were caught acting out on their desires.
