tvk | 10: [Video]

[Edgeworth was good enough at working and thinking alone, not to mention so used to being surrounded by incompetents, that the need to collaborate to find the truth had eluded him for years. Even the realization that he needed to trust others was born from a retreat into solitude. Unfortunately, teamwork of the type he had already accepted was of the kind that required other experts and an entire system, and now Edgeworth found himself with neither at his disposal. He was a fish out of the very same water that, at the height of his arrogance, he had taken for granted -- more alone now than he had proudly considered himself to be then.

For all the suffering Edgeworth went through, never before coming to Prospero did he have a chance to realize how much opportunity had simply been handed to him -- opportunity that was at times tainted, but opportunity nonetheless. Only here did he ever find himself in the position of having to save up for purchases. Only here was the government itself on the side of the primary criminals rather than on his side. Only here were certain truths the exclusive province of a minority no matter how hard he might try, the same minority that was resistant to punishments that he had also taken for granted.

Even with all this working against him, though, to ask for help from the unwashed masses was an act that called for swallowing his pride. Fortunately, the Hierophant made it a lot easier muster the trust necessary to do so...]

Good afternoon. It was not my intention to speak publically on the matter I wish to discuss today before I had a complete plan to present, but after months I'm forced to admit that I've reached the limits of what I can conceive of alone under such stifling conditions. What allies I have here are few and their expertise lies elsewhere.

I've given preamble enough, however. I speak to you today because we're in dire need of a criminal justice system amongst ourselves and wish to invite open discussion of how best to address that need. While the obvious potential defendants are among those who've vanished, there is no guarantee that the need won't arise again; indeed, that they did vanish before it was possible for them to stand trial only serves as proof that we need to be prepared should more crimes be committed that the native justice system is incapable of handling. Given both the danger of disappearances and the hot-headed impatience of many here, the procedure needs to be swift. However, I know full well the dangers of attempting to speed justice along and the magnitude of crimes possible here, so I propose a more lenient schedule than that of my home: three days of investigation prior to beginning the trial, followed by a trial that lasts a week at most with further investigation allowed during that period.

Concerning why I insist that trials are necessary at all, there are several reasons. First, civilization requires the practice of basic civility, which can easily break down if there are no barriers to acting on one's temper. Second, such hasty behaviors can easily be ill-conceived or based on faulty assumptions, which can cause people to be punished wrongly. Third, through the debates involved, lies and mistakes are exposed for what they are and cast aside until only the truth remains -- a procedure far more difficult to enact unilaterally due to the imperfection of any one sapient being and the lack of anything to challenge such a person's assumptions and keep their biases in check.

If the phenomena centered here didn't conspire to not only remain hidden from the eyes of the natives but to rob them of any chance to realize that anything might be amiss, I would be content to use the native courts. Unfortunately, we've already seen examples of a motive that would be mere insanity from a native perspective and impossible to prove otherwise, entire crimes vanishing from their awareness, and even crimes that might not have happened at all if not for the changes in behavior that at times sweep the island. As we cannot simply allow things to run unchecked lest we find ourselves in the throes of another crime spree, we thus need to create a justice system of our own.

Unfortunately, there are two problems that I can't conceive of ways to fully overcome, as well as one that requires participation if it is to be solved at all. The first problem is the scarcity of people qualified to act as prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges. To my knowledge, I'm the only prosecutor here and we have no defense attorneys or judges at all. Of the three, judges would be the easiest to simply train; the lack of defense attorneys is far more disconcerting. Given how few of us there are -- and were, even a month prior -- I don't believe we have a sufficient population to support the jury system that's customarily used in this country, so I see no reason to consider that.

The second problem is a lack of effective forms of punishment. Given that execution of a kidnappee is an entirely pointless endeavor, imprisonment is a joke for most of us, we cannot dictate the natives' treatment of others, and fining becomes a questionable practice when we lack public works of our own to fund, we're sorely lacking in remotely ethical ways to punish any but the most petty of criminals. I've only been able to think of a single alternative approach to punishing the worst among us, and that would require both significant technical expertise to implement and at least one alternative punishment suited for less severe crimes. Unfortunately, without any workable concepts for lesser punishments, we can't even be certain of the best place to draw the line.

Finally, there is the problem of consensus concerning what would constitute a reasonable justice system at all. To those of you who come from very different cultures than those of Earth's early 21st century, I've no doubt come across as presumptuous. While I have reason to believe that I am essentially right and have heard true dissent only from those who either fail to see the problem with a society that runs on personal vendettas or refuse to consider the possibility of a ruler being anything less than perfect, it is still possible that I simply haven't heard of a better system. Conversely, I would be willing to further explain the logic behind courts of law as I know them; I've devoted a great deal of thought and study to them both before and after my arrival here.

I've configured this post such that all responses to it are publically viewable.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Must we resort to bombardment? I would rather persuade people to listen to reason and provide them the opportunity to respond in kind. Can we really be said to have been heard if people merely claim to agree in the hope of never hearing from us again?

I did not say 'bombardment'. I merely said that we are going to have to bring this up more then once or else it will become a forgotten idea. Besides, status updates will keep people from thinking you're doing something actually quite shady.

[Don't get smart with him Edgeworth. He knows people as a mob better then you do.]

I would rather have a functional justice system before our captors grow bored with us, Mr. Kukai.

So would I. Will we get one? Who knows, we just have to keep at it.

This isn't a game.

[Just the entire infrastructure necessary for the center of his life, that's all.]

[How meta Edgeworth.]

No it is not. However, you can not expect things to go so quickly! These things take time and effort. It's like those cop shows that have everything solved in an hour and then you can go to bed knowing all was done. It does not work like that.

Do any really claim that an hour is the time elapsed in the fictional world?

...only the really silly cop shows. Most of them claim a few days, but really it takes weeks and multiple people!

...

Rather ludicrous, I know. Television tends to over simplify complicated matters in order to fit into a time slot.

Er, Mr. Kukai...

Yes, what is it Edgeworth?

Does it really take so long where you're from?

Well yes, even with technology there is still gathering all the evidence, making sure it doesn't get tampered with, and then the whole court process can take weeks depending on the crime and the people involved. Due process is through, but not very fast.

Why?

Back home, even prior to the implementation of the initial trial system, only the most exceptional of cases took weeks to reach a verdict. Furthermore, in case you forgot, it only took me a week to thoroughly establish Ryuunosuke's guilt of most of the native deaths that occurred during his rampage, and that was only due to sheer scale.

[Magical creatures that have passed through Prospero in human form: mermaids, demons, dragons, ghosts, and crime drama protagonists.]

Yes but that was extraordinary circumstances. Not to mention I don't seem to recall him actually trying to hide. Unfortunately, in my world and I suspect this one, things don't usually go that fast.

[He has to chuckle softly] No wonder you're so impatient.

Do you doubt my having gone to every length to prove those murders despite their apparent obviousness? After all, such things aren't always as they appear. Even without the tape, the evidence for each one would have been decisive; said tape merely allowed him to be captured far sooner.

[Whoops.]

No Edgeworth, that's not what I meant. I know you went through every procedure correctly. I'm just saying that I think cases that go that fast are in the minority, and you being used to them going that fast is the driving force behind your anxiety right now. I didn't mean to imply that you personally did something wrong.

I fully admit that many of the defense attorneys here are prone to dead-end tangents and are at times slow on the uptake...

[Careful, Gaignun, looks like he's holding back a rant here...]

[Well, better him then some unsuspecting person]

There is no magic formula for cases, it's like writing a high end research paper.