the right of judgement by warrior

[tilk]

As part of my klingon fiction, The imperial watch are like "police" of the empire.
If any klingon or Alien, that is suspected or found to be guilty of an act that may be found to be treason against ther empire or one that will remove the honor from that person, that person can demand judgement by warrior.

This means that the warrior in question will challenge the arresting watch warrior to do battle to the death. If the criminal is killed, then all debts are deems settled in the eyes of the empire. If he survives and defeats the watch warrior.... he gets a reprieve.

thats why the imperail watch warriors are known to be umong the best fighters of the empire.

This may already be established practise, please remember I am trying to create exciting fiction with a justise system that is some what removed from earth law.

thoughts/ comments?

[SoplaHtaHwI']

Let's see if I read this right:

You are on a Klingon world
You commit a crime against the Empire
You get arrested but can ask for a fight to the death as a trial?

Sounds interesting...

[tilk]

yes. If it is the watch that arrests you, and you are indeed a warrior, klingon or alien to the empire, you may ask for judgement by warrior.
This is only superceeded if the empire has a greater need for you alive. then you are taken back to the imperial watch council for judgement.

this is general draft for my klingon fiction.

[qoSagh]

I suppose this would be a personal prefferance, but I would htink that a Klingon criminal, having been approached by any military/law enforcement unit would rather fight to the death than stand trial. I know we have seen Klingon courts, and trials so not everyone chooses this option, but I would think it would be more previlant than we think of it.

If it is a crime of honor, the only choice would be death, either you are vindicated or die. To live with that dishonor, would have multigenerational repercussions, regardless of if you were in prision or running around free.

I am not sure that the right to such combat is all that dependant on what unit makes the arrest. Although in the case of the Watch, I think there would be a certain status to having bested one of thier members in combat, so I think the choice is clearly leaning on the side of battle.

[Abbot Nej vIt]

Well... We Have Seen How Effective "Klingon Lawyers" Are...<Smirk>... So This Could Go Along way towards Explaining why So Many Disputes are Settled by Personal Combat .. As far as the Watch Goes, Those Warriors Better Be Tough, if The Lost Honor of A Klingon, (The Hallmark of the Culture), can be "Won" back by Defeating one... If it was That Simple Worf Could have Avoided a lot of Heartache...