Criminal justice system of the Federation of Ascenia

The criminal justice system of the Federation of Ascenia is the legal system responsible for administering criminal justice in the Federation. In contrast to neighboring regions, the Federation has a unified, tiered system for administering justice, handling appeals among convicted convicts, and possessing the capacity for incarceration of convicts. Unlike its neighbor, Paxona, none of the crimes punishable by the Federation carry a sentence of death, and the sentence of life imprisonment without parole is explicitly mentioned as the maximum statutory punishment that can be conferred to a defendant as the result of a conviction.

The rules for criminal procedure are laid out in the Federation Rules of Criminal Justice, and a complete list of all punishable offenses (along with a legal explanation of the justice system) may be found under the Criminal Code of the Federation of Ascenia.

The agency in charge of managing trial courts, criminal courts, criminal appeals, and making sure that the justice system is operating properly is the Department of the Citadel, who have their location in The Citadel. Crimes committed by members of the military are investigated and prosecuted under another system, the Tribunal for Military Justice.

Cases in which the Federation is a Plaintiff
Where the Federation as a whole (and not a province) is a Plaintiff, the case against the defendant(s) is considered to be a federal prosecution. Federal crimes are listed in the Criminal Code of the Federation of Ascenia and comprise serious felonies. Federal prosecutors are known as Attorneys for the Citadel (or Citadel Attorneys), and the Government under them is represented as The Government of the Citadel. All federal prosecutors represent the Federation for appeals, trials, and prosecutions and have jurisdiction over all crimes committed in Federation territory.

By law, federal prosecutors have higher jurisdiction than provincial prosecutors, but this jurisdiction is not always exercised if the crime was solely a province crime and not a federal crime (i.e. murder, while both a provincial and a federal crime, would be prosecuted by the state and not the Federation). Federal prosecutors will almost always allow the province to try the defendant first if the conduct by the defendant did not violate provincial lines or involve inter-provincial travel. For serious crimes like spaceship hijacking, gross tax evasion, the murder of a government official or federal official, possessing a weapon of mass destruction, soliciting, possessing, or distributing child sexual abuse material, sentient species trafficking between provinces, racketeering, or piracy, they may attempt to try the defendant first, especially if the defendant's behavior violated provincial lines. For practical reasons, the Federation will usually allow the province to prosecute first before trying the defendant in federal court.

In both cases, although the double jeopardy rule applies, federal and province prosecutors can file charges against the defendant provided both trials are not open simultaneously. If that happens, the province will usually move to dismiss the charges while the Federation files them. It is rare, although plausible, to see the Federation dismiss charges for the province to move forward, although they are not barred from refiling the charges against the defendant if the province fails to secure a conviction (and conversely, the province may refile charges against the defendant if the Federation failed to secure a conviction). Only if the Federation has failed to convict and the province in question has failed to convict can the defendant no longer be tried again by either, as they are afforded the protection of the double jeopardy rule. The Federation may also attempt to try the defendant on all charges, even charges that would normally be prosecuted by the province. These "dual prosecutions" are exceedingly rare and time-consuming, so federal prosecutors will usually only attempt to try the defendant if their conduct is seriously depraved and violates provincial lines and the province has failed to convict the defendant.

The Supreme Court of Justice has held that the Federation and the Province are separate legal entities. Because of this court ruling, federal prosecutors cannot compel, threaten, intimidate, suborn, force, or otherwise attempt to influence the province to drop charges against a defendant or to escalate prosecution to a higher court if the province declines to do so. Furthermore, since the maximum penalty imposed by the Federation is life imprisonment and not death, the province must dismiss all charges that would be punishable by death before the Federation can prosecute the defendant(s).

Cases in which a province is a Plaintiff
Where a province is a Plaintiff, the case against the defendant(s) is considered to be a provincial prosecution. Each province has its own list of crimes and offenses that are not punishable federally, and comprise both felonies and misdemeanours - although provincial prosecutions are almost always for felony offenses. Provincial prosecutors are referred to by their title and the province that they represent - for example, Attorney for Paxil II. Provincial prosecutors have higher seniority than planetary and colonial prosecutors, but lower seniority than Attorneys for the Citadel. Provincial prosecutors represent their province for appeals, trials, and prosecutions and have jurisdiction over all crimes committed in their respective territories.

Provincial prosecutions make up the bulk of the criminal justice system along with colonial prosecutions. Defendant(s) who have committed serious offenses or felonies are usually tried under provincial jurisdiction. For example, a defendant who has been accused of murder would be prosecuted under the province and not the Federation as a whole. If the conduct by the defendant did not violate provincial lines and did not involve inter-provincial travel, the province will conduct the prosecution.

Provinces are protected from Federation interference by the Supreme Court of Justice's decision of Federation of Ascenia v. Tyrus Rechs, which held that the two separate entities were legally separate under the law. As a result of this decision, if the province chooses to decline prosecution, drop charges against a defendant, or terminate an existing criminal case against a defendant, the Federation cannot compel the province to transfer the case to a higher jurisdiction, or refile charges. Federation of Ascenia v. Tyrus Rechs also held that if a provincial trial is currently ongoing, the Federation cannot compel, persuade, force, or attempt to influence the province to drop charges against a defendant where the purpose is to transfer the charge to a higher jurisdiction - the case must be voluntarily withdrawn by the province itself.

Criminal complaint and/or arrest warrant
A federal criminal case instituted against a defendant is usually instituted with a criminal complaint alleging the offenses that the defendant violated and an arrest warrant for the defendant. An arrest with a criminal complaint and not a warrant violates the Constitution. A criminal complaint may only be filed against a defendant in the current custody of the province's police. In 2282, the Supreme Court of Justice held that criminal cases initiated with an arrest warrant are legal provided that there is sufficient evidence for that warrant. Notably, the Federation does not use an indictment-by-jury system, but the judge "acts" as a jury for the purposes of issuing an arrest warrant.

Once a person is arrested, they may be held for a maximum of 72 hours in the custody of that police force or the IFIA (Inter-Federation Investigation Agency) under Article 15 of the Federation Rules of Criminal Justice. . Under Article 15(b), if no criminal complaint has been filed within 72 hours, the detainee must be released and cannot be brought up on the same charges. The 72 hour limit is so strictly adhered to that cases in which the Federation filed a complaint within one hour of the limit have been dismissed before the court.

While exceedingly rare, the Federation may refuse to file charges, but must file a notice with the Court in order to do so - in which case the defendant must be immediately released.

Preliminary hearing
Within 24 hours of the filing of a criminal complaint, the Federation must demonstrate to the judge that there is sufficient evidence to show probable cause that the defendant violated the law. If there is not enough evidence to proceed, the judge will dismiss the charges. This is true even if the Federation has issued an arrest warrant for the defendant beforehand.

Arraignment
A defendant must be represented by an attorney for any criminal charge where they face more than six months of imprisonment. A defendant who has outstanding charges must be brought before a magistrate within 24 hours of the filing of the criminal complaint. In the arraignment phase, they may either be represented by a court-appointed lawyer or may be represented by private counsel. During the arraignment, the judge must:
 * Ask and confirm the name of the defendant.
 * List out all of the defendant's alleged offense(s).
 * Request a plea of guilty or not guilty, and enter in a not guilty plea if the defendant refuses.
 * Ask the defendant if they wish to conduct a jury trial or a bench trial . Notably, the Federation cannot object if the defendant wishes to conduct a bench trial.
 * Inform the defendant of bail, and set a bail amount or deny it accordingly.
 * Release the defendant (if they are on bail), or return them to the custody of police.

After the arraignment, the process shifts depending on the defendant's plea.

Guilty
After the abolition of the death penalty, the Federation no longer holds jury trials to determine whether the defendant shall receive the death penalty.

If the defendant pleads guilty during the arraignment, a sentencing hearing must take place within 28 days of the plea, or the plea is automatically converted into a not guilty plea. During the sentencing hearing, the judge sentences the defendant based on multiple factors, including their criminal record and the seriousness of their offenses.

Appeal
Unlike appeals following trial, neither the defendant nor the Federation can appeal if the defendant pleads guilty.

Not guilty
If the defendant pleads not guilty, a trial must be conducted within 90 days of the plea unless a continuation is granted. Both the Federation and the defendant may request a continuance on good faith.

Upon the conclusion of the trial, three events may occur:

Conviction
If the defendant is convicted of their offenses, they are immediately returned to the custody of provincial/federal law enforcement until their sentencing hearing, which must take place within 28 days of the conviction.

During the sentencing hearing, the judge sentences the defendant based on multiple factors, including their criminal record and the seriousness of their offenses. The defendant is then transported to a correctional facility to begin their sentence.

Both the defendant and the Federation may appeal a conviction.

Acquittal
If the defendant is acquitted of all offenses, all charges against them are immediately dismissed by the court. If the defendant is acquitted of only some offenses, the charges that they are acquitted of are dismissed by the court and they are convicted on the remaining charges.

An acquitted defendant is free to leave custody whenever they wish. Both the defendant and the Federation may appeal an acquittal.

Hung jury/Mistrial
If the jury is unable to reach a unanimous agreement on the conviction or acquittal of every charge, a retrial is ordered at the earliest convenience. If the jury is unable to reach a unanimous agreement on some, but not all charges, the defendant may be retried on those charges alone.

Supreme Court of Justice
The Supreme Court of Justice is the final court and the highest appeal court in the Federation. It is located in The Citadel. The court's decision is final and cannot be contested by the Federation or the defendant. The members of the Supreme Court of Justice are known as viziers.
 * There is no chief vizier. In the Court, all of the viziers are of equal rank and seniority.
 * Although there may be upwards of forty viziers in the Supreme Court of Justice, there are only ever fifteen active viziers, and each vizier switches between judicial duty and court duty on an annual basis.
 * The number is always odd to ensure that a tie cannot form amongst the viziers. In the event that a vizier must recuse themselves from a case or the vizier is unable to fill their position due to death or incapacitation, the viziers on court duty will be briefly substituted in their place, so as to maintain the odd-number balance.
 * Viziers cannot refuse to vote or abstain on decisions.

While most prosecutions at the province-level end up discussed here through appeals only, all prosecutions where the Plaintiff is the Federation of Ascenia (i.e. Federation of Ascenia v. Defendant) start in the Supreme Court of Justice, as an exception to the rule. The defendant may still appeal their sentencing to the Court if they wish.