5.3. Punishment
Capital punishment (the Death Penalty) has been outlawed for all Naha citizens for several hundred years on the basis that no legal system is ever perfect and it's difficult to say 'sorry' to a corpse.
The rather extreme exceptions to this rule are the real-time judgments sometimes given to suspects during law enforcement raids on organized crime establishments where innocent citizen's and officers' lives are put at risk and a quick resolution to the engagement is needed. Suspects may be judged in real time to be belligerent ('fayemuse') and dangerous this is done by a separate panel of qualified judges observing the operation. Suspects can therefore lose their citizenship. Such people are classified as krisam (pron: kree-sahm. See Citizenship).
If 'krisam' are seen to be using weapons designed to kill and/or maim (e.g. guns) then they may be shot on sight. This is very rare as few law enforcement Nahum employ qualified weapons personnel. Suspects are usually stunned, or, specialists may be called in to support operations where guns are suspected to be in use. This does happen but it usually makes world headlines.
Once captured, unless they cooperate fully with the authorities immediately could end up dying in police custody - but not through torture, but through 'intentional neglect' which is, and is meant to be, pretty gruesome. Only the prompt surrender of information can save the 'krisam'.
However these extreme measures are very rare and are intended to break the hold of organized crime or political / religious terrorist groups in a timely fashion.
The main form of punishment in Naha society is the repayment of damage by financial means. Thus if a convicted citizen can pay the fine to the offended entity (citizen or 'nahum') then that's the end of it. If they cannot pay, then it is the responsibility of the 'nahum' to which the person currently belongs. If they refuse (it's taken to a vote) or are unable to pay then the criminal is placed into 'bondage' and all their income and personal assets confiscated until the debt has been repaid. This may require the convict to relocate to specialized 'nahum' where they will work off their debt. This is the closest they get to our prison system.
In the event of the taking of life or injury (intentional or not, but through their irresponsibility), it's quite possible that no amount of work will be able to pay for the offense. This would amount to life 'bondage' to a 'nahum' (i.e. life imprisonment).
It is possible for a convicted person to apply for medical treatment to change their character. This would entail medical work on their persons. Until a few hundred years ago such procedures would have been difficult to pay for but now its common practice for errant behavior to be medically corrected. The payment for this made by a period in bondage, after which the convicted person, with their new character, is released.