Embedded Files
Contents
General Court Rules
The Judiciary reserve the right to subjectively waive or amend these rules at any time, without notice.
All legal counsel (solicitors, barristers, judges) are expected to try and follow The Core Principles in the Bar Standards Board handbook.
Compensation Orders
You should list all costs you are wishing to claim form, including any legal fees
Failure to pay, or submit an appeal against, compensation orders issued by the court, within 7 days, will result in either:
forceful taking of said payment from the account, or
daily, non-appealable, interest-payments being added to the total sum owed.
Behaviour in Court
All parties are expected to uphold a high standard of behaviour at all times within the court room. Misbehaviour or shouting out will not be tolerated, and can lead to immediate imprisonment or criminal convictions without appeal.
All witnesses and legal counsel are expected to dress formally, wearing uniform where required. Members of the public should aim to wear at least smart casual clothing, unacceptable outfits will be pointed out by Gruppe6 and/or the Judiciary and you will be asked to change.
Masks and hats are not permitted in court and must be removed (unless explicitly allowed by a member of the Judiciary).
Gruppe6 are the court's contracted security provider, and act as "officers of the court" - as such their instructions must be adhered too at all times (unless in direct contention with a Judge's instructions)
Those wishing to record or livestream (including Weazel News) should seek permission from the presiding Judge.
Cameras and phones are not permitted to be used in the court room (without permission of the Judiciary).
The judge has the final say on all matters in the courtroom.
Witnesses
Solicitors are required to organise and confirm the attendance of any and all witnesses they wish to call.
All counsel and witnesses are required to wear formal clothing appropriate for the courtroom.
If witnesses are unable to attend they should submit written statements which can be examined.
Court Summons
Every effort should be made by all parties to attend court. Failure to provide a reasonable excuse, in advance, will result in a court summons being issued.
If you are requested to appear in court by a court order and you fail to appear you may receive an arrest warrant and you will be held in contempt of court unless you state a legitimate reason upto 24 hours before the court hearing/trial.
Evidence Admissibility / Disclosure
All evidence (images/videos/audio) that is to be referenced in a court case needs to have been provided in the case file disclosure. Evidence not in the disclosure can only be heard at the Judges discretion and exemption must be asked for in advance.
Any edits to the disclosure on the day of a trial must be communicated in the case file ticket for all parties to be aware of.
No changes to the disclosure may take place in the hour proceeding the scheduled court time.
Gameplay footage which is submitted to the court for use in cases must be obtained by the following:
Footage gathered whilst holding a mobile phone
Footage gathered whilst operating a camera
Bodycam item (toggled on)
A bodycam is defined as "on" if the camera icon appears in the lower-left HUD, achieved by using the bodycam item in-game.
CCTV cameras outside businesses / hospitals / police stations (you may need to 'collect' this in roleplay)
CCTV cameras in the room (If you have footage which you have recorded and you do not have a body cam, you may use it if there is CCTV in the room however you must 'collect' the footage first in RP before you submit it to the courts.)
Any other reasonable method agreed, before the hearing, with the Judge
Appealing a Court Verdict
Appeals of a court verdict:
If you wish to appeal a verdict you may do so however you will need to send a formal appeal to the courts upto 7 days from the verdict. Once the formal appeal has been submitted you will receive a reply from the courts to arrange an appeal date, normally within 14 days of the original case. Appeals will be a heard by a different and/or multiple other judges. Appeals can only be made a maximum of once per decision.
Contracts
We have some guidance around all legal contracts that should be followed:
All contracts should be created, signed and maintained using a version-controlled site such as Google Documents
All signing parties should keep edit access to the original file, so that revision history can be viewed by all in the event of a dispute.
Solicitor Remuneration
Solicitor pay has been agreed by the Judiciary in Q2 2022 and is currently as followed.
'Duty solicitor' work- Where you have represented a defendant free of charge in a non-court setting e.g (e.g in the cells, providing free legal services), then you can reclaim a fixed rate of £1,000 per minute from the Judiciary through the form at the front desk of MRPD. You are expected to provide some brief details of the case.
'Legal aid' in Criminal Cases - Where you are representing a defendant who you believe is unable to afford your services in a criminal case (appeal or prosecution) then you can make a request to the courts for your legal fees to be paid for. The claimable amount is the following: £1,000 per minute when the court is in-session. This legal aid request should be made to the Judiciary in the case file ticket, in advance of the court date.
'Solicitor fees' in Civil Cases - Where you are representing a client in either side of a civil matter, the payment of solicitors fee's is upto your client. Many claimants may include their solicitor's fee within the damages they are seeking the claim from the defendant. In exceptional circumstances, the court may financially support either party.
All requests for payment to solicitors from the Judiciary should be made on the above form and will be processed directly to your bank account within 28 days.
Trial Procedures
Case Submission
Using the Court Case submission form solicitors should acquire all the details they need from their client and fill these in. The details from this form then automatically generates a case file document which is posted into the #los-santos-solicitors channels
When submitting a case there are four different types.
Pre-Hearing
A pre-trial hearing is where the legal parties get together in front of the Judge before a trial. At this point both the defence and prosecution have presented the evidence that they want to be shown at the trial, if one side believes some evidence shouldn’t go through to trial, this is where they make that case to the judge.
There are many valid reasons the Judge should stop evidence or witnesses making it to trial if they feel it wouldn't help the judge come to a fair and unprejudiced conclusion. For example, bringing up that a defendant is cheating on their wife (if it's not relevant to the crime) shouldn’t be allowed to make it to trial since it may inappropriately influence judges into making a decision based on personal prejudice instead of the facts of the case.
In many situations the merit of evidence submitted at the pre-hearing may be sufficient to properly hold the case, and come to a verdict that session - however it’s not uncommon for recesses to take place to accommodate further evidence gathering or clarification.
Trial
In a criminal trial, the trier of fact (which can be either the judge or a jury) decides whether the defendant committed the crime. The standard used in criminal cases is "beyond a reasonable doubt" – that is, there is no reasonable doubt in the judge or jurors’ minds that the defendant committed the crime. If your trial is to go ahead with a jury It is their job to decide if the evidence they hear proves the defendant's guilt, and it's their job to consider the evidence not the law, and the Judge will guide them on law if necessary. The judge must explain this to the Jury once they have been sworn in at the beginning of the trial, and before the jury goes in for deliberations.
You should call other solicitors ‘my learned friend’ – pronounced learn-ed (meaning qualified solicitor).
Opening statements
Each side presents an overview of the case, from their perspective. The prosecution goes first, followed by the defense.
Witness testimony
- Each side can call pre-arranged witnesses and ask them questions about the case and/or the defendant.
Witness Questioning is performed as follows:
Prosecution solicitor calls their witness
Prosecution Solicitor asks their witness questions (examination in chief)
Defence solicitor then asks the witness questions (Cross examination)
Prosecution then has opportunity to ask the witness further questions, but only if those questions relate to a matter which has arisen during the cross examination (Re-examination)
Once re-examination is complete the witness will leave the stand, and the next is called.
After all the prosecution's witnesses have been called, the prosecution solicitor will announce to the court that those testimonies are the case for the prosecution.
The defence solicitor then stands and has a chance to make an application of ‘No case to answer’ to the judge. This means they think the prosecution’s case is so flimsy in proving the defendant committed the alleged crime that the judge can find the defendant not guilty without the need for a defence.
If the judge has considered there to be enough evidence, the trial will continue and the defence solicitor will now introduce their witnesses.
Examination in chief
Cross examination
Re-examination
Once re-examination is complete the witness will leave the stand, and the next is called.
At the end the defence solicitor will declare that was the case for the defence.
This is the end of witness questioning.
The questions being asked to the witnesses are not allowed to be leading questions and must be unbiased, for example:
Leading question: "How fast would you estimate Mr. Smith's car was traveling over the speed limit when he lost control of his vehicle and slammed into the victim's car?" (Leads the witness to the conclusion that Mr. Smith was speeding, and as a result lost control of his vehicle, leading to the accident, which was clearly his fault.)
Neutral question: "How fast would you estimate Mr. Smith's car was traveling before the collision?"
Leading questions are allowed however if it makes reference to something the witness has already said, for example, if the witness has stated the car was speeding, the question ‘How fast was the car speeding?’ becomes an appropriate question.
It is the judge's responsibility to stop unfair or misleading questions from being asked, and as the Judge has control of the courtroom they can at any point interject and explain proper procedure.
Objections
An objection is how you tell the judge that the other person’s evidence, testimony, or question shouldn’t be allowed. They most commonly occur during witness cross-examination (both when the questions are being asked, and the subsequent answers given). You are encouraged to do your own reading on this (source 1, source 2, source 3), but some common objections that could be used:
Vague and Ambiguous - question cannot be easily understood or is vague (e.g "where were you earlier?")
Asked and answered - question has already been answered previously, maybe worded differently
Relevance - question/answer is unrelated to the context of the proceedings
Leading - question suggests to the witness what the intended answer should be (e.g "how fast was the speeding vehicle going when..")
Argumentative - question draws conclusions, often based on previous questions (e.g "you expect the court to believe that..")
Compound - multiple questions combined (e.g (why did you go back, and what made you think it would be sensible to...")
Speculative - question thinking of the hypothetical, rather than recalling facts (e.g "what do you think the officer was thinking when..")
Foundation - the witness has no knowledge of this area (e.g asking a police officer specific medical questions)
Opinion - the witness draws conclusions or make unfounded opinions (e.g "he was crazy")
Hearsay - the witness references evidence/statements not submitted to the court. (e.g reports/statements not in disclosure)
Non-responsive - the witness goes off on a tangent, not answering the original question (e.g avoiding the question / not understood the question)
Closing Speech
- The prosecution, and then the defense, make a brief statement summarizing their side of the case.
Verdict And Sentencing
- The jury will return to their seats and the foreperson of the jury will announce their verdict. If found not guilty the judge will thank them for their service and release them. If found guilty the Jury will stay in their seats as the Judge sentences the defendant. If no Jury is present, then as trier of facts, the judge will have to decide whether the defendant is guilty, or not guilty. Either way the verdict is reached the Judge should use these guidelines to pass a fair sentence.
Solicitor Resources Pack
We’d like to extend a warm welcome to yourself and congratulate you for becoming part of the Court system within Los Santos. This is a pack which can help you find your feet whilst you settle into your new role! Should you have any questions at any time, don’t be afraid to ask within #solicitors and someone will be more than happy to help you!
We totally understand that it can be quite daunting so we’ve prepared this guide to help you as much as we can whilst you settle in!
Resources
The templates and guides below are there to aid you in your role, you can use these or create your own - that's up to you!
Freedom of Information request (FOI) TEMPLATE
Subject Access Request (SAR) TEMPLATE
Subject Access Request (SAR) Police HERE
Solicitor Contact TEMPLATE
Settlement Agreement TEMPLATE
Policing Guide HERE
Law used on PNC HERE
Our Court Policies such as Sentencing Policy HERE
Court Process Feedback Form HERE
Step by Step Guide on Cases HERE
Divorce Agreement EXAMPLE
Suggest new Legislation HERE
FAQs for new Solicitors
Q. When will I be whitelisted?
You will have your WL straight away.
Q. Where do I submit a case?
The most handy place for you is our website, this can be found HERE. This is where you can submit a case under “Case Submission”
Q. Where do I get changed?
This will help you HERE
Q. Can I clock on and off?
Yes you can, when you clock off you are removed from the law list but you’ll go back on it when you clock on again HERE
Q. What evidence can I request?
When you open a case for instance against the police you could request if they have bodycam or an officer statement to prove the charges. In more civil/appeal cases you can also request things such as:
Via CID [Ask in Case Ticket]
Bank Records, this helps prove payment.
Phones Records, this can give context to your side.
Text Messages, this can prove an agreement between two parties.
Owner of Vehicle, this can prove who owns a particular car.
Registered user of a mobile number.
Via NHS
NHS Patient Assessment.
NHS Patient Records.
Other Requests
Mechanics to check and give reports on vehicle damage/any faults etc.
Property queries, via Chamber of Commerce.
Internal Judiciary Requests.
Non-Molestation / Restraining Orders.
You have a little creative licence here, do what you can within the realms of RP.
Q. What evidence can my client use?
The Court is very clear in what evidence we accept you can view this more at THIS page.
Q. It’s my first time going to the cells, what should I do?
This can be quite scary as it’s the first time, your main role here is to check the evidence against the charges and ensure that your client understands the charges against them and that the police have followed their procedures such as telling them their custody rights. You can also work with the police to try and get a reduced sentence for your client (this might not always work) but it’s always helpful to try.
Q. Are there any examples of cases I can see?
Here are four examples of cases.
You can even view a lot more on our case tracker HERE
Q. What is a contract and how does it become legally binding?
There is three things which need to be considered to make a contract legal these are:
Offer, it starts by one side offering something to another for example a vehicle.
Acceptance, where the other party accepts the offer
Consideration, where each party will provide something in the offer for example an offer to pay X amount for the Vehicle
After these factions are fulfilled it is assumed that there is an intention to enter into a contract as one party proposed the offer and then the other accepted..
Q. What kind of questions should I ask in Court?
The best advice we can give is to ask as open a question as possible because when you ask a closed question like “Is it raining outside?” then you’ll get Yes or No. However, if you instead ask “How do you feel about the weather today?” then they cannot answer that with Yes or No yet gives you more details and context. In some cases, closed questions are also useful. You should consider the use of both.
Q: Who can formally celebrate a marriage, resulting in a name change?
We review this from time to time, but currently it is only those that are pre-approved by the court as religious leaders, a Senior Government Official, well-known individuals or a Judge themselves. Large scale roleplay event weddings may be approved on a case by case basis. You should always confirm in advance, as weddings conducted without a registered celebrant present may not be accepted by the court in a name change request.
The current list of authorised individuals are:
Ronald Ingram #396-801
John Pope
Mike Polo #880-6828
Violet Rose #785-4897
Father Frank Goldie #118-3895
Psiana G Cohan #672-574
Vinny Firth #214-6725
Rachie Brodie #440-7130
Case Guide - Step by Step
A full step by step guide of how to deal with each type of case
Review Information
Document created:
October 2020
Document created by:
Judge Brandon Robinson,
Judge Malcolm Milkinside,
Judge Norman Jones,
Judge John Anderton
Judge Mike Ross
Judge Steve Merkel
Document last reviewed:
July 2024
Document last reviewed by:
Senior Judge Steve Merkel
Page updated
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