Third Imperial Decree of HIM Emperor Declan I (21 September 2011)

The following actions constitute misdemeanours:

1. Vandalism – damaging or defacing property without the permission of the owner. [This subsection has been changed – see III Jon. I 2013, Paragraph 2]

2. Environmental damage – performing an action with the intent of damaging the natural environment, or with the knowledge that it will do so. [This subsection has been changed – see XXIX Dec. I 2012, Paragraph 2]

3. Animal cruelty – performing an action with the deliberate and sole intent of causing pain or discomfort to an animal.

4. Fraud – deliberately deceiving a person in order to gain money, property, or some other personal gain at the expense of the other person or a third party. [This subsection has been changed – see III Jon. I 2013, Paragraph 2]

5. Theft – taking goods or property that belongs to another person, without that person’s consent and with no legal right or authority to do so. [This subsection has been changed – see III Jon. I 2013, Paragraph 2]

6. Blackmail – making threats against a person unless that person does something, e.g. pays a sum of money to the blackmailer. [This subsection has been changed – see III Jon. I 2013, Paragraph 2]

7. Bribery – giving money or goods to a person to persuade the recipient to do things not consistent with the law or his/her duties. [This subsection has been changed – see LXXIII Jon. I 2017, Paragraph 2]

8. Drug possession – knowingly possessing tobacco, nicotine, or any drugs which are referred to in the United Kingdom’s Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, or any products containing such drugs. [This subsection has been changed – see XLIX Jon. I 2015, Paragraph 2]

9. Drug taking – usage of tobacco, nicotine, or any drugs which are referred to in the United Kingdom’s Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, or any products containing such drugs. [This subsection has been changed – see XLIX Jon. I 2015, Paragraph 2]

10. Tax evasion – refusing to give the appropriate sum of money to the Town’s tax collector each month. [This subsection has been changed – see CLX Jon. I 2021, Paragraph 2]

11. Assisting an offender – assisting a person who has committed a crime by helping them to escape apprehension and/or arrest, and/or by hindering the investigation into the crime, for example by lying to, bribing or threatening a police officer. It is not a crime for certain professionals (including, but not limited to, doctors, clergymen, lawyers and solicitors) to impart legal, moral and medical advice and/or information to a criminal, so long as it does not further a crime and/or aid the criminal in escaping justice.

12. Threatening with violence – using towards another person threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, distributes or displays to another person any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting, which causes that person to reasonably fear that unlawful violence will be used against him or her. [This subsection has been changed – see II Jon. I 2013, Paragraph 2]

The following actions constitute second-class felonies:

1. Assault – attacking and/or causing bodily injury to another person. [This subsection has been changed – see II Jon. I 2013, Paragraph 2]

2. Arson – setting fire to another person’s property without that person’s consent. [This subsection has been changed – see III Jon. I 2013, Paragraph 2]

3. Robbery – taking goods or property that belong to another person through means of force or intimidation, with no legal right or authority to do so. [This subsection has been changed – see III Jon. I 2013, Paragraph 2]

4. Armed robbery – taking goods or property that belong to another person through means of force or intimidation, achieved by the wielding of a weapon, with no legal right or authority to do so. [This subsection has been changed – see III Jon. I 2013, Paragraph 2]

5. Burglary – entering another person’s property without that person’s consent with the intent to commit a crime. [This subsection has been changed – see III Jon. I 2013, Paragraph 2]

6. Child cruelty – performing an action with the deliberate and sole intent of causing pain or discomfort to a human under the age required to be a subject of Austenasia, or a human under the age of 18 years old who is in one’s care.

7. Rape – having sexual intercourse with a person without their consent, or with a person under 16 years of age. [This subsection has been changed – see XLIV Jon. I 2015, Paragraph 2]

8. Sexual assault – having sexual contact with a person without their consent, or with a person under 16 years of age. [This subsection has been changed – see XLIV Jon. I 2015, Paragraph 3]

9. Rioting – being part of a disorderly crowd of over five people which use or threaten unlawful violence for a common purpose.

10. Breaking the Law – contradicting, violating, transgressing, ignoring or refusing to comply with a part of the Constitution or an Act of Parliament.

11. Drug dealing – buying or selling tobacco, nicotine, or any drugs which are referred to in the United Kingdom’s Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, or any products containing such drugs. [This subsection has been changed – see XLIX Jon. I 2015, Paragraph 2]

12. Drug production – producing or growing tobacco, nicotine, or any drugs which are referred to in the United Kingdom’s Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, or anything with the intent for it to be an ingredient in such drugs. [This subsection has been changed – see XLIX Jon. I 2015, Paragraph 2]

13. False imprisonment – forcibly confining a person with no legal right or authority to do so.

14. Kidnapping – taking a person to a location without the consent of that person and with no legal right or authority to do so.

15. Perverting the course of justice – forging or disposing of evidence of a crime, lying to a police officer when being questioned after committing a crime, or lying when giving a witness statement or when producing evidence in a Court. Threatening, intimidating or bribing a witness, police officer or member of a Jury due to take part in a trial also constitutes this crime.

16. Violent disorder – being part of a disorderly group of between two and five people which use or threaten unlawful violence for a common purpose.

The following actions constitute first-class felonies:

1. Regicide – killing the Monarch. [This subsection has been changed – see LVI Jon. I 2015, Paragraph 2]

2. High Treason – unlawfully depriving the Monarch of the Throne, or doing anything which might disturb or interrupt the Monarch’s lawful possession of the Throne; harming, wounding, maiming, injuring, or unlawfully imprisoning and/or restraining the Monarch; physically harming or unlawfully depriving the title of a member of the Imperial Family; publishing, declaring or announcing that the Monarch is a tyrant and/or usurper; wilfully committing an action which might endanger the personal safety of the Monarch. [This subsection has been changed – see LVI Jon. I 2015, Paragraph 2]

3. Treason – encouraging a foreign country to invade Austenasia; encouraging others to commit the crime of rebellion; impeding the lawful inheritance of the Throne to those in the Line of Succession as set out by Parliament; harming, unlawfully restraining, or injuring the Regent or an appointed Counsellor of State; impeding the Monarch, Regent, or appointed Counsellors of State in carrying out their lawful rights, responsibilities, duties and powers; committing an action with the intent of damaging the national security of Austenasia. [This subsection has been changed – see LVI Jon. I 2015, Paragraph 2]

4. Murder – killing a human being. [This subsection has been changed – see XXXIV Dec. I 2012, Paragraph 3]

5. Manslaughter – committing a hostile action that inadvertently leads to the death of a human being. [This subsection has been changed – see XXXIV Dec. I 2012, Paragraph 3]

6. Mutiny – refusal by an enlisted member of the military to follow orders from commanding officers, or opposing, changing or overthrowing the legal military authority whom one is under the command of.

7. Desertion – abandoning one’s duty or post without permission by an enlisted member of the military.

8. Rebellion – refusing to recognise the authority of the Monarch or Prime Minister, and/or attempting to forcibly gain independence from the Empire of Austenasia without the consent of Parliament. [This subsection has been changed – see LVI Jon. I 2015, Paragraph 2]

The following may be used as valid defences by those accused of committing a crime:

1. Duress: if the defendant was forced to commit the crime under threat. In order for duress to qualify as a valid defence, then the defendant must prove that the threat was imminent and unable to be stopped by any other reasonable method other than committing the crime, and that the harm threatened was greater than the harm to person, property, society or the state which was caused by the crime.

2. Insanity: the defendant must prove that he or she committed the crime that they are accused of while suffering from a mental condition that meant that at the time of committing the crime they were unaware of its nature or illegality, and/or were at the time of committing the crime unable to control themselves.

3. Infancy: if the defendant is under the age of 10, then unless it can be proved that they were fully aware of the nature and illegality of the crime that they committed, they shall not be punished if found guilty but instead may be referred to appropriate care.

4. Necessity: the defendant must prove that there was an urgent and immediate threat to person, property, society or the state which created a situation in which the defendant reasonably believed that an appropriate response was to commit a crime in the belief that the harm caused by committing the crime would be less than the harm which would have been caused by the threat.

5. Self-defence: the defendant must prove that the crime committed was a reasonable response to an immediate and violent threat to themselves, others, or their property. This defence may only be used when accused of assault, manslaughter, threatening with violence, false imprisonment, breaking the law, or murder.

It is also a crime (of the respective degree of severity) to attempt (try but not succeed) to and conspire (make an agreement with another person or persons) to commit a crime, and to solicit (pay another to commit) a crime. Soliciting, attempting, or conspiring to commit High Treason shall be classed as High Treason, and soliciting, attempting, or conspiring to commit Treason shall be classed as Treason. Attempting to commit Regicide shall be classed as High Treason.