Guide to trials: Difference between revisions

!|Role

!|Side

!|Description

!|Notes

| '''Judge'''

| Impartial

| Leader of the proceedings. In trials without a jury, this is the person who gives the verdict.

| This will usually be the Captain or Head of Personnel for Criminal Law, since the Head of Security is per definition involved in those cases. If the case is Civil Law and the HoS is uninvolved, they may act as Judge too.  

| '''Jury'''

| Impartial

| In trials with a Jury, they give the verdict instead of the Judge. The Jurors discuss the case among each other and vote for a verdict. Until this vote is unanimous, the verdict cannot be handed down.

| Any random crewmember can get picked as a Juror, but they have to be impartial and unrelated to the case.

| '''Defendant'''

| Defence

| The person on trial.

| The Defendant may chose to defend themselves, and can be summoned as a Witness, but not at the same time. On rare occasions, a trial can have more than one Defendant, for instance if an entire cult has been arrested at once.

| '''Defence Attorney'''

| Defence

| The attorney in charge of the Defence, tasked with getting a Not Guilty verdict, or at the very least the smallest possible punishment (such as permabrig instead of execution).

| This will usually be a [[Lawyer]], but the Defendant can also choose to defend themselves. The Defence Attorney must be devoted to Defence, and can therefore not be someone who benefits from a Guilty verdict.

| '''Prosecutor'''

| Prosecution

| The attorney in charge of the Prosecution, tasked with getting a Guilty verdict.

| In Criminal Law, this will usually be the person in charge of the prosecution, such as the HoS or the Detective, but it can also be a Lawyer. In Civil Law this will almost always be the Lawyer representing the accuser.

| '''Witnesses'''

| Any

| A person or people summoned to the witness stand for questioning and delivery of testimony. Both attorneys can summon witnesses.

| Any person involved in the case can be called to the stand, including the Defendant (but only if the Defence approves and if the Defendant is not defending themselves). This naturally excludes the attorneys and the Judge.

| Impartial

| Responsible for the order in the courtroom, and in charge of the [[Security Officer| Security Officers]] guarding it. If a Witness is summoned, it is the Bailiff's task to fetch that Witness.

| Usually the Warden. Although they are technically on the impartial side, the Bailiff doesn't actually have any say in the trial itself (unless they are directly involved), so conflict of interest is less important.