Law and justice in the Seafaring Confederation

Law and justice in the Seafaring Confederation is founded on the Constitution of the Seafaring Confederation, which is the supreme judicial guidance of the Confederation, and protected by the Supreme Court of the Seafaring Confederation. Laws not set out under the Seafaring Constitution can be enforced on the confederate, national, autonomous, territorial or tribal level.

Constitutions
Laws in the Seafaring Confederation are subject to several constitutions, the highest of which is the Constitution of the Seafaring Confederation. On a layer lower than the Seafaring Constitution, which is regulated by treaty, are the national constitutions of the 8 member nations, some of which have semi-autonomous subdivisions known as states, provinces or viscountcies that also have the right to set up their own constitution. The right to have a constitution also exists for tribes located in the Seafaring Confederation, but not for ethnic equals. These constitutions cannot be in conflict with ordinate constitutions.

Miranda Rights
The Seafaring Confederation holds that a certain set of rights must be read out to any person who is arrested or interrogated, as was ordered by the Supreme Court of the Seafaring Confederation in McKenzie v. Department of Justice of the Highlands 53 706 (1964). These rights are to be read out as follows:


 * "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can be used against you and will be used against you if possible. You have the right to speak to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, the State/Nation will provide one for you. If you are not a citizen of the Seafaring Confederation, you may contact your country's embassy or consulate prior to questioning. If you are a citizen of the Seafaring Confederation, but not a citizen of [country of arrest], you have the right to request that the judicial process takes place in the confederate court circuit. You may choose not to exercise these rights at this moment, but you are allowed to invoke them at any time during questioning. Do you understand what we have just said?

Not reading out these rights will result in a reduced sentence in cases where no grave bodily harm or exceptional social disadvantages were created by the crime. A death sentence can never be reduced by not reading out Miranda Rights.

Confederate Law
Confederate Law are the laws under the Constitution of the Seafaring Confederation and the regulations as ordered by the House of Representatives of the Seafaring Confederation and the High Council of the Seafaring Confederation. These last two only possess the power to provide legislation affecting the Confederation as a whole, illegalizing trying to meddle with national or autonomous regulation of legislation.

Types of Confederate Law
Under the Constitution and governmental regulation of the Seafaring Confederation, the following laws are considered offences against (individuals present (at the moment of the crime) in the jurisdiction of) the Seafaring Confederation and are thus regulated by Confederate Law and taken care of by the confederate court circuit.

Laws regulation sex and sexuality Abortion and contraception Confederate Law regulates that all forms of contraception for both male and female individuals must be made available in the apothecaries and chemists as long as it is proven that the contraception does not have a negative effect on the health of the users. Surgically litigating fertility is not considered to have a negative effect on the health of the users as long as the individual to whom it is done has given consent for the procedure without pressure from outside.

Abortion is regulated by the nations themselves in general, who may choose to relegate abortion regulation to their respective autonomous subdivisions. Confederate Law does however describe that abortion is legal if it is proven that the remaining presence of the unborn can have an extreme detremental effect on the physical or mental health of the mother, or if the unborn was conceived through rape or sexual abuse. The confederate minimum of the maximum number of weeks of age of the baby before she cannot be voluntarily aborted by the mother is 24 weeks.

It is illegal to force a woman to have an abortion under all circumstances. If a woman is imprisoned at the time that she gives birth do a child, she is subsequently set free if she is considered to be not dangerous to her child.

Age of consent The age of consent is set by either the nations or the autonomous subdivisions of these nations, and Confederate Law also allows tribes to set their own ages of consent (insofar that they can regulate the procedures of the tribe), whilst disallowing the territories to set their own ages of consent. Confederate regulation dictates that the lowest the age of consent is allowed to be is 13, and the highest 20, whilst allowing a three-year-gap between when it will be statutory rape for having sex with a person under the age of consent. Having sex with somebody of the age or twelve or younger without being three years or less older than the 12-year-old counts as statutory child rape.

Adultery Adultery cannot be criminalized. All forms of adultery, whether consensual (i.e. known about by both parties of the marriage) or secret (i.e. known about only by the adulterer) are considered private matters of the parties involved. If the adultery is in the form of the individual being subjected to non-consensual sexual intercourse, then it is considered rape rather than adultery.

It is illegal to punish a person for adultery, no matter whether the adultery was consensual, non-consensual or otherwise.